Case study

San Antonio Pets Alive!

Beverly Oakes cuddles a cat in “Cat Foster of the Year: Beverly Oakes,” the San Antonio Pets Alive! video that profiles her.

Challenge

How do you turn animal lovers into donors and fosters?

Deliverables 3 fundraising spots, 3 Foster of the Year videos and photography.

Let the people who said yes do the asking.

San Antonio Pets Alive! is an animal rescue that saves cats and dogs from euthanasia. By the rescue’s count at the time of one spot, it had saved more than 50,000 vulnerable lives. Its on-screen text says 80% of the cats and dogs it saves need some sort of medical attention.

Fostering is a bigger ask than a gift. People who hesitate tell Cat Foster of the Year Beverly Oakes they could never give a foster up. The rescue needed two things from video: donations on giving days and new fosters willing to say yes.

What we made

Over a multi-year partnership, we produced three fundraising spots, three Foster of the Year videos and photography. The spots run 42 to 60 seconds and build to a direct ask. Short on-screen lines such as “We save those everyone else gave up on” lead to “Be the hero they need.”

The Giving Tuesday spot puts medical care first: heartworms, eye repairs, upper respiratory infections and a Parvo Ward that “is what makes us different.” Giving Tuesday Now, cut for Facebook, ends with “Your gift saves lives.” A third spot spells out one line word by word, “Social distancing is best with those who love you unconditionally,” then repeats three words: adopt, foster, donate.

In the Foster of the Year videos, the winners make the case themselves. Beverly’s answer to people who fear the goodbye: for every kitten you adopt out, you can save another. Maria Rusert, who fosters cats with special needs, says “you don’t need a lot of space.” Peggy Gonzalez, Dog Foster of the Year, says “one person can make a difference in the lives of so many animals.”

Beverly and Peggy end the same way: do it. “All it takes is you to say yes,” Peggy says. Footage from her shoot also opens our own studio promo.

The result

The videos worked beyond the rescue’s own channels. San Antonio Pets Alive! used them in its grant applications to other nonprofits, such as Petco Love, and won major grants over the years. Rebecca Mayberry, its former executive director, credits our work with more than $250,000 in grants and donations.

Joanna Heep, its former director of marketing, says: “Carlos and his team are some of the highest performing professional multimedia teams I have ever worked with.” She adds, “Their work is top notch and he is a pleasure to work with.”

For a giving day or a volunteer ask, we make short spots that build to a direct ask and honoree videos that recruit. Our Impact Story package, at a 501(c)(3) rate for qualifying small nonprofits, is built for giving campaigns and volunteer recruitment.

How we work with nonprofits · Packages and pricing · One shoot: gala video, social cuts and grant material.

The work pixelreflex MEDIA has created for us throughout the years has been invaluable. Their work has resulted in over $250,000 in grants and donations for our organization, helping us save countless lives.

Rebecca MayberryFormer Executive Director, San Antonio Pets Alive!