Use Video for Nonprofit Capital Campaigns
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Feb 24, 2011 @ 12:57 PM
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.
Why use video for your capital campaign?
To make donations, large donors need a clear understanding of what their donation will be spent on. They need to know who will be served with their money. They need details: how long has the organization been operating, what is its structure, who does it serve, how successful is it. What is its history? How and why did it start?
All that is information. And information by itself is not enough to get potential donors excited about giving. For that, you need a way to tap into their emotions.
Video sidesteps information overload and short attention spans, and makes a direct connection between potential donors and the reasons they should care about your campaign. Video provides the story - and the excitement factor - that text information just can’t.
If your nonprofit is looking to raise money for a capital project, chances are you'll be asking foundations and corporations to make major donations. So along with your packet of printed materials that explain what you do, who you help, what you need and why, consider including a video. The text you provide will convey all the information, but the video will create the excitement. And you need to create excitement about what you do to get corporations and foundations to donate.