VIRTUAL VIDEO BRINGS IN $60K IN DONATIONS FOR DESIGNS FOR DIGNITY
On September 30th, Designs for Dignity celebrated their 20th Anniversary “Virtual Celebration”
ABOUT D4D
Designs for Dignity is a Chicago nonprofit, that transforms nonprofit environments through pro bono design services and in-kind donations – “empowering lives through design”. Their team was gearing up to celebrate 20 years of commitment to creating restorative environments for nonprofit service organizations and at-risk populations. Their mission aims to serve marginalized communities by harnessing the talents and resources of the design community at large to provide spaces that inspire hope and dignity as well as interaction and engagement. Using the power of design, Designs for Dignity has positively impacted hundreds of thousands of lives by transforming 250+ nonprofit spaces and leveraging $17+ million in pro-bono design services & donated materials.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Designs for Dignity celebrated its 20th Anniversary virtually this year! Although the event could not be held in person, D4D and JV Studios collaborated to create an event that was suited for the times while still honoring their accomplishments: a virtual celebration! We brought the 20th Anniversary to the guests in the comfort of their own homes!
The event featured a virtual silent auction and raffle, as well as live appeal via Facebook and YouTube Live. The organization premiered its 20th Anniversary Video produced by JV Studios! The virtual event was a first for Designs for Dignity, the small grassroots nonprofit in Chicago. The event raised over $60,000 in donations that evening and with the support of sponsors the grand tally was over $135,000 to support the mission of Designs for Dignity.
WORDS FROM THE '“CEO”
"Working with the JV Studios team was an awesome experience, especially throughout COVID-19. What would normally be a typical video production pivoted to zoom interviews and photo montages to encapsulate what 20 years of impact for Chicago's nonprofits looks like...the JV Studios team knocked it out of the park. John and Vince are true artists...they take into consideration all the details and truly know how to tell a story and execute our shared vision for 20 years of impact. The team is real and they understand the importance of getting your message across to our donors and supporters”.
- Jennifer Sobecki, CEO of Designs for Dignity.
THE CHALLENGE
With the event being held virtually for the first time ever, it was important the video still evoked emotion and contained the right amount of “call to action”.
When taking this project on, we were posed with a few challenging thoughts:
How can we film and record remotely without actually being in person to do so?
How can we bring what used to be a 500+ in-person event into the homes of donors and participants virtually?
How can we spread the Designs for Dignity 20th Anniversary message to all attendees in a virtual video?
VIRTUAL VIDEO PRODUCTION PROCESS
As we began pre-production, we decided to use Zoom, a cloud-based peer-to-peer software platform used for teleconferencing, telecommuting, distance education, and social relations to conduct all of our meetings. Since we could record HD video and audio directly from the software, we felt this option was efficient and user friendly for all participants. Once we figured out who we were going to be interviewing, we set aside two half-days with specific time slots for speakers to sign up.
During the recording process, our team facilitated all of the interviews. We also had the ability to co-host the interviews with Jennifer Sobecki and Sabrina Vodnik, CEO and design advisor, on the conference calls to ensure the questions were being answered to the fullest.
When it came time to edit the video, we took the strongest segments from each speaker and compiled a sequence that told the story of Design for Dignity’s 20th Anniversary. Once our storyline was established, we began sprinkling in the b-roll elements to help tie the video together. Since we couldn’t capture live b-roll to use for the video, we had to utilize assets from the D4D team including archived photos, project renderings, and company statistics. Our team played a vital role in creating animated graphics and building out photo montage sequences to keep viewers attention. The graphics were created using Adobe After Effects and rendered through Adobe Premiere Pro.
Since everything was done remotely and there were a lot of working parts to the video, it was very important that our communication with our client was as clear as could be. With the help of Vimeo’s video review tools, Jen & Sabrina we were able to efficiently mark any changes or additions needed directly on the video and we were able to get the video exactly where they wanted it to be just in time for their event!
THE FINAL RESULT
MAKE A DONATION
It’s not too late to donate to Designs for Dignity's 20th Anniversary. The funds raised allow D4D to continue its commitment to empowering lives through design. Designs for Dignity will leverage over $1 million dollars in donated furnishings and materials and pro-bono design hours this year. In order to continue our impact in serving the greater Chicago nonprofit community, we depend on the generosity of many. Corporate and private tax-deductible contributions serve as the catalyst for our transformative work. Click here to donate.
