Day of Caring Series - Fortive
Community Impact / Documentary Storytelling
Completed 2018
The Challenge
Fortive approached Element 7 to help bring their Day of Caring initiative to life — an annual global effort designed to give employees across all operating companies dedicated time to support causes they care about in their local communities.
While Fortive is a global organization, the story itself was deeply personal. The challenge was not simply to document volunteerism, but to authentically capture the human impact of giving back — across cultures, countries, and causes. With charitable work taking place simultaneously around the world, the question became: how do you tell one cohesive story about compassion, purpose, and belonging without losing the individuality of each experience?
Adding to the complexity, productions would take place internationally, requiring careful planning, remote subject development, and deep cultural sensitivity — all while ensuring each story felt emotionally honest rather than performative.
Our Approach
Element 7 approached Day of Caring as a series of human stories, unified by a shared purpose. Rather than centering the initiative itself, we focused on individuals — employees who could lead each narrative and offer a personal window into why giving back mattered to them.
For each film in the series, we identified a central subject and followed them through their day — from home, to work, to the moment they joined their community in service. This approach allowed the audience to experience the day not as an event, but as a lived emotional journey.
Every story was shaped using a simple three-act structure:
Act 1: Context — who they are, where they are, and why they care
Act 2: Action — the work being done and the people being helped
Act 3: Impact — reflection on service, community, and shared humanity
By grounding each piece in personal experience, we were able to highlight the joy, empathy, and meaning that emerge when people come together in service of others.
Production Highlights
Production spanned the United States, China, India, and Mexico, capturing charitable efforts ranging from food banks and community gardens to migrant support initiatives and the construction of tiny homes for the unhoused in Seattle.
International filming required extensive logistical preparation — coordinating travel, securing carnets, navigating customs regulations, and working with local crews to ensure smooth execution across borders. Despite limited time with subjects prior to filming, careful pre-interviews and thoughtful question design allowed us to build trust quickly and capture stories with authenticity and emotional depth.
Visually, we combined intimate vérité moments with cinematic tools — including drones, stabilized gimbal work, and carefully chosen lenses — to elevate each story while keeping the focus firmly on the people at its center.
The Result
The completed films were shared internally at company events and distributed through Fortive’s digital platforms, helping reinforce a culture of purpose, inclusion, and shared values across their global workforce.
In its first year, Fortive’s* Day of Caring* brought together employees from 25 operating companies, resulting in more than 200 community service events across 90 communities worldwide and an estimated 100,000 volunteer hours donated. The video series helped humanize these numbers — transforming impact metrics into moments of connection, generosity, and hope.
Client feedback reflected appreciation for the emotional clarity and care put into each piece, with particular praise for the attention to detail and the ability to share these stories more broadly.
Takeaway
By leading with empathy and centering each film on lived experience, Element 7 transformed a large-scale global initiative into stories that felt intimate, joyful, and deeply human. The series demonstrates our ability to step into unfamiliar environments, navigate logistical complexity, and still find the emotional truth that makes a story resonate.
This project reinforced a core Element 7 belief: when storytelling is rooted in care and understanding, it has the power to unite people across cultures and remind us of what we share.
At its heart, this project is about the human spirit — the joy of showing up for others, and the meaningful connections created when people come together in service of their communities.