Fundraising Video: Raise More Money This Year Michael Hoffman - See3 Communications
go to original August 8, 2012

Last month, teams set out from Nacho Daddy in Puerto Vallarta to participate in our first Scavenger Hunt Fundraiser benefiting Pasitos de Luz, a local non-profit organization that provides free daycare for disabled children. It was an amazing day and over 65K pesos were raised for the charity. (PromoVisionPV)

It’s August and that means that planning for year-end fundraising is in full swing... or, just starting... or, barely on the radar. Trust me, it’s time to start planning if you haven’t.

Why Video?

You need to be thinking about how video fits in to your year-end fundraising activities. Why? Because video is, by far, the content that commands the most attention online. In the US, the average web visitor watches nearly 250 videos per month. Holy cow.

Video is also extremely shareable and can be posted to social media sites, blogs and linked in Twitter feeds. Unlike photos and quotes and things that get shared often on Facebook, video can carry much more of a message to your audience. Let’s remember that the goal here is not to get Likes, it’s to get donors.

What is Fundraising Video?

There is a cycle in fundraising that starts with creating awareness, moves to soliciting a donation, and then if we do our jobs right, goes to upgrading the donors and stewarding that donors over a long period of time. The Holy Grail of fundraising is high Lifetime Value – donors who stay and continue to increase their giving over time.

In much of fundraising today, we are focusing too much on acquisition of new donors and not enough on keeping the ones we have. Some organizations are so focused on solicitation and new donor counts that they forget the goal of building long-term relationships. There are organizations that are investing in acquisition projects that have as much as 80% attrition. Meaning, 80% of those donors disappear after that first gift. This is not the fundraising program you want.

This is all to say that when thinking about end-of-year fundraising and video for fundraising we should not limit ourselves to that brief moment of solicitation. We need to be thinking about the whole cycle and how video can help us throughout.

Say Thank You

There is a great opportunity to use video to thank existing donors and make them feel good about what they have done. Thank you videos are also a signal to others that if they donate to your organization, they will be treated well and their gift will be appreciated.

The Annual Report

Video can be used to show donors how their money has been used – and then tell them about all of the work left to do. One way to do that is in an annual report.

Here is an online annual report we did for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. It uses a series of videos, and YouTube’s annotations feature, to connect visitors to the work in a vivid and emotionally powerful way.

Be the Moon – Make the Donors the Hero

One mistake that organizations often make in their videos, and in their communications generally, is to make the organization the focus. You need to remember that people don’t care about your organization. Rather, they care about the work you do, the people you serve, the change you are trying to make in the world.

Effective fundraising comes when you link your mission to your donors vision of their own life. The organization should “Be the Moon” and get the reflected light from your constituents, who are the focus, the sun.

Keep it Simple – Focus on One Thing

The biggest mistake organizations make in their year-end video is trying to use that video to tell donors about EVERYTHING they do. The best videos are one that set an emotional foundation for giving. They speak to the heart more than the head.

Focus on one thing. A single powerful story, even though it does not give an accurate picture of all of your work, will pay off more than a video that lists the many programs and functions of your organization.

How do we make all this video?

There are 5 ways you can get the videos you need as an organization.

Pay a Professional

There is no substitute for professionally produced video. You need at least that one video that was made by trained pros. Your viewers will feel the difference. In many cases, this can be the centerpiece video that leads viewers into your other content that might be produced in-house. Which brings us to the next option…

Make it yourself

Not all of your videos need to have super-high production values. You can use anything from a flip cam to an iPhone to make a video that let people in to the day-to-day work of your organization, make you real to them and create a feeling in the viewer that they want to be a part of your mission. Reuse and Repurpose

You might have video that was shot for that gala event last year. And certainly you have pictures. In order to save costs and create more content you need to be thinking about how you can reuse and repurpose assets to make more videos. Maybe, with existing footage, all you need is a new voice over to create a whole new video – at a fraction of the cost.

At See3, we have a lot of clients w/good content and the internal capabilities to put footage together that partner with us in the role of an executive producer. In these cases, we act as a consultant, guiding the creative concept and helping to weave together content where needed. We’ve seen clients save a lot of budget using this approach over the years.

Also, remember, when you have professionals produce video for you, you should own all the original footage to be used later.

User Generated Content

Sometimes the best video makers for your organization are your donors and advocates. Use contests and other incentives to get constituents to tell you, in their own words and with their own creativity, why what you do is important. These videos are often the most authentic and in the age of social media sharing this content can (and does) have real impact.

Become a CURATOR!

There are probably videos about the kind of work you do that were made by other organizations. While these videos might have other organizational branding in them, they nevertheless help educate your audience about the situation or the work. When this video is viewed on your web page, with your calls-to-action next to them, this video is working for you, even if it wasn’t made by you.

Think of it this way: If you are the expert in your subject area, then your constituents expect you to point them to the best information in your subject area, even if it was made by another organization.

End of Year Starts Right Now

Much of the giving and attention of donors happens near the holidays and in the end-of-the-year. Do not miss the opportunity to capture this attention with video. Start now and begin using these tips and techniques to find the right program for your own situation.

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!