Unseen works with your organization to help you grow. We provide media and marketing tools, along with fundraising tips to help you tell your story and connect with more donors—so that you can grow your work—and meaningfully impact the lives of more people.
All of our marketing projects and training require a commitment of time and energy from you, our partner, in order for them to be successful.
Partnership:
- Complete the Annual Partnership Report - You agree to complete our Annual Partnership Report—so that we can give feedback to the generous donors who fund your projects, and can continue to improve the tools we provide for you. We'll ask you to report to us on metrics regarding your impact, number of donors, dollars raised, and other information about your experience.
- Maintain Partnership Status - To maintain partnership status, we ask that you complete our annual partnership report and fulfill project expectations as outlined below.
- Notify Us of Severe Financial Fraud or Human Safety Violations - When you begin partnership with Unseen we ask several questions about your policies for financial accountability and child safety. (Code of Conduct) If, during partnership, situations of fraud or a breach of safety occur within your organization, we ask that you inform your Partnership Manager so that we can be aware of the situation.
Unseen provides quality donor-focused marketing tools, messaging strategy, and support.
These are things like Thank You Cards, Donation Cards, Slide Decks, and more. Each project costs Unseen resources, so we want to make sure we're using our donor funds wisely, and serving you well. As a result, your Partnership Manager will meet with you each year to learn needs and gather information, and then create a Roadmap that offers one or more Unseen products to meet those needs. This Roadmap is then submitted to our Project/Budget Approval Committee. This team approves each project based on four main criteria: impact, timeline, cost, and commitment.
We're especially looking to make sure that our products will help you raise funds, and that the proposed timeline is possible for our team. We consider the cost of the project, your project history, and current commitment to determine if the project is a good fit.
Our goal and mission is to help you accelerate the growth of your operating budget, through donor fundraising, so that you can serve more people. (We’re hoping that as your budget grows, you’ll have the finances to commission your own program-oriented marketing materials to reach more beneficiaries!) Due to our current 501c3 exemption status, accounting structure, and 990 reporting, we only make products for donor audiences.
View all available products and services.
Every product or service that Unseen offers is organized into different phases. Each phase offers sets of products to meet the unique needs of each organization.
All partners begin in Phases 1 and 2 and projects grow in complexity over time. Phase 1 focuses on foundational fundraising tools. Our partnership may move to more complex and expensive products in other phases as your fundraising capacity changes.
We want to see your work grow, and we also want to be wise stewards of our donors' generosity. For this reason, partners progress through phases after having success in their current phase.
Together, with your Partnership Manager, and the rest of the Unseen Team, we’ll evaluate the best next steps to help you grow your connection with donors, and evaluate where Unseen is able to partner with you in this.
For specific information on products available in each phase, please contact us or visit our products page.
Phase 1 and 2 products are completely free of financial costs to you thanks to Unseen’s generous donors. It may sound ‘too good to be true,’ but it really is true! Most projects in phases 3 and 4 are also free. When projects involve financial investment from you, any potential costs will be clearly communicated and agreed upon before starting.
We really care about fighting human trafficking and believe the best way for us to do this is by coming alongside great organizations—who are already doing good work—and accelerating their growth!
All details and expectations for each project will be discussed in detail before each project begins in a Creative Service Agreement (CSA).
- Communicate Well - Projects work best with frequent and reliable communication between one designated person on your staff and Unseen via email, phone, and/or video chat. Please plan to set aside 5 hours per week, although project time commitments vary. Your response in 1-3 business days is appreciated!
- Complete Projects - Valuable and limited Unseen staff and donor resources are invested in each project. Once started, we ask that you see projects through to the end in a timely manner.
- Use Products Effectively - While using our products, please connect with more donors, expand your work, and help more people. It’s why we’re here!
- Complete Two Surveys After Each Project - They’re short! - Just 5-15 minutes, but we need them… So thanks!
- Share with Us - We love to hear how Unseen’s products and services have helped you grow, how they are being used, and how we can improve the way we serve you and others. If something great happens as a result of using an Unseen product, we'd love to know!
Communication: As mentioned above, projects work best with frequent and reliable communication between one person on your staff and Unseen via email, phone, and video chat. In order to protect the time of our freelance creatives, if projects are not moving forward, we may suspend the project. Failure to finish projects you start may impact Unseen’s ability to partner with you on future projects.
