Instrument Gives Back to Local Businesses in Portland
In honor of Giving Tuesday, Instrument is relaunching its pro bono program, Build, Grow, Serve to help shape a better future for Portland communities. In partnership with Vanport Studio, Instrument held Build Week, a new hackathon-style event designed to elevate local businesses through collaboration and innovation in just three days.
To help transform visions into reality, Instrument worked alongside three Portland BIPOC-owned businesses: Camp Yoshi, Hot Mama Salsa, and Pacmodo. Instrument applied their expertise in branding, marketing, and product development to deliver creative solutions and drive meaningful growth.
“Build Week isn’t just an event - it’s a launchpad for progress,” said Leon Anderson, president, of Instrument. “Whether perfecting a brand's voice or engineering the next must-have product, the purpose of Build Week was to hold a creative sprint where innovative ideas meet practical solutions, turning vision into reality.”
“Being able to provide best-in-class creative and strategy work to Black and brown founders is crucial. There are too many programs and services that offer guidance, mentorship, or “networking opportunities” but nothing substantial. Instrument’s Build, Grow, Serve program has helped Vanport offer these small businesses and entrepreneurs what they really need and at the highest level of quality,” Jelani Memory, partner at Vanport Studio.
Results across the three companies include 30-page content and copy strategy documents, a 90+ day marketing campaign, animations, individual and global activations, a built-out microsite a fully designed landing page, and more.
“The Build Week experience was incredible. In two days, we identified and built out a brand platform, created a robust campaign strategy, and solidified key activations — with an extended deep dive into our recommence platform. The project outcome more than exceeded our expectations and we enjoyed working with the Instrument team,” said David Ngene, jr., co-founder and CEO of Pacmodo.
“This experience has impacted my personal growth. I have been running a small business for so long and wearing all of the hats that I don't often get the opportunity to see the results that are possible when you work with a professional team and skilled collaborators,” said Nikki Guerrero, owner of Hot Mama Salsa.
Building on its annual giving initiatives, including employee matching through Bright Funds and Affinity Group-sponsored donations, Instrument is implementing Instrument Giving: an opportunity for clients to choose a charity to support today on Giving Tuesday 2024. Clients will choose between MY BLOCK MY HOOD MY CITY, The Jed Foundation, Open Signal and Heart of Dinner, and Instrument will donate on their behalf.
