Our Work

Sparked Provides Copy for Victim Services Toronto's Rebranded Website

Our Work

Sparked Provides Copy for Victim Services Toronto’s Rebranded Website

Leaving no victim alone, Victim Services Toronto provides immediate, confidential support for any person who has experienced crime or sudden tragedy, 24/7.

Victim Services Toronto (VST) provides trauma-informed support and advocacy in the moment for any person in Toronto who has experienced crime or sudden tragedy. They also work to prevent violence through community engagement. In 2022-2023 alone, VST supported 17,102 victims, including 3,216 children and youth.

The Challenge

VST Needed Copy to Support Their Rebrand

In late 2022, Victim Services Toronto was undergoing a rebrand. Their brand designer had developed a stunning, new visual brand identity for the organization, which included a new logo, typography, colour palette and assets. But they needed a copywriter who could bring their rebrand to life using words.

Having written copy previously for Victim Services Durham Region (on a pro-bono basis; read about that here!) and the Durham Region Human Trafficking Coalition’s StopHT.com, Sparked was a great fit.

The goal of the project was to work collaboratively with their team and their web designer to:

map out the architecture for the new website,
ideate various homepage copy concepts, and
write copy for each page on the new website.

VST wanted to show up online in a warm and non-judgmental manner, and provide messaging that would help victims connect with support immediately. They also wanted to appeal to donors to increase annual donations. Equity and inclusivity was also very important to them.

The Solution

Inclusive Copy That Captured the Right Emotion and Tone

For several months, we worked closely with their team. This began with several meetings to understand their objectives, goals and new brand vision. From there, we mapped out how the content could be organized on their new website. The output of this exercise was a website architecture and detailed page-by-page content outlines. Here, it was important to provide pathways for their two main audiences: victims and donors.

After establishing how the content would flow, we got to work writing, starting with the homepage. We ideated several different headline options to capture the right emotion and tone, and ultimately landed on “No Victim Alone” as their headline copy. We paired this with a clear, descriptive and inclusive subhead: “Victim Services Toronto provides immediate, confidential support for any person who has experienced crime or sudden tragedy, 24/7.”

After the homepage copy was established, we went on to write the rest of the copy. This included a “Get Help Now” page, a series of pages on how to get involved, a donation page, and descriptions for each of their programs. We also standardized their team bios and helped to frame up with vision and mission statements.

After the copy was drafted, we conducted a review with their team, made a few last minute edits, and then provided a seamless handoff to their web designer.

The Result

An Impactful Website for an Organization Doing Hard But Important Work

The resulting website was a truly collaborative effort and demonstrated what can happen when a group of passionate people tackle a meaningful project together.

The design and copy work hand-in-hand to deliver impact and emotion. The website is clearly laid out and its content is easy to find and navigate. The client was thrilled with the end result, and we were grateful to have had the opportunity to support this organization that does so much for people in Toronto who have experienced the worst.