Alternate Roots — Cold Outreach
Target: Alternate Roots (Atlanta, regional arts + social justice org)
Tier: C — community / long-game
Channel: Email (EM)
Contact: [FILL IN — check alternateroots.org for executive director or communications contact; do not send to a generic info@ if a named contact is findable]
Built: 2026-05-27
Context
Alternate Roots is a regional arts and social justice organization headquartered in Atlanta, founded in 1976. They work at the intersection of arts and community organizing across the Southeast — funding and supporting artists doing community-based work in neighborhoods, small towns, and underserved areas throughout the region. They run an annual convening that brings together artists and organizers from across the South.
The GCV alignment here is direct: Alternate Roots supports artists whose work mostly exists in spaces that aren't well-documented on video. Their programs, convenings, and the artists they fund all have stories that a decent reel would serve — for fundraising, for artist credibility, for the organization's own visibility. This is the kind of org where one good piece of video turns into a sustained documentation relationship.
The offer: Free 60-second reel from a program, event, or gathering of their choosing. No ask, they keep the footage. Opens the door to paid documentation work.
Relevant GCV case studies (offer if they reply, don't lead with):
- Detroit Action — ongoing video retainer for a mission-driven community organizing org; exact pattern
- Georgia Sierra Club — prior branding work with a regional advocacy org; demonstrates track record with orgs doing movement-building work
What I don't have: Named contact. Check alternateroots.org before sending — executive director or communications director is the right entry point.
Subject: Free reel for Alternate Roots
[Name] —
The artists Alternate Roots supports are doing work in communities across the South that mostly gets documented on someone's phone and disappears. Fifty years of regional arts and organizing work, and the visual record of it is thinner than it should be.
I make short documentary reels for mission-driven organizations in Atlanta. Ghost Coast Video. I'd like to offer Alternate Roots a free 60-second piece from a program, event, or gathering of your choosing. No strings — you keep the footage.
If there's something on the calendar, reply here and we can talk about it.
— Brandyn
ghostcoast.video
Before sending
1. Find a named contact. Check alternateroots.org — look for an executive director, communications director, or programs staff. The email body works without a name but the greeting should be a real person, not "Hi there."
2. Verify email address. Their site contact page or a quick search will surface a direct address. Prefer a person's inbox over a contact form.
3. Check for an upcoming event. If they have a convening, showcase, or major program on the calendar, you can sharpen the opener to name it specifically. The fifty-year reference is already grounded — if something current surfaces, add one line about it.
4. Word count: 91 words in the body. Good.
Status log
- 2026-05-27: draft written by night-shift worker; awaiting Brandyn to find named contact before sending