This is how to ask for money – give vision to your tribe!

This concept is simple (Tell your Story) but it’s not easy. Every September, I look forward to hearing Scott Harrison tell me all the really incredible things that friends of charity:water have been doing over the last year. Seeing peers, families and kids get exited about making an impact in a community half way around the world is incredible – plus it doesn’t hurt when cute kids are putting on a lemonade stand for water projects either.

Conventional (or entrenched) wisdom would say that we need to make sure there’s a regular appeal letter, a response device and we need to wait 3 weeks to see how it does. Get some data returned and then look how else we can “engage” our print audience.

Can you imagine if charity:water did that?

I can’t – it would be against their DNA. They’ve never been a conventional charity, YAY!

Check out their website (it changes during this campaign- because it’s how they got started, they’re using every piece of communication to reinforce their position)

This design is so simple and extremely intentional. It’s pretty but the primary function of the webpage is quick connection and helping site visitors become participants in water projects.

But that’s them…. and you work at a more conventional charity and to mix it up too much could be disastrous.. What can we learn? Here’s a couple of tips.

Tell your story
Don’t just tell the stories of those your impacting make sure your organization doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. It’s crucial to share your impact but make sure you’re consistently sharing with your audiences about why you’re active and why you’ve chosen this work versus others.

Film, Film, Film
Hire/partner with a filmmaker – and I don’t mean the guy down the street with a camera. I mean a professional that works withclients all the time. I’ve found that the best filmmakers to collaborate with have big dreams and don’t feel that client work is their endgame. They are pushing themselves and their company to be bigger, as a result, they are always learning and a position of learning means that they’ll have a careful eye on how to make your next film project. (PS if you’re nervous about it, I’ve got a great list of companies that I enjoy working with – just email me dan@portnoymediagroup.com)

A Clear Ask
One of the new trends is to kind of ask or soft ask. (Have a response device in a mailer but don’t draw attention to it.) It’s confusing. Ask your tribe or don’t. Give them information and thank them, tell them a story or an update but when it’s time to ask don’t “shuffle your feet”. “Do or do not. There is no try?”- Yoda Don’t apologize for raising money to save someones life! When you pause or don’t ask with confidence it can communicate a lot of extra negatives. Either you’re being a good steward with your funds and you can ask with confidence for the ability to carry on this work or you’ve abused this relationship and you’re unsure if this should continue.

Adjust Across Platforms
The web needs to reflect your campaigns. This sounds simple, and it is, but too many times the website is taking a backseat to the agency running a print campaign. remember, you can get more data in 30 minutes from a facebook post (with a vibrant community) than you will on how a mailer responded. (it’s easier for charity:water – to my knowledge they don’t have a regular mailing list, just email)

Community
How are you building it around your project. You have to show the peer to peer influence – don’t just give me some stats – that’s lame. Show me how a human was impacted and made an adjustment in their life for your cause. That will help your community know that this is the kind of action you’re looking for. Read Dan and Chip Heath’s book “Switch” they call it: Highlighting the bright spots.

Ditch the Text
How much text on the charity:water homepage is above the fold? Not that much. Bold statements and a video. This short film will do more than 3 pages of text could ever do to communicate a story. Now look at your website. I run into a lot of NPO’s trying to communicate everything that they do all at the same time. That’s not story telling, it’s asking people to drink from a fire hose and how long would you hang around if that’s all you could do. It’s not connection – it’s offensive. Don’t be offensive.. but you know that already.

Congratulations to Scott Harrison and the team at charity:water for hitting another homerun. I admire your work and you’re all top shelf in my book.

Breaking this information down and getting it working for your organization is what Portnoy Media does best. So if this is feeling like a lot and you’re interested in telling your story better and developing community around your brand – give us a shout. Nonprofits, over 40% of your annual revenue is less than 120 days away!!

Office Number 626.487.9823

Tuesday’s launch of comedian Michael Jr’s “O1″ video on Funny or Die.com was a great one for us at PMG. The sketch made it all the way to the homepage as one of their trending videos.

Here’s a picture:

With nearly 1,000 views in just 48 hours since it’s launch – we’re thrilled to be producing collaborative high quality shorts. Plus, Michael is bringing the funny!

Watch the short here.. and don’t forget to vote!

Ben Stiller and Stiller Foundation launched a video 2 weeks back about an organization involving Jennifer Aniston and the idea of her being naked. This video preys on the natural behavior on the web (that many people want to see her naked) and give it the old Bait and Switch (because she’s not going to be naked) I’m sure this results in some serious clicks.

Sadly, clicks are not the name of the game when it comes to donor development and brand champions. This video is a great grab for acquisition to a whole bunch of people that probably don’t get asked to help kids in Haiti. (Which is fantastic!) Here’s a breakdown on the video launch.

