Draft 1: 1/17/12
for Wing-It Productions
by Phill Arensberg
Overview:
Based on TLC's “What Not To Wear”, our event features, in the place of a charming but hapless fashion victim, our GRANTMAKER. GRANTMAKER. GM is an institution with wonderful intentions and horrible practices. It's gotten so bad that her PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS have contacted the stylishly effective granting experts, Stacy and Clinton in the hopes that these two can bring in some tough love and makeover GRANTMAKER's closet full of tacky, feckless granting practices into high couture processes that get the work done.
EVENT OPENS:
GEO PRACTICIONER:Context and intro and
intro HNTG MC who sets up video
FILM OPENING:
HNTG LOGO dissolve to:
HNTG Set, Interior. Various bits of fashion accouterments (Mirrors, dressmaker’s dummy, clothes, etc.) scattered in the back ground. Two director’s chairs. STACY lounges in one, reading Bazar or Allure or something. Enter CLINT.
CLINT: Introduces this week’s granting emergency.
STACY: Continues, setting the stage:
- GRANTMAKER’s intentions are far better than her practices
- A few tips changes will result in more effective practices and ,ultimately, helping more people
STACY: Takes up the challenge, ending on a high note.
- We’ll have her looking and granting great in no time
- How bad could it be?
(OPTIONAL DEPENDING ON TIME: Opening Credit Sequence: This will feature a quick sequence of our stylish duo taking frumpy foundations and whim wham! Turning them into sparkling endowing institutions. Ending with a close up on the “How Not To Grant” logo. )
MONTAGE of GRANTMAKER (Pre-Makeover)
These will be quick sequences of GM at her job:
- in her office
- meeting with community and org leaders
- Presenting to a board
FRIENDS and FAMILY (3 or 4 people) talking points, delivered in an overly dramatic, fashion:
- She’s so talented/effective but nobody knows
- We just want the best for her
- She’s good now, but could be great
C&S lay out the specifics. They will address GM’s biggest fashion (i.e. process) issues:
- GOS
- Multiyear
- Right sizing requirements/procedures
AMBUSH
Interior, GM Office; GM is delivering a presentation to FRIENDS & FAMILY (goals with no process), dressed in something awful (bridesmaid dress w/ dyed pumps?) C&S enter fabulously and hugely. GM is taken completely aback. F&F smile knowingly and supportively.
C&S deliver the HNTG shtick about how F&F want the best for her and her org. C&S Then finish the sequence by archly stating that when they are done, GM will look and grant FABULOUS!
END OPENING
SEQUENCE 1, GOS (For the purposes of this sequence, GM’s shoes represent large scale GOS support and her hideous outfit will represent the small amount of GOS budgeted.)
HNTG Set, interior. We open with S&C and GM looking into the camera as it it were a full length mirror. GM is wearing a horrible, shapeless, frumpy, ugly dress, a real shmatta, along with bad tights (too big, full of tears, etc.) and a fabulous pair of shoes. Stacy and Clinton writhe in fashion agony.
GM: What’s the problem? She funds some great programs, gives them plenty of money.
C&S: Appropriately appalled:
- 51% of granting orgs give GOS support ( they gush about her shoes)
- Only 20% is actually budgeted to GOS
- GM only rarely gives general operating support and in low $ amounts or doesn’t fully fund the costs of a program's overhead. Stacy and Clinton discuss the importance of GOS, indicating the mismatch between the dress and the shoes.
IRIS IN on shot of the horrible dress/shoes combo with dire, cliffhanger-esque music
LIVE SEQUENCE 1: Return to MC and quick recap of GM’s issues -
- GOS
- Multiyear
- Right sizing requirements/procedures
VIDEO SEQUENCE 2, MULTIYEAR SUPPORT & CAPACITY BUILDING (The fashion metaphor in this sequence will invlove classic vs. trendy outfits. The idea here is that classic looks (multiyear support and giving the right kind of support) have longevity, while constantly going for the newest thing forces a repetition of process (forcing grantees to jump through repeated hoops).
