PICS ( Progressive Intercultural Community Services) is a non-profit society that provides services and programs in the city of Surrey. And, The Concosts Group is one of the oldest construction management and consulting companies in North America.
These two formed a partnership in order to build Diversity Village: a building Designed to meet the Social, Cultural and Dietary needs unique to senior members of the multicultural community in Surrey.
An amazing building was designed (check it out here), and the perfect property was found to give it a home in the community.
The Challenge #1:
They needed to raise enough money to purchase the land and break ground.
They needed to raise awareness, and influence donors.
The Answer:
In a single month, The Concosts Group planned and organized an incredible gala and fundraiser which included speeches from premier Christy Clark and the Minister of National Defence, The Honourable Harjit Sajjan. They had people's attention!
With three weeks to go, and so much riding on the outcome of this fundraiser, they needed something that would carry them beyond the music, food, and speeches. They wanted people to understand the issues and the people in need of these services.
In my consultation, I shared with them the "importance of story over statistics," and a psychological phenomenon known as the "Identifiable Victim Effect." In the studies, researchers discovered that the "Participants who were told about one real person donate over twice the amount of those who were told about the much larger problem, but in the form of statistics." Essentially, giving them a real person to care about.
I take seriously the filmmaking principle that you should "let the story move you—before you move the story." So, despite the time crunch, I took the time to discover and really dig deep, build relationships, and invest emotionally.
That meant I spent the first week listening to each person, from the staff, the family members, and the persons directly impacted by multicultural senior care. We share meals, stories, and even some tears.
The result was 4 videos, and I hope that over the course of the construction project we get to share more videos and more stories, resulting in more funding to help PICS continue their compassionate work.