What he did that was great:

Splash – Using the star power super effectively, Stiller uses his and that of Anistons for fun and with purpose. I applaud Stiller for the brash nature of what he’s doing. The status quo is not getting it done in Haiti so bucking the system is a great start.

A Talkable Video – It’s highly sharable and because of the nature of the video saw exposure on morning talk shows and lots of blog posts. So many nonprofits just communicate facts and forget that they’re crafting a narrative around their brand. Stiller knows this and doesn’t forget.

What could’ve been better:

Nonprofit Youtube Channel – There’s great use of title cards at the end. They show where you can connect to the Stiller Foundation but it would’ve been super hot to allow users to just click the annotations in the video. I’ve written about Annotations inside YouTube videos before (Thanks again for talking about it Weber Shandwick, call me!) and they put a potential donor really close to engagement in your campaigns. Any 501(c)3 can apply for one at google.com/nonprofits

What’s Next? – The question that is always asked. If I do decide to visit the site, the call to action is to support the foundation financially, also a bold move, but it looks like that’s it. There’s connection if I want to click to facebook or twitter (also good) but what about a call to join the email list? Is there an email list?? I couldn’t find one easily. What if in that email was a system of 2-4 auto-responders that explained why Ben felt so strongly to spend his money, effort and energy in this idea. That’s a great story and you’d have me hooked and I’d guess a lot more people too.

Interesting to note:

Impact – With nearly 2 Million followers on Twitter I’d expect a 2 week old video to have more impressions (call me picky). It’s a great video (for reasons mentioned above) but it tells me that the impact for cause related media is not why many of his followers are there. I’d be thinking through how to convert them from observers to participants.

PS. My favorite role of Stiller has to be Tony Perkis in Heavyweights.

A prequel to the Ocean’s franchise – Michael Jr shows what it looks like before Danny Ocean was involved.

As a continuation in his series of cinematic shorts like Blackberry, “O1″ takes it to the next level of funny.

Portnoy Media produced the video, coordinated the shoot and brought in top notch talent to make it possible.

We’re pleased to continue our partnership with Michael Jr. Check out his site here

the crew at Cool It are giving away a Cool It Prize Pack – The film on DVD and the book The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg. Lomborg is known for going against the flow in the modern debate of carbon footprints and green activities that the world should be investing in. As a result, he’s become terribly popular and infamous at the same time.

So sign up today to win the prize pack – the email itself is full of small things that subscribers can do in their day to day that helps the environment and doesn’t hurt your wallet.

Cool It is released by 1019 Entertainment – a venture from Terry Botwick (Veggie Tales) and Ralph Winter (X-Men, Planet of the Apes)

This is a repost of Dan’s blog published earlier this week. It got some attention this week from some great people over at The High Calling and we thought we’d share it again.

Recently, the business side of my brain is adjusting. Adjusting to accommodate change. It would seem that I’m forever refining what I’m working on, sometimes because it would be nice but mostly out of necessity. With all the adjustments and stretching I’ve been going through I’ve been encouraged by a documentary this week and you should know it.

Foo Fighters – Back and Forth

After 7 studio albums, packed crowds for world tours and millions of records sold, it’s easy to look at Foo Fighters as a success. What I didn’t realize was the struggle they’ve had since their inception 16 years ago. Nothing seemed handed to them, instead most circumstances seemed conflicted. I’m sure it din’t hurt Dave Grohl that he had massive success in his last band but since he was starting on a different instrument and in a different role, it was a whole new ball game.

It’s a great documentary walking through each of the albums and the backstory behind each member of the band. With highlights on each person that was added and those who quit, were forced out or asked to leave. Huge drama unfolding on the MTV stage for all the world to see. As you’d imagine there’s lots of musical gems for anyone who’s been following their career for a while and the people around the band like Butch Vig and Eddie Vedder.

The part that struck me the most was just months after Kurt Cobains suicide and the dissolving of Nirvana, Grohl gets a phone call from Tom Petty and is asked to join the Heartbreakers. The screen fills with footage of Grohl actually playing with the band on Saturday Night Live in 1994. An Dave recounts that he had to make a tough decision; to play drums with Tom Petty and idol of his or start trying to do something with this demo tape he recorded all on his own where he’d be the front man/guitar player.

It’s a classic decision that we all get in do I stay with the comfortable shoes or do I swing for the fences. It’s a battle of “I took the road less traveled by and that made all the difference.” (Robert Frost) versus “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” (Thoreau).

When I hear that the struggle to know the right answer in those circumstances hits all of us… it’s so encouraging. Don’t put pressure on yourself to know the answer right off the bat instead of going 12 rounds with the idea and figuring out how it’s going to work.

So start lacing up your shoes and tape up your hands. Make a decision:  Will you stay with what you’ve already done and not experience anything new or buckle your emotional safety belt and go for the gusto? Let’s know what “made all the difference” together.

Also see this documentary, it’s great story especially if you dig on the Seattle music scene in the 90′s.

