The Other Side of Philanthropy

Anyone who knows me, knows I have earned my living working in the charity sector, as staff for several major international non-profits and as a fundraising consultant, with my ongoing musical pursuits on the side.

During the winners trip to London for the British Airways Face to Face program, I met journalist Michele Mitchell, whose Film At Eleven company had also won a place in the winners group. When she learned of my fundraising background she approached me about getting involved with the fundraising efforts behind her documentary film, “Haiti: Where Did The Money Go?” which shines a spotlight on how aid works during disasters. I jumped at the chance to use my talents on such an interesting film project and to work with an even more interesting person.

On January 10, 2012, the results of my fundraising efforts will be seen as “Haiti: Where Does The Money Go” makes its debut on PBS and begins a rollout to markets around the United States over several months. It also represents my role as Line Producer on the film. I was presented with a rare opportunity to work on aspects of the film beyond fundraising, and it has been one of the greatest learning experiences of my life.

To view the official PBS trailer, please click HERE
To view the Filmmakers Interview with Michele Mitchell, please click HERE
To view the first Social Media clip, please click HERE
To follow the conversation, and Film At Eleven social media activities, please click HERE for Twitter and HERE for Facebook and HERE for the YouTube Channel.

Jennie Walker

Night Flight to London on iTunes now!

Haiti Program Seeking to Air on PBS Needs Your Help!

Michele Mitchell of Film@11, is a dynamic young women whom I met during the British Airways Face of Opportunity events in New York and London. As a fellow winner for 2011, she was headed to London for meetings and to further expand her content to international markets along with the group. She formerly worked for Bill Moyers and even won a Gracie Award and also anchored for CNN at one point. She has authored several books and worked on Capital Hill. And, she has reported extensively from Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Israel, West Bank, Jordan, Morocco, Libya and just about all 50 states. A very accomplished young woman! That background makes her an ideal person to create a program on what is happening in Haiti, after the tragic earthquake.

Michele, upon learning I work as a fundraising consultant (when I’m not singing!), asked me to become involved in her Haiti project. Essentially this Haiti project is really a TV program. Michele is seeking funding in order to return to Haiti to film one last bit of the show (a lot has changed recently) and also pay the fees required to air the program on PBS. Since the focus of the program is that the money individuals have donated is not exactly getting to where it needs to, it is a timely piece and gets the viewer to question the system and think about how donor dollars flow. It also makes it tough for companies to donate toward this project, since they are the same people encouraging employees to donate, according to Michele Mitchell.

Currently, a fundraising campaign is live using the new crowd sourcing platform, IndieGoGo. And, as fate would have it, Danae Ringelman, one of the Founders of IndieGoGo, is a fellow British Airways Face of Opportunity winner whom we both met on the trip to London. We wanted to support her platform with our first crowd sourcing efforts.

All that said, I’d love it if you would take 3 minutes and watch this video. I think it is compelling and Michele makes a great case for supporting this type of program, especially while the situation in Haiti runs the risk of falling from people’s minds. Also, this donation is tax deductible!

Check out the Listing here:

http://www.indiegogo.com/project/widget/28647?a=70956

I appreciate your support. If you like what you see, be sure to share with others who may be interested and via social media. We want to go viral! And, of course, reach our goal, which is $7,000.

In addition to this crowd sourcing campaign, I will be helping Michele Mitchele with two private fundraising events in Miami and New York City. I will keep you posted on those also!

Jennie Walker
www.jenniewalker.com