Fundraising Videos

A friend of mine once said when talking about video projects, ‘Fix it in planning.’ I can’t think of a better way to sum up this video we produced for Youth Services of Tulsa.

Youth Services provides life changing services and programs for children and young adults. We produced this video for their annual fundraiser. Our goal for the project was to show real life examples of how Youth Services impacts lives. We decided to profile three former clients but instead of the traditional sit down interviews we asked each former client to write a thank you letter to Youth Services and read them on camera.

By telling the story in this style we’re allowing the former clients the opportunity to say anything they want to say in any way they want to say it. It gives the tone of the video a sense of authenticity and realism.

We started planning for this project nine months before the actual event. The first step was to identify the three former clients. Because of privacy issues that role fell solely to Youth Services. They took about two months to properly vet the right people. During that time I scouted some locations to shoot the “interviews”. We wanted something that was simple, friendly looking and not too busy. After considering a couple of homes with nice living rooms we eventually decided on a studio in downtown Tulsa. We liked the look of the brick wall plus from a production point of view it had plenty of space for our equipment.

Once Youth Services found the former clients I did a preinterview with them to find out more about their story. During that preinterview we talked about their letter and I made some suggestions in terms of its structure. It’s important to note I didn’t tell them what words to use or what emotions they should convey. That was left entirely up to each person.

We shot them reading their letters about five months before the fundraiser which gave us plenty of time to edit. It took a few months to put everything together and make sure the video was polished and looked the best it could be. It was very nice having that much time to edit. I pride myself on being able to turn videos around quickly but given the choice I’d rather have a few months to get everything done. It just makes the video look all that much better.

In addition to this full length video we also delivered three vignettes. Each vignette featured just one of the former clients and told only their story. Youth Services of Tulsa had four pieces of content to share with the vignettes and full length video

This video took a lot of work but it was more than worth it!

Client review-

“It was an absolute pleasure to work with Dan! He is a consummate professional, flexible, creative and an excellent storyteller. As a non-profit that works with vulnerable youth, there is no one I'd rather work with. Dan tells stories sensitively and conscientiously, puts our clients at ease, and helps us share these important stories with our community.”

Caroline Olsen, Youth Services of Tulsa

The Tristesse Grief Center is a one of a kind nonprofit in Tulsa. It provides counseling to adults and children who have lost a loved one. It provides individual and group therapy as well as unique therapy designed specifically for children.

We produced this video for its annual gala and helped raise more than $150,000. We started this project with our Video Marketing Workshop where we discussed goals and the best way to achieve them through video. Our plan was to profile two families who lost a loved one and used the Grief Center to help navigate through the pain. We shot video of both families at the Grief Center using some of the counseling services. We also shot video of a group counseling session.

Our goal throughout the production was to be sensitive to the emotions of the family members. We made sure that a representative from the Grief Center, specifically a therapist, was present during the interviews. We talked with the families before the interviews as well to explain how the process worked. We also made sure that they saw the video before the gala so they knew what to expect on the night of the event.

In the end, the video helped the Grief Center raise more than $150,000 at the gala. It will also be used for other fundraising efforts moving forward.

We partnered with the Tulsa Housing Authority to produce this video that helped it get a $50million grant.

This project was incredibly unusual. We were able to plan, shoot, edit, and deliver these videos in less than three weeks. To put that in perspective, I normally like to plan on at least a month (sometimes two months) for a three minute video to come together.

The plan was to produce one long-form video explaining Tulsa’s history and why the north side of town had become neglected over the years. It was also a showcase for what the Tulsa Housing Authority would do with the money if it received the grant. In addition to the long-form video we also needed some shorter vignette’s that spotlighted specific items for which the grant money would be used.

Thankfully the weather was perfect and we were able to shoot all of the b-roll and the interviews we needed in about three days. So what would normally take a couple of weeks to plan and organize took us less than four days to do!

We knew the long-form video would need a narrator and I went with my good friend and talented voiceover artist Brooke Hyden. Her voice really gives the video depth.

Once everything was shot and the voiceover recorded it was time to edit. The editing includes sound design and creating the graphics. It can take me anywhere from 4-10 hours to edit a typical three minute video but in this case I spent three days non-stop putting all four of the videos together.

