TREES Atlanta — Cold Outreach
Target: TREES Atlanta (825 Warner St SW, Atlanta GA 30310 — Kendeda TreeHouse, Oakland City)
Tier: C — community / long-game
Channel: Email — Judy Yi, Director - Marketing & Outreach (judy@treesatlanta.org); general info@treesatlanta.org; media marcom@treesatlanta.org. Instagram DM @treesatlanta. Facebook facebook.com/TreesAtlanta. Phone 404-522-4097.
Contact: Judy Yi — Director - Marketing & Outreach (published email + phone 404-609-3373 on the staff page). Executive Director Greg Levine (greg@treesatlanta.org) as alternate.
Ref: E13 in targets.md (Web-sourced candidates 2026-05-28 batch)
Built: 2026-09-13
Context
TREES Atlanta is the 40-year-old citizens' org that planted Atlanta's urban forest. Founded in 1985 by a group of citizens working with the Junior League of Atlanta, Central Atlanta Progress, and the Parks commissioner, it planted its first 46 trees on Carnegie Way in 1986 and has since planted and cared for more than 190,000 trees across metro Atlanta. It runs the Atlanta BeltLine Arboretum — "the world's longest linear arboretum" — plus tree planting, forest restoration, tree care, adult and youth education (Youth Tree Team, summer camp since 2013), and a workforce-development program. Charity Navigator four-star rated.
The video angle is the decades-scale growth itself. A tree they put in the ground in 1986 is a mature canopy now, and none of that is visible in a stat sheet. The number is 190,000. The work is a Saturday planting day full of neighbors, a kid in the Youth Tree Team, hands in the dirt along the BeltLine — the slow, invisible human story a donor page can describe but can't show. That's exactly the kind of work a reel is built for, and it's the hook.
The offer: A free 60–90 second piece from a planting day, a youth program, or the Arboretum of their choosing. No strings on the first piece, they own the footage.
What I have: A verified named contact — Judy Yi, Director - Marketing & Outreach, with a published email. The org's staff page warns against emailing multiple staff with the same inquiry, so pick one recipient; the marketing/outreach director is the natural fit for a free-reel offer, and Greg Levine (ED) is the alternate if Brandyn wants a top-level send.
Email (primary — judy@treesatlanta.org)
Subject: Free 60–90 second reel for Trees Atlanta
Judy —
Since 1985 Trees Atlanta has planted and cared for more than 190,000 trees, and most of that work still happens where a stat page can't see it: a Saturday planting day full of neighbors, a kid in the Youth Tree Team, hands in the dirt along the BeltLine Arboretum. The count tells one story. The people tell the other, and that one's hard to get into a donor email.
I make short documentary reels for mission-driven orgs in Atlanta, Ghost Coast Video. I'd like to offer Trees Atlanta a free 60–90 second piece from a planting day, a youth program, or the Arboretum. No strings. You own the footage.
Worth a reply?
— Brandyn
ghostcoast.video
Word count: ~115 words. Good.
Instagram DM (secondary — @treesatlanta)
Hey — Ghost Coast Video, I shoot short documentary film for Atlanta nonprofits.
190,000 trees since 1985 and the story is still mostly hands in the dirt on a Saturday planting, a kid in the Youth Tree Team. That's the part a listing can't show. I'd like to shoot a free 60–90 second piece — a planting day, a youth program, or the Arboretum. You own the footage, no strings on the first one.
Worth a reply?
— Brandyn / ghostcoast.video
Before sending
1. Pick one recipient. Judy Yi (Director - Marketing & Outreach, judy@treesatlanta.org) is the natural fit for a free-reel offer. The staff page explicitly asks people NOT to email multiple staff with the same inquiry. If Brandyn prefers a top-level send, Greg Levine (Executive Director, greg@treesatlanta.org) is the alternate. Address Judy by name in the email; if sending to the ED instead, swap the greeting.
2. The brief's guessed handle was right. Instagram is @treesatlanta and Facebook is facebook.com/TreesAtlanta (confirmed from the site footer + contact page social links). Also verified: X/Twitter @treesatlanta, YouTube youtube.com/treesatlanta, LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/treesatlanta.
3. Org verified active this session. treesatlanta.org is live, copyright © 2026, with current 2026 news (a March 2026 "World's Longest Linear Arboretum" post and a May 2026 native-trees post). The homepage headline is "190,000 Trees and Counting"; the history page confirms 1985 founding, 46 trees on Carnegie Way in 1986, the 2020 One Million Trees Initiative, and the 2025 40th-year milestone (180,000+ planted, 44,000+ volunteer hours annually).
4. Word counts: ~115 words in the email body, ~70 in the DM. Both under cap.
5. Keep distinct from the other nonprofit drafts. Wren's Nest (D7) is youth storytelling in a historic house; Charis (D8) is a feminist bookstore; Atlanta Music Project (D12) is ensemble/performance fundraising; Cabbagetown Initiative (E7) is public-spaces stewardship. TREES' hook is the urban forest itself — the slow, decades-scale growth, the community planting days, and the youth program work. Do not reuse their copy, do not batch-send.
6. No fabricated metrics or relationships. TREES Atlanta is a cold prospect, not a client. Every figure above is from their own site this session: 1985 founding, 190,000+ trees planted and cared for, 40th year (2025), Youth Tree Team, BeltLine Arboretum ("world's longest linear arboretum"). No invented program counts, event dates, awards, or testimonials. No AI attribution.
Status log
- 2026-09-13: draft written by night-shift worker; org verified active and real (treesatlanta.org live, © 2026, current 2026 news); found a named, verified contact — Judy Yi, Director - Marketing & Outreach,
judy@treesatlanta.org(ED Greg Levine as alternate); confirmed the real social handles (@treesatlanta on IG/FB/X/YouTube, plus LinkedIn). Enriched the E13 channel cell and marked it drafted. Hook is the urban-forest decades-scale story — 190,000 trees and the human work behind the count. Awaiting Brandyn review before sending.