Seven Questions To Ask Before Your Nonprofit Makes Video
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 @ 07:00 AM
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.
This is a situation that's typical in the nonprofit world right now. Many nonprofits are making the assumption that the way to start using video is just to make one and see what happens. And since they're investing in a video, they may as well try to get it to do lots of different things.
Unfortunately, if they proceed with their plan the video is going to fail. First, because they're treating their video like a big bucket, and they're dumping everything they can possibly think of into that bucket. But video doesn't work that way. It's not a bucket. It's most effective if you use it like an arrow.
Second, it'll fail because they're crossing their fingers and hoping thier video just somehow 'works' - even though they don't even know what that means.
What they should do - and what you should do if your nonprofit is thinking about making video - is this: don't start by making a video. Instead, start with these seven questions:
- What are the audiences you want to connect with? Individual donors? Corporate donors? Potential clients? Volunteers? Potential volunteers? List them all, and then prioritize the list.
- What are the stories you want to tell? The answer is directly related to question #1. For example, if your audience is potential volunteers, the story that will have an impact is the story of how much satisfaction and fulfillment your volunteers get from their work. If your target is potential donors, then showing the good work you are able to do because of donations is crucial. If your target is potential clients, then show the caring and compassion your existing clients receive. And so on. Match each audience with the specific story they need to hear.
- What kind of videos should you make? There are many different kinds of videos - testimonials, documentary-style videos, virtual tours, fun videos, to name just a few. Once you know who you want to connect with and what story you want to tell them, you can figure out what kind of video you should make.
- What are your goals for each of your videos? What do you want your videos to do for you? Raise awareness about the problem you solve? Convert 20 percent more people to volunteers? Communicate information to clients? Increase donations by 15 percent? Be as specific as you can.
- How will you distribute your videos? How will you get each of your videos in front of their audiences? The answer may include email newsletters, targeted emails, YouTube, Facebook, your blog, pages on your website, dvds, projection at events, etc. It's important to deliver your videos in as many different ways as possible, and not to just park them on YouTube and forget them.
- What will you measure to know if your videos are doing their job? This is easy to answer if you've defined your goals for each video. If it's convert more people to volunteers, you can measure an increase in volunteers. If it's donorship, that's easy to measure too. If it's raising awareness, then you need to develop some specific metrics to help you understand if and when you've achieved your goal. Ten percent more mentions on the web and in traditional media? Five more inquiries a month? A 20 percent increase in Twitter mentions?
- How can you make as many videos as possible within your budget? One single video just doesn't have much impact these days. It's a better idea to plan carefully and make as many videos as possible within your budget.
If you get stuck on any of these questions, bring in an expert who can help you answer them. Then, use the information you've gathered to create your video plan. Once you have your plan, the rest is easy: you'll know who you're making your videos for, what messages you want them to communicate, how to make them as economically as possible, how to distribute them, and what to measure to see how well they're doing their job.
Doesn't that make a lot more sense than "We're going to make a video and see what happens?"
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