24-hour Phoenix marketing marathon to help non-profits is largest of its kind

More than 70 volunteer graphic designers, copywriters, web developers and design students from around the Valley were sacrificing a night’s sleep Saturday to provide their services for seven local non-profits.

It’s all part of CreateAthon Phoenix, a 24-hour marathon work session to create or renovate marketing plans for chosen organizations. The volunteers were stationed from 10 a.m. on Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday at coworking space CO+HOOTS, at East Washington and 11th streets.

The CO+HOOTS Foundation and AIGA Arizona, an association for professional designers, partnered with CreateAthon to organize the “creative marathon”. According to CO+HOOTS, this is the largest professional CreateAthon event ever.

“We had a goal of 40 to 50 volunteers, and we had over 70 people sign up,” said Kay Transtrum with the CO+HOOTS Foundation.

It’s the first marathon AIGA Arizona and CO+HOOTS Foundation have collaborated on. There have been more than 100 of these marathons nationwide throughout the 16 years since CreateAthon’s inception.

“In 24 hours, you’re basically doing the equivalent of six months of an agency’s work,” said Matthew Manos, a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur and advocate of the pro bono events. “That’s like hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of impact.”

The seven non-profits selected for the CreateAthon include MOMA’s House, a home for female victims of abuse, and the Arizona Community Dental Clinic. The volunteer teams were working on everything from fundraising campaigns to creating new logos, according to Anika Bausom with AIGA Arizona.

For many at the event, it’s a way to give back to community organizations that don’t always have the resources to establish a strong business presence.

“There’s so many more people that have valuable skills than there are people that have a ton of money,” Manos said. “So this is just a great way to give back without needing to wreck your bank account.”

The event is also an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to work with new people and creatively share ideas.

“There’s some sort of synergy that happens with people in person,” said volunteer designer Vince Baarson.

Baarson was stationed in CO+HOOTS and  working with a music-focused and education non-profit called Oh. My. Ears.

Yet 24 hours is a long time, and it can’t be all work and no play. Baarson, who has participated in 24-hour marathons in the past, recommends drinking plenty of water and taking occasional breaks.

There are yoga and massage sessions for volunteers, as well as some cots for power naps. The coffee shop in front of the CO+HOOTS building is also an added perk.

Ginger Froncek, of Arizona Community Dental Clinic, one of the non-profits receiving services from the event, offered words of support to carry the volunteers through the night.

“It’s one weekend out of their year, but the impact it has on us to change lives is huge,” she said.