The latest film from Deidox released today, the second international film in the series. The short film is the true story of a Burmese refugee now living in Thailand who finds a strength that only comes from God.

Producer Dave Mahanes and Director Brent Gudgel have teamed up for the 7th installment in the Deidox series.  Also rounding out the crew for the film are Chris Sinclair (cinematographer), Jordan Innes (editor), Jeremiah Belt (color correctionist), & Joshua Myers (music composer), and Gade Maxka (Thailand line producer and translator).

Over the last two years the deidox series has been challenging (Li Yang), gritty (Deon), and full of hope (Lindsay).  A study guide and bonus features from behind the scenes are included with each digital download.

The price range is $1.99 (iPod) to $24.99 (HD)

Check out Pii Chui by clicking here.

Another great collaboration of Portnoy Media Group with Out:think Group to make the launch fast and painless.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 10 days, you’ve heard about Inception. Last week I sat in the theater and was blown away by the film but what stuck me the most while watching gorgeous scene after scene was the score. It was alive, it was it’s own character. Track after track of emotions ranging from curiosity to true love – all with an intense undercurrent of maglev train going 90 mph across the Japanese countryside.

I had to talk to an expert about all that I was experiencing, so I looked up Josh Myers. Producer, composer and general brilliant music guy and asked him a little about the process of composing for films.

As a composer, are there any steps you take when you’re starting a project?

That depends entirely on the client and at what stage they bring me onto the project. It rarely happens, but I prefer to be brought on early enough to read the script a few times and take a few weeks to really absorb the story. That way I can create themes and sketches and try to set a musical landscape before seeing a single image. And all that work may very well be thrown out the window in post, but it’s a useful process for me.

What kind of research is involved?

Usually lots of music listening. If the story is set in Greece the director might want music which reflects that. It’s different every time, so I have to do my research. In that case reading about Greek music history and listening to loads of music. And then finding session players that can pull it off authentically.

When do you typically get involved when writing a piece? At picture lock or before?

Totally varies from project to project. I prefer to start scoring after picture lock.

How do you go about crafting a musical pallet to coincide with a visual piece?

It’s just a gut feeling really, and it depends so much on budget. I love using live instruments, but I rarely have the funds to hire an orchestra. So most of the time I’m limited to solo instruments, midi instruments and the instruments I can play myself.

In the recent film, Inception, I found the music just striking in scene after scene – what’s your take?

I loved it. Hans Zimmer is a genius, continually reinventing himself. That last cue of the film is simply mind-blowing. I love it when the guitar comes in. The perfect sound for a perfect ending.

Who are some of your favorite composers and why?

I love Debussy for his textures, Stravinsky for his rhythms, John Williams for his melodies, Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, and anyone who can introduce something new to these ears.

Josh Myers is currently working on projects for Discovery Channel, Deidox, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ireland-based radio station, and a feature documentary entitled A Highway Called 301.

Here’s a live performance of Hans Zimmer’s Inception (on Guitar is Johnny Marr of The Smiths)

Today launched the 6th film from the creative team of Brent Gudgel and Dave Mahanes. The latest film, Deidox | Alyssa, gives us the glimpse of a girl in Simi Valley, CA walking us through part of her life. The idea of faith takes on a very real component in this short film and is anything but cheesy. The short clocks in at 4:37 was shot on Canon 5D and 7D.

This is another triumph for the creative team at Chronicle Project. What struck me the most throughout the film is the sound. Josh Myers (Cinecue, Burn the Stereo) has done an incredible job to capture the tone and further story tempo throughout this short.

A portion of the proceeds benefits the Extreme Mobility Camps www.xmocamps.org

Portnoy Media, along with the brilliance from The Out:Think Group, had the fortunate pleasure of working with this team to create a new film page. In the coming weeks we’ll be launching a few other changes on the site as well, for now Check out Deidox | Alyssa.

It’s been a big week for Gregg Helvey and the crew at Kavi. We’ve been fortunate to be involved in shaping the website for Kavi for the last several months. (read the story here) I just got a quick update on what’s happening and thought you’d want to check it out too.

Kavi is on the shortlist for the Oscars!! Having won the Student Academy Award® gold medal, Kavi qualified for Oscar 2010 consideration, and “The 10 List” was announced on Friday. Of the 10 shortlisted films, three to five will be nominated on Feb 2nd for an Oscar in the “Live Action Short” category. Fingers crossed!

Upcoming Screenings for those in the DC Area
December 15, 2009 – 6PM – Screening for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs – 2172 Rayburn House Office Building – Washington DC 20515 (open to the public, please RSVP to anna@kavithemovie.com)

Pick up Kavi for Christmas
The official DVDs are finally here! They’re perfect holiday gifts or stocking stuffers, too! Click HERE to purchase a copy for $10 online.

We’re pulling for you Gregg!! Check out the Kavi website