Stoecker Media LLC

3 questions every nonprofit should be able to answer before hiring a filmmaker: 1️⃣ What do we want the audience to FEEL in the first 30 seconds? 2️⃣ What do we want them to DO when it ends? 3️⃣ Who is the ONE person whose story best carries both of those things? If you can't answer all three — you're not ready to shoot. You're ready to plan. And that's okay. Planning is half the work.

Crafting a story is more than laying down quotes on a timeline. It’s the order of events, it’s the emotion that comes out in an interview, it’s the pacing, the music. It’s everything that’s brought together for the moment that matters most. I’m working on a new story today for a local nonprofit to show how one volunteer is impacted by the work. It’s a beautiful story where a lasting moment was created, a lasting impact was made.

Real talk for a Wednesday: Most nonprofits underestimate how good their story actually is. They've been living inside it so long that it's stopped feeling remarkable. The founding moment, the turnaround, the client who changed everything — it's just Tuesday to them. Fresh eyes change that. A filmmaker, a new board member, a first-time volunteer — all see what you've stopped seeing. What does YOUR organization have that you've stopped noticing? Say it out loud. I'll bet it's remarkable.

Something we don't talk about enough in this field: The people who share their stories for nonprofit films are doing something extraordinary. They are opening their hardest moments — grief, illness, poverty, violence, recovery — to a camera, to strangers, to an audience they will never meet. They do it because they hope it helps someone else. That gift deserves to be handled with reverence. Every edit. Every cut. Every word of narration. Someone trusted us with the most human parts of themselves. We never forget that. Not for a single frame.

The nonprofit videos that raise the most money at galas share one thing in common: they end with a clear, specific ask. Not "consider supporting us." Not "your gift makes a difference." Something like: "For $50 a month, here's exactly what happens for a person like Maria." Specificity converts. Vagueness inspires and disappears. If your video doesn't have a specific call to action — it has a beautiful ending with nowhere to go. Does yours?

We're in early pre-production on a new project right now and doing something we always do before any shoot: community listening sessions. Before we ever turn on a camera, we sit with the people we'll be filming. We ask what they want audiences to understand. We ask what they're afraid of. We ask what they've never been asked before. That's where the real film begins. Every time.

To every nonprofit leader preparing for fall campaign season right now: You are about to ask people for money. And that can feel uncomfortable — even for people who do it every year. Here's what I've learned from filming dozens of fundraising films: donors don't give because they feel pressured. They give because they feel invited into something that matters. Your story is the invitation. Tell it like you mean it. Tell it like you believe it. Because you do. What story are you leading with this fall?