Marketing & Fundraising Committee Spotlight
A photo of the Common Woman Chorus table at Pride Durham, 2022
Name: Katie Zellonis Otto, she/her
Other committee members: Brandi Melvin-Scammell Janie MacNeela Marty McLelland Amanda Benton Jess Higginbotham
Committee: Marketing & Fundraising
When was your committee created and/or when did you begin serving on your committee?Marketing and Fundraising has existed in some form for the chorus as long as we've existed...so, since 1983! I have been doing Marketing & Fundraising work for the chorus since 2021.
What does your committee do for CWC?
The Marketing & Fundraising Committee creates public awareness of and community around the chorus, and raises funds to support the work of the chorus. This includes sharing updates to current audience members, promoting concerts, and coordinating specific fundraising efforts to meet our organizational goals.
What do you do for your committee & what do you enjoy about it?
I handle all Marketing & Fundraising for CWC, which includes our social media, website management, and email marketing. Our biggest projects each year focus on Spring & Fall Concert Marketing, our Common Woman Cabaret Fundraiser, and other fundraisers such as $40 for 40, Giving Tuesday, and Give OUT Day. I enjoy being able to apply my creative skills, such as campaign planning, copywriting, and graphic design, to our various campaigns and seeing them come to life across all channels. It's particularly rewarding when I get to see the success of an event or fundraiser and know I played such a large role in it, even if I tend to be a little more behind-the-scenes!
What is your vision for the future of your committee? Any current goals/initiatives?
I would like to continue to grow our engagement and following across platforms so that we can widen our scope to reach new audiences and demographics. Our chorus has evolved a lot over the last forty years, and I am excited to play a role in our continued growth! I would also be excited to see us have the opportunity to occasionally perform in larger venues and be able to take part in larger marketing campaigns for bigger audiences. As our fundraising continues to grow, I have no doubt that we will be able to do new & exciting things that I can't wait to help market as well!
Any favorite projects, initiatives, or events related to your committee that you'd like to talk about?
We celebrated our 40th anniversary in 2023 and it was a huge endeavor both on the Marketing & Fundraising fronts. I collaborated with our then-AD on creating several slideshows of photos to share during the concert and also built out a new page on our website featuring a history of all past concert programs. I also created an ongoing social media campaign called #40thAnniversaryFriday, where each Friday in the semester leading up to our 40th anniversary concert, I shared a selection of photos from each year in our history leading up to the present. We also devised a year-long $40 for 40 fundraising campaign, where we encouraged donations in intervals of 40 to commemorate the milestone anniversary. All of this was a huge undertaking but was incredibly rewarding -- and as a newer singer, I enjoyed being able to learn more about the chorus and our history.
Click HERE to watch the Marketing & Fundraising Committee’s full spotlight video!