October 11, 2016 \ Emma Freter
The Benefit of Snapchat Geofilters

A few weeks ago I gave a brief overview of the app Snapchat. And as promised, here is a follow-up post on Snapchat Geofilters. (Yes, they are a thing) What are “geofilters”? Geofilters are “stickers” or a “filter” you can use to show where your Snap was taken. I created one recently for a birthday party. Pretty snazzy! Yeah, this is all cool stuff, but I’m sure you’re asking...

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September 29, 2016 \ Rachel Jellinek
Giving Tuesday, Matching Challenges and Crowdsourcing Donations

I recently attended “Development in the Digital Age” hosted by Women in Development of Greater Boston.  Giving Tuesday, matching challenges and other blitz campaign ideas were batted around by fundraisers from small and large shops. Here are some takeaways and resources that may be helpful to check out: Blitz Campaign Strategy Robert Caldwell, Chief Advancement Officer, from the Holderness...

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September 15, 2016 \ Emma Freter
Snapchat 101: What the heck is Snapchat?

Snapchat 101: What the heck is Snapchat?

You may have heard of the app called Snapchat. I have a couple of other blog posts in the works about certain Snapchat features, but we decided to give an overview of this app for those of you who have not been introduced to it. So what is Snapchat? TechTarget provides a short and sweet definition: Snapchat is a mobile app that allows users to send and receive "self-destructing" photos and videos....

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September 9, 2016 \ Emma Freter
A Walk Down Music & Memory Lane

A Walk Down Music & Memory Lane

Over the past year we have been working with Music & Memory, which is an organization we really admire. We thought it would be a neat idea to showcase them a bit, so Geoff had a short interview with Justin Russo, the Communications Director of Music & Memory, who explains what they do.   Geoff Birmingham: What is Music & Memory and whom does it serve?  Justin Russo:...

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August 18, 2016 \ Emma Freter
Measuring Donor Impact: Why should I give again?

Why should I give again? A phrase that runs through a lot of donor's minds when asked to give again and again and again. What we're really asking is "What impact does my dollar have?" Key word: IMPACT! That's what we need to hear about. It's the results we want to see. But it's not easy to show results of donor impact. Collecting proper data is difficult and can run up a hefty price tag. Especially...

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July 28, 2016 \ Geoff Birmingham
Animations: New Jersey Institute of Technology and Bees

Animations: New Jersey Institute of Technology and Bees

We have recently concluded a couple of animations. The first was for the annual fund of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT): The second animation is another installment in our Did You Know? series. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but we featured a sad polar bear (melting ice in the Arctic) in our last DYK animation. This one features a sad bumble bee:

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June 29, 2016 \ Geoff Birmingham
Lead nurturing for businesses and nonprofits using video

Lead nurturing for businesses and nonprofits using video

Later this summer we are going create a series of videos for lead nurturing, also called marketing automation. We had never really considered using an automated system for our lead nurturing, until we came across a piece of data from Marketo. It found that companies using good marketing automation created 50% more sales-ready leads and at 33% lower cost. This makes sense to us. While we have...

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June 20, 2016 \ Emma Freter
Let’s Focus on Climate Change

Let’s Focus on Climate Change

Recently, I had the pleasure of working with Carolina Aragón. She installed a new public art piece called High Tide, located on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. On a warm, sunny Friday morning, our cameraman, Rafi, and I met with Carolina to capture her artwork on video. We learned that High Tide is a visual representation of a marsh along Boston's shoreline– past, present and future. Today in Boston,...

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June 8, 2016 \ Geoff Birmingham
Lighting for video

Lighting for video

A little while back (3 and 1/2 years, actually!), I mentioned that for folks who are capturing their own video, I'm of the opinion that bad picture won't ruin a video as readily as bad audio. And, with that in mind, it makes sense to spend a few dollars to purchase a simple microphone. The videos we produce here at Reflection Films have always fallen into one of two categories: 1) client video...

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May 18, 2016 \ Rachel Jellinek
Music & Memory Fundraising Video

Music & Memory Fundraising Video

Usually we don't feature our client work in our blogs, but we really wanted to bring your attention to this video for Music & Memory, because it relates to something that we are all going to be touched by, if we aren't already, and that is aging family members (and our own aging too). The clip above is an excerpt from the final two minutes of the film, just to give you a taste. Music & Memory...

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