HNTG LOGO, disolve to MIRROR CAM
GM is wearing a VERY trendy (and ugly) outfit. Clearly, she loves it.
C&S produce blank stares.
C&S: What is...why would you...are you...(speechless)
GM: These are the latest trends AND they were a bargain.
C&S: Oh, girl...
- Don’t make trusted grantees go through unnecessary and time consuming processes to get their money
- Multiyear grants have dropped from 60% to 29% since 2008
- Leadership development is the funding that people want (classic looks) not flash in the pan programs (Hot Topic)
- Protip: Use established reporting/application requirements and Capacity Building processes as a starting point, but be sure to asses the unique needs and resources of individual grantees. Make sure the outfit is appropriate to the occasion.
END VIDEO SEQUENCE 2
LIVE SEQUENCE 2: MC builds up cliffhanger. This is a very short, make sure everyone is engaged, break up the pacing kind of bump.
VIDEO SEQUENCE 3: RIGHT SIZING
This section focuses on sizing, specifically on how one size definitely does not fit all.
HNTG LOGO
Dissolve to CLOSE UP of GM talking about one of her favorite outfits. The camera pulls back to reveal a staggeringly ill-fitting outfit. It is baggy where it should be tight and unflatteringly tight where it should be roomy. S&C explain about the pitfalls of standardized reporting, using GM's poorly fitting outfit as an example.
S&C: Think about what you want to support and what you’d like to de-emphasize.
- Take advantage of increased grant-approval times, 90 days to 60 days since 2008
- 15 days to make a payment instead of 21
- Allow for increased hours in grantees responses - most people don’t budget enough time
- Make sure the requirements for the grant are proportional to the amount of the grant (make sure it’s a good fit)
C&S exchange a worried look behind GM’s back - will all of this stuff work???
MONTAGE (Film making 101: a montage is a series of images juxtaposed in order to convey meaning. Our montage will show GM alone in various stores, looking through racks of clothes, choosing some, rejecting others. She has her hair and makeup done. Shots of her entering and exiting salons and boutiques. C&S will VO nervously about their hopes for GM to take their advice and pull together some amazing processes (i.e. outfits). Music is upbeat and bouncy, lots of quick cuts. MONTAGE concludes with GM disappearing into a dressing room, her arms heavily laden with clothing.
C&S: Quick recap of issues:
- GOS
- Multiyear & Capacity Building
- Right Sizing Process
C&S: Recalling some of the advice they gave GM. This occurs as both ON-Camera and VO while GM chooses outfits:
- Assess needs of grantees
- Support leadership & adaptive capacity
- Listen to their grantees AND their peers
- 45% sought advice from grantee advisory committees
- 58% assessed the needs of those served by grantees
- Engage stakeholders
- Solicit feedback (anonymous or not)
- Join the GEO Network
- GEO Network members are 2x more likley to
- increase granting amounts
- give multiyear grants
- engage in strategic stakeholder engagement
C&S: End on cliffhanger. We’ve done our best. We’ve given GM all the information she needs. Let’s hope she takes it to heart and doesn’t end up looking like a carnival ride.
END VIDEO SEQUENCE 3
LIVE SEQUENCE 3: Build cliffhanger and introduce Breakout Groups
BREAKOUT GROUPS
LIVE SEQUENCE 4: Return from Breakouts and Reveal
MC: Introduces C&S. Brings them onstage and they banter about the ENORMOUS challenge they faced this week. Do they think GM heeded their advice and now looks great?
C&S: They hope so, but you never know. Essentially building up to the REVEAL
REVEAL: GM enters looking AMAZING - spectacular hair, makeup and outfit. She is confident, stylish and effective in her new procedures.
MC: Recaps stats from throughout the video:
- Increased relevance
- Stakeholder engagement
- Less repetition of unnecessary procedures
- Faster granting cycles
GEO MC: Thank yous and goodbyes
CLOSING CREDITS: These are interviews with Friends and Family, talking about GM’s new, improved look and process.
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