AIDS Walk Los Angeles

The LA version of AIDS Walk was the very first of its kind 40 years ago. HIV was new, scary and very foreign to most of the American population, and the Walk captured a palpable urgency and collective anger in a way that generated real attention.

But as the decades passed and scientific progress made HIV a death sentence no longer, attentions turned elsewhere and the Walk began to limp along. When we took over in 2019, there was talk of scuttling the event altogether.

That was, until we helped AIDS Walk LA set fundraising records back to back to back to back years, including 2020 and 2021 when a different pandemic forced the event off the streets.

Each year, our role is basically to do everything but say “ready, set, go.” We develop the theme, create all collateral pieces for sponsorship outreach, make custom team materials, handle social media, write hundreds of emails, design the prize package, and put together post-walk materials for participants.

Created with Commune Communication.

2023

Los Angeles is the world capital of flakiness. So how do you convince serial plan-cancelers to actually show up to a social engagement as important as AIDS Walk? You call them out using only-in-LA flaker tropes and challenge them to be better (just for a day).

Result: over $1.3 million raised, and a new West Hollywood attendance record set.

Vanderpump Rules’ own Billie Lee took to the streets to find LA flakes (it wasn’t that hard).

Flaking + astrology + social media. Could this be any more LA?

Flakes followed through on October 15. Just like we always knew they would.

2022

AIDS Walk LA returned to the streets of West Hollywood in 2022. We also returned it to its roots thematically with Be All Over It, a campaign that struck a more serious and urgent tone than the playful and celebratory walks of the recent past.

The message got through, with a 4th consecutive record-breaking fundraising year of over $1.37 million donated to HIV-related health services in LA County.

OVER IT

On social and in emails, we sent out near-daily reminders of the things AIDS Walk LA is “over,” and invited followers to do the same.

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SPONSOR OUTREACH

We created tons of pieces to help sponsors and partners put together fundraising teams with their employees and ask for donations from customers. I also, for the 3rd year in a row, wrote straight up porn for the team at Wicked Sensual Care.

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THE BIG DAY

We created campaign pieces for local WeHo businesses to share their Overs, as well as gave walkers the tools to express their reasons for showing up to walk on a Sunday morning.

2021

For the second straight year, AIDS Walk was held 100% online. This time, we had a surprise waiting there for participants.

Enlisting the help of Ongina, one of the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, we created a walking talk show to showcase the APLA Health programs and services that directly benefit from AWLA fundraising.

We turned Ongina loose for ten episodes of fun, heartfelt storytelling and outfit changes, helping AIDS Walk LA raise a record $1.3 million.

THE WALK SHOW

The bits we created as part of The Walk Show included patient stories, fundraising tips, key milestone updates, walk challenges (for those wanting to get outside in small groups), and some Ongina “extras,” just for fun. This content was pushed out via 3 weekly emails over the course of 4 months, social posts, and on ABC7 Los Angeles’ dedicated 22 minute AIDS Walk LA special episode.

Just a couple highlights below.

SPONSOR OUTREACH

While all that Ongina was going on, we were doing the typical AWLA thing and engaging sponsors and teams via custom materials. At their best, these pieces were used by companies like Starbucks and Walgreens as in-store collateral to generate donations. At their horniest, they were used by adult film studio/lube company Wicked to inspire team participation. Either way, success in my book.