This project shows what can happen when you get to do something you love with people who are passionate and dedicated. It’s humbling to have played a small part in the process to help the Tulsa Housing Authority receive this grant.

Family & Children’s Services wanted a video for its in-person fundraising event, Brainiac Ball. Before we started any planning, the first thing they told me was that they wanted the video to make people cry and be inspired to support through resources or donations.

We started the production process four months before the event with our Video Marketing Workshop to plan the look and feel of the video. Our system helped them determine they wanted the video to tug on the heartstrings while telling a personal story.

By the end of the Workshop, we decided to tell the stories of three children who had used the programs at Family & Children’s Services to improve their lives. Due to privacy issues, we couldn’t use an actual child client on camera. We determined that using actors to portray the children was the best course. Each actor would tell the success story of a real family. (Our child actors, by the way, were amazing!)

Creatively, we wanted to keep things simple on camera. No crazy edits or flashy movements. Just the actor telling their story.

We decided to visually show the child’s transition from before using Family & Children’s Services to after by going from black and white to color. Everything before is depicted in black and white and everything after is in color, with a slow dissolve as the actor talks about their life changing because of Family & Children’s Services.

We also included some b-roll of the child in happier times to further illustrate how much their life has changed.

This project was a lot of fun to work on and the people at Family & Children’s Services couldn’t have been more amazing to partner with. I love how they were open to doing things a little different in order to produce a memorable video.

Youth Services of Tulsa is a non profit that helps kids and young adults in Tulsa. We produced this video for a live fundraising event. After the video was shown YST raised $186,000.

We started the production process with our Video Marketing Workshop to plan the look and feel of the video. Our system helped YST determine that instead of a video highlighting specific programs at Youth Services we should actually profile a former client and show how Youth Services changed her life. We also determined it was best to keep the video focused on the clients, so as a way to broaden the story we included a montage featuring current clients with big smiles and happy faces holding a Youth Services logo.

What I really like about this video is how it’s different than your usual run-of-the-mill fundraising video. It stays laser focused on the clients, the people who actually use Youth Services to improve their lives. I firmly believe viewers remember how they felt not what they learned. We could’ve included a detailed look at programs or specific services but by sticking only with the clients we showed the positive impact Youth Services has on kids and young adults in the community. Viewers are much more likely to remember the joy they witnessed from the clients than any list or description of services.

In addition to this main video we also delivered three shorter videos for social media. Those videos each focused on one aspect showing how Youth Services changed Desiree’s life

Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster Video

This project was five months in the making. It started in November of 2022 when Recovering Oklahomans After Disaster (R.O.A.D.) demolished the Sollars family home. Over the next five months we followed the construction progress as a new home was built from the ground up.

R.O.A.D. wanted the video to cover two topics. One was the construction of the new home and the other was to show R.O.A.D.’s mission to help people whose home were damaged due to a natural disaster.

We were focused on producing a video that would show how the Sollars’ life was changed thanks to R.O.A.D. as opposed to a video showing how to build a new home. To achieve this we decided early in the project that we didn’t need to shoot every detail of the construction. Instead, we targeted a few specific days to shoot video and then used still pictures from R.O.A.D. to create a time-lapse showing the home being built.

We interviewed the Sollars family about halfway through the construction. I knew that we would also get to talk to them the day they took possession of the new house so during our first interview I was mostly focused on the history of the house and why they needed a new one. I didn’t ask many questions about what they thought of the construction since I knew their emotions could be different once the home was finished.

On the big reveal day I made sure I got there before the Sollars did in order to get some b-roll of the exterior and interior of the house. I knew going in that final day how I would tell the story. I thought it was important to draw the viewer in early and show the Sollars family reaction to the new home first without showing too much of the home itself.

The raw emotion of Curtis Sollars was intense and I knew it would cause the viewer to want to see how we got to that point. After the short introduction the story backtracked a bit to explain what R.O.A.D. is and what it does. The story then transitioned into the building of the home and why the Sollars continued to live in it. Finally, ending with the big reveal and showing the Sollars taking possession of the home and allowing the viewer to see the home for themselves.

I find stories like this to be especially effective as we simply show the Sollars’ emotional reaction to their new home. This kind of storytelling has a much bigger impact than just being full of information about R.O.A.D. It’s sure to stay with the viewer much longer.