Tip Your Coffee Farmer

The Campaign

The campaign addressed the economic struggles of rural coffee farmers who lost 75% of their crops to a plant fungus that spread throughout Central America during the 2013 and 2014 coffee-growing seasons. The fungus proliferated due to unseasonal high temperatures throughout cooler coffee-growing mountain regions. The campaign was launched at conferences and coffee shops to raise funds for The Coffee Trust, a non-profit working with coffee farming communities in Central America. In collaboration with indigenous coffee farmers, the non-profit implemented low-cost, organic practices to resuscitate damaged crops and recover lost incomes.

The Work

I was commissioned by The Coffee Trust to create an advocacy campaign that generated over $100,000 in tips or donations. I filmed, wrote, and edited a fundraising video, as well as a series of short digital documentaries featuring coffee farmers in the rural highlands of Guatemala. I produced the campaign’s marketing materials, including brochures, postcards, posters, banners, and trade magazine advertisements, and created training packages for US coffee shop baristas to share knowledge and raise funds from coffee customers.

The Credits

Creative Director and Digital Video Producer Kelly Kowalski ▪︎ Graphic Designer Ezra Claytan Daniels ▪︎ Animation Adebukola Bodunrin