Mini Documentary Drives Fundraising Success

A non-profit, Lawyers Against Drug Addiction (LADA), was started by Ken Hardison. He started the organization after losing his son to overdose. He has a legal organization that hosts an annual conference and he typically fundraises at his conference for his non-profit. Our job was to produce a mini-documentary that would aid in fundraising efforts. The film would be shown at the event.

We traveled to South Carolina to film Ken and then up into the foothills of North Carolina to film at the treatment center where his son had experienced the best results.

The objective was fundraising and the mission was to help people who have either struggled with substance addiction or have lost someone to it feel seen and connected in their experiences with others.

Despite the fact that Ken has talked about his non-profit annually, because the film was shown at his event, people shared with him that they didn’t know he’d lost his son to overdose. This added a level of deeper connection for viewers.

The result from his fundraising efforts was more donations than ever.

Luke was interviewed on Ken’s podcast, and here’s what Ken said about how the film drove those results:

“ [The film] had an impact. We played it at the Summit and we got the most donations we’ve ever got. And I think it was because of that video, to be honest with you. Cause I get out there and say a few things, but like you said, when you tell a story and trial lawyers, we know that when you tell a story, people love to hear stories and they retain more.” – Ken Hardison on Grow Your Law Firm, Episode 256

This was our first film with our expanded equipment setup. We had better… everything! From better microphones to better lighting to more robust cameras to more cameras. It was also our first time flying with all of the equipment, which required a lot of preparation.

We love this film for so many reasons. It’s heavy and complex and the whole process was hyper-focused on fundraising. In all of our preparation meetings and post-production story editing, we were always asking the question: how do we build a story that honors everyone involved while driving fundraising.

Not all of our projects have such straightforward metrics. It always feels good to tell a heavy story that was previously untold and shine a light on something difficult while also justifying the whole project with exceptional results.