Video marketing might seem like a big investment, but if Forbes is calling it the “future of content”, we should probably be paying attention. In fact, research has shown that fundraisers that included a video raised “4 times more funds than campaigns without one”. When you hear stats like that, it seems like including videos for your campaigns is a no brainer! Back in the day, you might have needed to rent or buy a camcorder or other equipment to make a video like this, and disseminating it to your audience would have been a challenge. Thankfully, even our cellphones can shoot decent quality video these days and sharing those videos on our websites, social media, and more make it easy to get your pitch in front of your audience. Smaller nonprofits with lower budgets can do their videos in-house, or if you’re a bigger organization with marketing funds to spare, you can allocate funds to hire a team to script and shoot a truly beautiful impact video.
There’s several different types of videos you can work into your event and fundraising to maximize your impact. Our friends at The AV Department have guides for filming Creative Intro Videos, Sizzle Reels, Live Streaming, and more. In this article, we’re going to dig into impact videos, specifically: impact videos connect donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders with the organization’s mission and impact through evocative, emotional storytelling. This is where we tug at the heartstrings! These videos allow you to showcase the best of what your organization can achieve as you call on your supporters to help you continue to make a difference. Here’s a few tips to help you maximize the impact of your video!
1. Dig Into Your Story
People don’t donate out of the blue. They donate because they’ve learned about an organization that’s focused on a cause they care about and they feel that donating to the organization will make a difference. Impact videos are a great opportunity to take a person who’s interested in your cause and convert them to a supporter (as a donator, volunteer, or more). This is your chance to show them the direct impact their support makes! In order to convince them that you’re the right organization to support, you need to get really good at telling your story.
What makes your organization tick? What’s the heart and soul of why you do this work? What’s the change you want to see in the world every time you go to work, plan an event, run a fundraiser? What are the tangible outcomes of the money you raise?
If you have video footage or stories from people your organization has helped, use them. If you have data about the work you’ve done (number of houses built, books donated, meals funded), share it. From there, you’ll need to craft a compelling narrative using the data and stories you have.
One basic framework you can use is below:
- Present the problem with a focus on an emotional plea
- Present your organization and its work as the solution
- Show data or stories that demonstrate the way your organization has made a difference
It doesn’t have to be complicated - in fact, keeping things as simple and clear as possible is better.
2. Think About the Visuals
With impact videos, you have a unique opportunity to really show the humanity behind your organization and your cause. There are few things more hard-hitting than seeing actual people in the community thriving from your support and services.
You may have people your organization has helped who would be more than willing to tell their story. If you can take on-site video from the locations where you work, that can be a great way to give viewers an immediate insight into the conditions your organization is dealing with. Either way, remember to respect everyone’s privacy and get their permission before filming or using their personal story.
You can also introduce and interview the founder or leaders of your organization, giving them a chance to explain why they do this work and what it means to them. Having your founder or founders speak about why they started your organization in the first place can be a great way to highlight the core of your organization’s mission.
3. Choose a Call to Action
Once you tell your story, you want to give viewers a clear call to action. This could be a request to donate, a call for volunteers, or a direction to your website to learn more about your mission. You may have one main outcome you’d like to see from your video as well as one or two secondary outcomes; i.e. you want to call for donations and raise awareness of your mission. The CTA at the end of your video should always be the main outcome you want to achieve with the video so that supporters know exactly what action to take after watching.
If you’re having trouble identifying a CTA, make sure you’re clear on the audience for your video - and then adjust your script accordingly. If your audience is viewers who have never heard about your organization before, then a “LEARN MORE” CTA may be the most appropriate (and the rest of the video should focus on introducing them to the basics of your organization). If your audience is already familiar with your organization, then a donation or volunteer CTA will be effective.
We hope these 3 tips will help you start thinking about putting together your own impact video! If you want to watch a video that puts these tips into action, check out this fundraising video by Jesuit High School.
If you’re looking for more resources on how to create a compelling impact video, check out our friends The AVDepartment. This article features several more tips for how to improve your videos! They have tons of great resources to support you throughout your video process.
Special thanks to Brian Harris, Owner/Video Production Lead at The AV Department for the expert advice.