Case Study
Narrative • Documentary • Animation • Nonprofit

A Decade of Partnership
Lightpost Studios’ relationship with The Children’s Heart Foundation started in 2015, when made a short documentary that premiered at the foundation’s annual Red Tie Ball gala, their pinnacle fundraising event.

The Children’s Heart Foundation is the country’s leading organization solely dedicated to funding congenital heart defect (CHD) research, the most common birth defect in the United States.

Lightpost Studios is proud that over the last decade, we’ve been able to help tell the stories of the patients, parents, and doctors, all working on the research and advancement of congential heart defects, and ultimately, saving lives.

Raising Awareness with Impactful Animation
In 2016, Lightpost Studios concepted and designed a powerful explainer video, showing the staggering statistics around CHDs. Part of the unique appeal for this work, is that you can take a subject matter that might sound dry (statistics) and craft it into an artful story that communicates data to viewers in an engaging manner.

Continuing the Mission Through COVID Years
The COVID-19 pandemic hit everyone hard, especially the heart kids (children with CHDs) who are immunocompromised, and the healthcare community around them.

Any chance of video production was also shut down, during this time. As a creative partner for the foundation, this meant that Lightpost Studios had to think strategically about how to continue the video marketing effort. Through 2020 and 2021, we used a combination of zoom interviews, repurposed photography assets, fresh animation ideas, and previously unused interview footage, to breathe new life into the foundation’s campaigns.

Exceeding Fundraising Goals
In 2019, as part of a Giving Tuesday campaign, Lightpost Studios put together a short, heartwarming interview with Izzy, a heart kid. Izzy was excited about a the idea of a video interview. She’s very passionate about helping other kids with heart defects, and she hoped it would help raise donations for CHD research. Her wish came true. After sharing, the foundation exceeded their goal and raised over $110,000!

In 2024, Lightpost Studios, in conjunction with our nonprofit media partner and the volunteer event staff of Red Tie Ball gala, created another short documentary focused on the groundbreaking impact of Fontan heart pumps, lead by Dr. Mark Rodefeld.

The story was two-fold: educating viewers about the device’s life-saving abilities, and listening to the direct impact of this research from two mothers of children with CHDs.

The impact of this narrative reached a new benchmark for The Children’s Heart Foundation, contributing to over half a million dollars in donations for the cause, and furthering advancements in life-saving heart pumps that can be implanted in children born with congenital heart defects.

In 2025, with the strategic minds of the Red Tie Ball committee, we crafted another narrative that told the story of heartbreaking loss, and the limitations of current medicine. This drove home the reality that life-saving medical advancement can only be achieved through innovative research and funding.

We also took a moment to look through the lens of CHDs from other angles, and the daily challenges that kids may face, such as developmental delays and special education needs.

We are proud to have been part of another year’s initiatives, and to have contributed to the $1.9 million dollars of researched funded. We are so thrilled to hear this campaign exceeded expectations, and look forward to the future work we can do together!