Case Study: Clients: DCEC “Moms & Mimosas” Video Project
Creativity | Community | Clients: 3C’s Case Study
This is a 3C’s Case Study examining the needs of our client DCEC and how to use storytelling and video to achieve the fundraising goals.
Background
The Developmental Center for Exceptional Children (DCEC) was founded in 1974 by Kristina Radcliff. Kristina saw a desperate need in her community and created DCEC to provide services to children often overlooked or ignored. In the days before children with special needs and disabilities received services in the public school system, DCEC provided care and instruction to children from birth to age thirteen.
Since relocating to the Westside Community Center in 2014, enrollment has more than tripled. DCEC has grown to become a vital part of the greater Anderson County community. DCEC’s outreach efforts have created strong partnerships and engagement from the community, and continue to grow and be holistic in the services provided to these exceptional children.
Promotional Video (Unveiled at Moms & Mimosas Event – May 2019)
Goal of Project
The goal of this video project, to create a video showcasing the story inside DCEC with the narrative highlighting the parent’s perspective. The second goal of the video was to showcase the inside of the facility, creating a virtual tour while showcasing the interaction between the children, the staff, and the parents. Bottom-line, create a compelling video story to be used as a fundraising tool during the 2019 “Moms & Mimosas” event; where roughly 300 women from the community would attend and potentially give.
Production
This project was a simple video production process were all the content was captured over two, separate half-days. The first on-site half-day production was to capture the interviews with the parents. Since this video was focused on fundraising, it was important to keep the narrative focused on the parents who could provide third party testimonials speaking directly to potential funders and the community at-large.
The interviews were captured using a two camera approach:
1) Canon EOS c100 – Interview camera with boom microphone
2) Canon EOS 5Dmkiv – Second angle camera for a close-up of the face for expressions.
The “broll” footage was captured during a second, half-day production. This allowed us to capture the parents and the children interacting with the staff. We used a small DJI OSMO+ so that the camera would not overwhelm the children. Given the fact these children had certain differing abilities, we did not want them to focus on large production cameras. So we chose the DJI OSMO+ as a portable camera, stabilized providing a beautiful 4K image and smooth movement.
We ultimately edited this video project using the Adobe CC leveraging Premiere Pro, Audition, and Media Encoder. This project was produced in 1080p and delivered online and for an in-person event.
Client Testimonial (Laura Capell: Director of Marketing and Development)
Results
This video project was unveiled at our annual spring fundraiser in May 2019 – “Moms & Mimosas”. This was DCECE’s largest attendance since the initial event creation 4 years prior. An audience of approximately 300 professional women attended the 2019 brunch, fashion show and auction. It is estimated that 25 – 30 percent were first time attendees. The 2019 event raised 34% percent more in revenue than the previous year (approximately $7,500).
From Laura Capell, Director of Marketing and Development:
This video project has also been utilized on DCEC’s social media channels and attached as part of grant applications submitted to multiple Foundations. It is also showcased on our new website – launched in October 2019. The posting of the video on social media has shown a 52% increase in click thru activity to our website and special event pages. It also showed an overall engagement (likes, comments and shares) increase of 78% compared to other posts.
Total dollars awarded from funders where the video was submitted as part of the proposal or applications comes to $34,800 as of July 2020. This amount does not include individual or corporate donations that may have viewed the video prior to their donation.
We know that sharing the stories of the children and families that we serve through video storytelling is one of the most effective marketing tools for our organization.