How 6 Non-Scripted Videos Elevated IM ABLE Foundation's 2021 Virtual Bash to the Next Level

Chris Kaag and Andrew riding in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

Adapting. This is what we all have had to do in the past year. However, adapting is something that is very true and essential for IM ABLE Foundation. IM ABLE Foundation is a non-profit founded by Chris Kaag who’s mission is to remove obstacles that prevent people with physical, cognitive, and/or behavioral challenges from being physically active.

We had the honor to work with IM ABLE in 2020 to produce what was then going to be the fundraising video they were going to show during their in-person annual IM ABLE BASH. Two days before the event the world was shut down by COVID-19 and the video was never shown. We were forced to adapt. We changed the ending of the video and they were able to raise over $35,000 with the online fundraising video we created that year.

Johanna Rice, adaptive fitness trainer for IM ABLE Foundation

Adapt isn’t just a cliche word, again it’s what IM ABLE has been doing since day 1. So when they called us to produce, film, and edit a series of non-scripted videos for their first virtual bash with only a three-week timeline, we adapted.

This was a project unlike we have ever taken on. We were tasked with filming six different people whose lives have been completely transformed after receiving an adaptive GRIT Freedom chair, a handcycle, or a grant from IM ABLE Foundation.

It almost seemed like it was going to be impossible to accomplish given that we needed to travel all over New York, all over Pennsylvania, and even Baltimore, Maryland, in order to film all these incredible stories.

Chris Kaag and Nathan Burrow mountain biking in their recumbent bikes in Never sink Mountain, Reading Pennsylvania

However, we rose to the challenge and immediately got to work. We interviewed all of the IM ABLE recipients virtually to learn about their stories, the challenges they’ve had to overcome, and how lives have never been the same since they connected with IM ABLE. We decided to approach each video differently right before we began to film, as we wanted to truly capture each person’s story as authentically as possible.

We know you’ve either been invited or attended a “virtual” bash or gala in the last 12 months. However, it’s more or less just another zoom meeting, and while there is nothing wrong with that is it's an unimaginative way to approach an annual gathering for a non-profit that wants to show its donors the amazing people they directly helped in the past 12 months.

Paul, an IM ABLE Foundation GRIT Freedom Chair recipient, and his father in Playland Park, New York

IM ABLE’s 2021 virtual BASH was in its league of its own and the organization was ABLE to raise over $55,000 in an hour and a half. The bash had an MC, it had a live performer, it had a pastor, and it had 6 videos that truly capture the WHY. WHY people should give their hard-earned money for this cause and support this foundation. The six videos we had the true honor of producing in the time it takes to record one, captured how these individuals’ lives have been completely transformed and how any support will help impact more lives in the future.

We hope this blog post was valuable whether you’re someone who runs a non-profit and is currently trying to think of strategies on how to reach more people to support your organizations and its programs, or you’re the event coordinator in charge of putting together a virtual bash in the future and are trying to figure out how to use video marketing for your non-profit that’ll reach an audience online far wider than what an in-person event ever could.

To watch the six powerful stories we captured for IM ABLE Foundation watch them below.

We’d love to have the opportunity to create impactful videos for your non-profit. Let’s start this conversation, visit our contact page below to get started