ChildStrive Story Studio · A donor engagement plan
ChildStrive’s work happens behind a family’s front door, and families have every right to keep it that way. So this plan is built on the people who can speak freely: your nurses, therapists and educators, your donors and partners, and the moments ChildStrive already shares in public. Families join only if they want to, in the way they choose. Every video goes to work in your emails, social media and presentations, and we measure what it brings back.
What we heard from you
From our two calls in October, plus your newsletters, annual report, public filings and a year of social media data. Every recommendation on this page answers one of these.
Your board and leadership want ChildStrive to raise more from individual donors and foundations, with a specific goal on the way. The rest of the budget comes from contracts and mandated government services.
Your team explains each program well. Showing the full impact of all six as one ChildStrive story has been the hard part, and ChildStrive is much more than its Early Supports program.
If you don’t need us, generally, you don’t know who we are.
ChildStrive is hyperlocal by design. Even loyal donors struggle to explain what you do when they try to share it with friends.
Many families will share their story but don’t want to be identified. Filming in a home is a bigger ask than a clinic, and providers rightly protect families under stress. That is why this plan does not depend on them.
Today ChildStrive makes about one video a year, for the big event, with a part-time videographer. Your social media lead would gladly post video if she had it, and the rest is split across whoever has time.
You want a reliable flow of content you can keep up, not a burst of video followed by nothing. That is what four content days spread across the year are for.
This is not a video project. It is a plan to raise more private support, from new donors, foundations and corporate partners, with video as the tool. Everything we make has a job, a place it lives and a number it should move.
The year is planned so that no video depends on a family saying yes. Your donors already stay; the opportunity is reach: give your loyal donors something easy to share, and put ChildStrive in front of the people who don’t know you yet. We review the numbers with your team every month.
How we film
Your board wants more private giving. Your families want privacy. Both can be true. We plan the year around the people who can speak freely, so family stories are a bonus when they happen, never the plan.
Nurses, therapists, educators and leadership in a simple interview setup at your office.
Gives you: the core video, Ask Our Team tips, recruitment, and the narration for every story.
A home visitor’s day, filmed up to the front door: the drive, the bag she packs, the debrief afterwards.
Gives you: A Day With a Home Visitor, donor thank-yous and social clips.
Long-time donors, board members and sponsors on why they give, at home or at your office.
Gives you: Why We Keep Giving, sponsor videos and luncheon content.
Public events like Let’s Read Together and Community Bites, plus voice-only stories with any family who wants to share.
Gives you: event recaps, community reels and the luncheon story.
We record a parent’s story with no camera in the room, then pair their voice with footage of your programs.
Hands, silhouettes, a walk to the door. No blurred faces or altered voices, just footage that looks intentional.
The specialist who was there explains what changed, and the family adds as much or as little as they like. We keep the crew small so shy people relax.
We pick each content day months ahead, invite families early, check in every two months and work with providers on who to ask.
One ChildStrive
A single family can meet three or four ChildStrive programs before kindergarten: a nurse during pregnancy, Early Supports or Parents as Teachers at home, a Play and Learn group, then Clever Sprouts preschool. Your core video follows that path in simple animation, narrated by your staff, so anyone can understand the whole of ChildStrive in under three minutes without a single family on camera.
What it moves: first conversations with new donors, foundations and community groups. It answers “so what does ChildStrive do?” before the meeting starts.
Typical ages served, for illustration. We confirm each program’s details with your team before filming.
What ChildStrive gets
We book four content days across the year with your staff, donors, partners and community in Snohomish and King counties, then turn that footage into everything your email, social media, presentations and events need for twelve months, with no per-video charges.
Thumbnail concepts created for this proposal to show the look. Final thumbnails come from your own footage.
Ride along with one of our home visitors: the drive, the bag she packs, and why families open the door to her. The family stays private. The work speaks for itself.
Watch the videoEmail · Your newsletters and appeals
Your Summer E-News told Ethan’s story in four paragraphs. Video can tell stories like it through the people who were there: the specialist on what changed, and the parent’s voice only if they choose to share it. Each Chronicle, welcome series and appeal gets its own short video, linked from a thumbnail so it plays anywhere. Donors get a version they can forward, so the people who love ChildStrive no longer have to explain it in their own words.
What it moves: clicks and gifts per send. Each video link is tagged, so you see which stories drive new gifts and which get forwarded.
Events and presentations
This year’s luncheon at the Lynnwood Event Center let guests walk through your programs at the expo, then heard stories from families at lunch. We build next year’s program around that: a loop for the expo, a three-minute story told by your staff and donors before the ask, and a thank-you video that goes to every guest the next morning. The same videos go with your team to community group presentations all year.
What it moves: dollars raised per guest. A QR code on every table goes to a dedicated giving page, so each gift made in the room is counted.
Social media · Instagram, Facebook, YouTube
Your channels are busy. Your team’s expertise isn’t in them yet.
ChildStrive posts almost every other day, mostly tips and event graphics, and your social media lead has asked for video. Here is where your channels stand today, and where they will be with a steady supply of it.
Source: Instagram (@childstrive) and Facebook (ChildStrive) public data via Supermetrics, 19 Oct 2025 to 19 Oct 2026; YouTube channel feed, 19 Oct 2026.
What ChildStrive posted on Instagram this year
Facebook, same period
About 200 posts to 1,975 followers, one of them a video. Most drew 0 to 3 reactions.
YouTube, the newest uploads
2,284 families in 2025 · Give below ↓
The three videos every visitor sees first, whether they are a parent, a donor or a foundation doing its homework.
Your website · childstrive.org
Turn visitors into donors in the first ten seconds
Your homepage opens on a photo collage and a headline. A visitor scrolls down to learn what ChildStrive actually does. A short core video at the top shows them before they scroll, then sends them to give.
Video before the scrollYour core video plays at the top of the homepage and About page.
Your numbers, up frontThe 2025 figures already on your page move into the first screen.
One clear askThe video ends on Donate, and every click from it is tracked.
Proof
We’ve told stories like yours
Early support, children’s health and community mental health: the work closest to ChildStrive’s, and what it returned. We also tell stories for clients who cannot show their clients at all, such as legal services for children in immigration proceedings, using voice, hands and staff.
Support for new parents of children with disabilities
Real family stories under the line “We See You,” plus 32 supporter videos. 304,000+ people reached organically.
Closest match to Early SupportsFamilies and staff, in their own words
Short-form family stories with a clear ask, reaching a younger audience CMN had struggled to engage. $1,500 donated in the first 30 days.
Model for your social seriesOne shoot, a full library
A 25-year-old nonprofit with no video library: two days, about 40 interviews and a year of content.
Model for your four content daysFriday, 23 October 12:30 ET · 9:30 PT
Your team’s take. What stood out, and what you would want first. Bring anyone who should be part of it.
Budget and fit. We shape the plan around what you have to work with this year.
Your first content day. We suggest starting with your team: no families needed, and it fills your feed for months.
Sources. Calls with Rebecca Mauldin, October 2026. ChildStrive: childstrive.org homepage (2025 figures), Our Team, Events, Summer 2026 E-News and 2023–2024 Annual Report; IRS Form 990 for the fiscal year ending June 2025 via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer; HeraldNet, “Everett organization marks 60 years,” December 2023. Social data: Instagram and Facebook public data via Supermetrics; ChildStrive YouTube channel feed. Happy Productions case studies: happyproductions.me/case-studies.
Photos and illustrations in this proposal are concepts created by Happy Productions; none show ChildStrive families or staff. The website screenshot is childstrive.org as captured on 19 October 2026.