Nonprofit Video Blog

Capital campaign videos are valuable because they connect donors with the emotional reasons to donate - something that's natural for video, but much more difficult to do through other media. That emotional connection is critical because emotions cause people to give. That's why your campaign needs a video - to create the emotional state that leads to donations.

Apple Tree Arts is a nonprofit serving central Massachusetts with music and theater arts classes for adults and children. The Apple Tree staff and board have launched a capital campaign to raise $1 million for renovations to the great hall in the Grafton Town House, which will become their new home. They will be asking corporate donors and foundations to make significant contributions – and they’ve decided to make video the centerpiece of their campaign.

We were recently asked a very interesting question: should nonprofits video blog?

If you haven't bought a video camera for your nonprofit - you should. And this is the camera you should buy: the Kodak Zi8. It's inexpensive (about $250 with 16GB Flash card and case), it takes great-looking video, AND it has an external microphone jack.

There are many calls to action in the nonprofit world. The first - and most widely used - is the call to donate. Nonprofits spend billions of dollars every year on mail campaigns that ask people to donate. But people can feel like their only value to your nonprofit is in the money they give. If that's true, they can experience donor fatigue. Offering your donors another option - a way to take action that will help your organization without donating - will give your donors a psychological boost. And - it'll help you connect with your future donors.

When you begin the process of creating videos for your nonprofit, it may be tempting to set the same goals you'd set for a traditional campaign, such as a fundraising letter sent through the mail: X new donors and $Y total donations. But creating videos and distributing them via the Internet represents a radically different way of raising money and growing your donor list, and so your goals can't be the same old goals. Instead, they should reflect the reality of how the Internet works, and how people interact with video.

Nonprofits generally understand that they need to start using video on the Internet. But it can be tough to figure out exactly what that means. What kind of video should you make? What kind of stories should you tell? More than once, what we've seen happen is that an organization decides to make one video, because they don't understand exactly how to use video and so they decide to dip their toe in the water. They're starting with one video, and if that works for them, then they'll think about making more.

Nonprofits all over the world are reacting to the terrible earthquake in Haiti by ramping up their fundraising, because immediate aid is needed. Oxfam America made this short video to connect with potential donors and convince them to donate. Notice that YouTube allows nonprofits to post text of a website during the video, and a hot link after the video is done playing. If you click the link after this video plays, you'll go directly to a donation page on the Oxfam America website.

A few days ago we received a phone call from a nonprofit that has made the decision to invest in a video. They plan to use this video to educate potential clients about their services, solicit donations from their current donor list, impress potential donors, show off their facility, and attract new volunteers. The caller said that many nonprofits are starting to use video, and so they thought they should give it a try. If it works, they'll think about making more. How will they know if it works? They're not sure.

Meet Baxter the therapy dog. This video is all about the service Baxter provides, and it will bring tears to your eyes. As you watch it, notice something else: the video has absolutely nothing in it that has anything to do with raising money - to support Baxter's work or the work of other therapy dogs. There's just Baxter and his incredibly powerful story.