Harnessing technology to advance communications and action
Strategy in Action:
Award Winning Video Generates NewSupport for New Haven Free Public Library
According to the library’s director, James Welbourne, the video “was the single factor that lead to the enormously successful private fundraising campaign that netted us over $1 million,” an important part of the library's overall campaign for funds.
The New Haven Free Public Library is engaged in a campaign to position itself as a key community asset, an informational town square and a civic facilitator with many partnerships. Leadership from the Board of Trustees and patrons and energetic assistance from staff and community partners enabled the library to raise $7 million last year for a new, state-of-the art facility, the Wilson Branch Library.
One of the library’s chief supporters recognized early in the campaign that the dynamic quality of the emerging library would best be captured visually. This patron underwrote development of “Campaign for the Library of the 21st Century,” avideo produced by Skip Blumberg and New York City-based In Motion Productions. The ten-minute video premiered at the library’s 2006 Mardi Gras fundraiser held at the New Haven Lawn Club.
“Campaign for the Library of the 21st Century” was honored recently with a Gold Plaque for Fundraising Video at the 42nd Chicago International Film Festival’s Intercom International Communications Video and Interactive Media Competition.
“Campaign for the Library of the 21st Century” is a two-part video. The first section captures the innovative programs of the library’s staff as they position the library at the center of the community in the information age.
The second section, “Building Heroes,” features a successful partnership program with the Eli Whitney Museum.
The New Haven Free Public Library has found many ways to use the video for fund-raising and enhancing community awareness. The DVD has been screened in peer-to-peer pitches by patrons of the library and in other fundraising and is being distributed to civic agencies and decision-makers in greater New Haven.
