Habitat for Humanity

“We have to acknowledge that a lot of charities do a lousy job at showing gratitude to donors.”

John Lepp, Agents of Good

The Challenge

In honour of Mother’s Day, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region asked several mothers to express their gratitude towards their donors, thanking them for their contribution to the organization.

Not-for-profit organizations are faced with the challenge of standing out in a crowded space. Habitat for Humanity Waterloo had been working with Agents of Good, a collective of creative storytellers that works with charities to help them with their individual giving and direct response programs and appreciation.

Because many of the people supported by Habitat for Humanity are mothers, Agents of Good proposed a Mother’s Day video.

“There was a nice sort of tie-in there, and we wanted donors to be plugged in to that, the difference they made. The video was something way different than they are used to seeing and feeling.”

John Lepp

Our Approach

Developed in conjunction with Agents of Good, our approach for this project was to show the significance of what a home means to a family. We filmed scenes with several mothers and their children, helping viewers see what happens behind people’s doors – the precious family moments that are experienced at home. The video concludes with each of the mothers directly saying ‘thank you’ to the viewers, which created a very authentic expression of gratitude.

The Results

Initially, it was rolled out to select donor groups at events. With all audiences, it has been generating a strong emotional response from viewers, and has been very well received. If the measured metric was how many people it brought to tears, it’s been a success. Additionally, even after several years, this video continues to be effective and create anemotional connection between audiences. This supports Atomic Spark’s ‘story first’ approach to production.

“I think there’s the feeling that video is expensive. People ask us, especially as it relates to our Mother’s Day video, ‘well surely the production value must have been a fortune!’. No it wasn’t actually… part of it is finding the right partners who realize the importance of this kind of storytelling. I think there’s a lot more space in the market, especially in fundraising for more video work. I’d love to see more of it.”