What Is The Goal Of This Campaign?
Having a voice is vital as a nonprofit organization. It doesnβt matter how urgent your message is if no one hears it or cares enough to take action. Creating this Public Service Announcement (PSA) is our way of yelling from the rooftops that you can change the world, one animal life at a time.
βWhy We Need A Public Service Announcement
βFor The Love Of Alex Inc. (FTLOA) was launched in 2013 by a single person who wanted to save animals, but she knew she couldnβt do it alone. Our founder, Elizabeth, made deep connections with other animal lovers and was able to help hundreds of cats and dogs. But the world has changed a lot since 2013, and the same strategies that used to fund pet emergencies then, arenβt as effective today.
One of the main drivers of donations at the start of the organization was social media, especially Facebook. In 2013, a business could post something to Facebook, and followers would see it. Over the years, the algorithm that Facebook uses has changed dramatically. Today, only 1% of our 251K followers see our posts on average. The same people see pleas for donations over and over, and no fresh faces are learning about FTLOA. The animals we are trying to help arenβt getting seen by enough people to raise adequate funds.
Another major strategy has always been to email animal lovers directly. Our email list was not purchased but developed over years of work and service. But email has its own struggles, and we find it harder to get past spam and sales folders and into primary inboxes. Weβve also noticed that a lot of people donβt check their email regularly.
As the times change, so must we. To reach a national audience and attract new people who want to change the world, we decided to put together a PSA. This video could be used across the internet and on television during free or discounted air time. We need the donors, but couldnβt use existing donor money to create the PSA. Thankfully, we have a Guardian Angel.
βWho Paid For The PSA? Our founder, Elizabeth, sadly passed away in 2018. To continue her lifeβs mission, she left one final gift to FTLOA. Elizabeth made arrangements to leave an endowment to FTLOA. This money was set aside as a safety net with specific instructions that it is only to be used for major projects to further the ongoing mission of the organization. It is only because of this endowment that we were able to fund the creation of this PSA. Thank you, Elizabeth.
βWho Made The PSA?
βWith the idea in mind and the money to back it up, we reached out to Make Films to create a professional quality video. The team at Make Films listened to our story of what FTLOA does and why help is so desperately needed. They took that long and detailed story and developed a concept that summed it up in 2 minutes. Using a dog as our narrator, Make Films told the emotional story of a pet who needed life-saving care that his owners could not afford. Itβs only with donors like you and FTLOA that he makes it home to his family again.
The team at Make Films introduced us to Beasley, a canine actor, who stole our hearts. While many of the photos and footage in the PSA include animals FTLOA has had the pleasure of saving, we needed a real actor for the lead in our PSA. Beasley is such a good actor that he has a movie, Agent Toby Barks, coming out this spring. It was an honor to work with this talented dog and served as another reminder to us that pets are so much more than βjust animals.β
βYou Can Help Make This Project A Success
βWe feel blessed to have had the ability to create this PSA to further our mission. To some people, it may not seem like a big deal, but to us, this short video is a container for all of our hopes that we will be able to continue to help animals and save lives. Please share it with friends and family. We believe, as Elizabeth did, that we can change the world if we work together.
