Mark Dombroski Foundation
Video
Community Partner
The Mark Dombroski Foundation is a non-profit organization that strives to share Mark’s legacy of joy, kindness, and inclusivity with the community. Mark Dombroski, son of Lisa and John Dombroski, was just 19 years old when he was found deceased in Bermuda, due to injuries sustained in a fall. Mark had a lit-from-within personality and was a dedicated teammate on the rugby pitch. The Foundation was formed in 2018 to honor that legacy, providing funding and support for organizations that promote youth education, athletics, safety, and well-being. The Foundation is based in Media, PA and serves the Greater Philadelphia Area.
Challenge
Our challenge was to create a promotional video for The Mark Dombroski Foundation. This video will be utilized to endorse their upcoming crowdfunding campaign. The funds raised during the campaign will be used for the building and dedication of The Mark Dombroski Memorial Playground, otherwise known as ‘Mark’s Park.’ The use of video was selected because of its potential to build engagement on social media and crowdfunding platforms with a comprehensive introduction of the significance and concept behind Mark’s Park. We believe the emotional appeal of the video will encourage the Foundation’s audience to donate to the campaign. The Foundation’s intention in building a playground at the Middletown Library is to build community and provide a safe and happy place for families to gather. Our research question was, “How can we best raise funds for a playground dedication through video?”
Strategic Thinking
As consultants of the Beautiful Social Research Collaborative, we believe our primary objective here was to build a bridge between the story the Foundation wanted to tell and their audience. The Mark Dombroski Foundation wanted to bring awareness to both its fundraising campaign and plans for the Mark Dombroski Memorial Playground. To establish this awareness, we created a video to highlight the significance of the park as well as the benefits that the playground will provide for the Middletown community.
After conducting research on non-profit video storytelling, we concluded that both visuals and emotions should form the basis of our story. We framed our interview questions for Lisa Dombroski and Middletown Librarian Mr. Jason around this idea, asking ourselves, “What do we want people to feel? How will this feeling compel them to take action and donate?” Our vision for the video became more focused as we thought about these questions and formed a collective vision with Lisa. The vision would include a strong focus on the Middletown Library and Mark’s Park, telling a story about who Mark was through how he inspired the park’s creation.
Results
After a semester-long collaboration, we provided the Mark Dombroski Foundation with a social media report as well as a video highlighting the Mark Dombroski Memorial Playground. The video provides an introduction to the Foundation as well as an overview of the importance of the park. After collecting 30 minutes of raw footage, we were able to condense the videos to create a 3-minute video. By communicating and garnering feedback from our community partner regularly, we were able to alter our vision, strategy, and implementation of ideas in order to meet theirs. By doing so, we were able to create a final video that would benefit the organization and enhance their fundraising efforts. In addition, we held a Snapchat takeover on the Saint Joseph’s account on November 16th, what would have been Mark’s 21st birthday. Our takeover received 1,500 views in total. We hope that our social media report can assist the Mark Dombroski Foundation in enhancing their social media presence and that the video will be utilized as a tool complementing the crowdfunding campaign.