Most nonprofits perceive the significance of storytelling. In spite of everything, utilizing written tales to encourage assist via unsolicited mail appeals and weblog posts is the norm. However let’s think about a “present, don’t inform” method.
Research reveal that individuals retain 95% of a video message, however solely 10% of a written message. In case your nonprofit depends solely on written content material, then you definately’re lacking out a useful alternative to have interaction and mobilize donors.
Video storytelling means that you can increase consciousness in your trigger and join together with your supporters on a deeper degree and in a approach they’ll make sure you bear in mind. So, how do you successfully inform your nonprofit’s story via video?
On this information, we’ll stroll via video storytelling finest practices that can assist you create efficient movies that construct belief, empathy, and assist. These embody:
- Decide your objectives
- Movie for a audience
- Hold the fundamentals of storytelling in thoughts
- Take note of visuals
With compelling movies available and a course of to create extra, you may make a deeper influence over emails, social media, and different outreach.
1. Decide your objectives
Step one of video storytelling is strategically planning how your content material will align together with your bigger objectives. As an example, are you seeking to introduce your nonprofit to the world, ask for donations, or clarify an necessary subject? Slender down your focus in order that your viewers understands the aim of every video and feels drawn to take the suitable subsequent steps.
Contemplate how most of these nonprofit movies can assist you attain your objectives:
- Organizational movies: An organizational video helps to advertise model consciousness because it gives an outline of your nonprofit’s mission, values, and historical past.
- Fundraising movies: Fundraising movies encourage present and potential donors to offer to a particular marketing campaign, permitting you to construct your case for assist and drive donations.
- Testimonial movies: Testimonial movies evoke an emotional response in viewers by offering your supporters with a chance to affirm your nonprofit’s influence in their very own phrases.
- Explainer movies: Explainer movies set up your nonprofit as an skilled within the area by explaining advanced points, similar to how the most cancers remedies that your nonprofit helped uncover saves lives.
Remember the fact that your group isn’t tied to only one kind of video story. As an alternative, it’s best to develop numerous sorts of content material to maintain viewers engaged. As an example, you would movie an explainer video that takes a deep dive into a selected service that your group gives. Then, roll out a sequence of testimonial movies to point out how that service helps actual folks.
2. Movie for a audience
For the best video storytelling, it’s best to know who your supposed viewers is and how you can tailor your content material to their preferences and pursuits.
To make sure your video tales are related, sift via your donor database for info like:
- Donor demographics: The final age vary, geographical location, and employment standing of your viewers can assist you make knowledgeable selections about their most well-liked video content material. As an example, in case you have a lot of Millennial and Gen Z donors, you may make a case for creating shorter movies which can be optimized for social media, since short-form content material is widespread amongst these generations.
- Engagement historical past: Contemplate how supporters have interacted together with your trigger prior to now, together with how current, frequent, and enormous their items had been. Do you’ve got a rising variety of first-time donors? Introduce them to your mission with an organizational video, then ask for assist with a fundraising video.
- Advertising preferences: Evaluate your advertising information to find out how finest to ship your nonprofit video tales. NXUnite’s advertising information suggests embedding your video in your web site, sharing it together with your e mail listing, and posting a teaser to it on social media to make sure it’s seen and thought of by the most individuals.
You may also ship out a survey to raised perceive your supporters. Be clear about your intentions by asking questions like, “What sorts of video tales do you need to see from our group?” Then, script and movie your movies with these responses in thoughts. It should present your viewers that you just worth their opinions and enhance your possibilities of profitable their assist.
3. Hold the fundamentals of storytelling in thoughts
Written tales take readers on a journey from starting, center, to finish, offering pleasure and intrigue alongside the way in which. Video tales aren’t any totally different.
For participating content material, embody these narrative storytelling strategies in your nonprofit movies:
- Discover a compelling hero. Nonprofit video tales ought to concentrate on an actual particular person or group of individuals impacted by your group. As an example, should you present scholarships to assist ship low-income youngsters to highschool, your hero may be a father or mother who depends in your providers.
- Introduce the issue: Now that you’ve a most important hero, introduce a problem that they’re dealing with, similar to meals insecurity, then present how your nonprofit is working to unravel the issue. As an example, you would present volunteers taking part in a meals drive or beneficiaries being served a heat meal.
- Suggest an answer: Because the video attracts to an in depth, place viewers as the answer and encourage them to take motion on behalf of your mission, whether or not that be donating, volunteering, or sharing the video with their very own private networks. As an example, you may embody a donation button after a fundraising video or embody a hyperlink to your petition in an organizational video.
These parts, together with compelling visuals, will provide help to display your nonprofit’s influence and make a compelling case for assist.
4. Take note of the visuals
In line with Tectonic Video’s information to nonprofit movies, one of the best video tales depend on visuals to convey their message. This level is made clear when you think about that practically all video content material on social media is watched with the hold forth.
As our consideration spans proceed to say no and the quantity of data we obtain grows, it’s necessary to compose movies in order that viewers know precisely the place to focus, even with out sound.
To start out, movie utilizing the rule of thirds. This composition guideline locations your topic within the left or proper third of the body, leaving the opposite two-thirds with extra clean area. Whereas there are different types of composition, the rule of thirds typically results in a compelling shot that pulls the viewer’s consideration into the video.
You must also maintain the rules of visible design in thoughts as you shoot your scenes and edit your remaining product. This consists of utilizing a cohesive colour scheme, sustaining visible hierarchy, and creating seamless transitions between your scenes. Ultimately, these parts ought to come collectively to create a fantastic, inspiring story.
Whereas anybody can take out their telephone and file a video story, partnering with skilled video professionals will offer you high-quality content material that’s assured to spark change and encourage significant motion. A nonprofit video manufacturing firm handles every part from scripting to enhancing to be able to concentrate on what issues most: driving your mission ahead.
Concerning the Creator
Doug Scott, Founder & CEO of Tectonic Video.
Doug has greater than 20 years of nonprofit communications expertise as a filmmaker, communications director, chief advertising officer and chief of two artistic companies for nonprofits. Doug is a world citizen having traveled to greater than 50 nations. He earned his B.A. in Strategic Communications from DePaul College, and he’s a frequent visitor lecturer at Stanford College on subjects associated to nonprofit storytelling and storytelling ethics.