Nashville Employee-Owned Agency Took Top Honors in Advocacy or Awareness Campaign
(NASHVILLE, TN) Oct. 8, 2026 — 5by5, part of the 3LS Inc. family of employee-owned Changemaker companies, has won the Advocacy or Awareness Campaign category at PR Daily’s 2026 Nonprofit Communications Awards for its launch of charity: water’s Experience Lab in Franklin, Tennessee. The campaign also earned an Honorable Mention in the Multi-channel Campaign category. Winners were announced Sept. 30 at the Yale Club in New York City.
charity: water, who just marked 20 years of working to bring clean, safe water to the world, opened the Experience Lab in 2025 as an immersive, interactive space where visitors confront the global water crisis firsthand. 5by5 partnered with the organization to turn the launch into local momentum, national attention and donations. The agency focused on a high-intent audience in Franklin and the surrounding area, building a multichannel strategy that spanned digital, radio, out-of-home and sponsored advertising, influencer and media relations, original photo and video, and a World Water Day Water Walk in which community members carried jerry cans through downtown Franklin to the Lab’s doors.
The launch earned coverage in Forbes, The Tennessean, Nashville Lifestyles, nFocus Magazine, Southern Exposure Magazine and Williamson County Living, along with broadcast segments on Nashville’s NBC and Scripps affiliates, including Today in Nashville and NewsChannel 5. On the paid side, a digital ad package with the Williamson Herald reached more than 1.3 million visitors, and feature placements on VisitFranklin.com extended the campaign’s reach across the region.
The content also kept working long after launch day. Social ads built from 5by5’s photo and video assets drove more than 2,000 tour visits, making them the second-largest driver of public tour reservations at 33% of the total in 2025. As of September 2026, more than 13,000 people have toured the Experience Lab, and more than 1,000 new donors have joined charity: water through the experience.
“When people walked through downtown Franklin carrying jerry cans, they felt a small piece of what millions of families experience every day,” said Josh Miller, President of 5by5. “That’s what this campaign was about: bringing something that can feel like a far away crisis to their own backyard and giving them a clear way to be part of the solution. We’re proud of this recognition and grateful to charity: water for trusting us to help launch something this meaningful.”
“We could not have successfully launched the charity: water Experience Lab without our partnership with 5by5,” said charity: water Senior Director of Experience and Innovation, Brian Seay. “Their creative expertise in producing the videos and assets for our launch was key to bringing people through our doors, and their deep local relationships with media, event partners and influencers helped spread the word across Middle Tennessee. The success of our first year traces directly back to that partnership. This award is a win for both of our teams, and for every visitor who walked through the Lab and left ready to help bring clean water to people who need it.”
The award comes at two milestone moments for both organizations: charity: water just celebrated its 20th Anniversary and 5by5 the agency also earned five Telly Awards for its “It’s About Time” capital campaign for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which has raised more than $100 million toward a new Cancer Center and Research Institute. 5by5 has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list five times in seven years and has been named one of Nashville’s Largest Advertising Agencies by the Nashville Business Journal two years in a row. The recognition also arrives at the start of October’s Employee Ownership Month, a fitting moment for an agency whose employees share in the success of the work they create.
###
About 5by5
Part of the rapidly-growing 3LS family of employee-owned Changemaker companies, 5by5 is an award-winning marketing agency based in Nashville, TN. Born from one simple but heartfelt belief—organizations driven by change deserve access to the best marketing strategies, tools and implementation available anywhere. Some of the change maker clients it serves include Williamson Health, Tennessee Department of Health, Show Hope, Medi-Share, WIN Warehouse, Oakworth Capital Bank, charity:water and more. Visit 5by5agency.com to learn more.
About charity: water
charity: water is a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people around the world. With powerful storytelling and a radically transparent model that ensures 100% of every public donation funds clean water, charity: water has mobilized supporters from more than 150 countries to help end the water crisis. They work exclusively with experienced local partners to build sustainable, community-owned water projects and prove each one with innovative technology. Since 2006, charity: water has funded over 209,000 water projects in nearly 30 countries to help more than 21 million people get access to clean water, hygiene, and improved sanitation. For more information, visit charitywater.org.
About Ragan Communications and PR Daily
Ragan Communications has been delivering trusted news, training and intelligence for more than 60 years to internal and external communicators, HR professionals and business leaders. Its daily news sites, PRDaily.com and Ragan.com, are read by more than 600,000 internal and external communicators monthly.
