5 Tips to Create Compelling Videos for Nonprofit Organizations
Video is an incredible tool for nonprofit organizations, associations, and groups alike, use these tips to get the most out of your video projects.
Still image from a Noble Bison production with St. John’s Cathedral.
Video is an incredible tool for nonprofit organizations, institutions, or clubs because it’s an engaging way to communicate information quickly, tell stories, and connect with new people. Video content can be used on your organization’s website, shared across multiple platforms, or at fundraising events.
Integrating video content significantly expands your organization’s exposure to the people who connect with your mission, like future members or donors. Moreover, if your organization does outreach work, people who need your services are more likely to find you.
Videos are a dynamic and palpable way to share the stories behind your organization. While storytelling isn’t the only technique used in nonprofit videos, it tends to be a compelling way to communicate the subject matter of nonprofits and get viewers interested and involved.
There are a variety of videos that nonprofit organizations can create based on the intent and goals of the content. You can see a brief list of common video types here, but before jumping into your production, consider the handful of tips below to get the most out of your nonprofit video projects.
Organization Story/Mission Video: This is often the first type of video organizations create when they start. Tell the story of how you came to form who you are today and the passion behind your mission.
Event Promotion Video: Event video production helps you to create professional videos that attract current supporters and potentially new ones to your organization's future events and gatherings (even virtually) throughout the year.
Fundraising Video: Speak directly to potential supporters of your mission or cause and tell them why they should donate to YOUR organization.
Appreciation Video: Let your donors know how their contribution has added value to your organization's mission. Videos are a wonderful way to show this and share your appreciation sincerely.
Invitation to Services: Share what your organization provides in the form of an invitation to those who may need your services.
For your video production projects to deliver the most return, keep these tips in mind:
Set Goals & Track Performance
Make it Professional
Call to Action
Know Your Audience
Spread Positivity & Be Authentic
Set Goals & Track Performance
Videos are a great addition to your nonprofit organization because they can help you to accomplish goals that may be otherwise difficult. Establish your organization’s main goals for this year and allow that to guide your video production efforts.
Create based on where your organization could benefit the most from a quality video – maybe more people need to know the mission or issue your organization is working to resolve, or perhaps you have a big fundraising event coming up.
Setting goals will give you something specific to achieve and look out for with each video you produce. In this sense, paying attention to each video's performance, like its abandonment and click-through rates is really important. These metrics will tell you a lot about your content and where you can improve. When things are working, lean into it!
Make it Professional
Still image from a Noble Bison production with St. John’s Cathedral. See the full video below.
Your videos must be professional to build trust with viewers and convey the quality of your organization. Creating high-quality videos requires more time and resources, but the extra effort is worth the return on investment.
What defines a professional-looking video?
It entails a few things, such as the quality of the picture, audio, lighting, and intentional content. There are plenty of resources online to learn how to produce videos in-house, like what camera to use or basic lighting techniques. However, hiring a local Denver video production company to work with your organization will give you immediate access to experienced professionals, top-notch equipment, and the possibility of bringing larger visions to life.
Call to Action (CTA)
A clear CTA is the action you want your viewers to take after watching your videos. This is especially important for nonprofits and organizations because they operate through action. Direct cues are a strong device to encourage action, especially after a compelling story or sharing research and data. Your CTA will change based on the type of video you create – it could be for viewers to subscribe to your newsletter, donate to your cause, volunteer, etc. Use direct verbs like “Click here to donate.”
Also, YouTube has a nonprofit program focused on helping nonprofit organizations with their videos. This program includes special CTAs throughout videos and fundraiser video events.
Know Your Audience
Still image from Noble Bison production with The Episcopal Church - St. Peter & St. Mary
Where you share the content, how you speak, the pace and the creative elements can all change based on the type of video your organization creates—and for whom. Knowing your audience is extremely important when creating any type of content.
Nonprofit organizations are often well-versed in how to speak to various types of people because much of their work involves spreading awareness to different agencies, committees, and other groups of people. It’s no different when creating video content. Relating and connecting to your audience is integral to getting your message across.
Consider these questions: who needs to hear your story, who would understand it, and who would it impact?
There are optimal ways to tell stories, share information, etc., that will capture your audience's attention. Where can you tighten up? Consider things like word economy, opening hooks, and language choice. This is another space that the expertise of a video production company can help you work through.
Share Positivity & Be Authentic
A great example of speaking authentically is this video we did for St. Johns Cathedral.
Even if your organization brings awareness to an issue that isn’t exactly sunshine, how you share this issue can be done positively. Emotions make people act, even sad emotions, but using positivity to build your supporters just feels better. It’s lighter and shows people how they can be part of the positive change taking place. What are some of the breakthroughs, positive upticks, and things that donors or supporters can feel hopeful about? Share!
Think of this as a potential outline: Establish the issue, show positive change with your organization, connect to the viewer with CTA, and close with your organization’s logo/name.
Being authentic in your videos is important for nonprofit organizations, especially when creating fundraiser-type videos. The aim is to connect with people in an honest way because anything else will be seen as disingenuous and disrupt the viewer's perception. This can usually be accomplished with off-the-cuff interviews, speaking sincerely from your experience and heart.
Does your nonprofit organization need professional video production?
Noble Bison Productions is a full-service production company that loves passion projects!
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