Aaaaand … Action!
11 steps to making an effective video for your organization.
June 2010 By Nancy Schwartz
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Online video is one of the best ways to tell your nonprofit's story. When done right, it can forge powerful connections between your organization and your supporters — but only when it stands out from the competition, in three minutes or less.
Here's why your organization should be using video now:
1. Video production now can be done by anyone with a video camera and Internet access. Brief, on-the-fly videos provide authenticity, the sense of "being there" and compelling visuals via a short production cycle.
2. There's an expectation, especially among those 30 and under, that video be an element of every communications mix.
3. Quality video contributes immediacy and excitement to your communications mix and strengthens overall impact. Well-crafted videos can emotionally engage your audience in a way that reading can't.
It's almost like being there in person and sometimes even better, with the ability to provide the human element (e.g., an online site visit) that's unmatched for creating trust and driving action.
Videos are shown to:
● Generate response that's both intellectual and emotional.
● Inspire action — The right combination of storytelling, imagery (through photos and video) and personal appeals can be more effective in moving people to act.
● Significantly expand audience reach through online distribution. An engaging video is easily (and likely to be) passed on by your viewers, representing an exponential growth in reach.
The St. Joseph Ballet, a youth development organization, created a simple video (youtube.com/watch?v=kPVuwzEBjV0) to build understanding of its work and impact around its name change to The Wooden Floor. This moving video is hugely engaging and was just named a winner in the 2010 DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. It's a powerful example of modest production values generating significant impact.
11 steps to launching a successful video
1. Develop a simple plan to guide your project. Whether you're shooting a 30-second public-service announcement or an hour-long documentary, begin by shaping a plan incorporating preproduction, production and postproduction.
This is really no different than other nonprofit marketing endeavors you work on. You don't jump into writing a brochure, annual report, website, fundraising campaign, advocacy campaign, etc., without some up-front planning.
2. Test your video idea against your communications goals. Don't produce a video just for the sake of doing a video. Review your organization's communications goals and best strategies to meet them to assess if video is a relevant channel.
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