Sorina Vaziri grew up visiting Persian paradise gardens in Iran—lush green spaces filled with flowing water, fragrant flowers, and room to gather. When she moved to Mid-City Los Angeles, an area with few parks or public gardens, she dreamed of recreating that same sense of beauty and community connection.
After hosting a small backyard tea party, Vaziri realized her vision could extend beyond her own fence. She founded Teapot LA, a nonprofit offering hands-on art and culture workshops to the local community. Over five years, hundreds of volunteers and artists joined the mission. But the original dream—building the first public Persian garden in the United States—remained unfunded and out of reach.
When Teapot LA learned about a competitive grant that could provide the funding to finally build the garden, the team saw their opportunity. There was one catch: they needed community votes, and they needed a lot of them.
The challenge: Getting the community to act
The Teapot LA team sprang into action. They designed flyers featuring a Bitly QR Code that linked directly to the voting page and went door to door throughout Mid-City Los Angeles, leaving them with neighbors and local businesses.
The strategy seemed solid—QR Codes made voting easy, and Bitly’s tracking gave the team visibility into how many people were scanning. But the numbers were disappointing. Almost nobody was scanning the codes on the flyers. Without a change in strategy, they risked falling short of the votes needed to secure the grant.
The solution: A creative pivot
The Teapot LA team refused to give up. They reimagined their approach entirely.
Instead of handing out paper flyers that could be thrown away or forgotten, they created hand-painted wooden signs featuring Bitly QR Codes. Volunteers carried the signs door to door and encouraged neighbors to scan right then and there—while they were standing in front of them.
The difference was immediate. The wooden signs weren’t disposable—they were colorful, authentic, and reflected Teapot LA’s identity as an arts-and-culture organization. With the QR Codes easily trackable in the Bitly platform, the team could see the campaign gaining momentum in real-time.
The results: A landslide win
Thanks to their insights and smart adjustments, Teapot LA not only secured the grant but won it by a landslide—a total of $386,000 in funding. Now they’re preparing to build the first public Persian garden in the U.S.
“The best part was that we won by a landslide! No other organization was using Bitly, and we really attribute this to our success in the campaign.”
From missed scans to major wins
Why did Teapot LA’s second approach succeed where the first failed?
Immediacy: Flyers say “do this later.” Signs say “do this now.” By creating a sense of urgency, Teapot LA turned a passive reminder into an immediate call-to-action.
Experience: A photocopied flyer is easy to toss in the recycling bin. But a hand-painted wooden sign? That feels unique, meaningful, and hard to ignore. Teapot LA’s signs reflected the care and creativity of their mission, making the act of scanning feel like part of the experience.
Relatability: A sign doesn’t have to be hand-painted to feel authentic. The real key is resonance. Teapot LA’s signs spoke directly to their community, demonstrating what their work in art and culture was all about.
One thing Teapot LA got right from the beginning: they made everything trackable with Bitly QR Codes. Without the scan data, they might never have known their flyers weren’t working—and Vaziri’s dream of a Persian garden could still be just that: a dream.
Looking ahead
With the grant secured, Teapot LA is preparing to build the first public Persian garden in the United States—a long-awaited space for community, culture, and connection in Los Angeles. For Vaziri, Bitly QR Codes weren’t just a tool. They were the turning point that helped transform her nonprofit’s campaign into a success story, bringing her lifelong dream into reality.
Feeling inspired? Get started with Bitly for free and see how QR Codes can help you reach your goals.
