Serve is the country's only, all-volunteer, nonprofit advertising agency.

Serve Marketing is the country’s only, all-volunteer, nonprofit advertising agency, whose mission is to give underserved charitable causes a stronger voice in the community. Founded by Milwaukee ad man, Gary Mueller in 2002, Serve volunteers have created behavior-changing public service campaigns for over 100 local and national nonprofits on issues ranging from teen homelessness, domestic violence and human trafficking to teen pregnancy, STD prevention and infant mortality. Causes that aren’t hot. That aren’t sexy. And that don’t have a lot of money. Serve’s provocative brand of work is sometimes controversial, but it gets people to notice and talk about these silent causes, which leads to an increase in awareness, volunteerism and funding. To date, Serve has donated over $18 million of in-kind creative, media, web, PR, print and broadcast production and strategic planning services to non-profits.

"Serve enables charitable organizations to do good on a higher level."

Gary Mueller

Executive-VP, Creative Director-BVK; Founder/Volunteer Creative Director-Serve

Gary has won virtually every creative advertising award imaginable, from the prestigious Cannes Lion to the Clio’s. His work has appeared in four advertising textbooks and his commercials have shown up around the globe on prime time television specials such as CNN’s World’s Greatest Commercials and Fox’s World’s Funniest Advertising. Gary is most proud of his public service efforts, however. As the founder of Serve, the country’s first completely volunteer, not-for-profit ad agency he has helped hundreds of underserved non-profits to find a strong voice. His marketing efforts have helped causes ranging from domestic abuse, teen pregnancy and epilepsy, to child sexual violence, teen homelessness and colorectal cancer. He has served on the boards of 6 different non-profit organizations, including the Shaken Baby Association and the Brain Injury Association of Wisconsin. He has four incredible children and one very supportive wife.

Types of Public Service Campaigns We Do:

Long Term

Campaigns are usually sustained efforts that run from 1-5 years and are updated from year to year. They typically are comprehensive in nature and integrate all forms of media. These campaigns typically have a sustained funding source.

Short Term

Campaigns are typically 1-2 months long and utilize fewer and more targeted media tactics. They are timelier in nature, often coinciding with a particular fund-raising effort, issue-oriented month or crisis media topic. These campaigns may lead to long-term efforts.

Some of the Groups We've Served

City of Milwaukee Health Department

Center for Blind and Visually Impaired

Know Before You Mow

Pathfinders Teen Homeless Shelter

Shaken Baby Association

See all our clients

Do you want to work with Serve?

Serve works to promote under-served non-profit causes. We prefer to start with local organizations first, that also represent an issue that is under-served from a marketing-standpoint on a national scale as well. Our passion is working with women, children and minority issues, with a special emphasis on health-related causes. Learn more about working with serve

Serve's Goals

1. Educate non-profit organizations on how to effectively communicate and market their cause. 2. Create a national model that would inspire other advertising and marketing professionals to give back. 3. Create a community of marketing, media, business and retired professionals who are committed to solving the marketing challenges of the under-served. 4. Increase awareness about the plight of under-served non-profits locally and nationally, and the need for increased private and corporate support of these orphan causes. 5. Assist in funding cause-related marketing campaigns for organizations that cannot fund themselves, as well as find cause branding partnerships with for-profit companies. 6. Leave a legacy of giving to the greater good that is actively promoted and passed down to generation.