Habi­tat for Human­i­ty: Hap­py Mother’s Day video

Exhibited by
John Lepp, Agents of Good
Added
January 17, 2019
Medium of Communication
Video
Target Audience
Donors
Type of Charity
Poverty/social justice, public/society benefit.
Country of Origin
Canada
Date of first appearance
May 2017

SOFII’s view

We know thanking your donors is a crucial aspect of running a great fundraising campaign but this video by Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region in Canada is extra special. By featuring actual beneficiaries in their video, they bring donors closer to the cause they support. The emotional value is extraordinary and likely to ensure continued donations because donors will know what a difference they have actually made.

Creator / originator

Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region with Agents of Good and Atomic Spark, a video production company.

Summary / objectives

We were asked by Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region to come up with a gratitude video for their donors just in time for Mother’s Day, on the 14th of May 2017.

Our goal was to create a short video featuring some of the real moms and kids that have been helped by donors in the past few years. This was shot on location at one of the Habitat builds with some of the real family moms. 

Thanks to the wonderful work of video production company Atomic Spark, we captured some real moments that donors made possible. Thanks to Habitant for Humanity for allowing us to share some #donorlove with their donors. 

Habitat was having a gratitude event for donors right before Mother’s Day at a community movie theatre and premiered this video to kick it off.

Founded in 1988, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region (Habitat WR) is a nonprofit organisation working toward a world where everyone has a decent and affordable place to call home. Habitat WR brings communities together to help families build strength, stability and independence through affordable home ownership.  With the help of volunteers, donors, and community partners, they provide a solid foundation for low income families in Waterloo Region, Canada. 

Focused on providing a hand up and not a hand out, Habitat WR partners with families willing to complete a specific number of volunteer hours, known as ‘sweat equity’ and to repay an interest-free mortgage.

Special characteristics

I had wanted to do a video like this for sometime since most of the ‘gratitude’ videos were just random or abstract video with a ton of stats and a thank you at the end. Really unmoving. We had looked at getting them personalised for emails to donors - but it was cost prohibitive at the time so we couldn’t.

What was special about this campaign was the use of real beneficiaries, mothers and their children, in the video, bringing Habitat WR’s donors closer to those they are helping.

Other relevant information

The budget was CA$3,000. Results are to be confirmed, but the main aim was to thank donors.

Builders working on a house
Two families benefiting from a Habitat for Humanity scheme in Canada