Nonprofit Fundraising & Gala Films
The film is the moment in the program where the room goes quiet and the paddles go up.
I'm Leomar Moring, a Bay Area documentary filmmaker and nonprofit videographer. I make the films nonprofits show at galas, play inside year-end campaigns, and send to the funders who need to understand the work. A fundraising film has one job — to make a room full of people feel the mission clearly enough to act on it — and it has about three minutes to do it. I plan, shoot, and edit these films myself, so the story your development team approved is the story that ends up on the screen.
My nonprofit and public-agency clients include California Transit Works! and the organizations on my clients page — mission-driven teams who needed a film that could carry a real ask.
What if your communications team is one person?
Then this page is written for you. Research on nonprofit communications teams finds that only about one in six solo communicators manages to produce video weekly — the day-to-day of the job simply doesn't leave room to plan, shoot, and edit a film as well.
That's the gap a fundraising film project fills. You bring the mission, the people, and the access. I bring the production: story planning, interviews, filming, and the edit, run as one project with a delivery date tied to your event or campaign. Your team's job stays small — approvals and introductions — instead of becoming a second job in the busiest quarter of your year.
Which film does a gala actually need?
Two formats cover most fundraising work:
The story film
One person's story, told well: a program participant, a family, a graduate. This is the film that plays in the room before the paddle raise, and it lives on afterward in appeals and grant reports. It fits the Story Short format: one shoot day, one or two interviews, one primary film plus a social cutdown.
The campaign film
The broader case: several voices, your programs on camera, a 2–4 minute hero film with cutdowns for email, social, and your campaign page. This is the Campaign Film format, built for year-end appeals, capital campaign kickoffs, and program launches — anywhere the video has to carry the ask beyond one night.
If your gala also needs the night itself filmed — the room, the speakers, the celebration — that's covered under Event/Summit Coverage ($10,000–$30,000), and the two can be planned together.
How far ahead of a gala should the film be commissioned?
About three months before the event. That leaves room to find the right story, schedule filming around your participants' lives, and edit without rushing the people whose story it is. Galas cluster in spring (March–May) and fall (September–November), which means the commissioning conversations for fall galas happen in summer — and gala budgets are usually set four to six months out, so the film belongs in the event budget from the start, not as a late addition.
For year-end campaign films, the same math runs backward from December: plan in late summer, film in September, and have the finished film in hand in October, before the appeal drops.
How much does a nonprofit fundraising film cost?
Published ranges, the same ones on my capabilities page:
Story Short — $5,000–$8,000.
A single-day shoot, one or two interviews, one primary film plus a social cutdown. The gala story film and most program spotlights live here.
Campaign Film — $8,000–$20,000.
Two to three shoot days, three to five interviews, a 2–4 minute hero film plus platform cutdowns. Year-end campaigns, capital campaign kickoffs, program launches.
Where a project lands depends on shoot days, locations, and how many deliverables the edit includes. The exact quote comes from me personally after a conversation — I reply personally within one business day. If you're planning a series — a film for the gala, one for year-end, one for a program launch — published pricing includes 15–20% off a multi-project series, the only discount I publish.
I also wrote a full guide to how these budgets work and what moves them: Nonprofit Video Production Budgeting & Pricing Tiers
How does the process work?
1. A conversation about the goal.
The event or campaign date, the audience, and the one outcome the film has to produce. If we're a fit, you get an exact quote with the tier reasoning in plain language.
2. Story planning.
We choose whose story carries the film, plan interviews around their comfort and consent, and agree the deliverables.
3. Filming.
A lean documentary crew — usually me plus the hands the day actually needs — filming in your programs, not a staged version of them.
4. The edit, delivered against your date.
The film is finished in time for the event or campaign it's made for, with captions and cutdowns as agreed.
Frequently asked questions
- Our gala is in ten weeks. Is that enough time?
- Usually, yes — three months is the comfortable runway, and ten weeks is workable for a Story Short if the story and participants are accessible. Send the date through the contact form and I'll give you an honest answer about what's achievable, not a hopeful one.
- We're a one-person communications team. How much of our time will this take?
- Very little, by design. Your time goes to three things: the kickoff conversation, introductions to the people we'll film, and review rounds on the edit. Planning, production, and post are mine — that's the point of hiring it out in your busiest season.
- Can the film be used beyond the gala?
- Yes, and it should be. The deliverables usually include a social cutdown alongside the main film, and the same story can serve your year-end appeal, your website, and grant reporting. Tell me where it needs to live and we'll plan the versions up front, when it's cheap to do.
- Do you work within grant-funded budgets?
- Yes — nonprofit budgets are often grant or board-approved money, and the quote can be structured so you can defend it: a published range, a defined scope, and a tier rationale in writing. If a funder's timeline is driving the schedule, tell me and we'll plan against it. Video Production RFP Template for Nonprofits & Public Agencies
- What about consent and sensitive stories?
- Program participants are filmed with informed consent, at their pace, and they can decline any question or stop at any point. For participants in sensitive situations, we agree the boundaries with you before anyone is approached — this is standard in my documentary work, not an add-on.
- How much does it cost, and is there a nonprofit rate?
- Fundraising films run $5,000–$8,000 (Story Short) or $8,000–$20,000 (Campaign Film). I publish one set of ranges for everyone rather than a separate nonprofit rate — the ranges are public so your board or funder can see exactly how the number was reached. The only published discount is 15–20% off a multi-project series.
- Can you also film the gala itself?
- Yes — event-night coverage (the room, speakers, and celebration, edited into a highlight film) is quoted under Event/Summit Coverage, $10,000–$30,000, and can be planned together with the story film so one production serves both.
- How do we start?
- Send your event or campaign date and a rough description of the story you want to tell through the contact form. I reply personally within one business day with next steps toward an exact quote.
Planning a gala or a campaign?
Tell me the date you're working toward and whose story you want the room to hear. I'll reply personally within one business day.
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