Getting to the Heart of an Organization

We encourage organizations to start the program of their event with a video that we call the ‘who we are’ piece. It’s a great way to dim the lights and bring the attention of the room together. It’s also an easy way to tell the story of your organization in a condensed and engaging format so that everyone in the room is on the same page.

Often organizations come back to us and tell us about their budget constraints and the idea that there isn’t resource enough for a second video if they are already using video for their special appeal. But if you have photos and a computer, you can make a video that tells the story of your organization.

We made a video for PlayWrite@10, an anniversary gala for an arts non-profit in Portland. All we used were some photos that they already had on their website, some simple text and a great song that set the emotional trajectory we were looking for.

We started with the words first. What is good for a grant, may not be the best thing for storytelling. We looked at why this organization does what it does. We looked at what was the beating heart at its core. That process was about stripping away all of the jargon and program language and cutting to what the organization does on the simplest level: it listens to stories of young writers and facilitates them telling those stories on stage.

With a very simple script in place, we matched photos of their writers to the text. We made the story about the young writers involved. Showed them thinking, writing, playing, smiling and taking a bow for their work. We told a simple story in words and images that in just over two minutes told why PlayWrite does the very important work it does. Showed the faces of the lives it impacts every day.

The video worked really well at the event. It also worked really well for staff, encouraging them to simplify how they talk about their organization and to focus on the program’s emotional impact. It put the young writers front and center.

And the video can have a long life after the event. Staff and board members can play it on a tablet when meeting with donors to quickly engage them. It can become a multi-media piece to add to appeal emails and post-event electronic recaps to attendees. It can become your elevator speech. When you turn on the screen, people pay attention.

Take it as a challenge. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and see if you can get to the beating heart of your organization in 150 words. Let go of what you usually say, let go of what the website says, let go of language you’ve inherited. Pretend your audience is someone that has never heard of you. What would you tell them?