Both you and Unseen will have the opportunity to evaluate the partnership as projects are completed. If projects are not being completed well, or not being used effectively, we may need to stop, pause, or re-evaluate partnership.
For a further overview of Unseen Partnership and how it works, please visit our Partnership page, or reach out to us at anytime at partner@weareunseen.org
We believe in sharing hope over darkness. We care deeply about protecting the dignity of people and highlighting their strength and humanity, and take steps to tell that story well through the communication pieces we create for you.
Projects are created using your existing photos, branding, or other media. We’ll ask you to provide high quality versions of these elements to use as needed, so please let us know of any copyright or distribution agreements with other artists. If there is a reason we should not use an element (confidentiality of person in photo, agreement with the artist who originally created the element, etc.) please let us know prior to the launch of a project and/or when you send the photos. We want to honor and represent your work, as well as our partnership, accurately!
- Use of Partner Photos (not owned by Unseen) - Unseen only uses photos owned by you, our Partner, for marketing projects that we create together. These projects are for your fundraising purposes, not Unseen’s. Unseen will not use your photos for our own promotional materials without granted permission.
- Use of Approved Partner Photos (not owned by Unseen) - Unseen can share approved photos that you have sent us publicly with our staff, donors, or potential donors via social media, e-newsletters, website, annual report, etc. when highlighting your organization.
- Use of Partner Photos (owned by Unseen) - Unseen has unrestricted use of photos if Unseen hired a photographer to shoot on-site for our partners (i.e. We may use these photos for social media, website, print materials, etc.). However, Unseen will never use photos of unauthorized release (i.e. If faces cannot be shown due to security, we acknowledge and comply with these restrictions).
- Use of Testimonials and Shared Public Information - Information you share with our staff about the use of our products, or non-confidential information about your organization, may be shared publicly with Unseen’s staff and support base to improve our services and retain and attract donors unless exceptions have been made during your on-boarding process. (e.g. “These brochures have really helped us grow!”)
- Use of Public Information - Unseen may share any information you’ve released publicly with our staff, donors, or potential donors via social media, e-newsletters, website, annual report, etc. when highlighting your organization. Public information may include a compelling story and/or image from a public newsletter, public social media post, news article, information on your website, or other information available on the internet. If re-sharing is a concern for you due to privacy or security reasons—perhaps you have a private newsletter list for security—please let us know so we can adhere to this restriction.
The materials created by Unseen are for the benefit of you, our partner. When requested, or at the close of our partnership, you will receive print-ready PDFs, as well as working design files for future editing and reprints.
Regarding photos and video footage captured by Unseen, you receive “distribution rights,” meaning the ability to utilize them for projects and share as you want. Unseen retains “ownership rights,” and may use the images and video collected in our own media, unless you choose to limit usage due to stated security and privacy concerns. (i.e. “Do not show faces.”) Photos captured by Unseen will be sent as edited high-quality jpegs. Video footage will be used to create a final promo video with an agreed upon storyline. You may request footage to create your own videos, which will be saved on to a hard drive and shipped to you.
We may send equipment and/or provide training for you to capture images or video. Unseen may use the images and video collected in our own media unless you choose to limit our usage of those images. It’s our intent to comply with any privacy concerns you have relating to the use of images of the people you serve.
Unseen provides and retains design and creative control on media projects. You guide this process through feedback and discussion at the onset and throughout all projects to set our artists up for success. Our staff will ask you to submit all necessary information, follow through on distribution plans we create together and follow up after the project is done.
Either the partner or Unseen can end partnership at any time. Since we have the responsibility to invest our donors’ dollars wisely, we may choose to end partnership if projects are not being utilized well. Unseen evaluates all partners each year to ensure partnership is still a good fit.
We send out an Annual Partnership Report each year. If you choose not to complete the Annual Report, we’ll consider that as a vote from you to end partnership.
Failure to meet other requirements may also result in the ending or pausing of partnership with Unseen.
This Partnership Agreement incorporates the entire understanding of Unseen and its Partners (“the Parties”). By entering partnership, both Parties agree to all of its terms. This Partnership Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of North Dakota and the United States of America. The Parties agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts of North Dakota and the United States of America over any claim or matter arising under or in connection with this Partnership Agreement. If any claim or dispute arises, the Parties agree to attempt to settle through discussion and negotiation. If no agreement can be reached, the Parties agree to utilize professional legal mediation services prior to seeking action with the court system.