Compassion is not soft or sentimental. On occasion, it can be hard and sobering. Often, it’s inspirational. Always, it is honest—a fundamental understanding that we all share this human journey. We are more alike than we are different, and we are never alone. But how do you "brand" compassion?
HospiceCare, Inc. in Dane County, Wisconsin was in transition. The agency had to grow to serve a growing need. But the founders also wanted to keep faith with the group's original mission, philosophy and personality. With $20,000 of in-kind contributions generously provided by local advertising agencies and production companies, I wrote and produced HospiceCare Is For Living, a public service video presenting the organization’s philosophy and services. The video spoke with the voices and faces of HospiceCare’s own staff, volunteers, patients and family members—honestly and without sentimentality.
We aired the video on Wisconsin Public Television. With additional funding from local Rotary clubs, we distributed 2,000 DVDs county-wide through hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, direct mail, the University of Wisconsin, local libraries and other nonprofit agencies. Our message was heard and taken to heart. HospiceCare Is For Living won that year's ITVA "Vidie" award for Best Public Service Video. I think it was also instrumental in my receiving the Fundraiser of the Year award from our county's chapter of the National Society of Fundraising Executives.
The awards were only icing on the cake. The real success of this story was that a small, compassionate video-with-a-plan helped launch a long period of expansion and solidified HospiceCare’s identity as the premier hospice provider in the county, with 1,500 staff and volunteers serving more than 2,200 families. 
