Creating the Impact You Need
Not-For-Profit (NFP) organisations need more money, more supporters, and more people to know about the important work they do. This engagement serves a purpose; ultimately, NFPs exist to create positive impact and public benefit. But, with over 56,000 registered charities in Australia alone, it’s hard to stand out. No longer can charities assume that their important calls to action will cut through the crowded social media landscape based on good intentions alone. It is no longer just a battle for philanthropy, but they compete for attention and decisive action amidst the myriad causes; never before has it been so important to be distinctive. Indeed, never before has it been so critical to swiftly affect hearts and minds. The best way to do this: Video.
Video Plays a Vital Role For Not-For-Profits
Not-For-Profit organisations know how essential it is to incorporate videos into their organisation to raise awareness and funds for the causes they serve. In fact, more than 57% of people who watch NFP videos will contribute a donation to that organisation. It’s clear that people prefer visual, auditory, and motion communication. Creating a video that leaves an emotional impact on your viewers offers potential for tremendous campaign success, as they are likely more willing to support your cause with financial contributions.
However, the content that your NFP creates needs to be carefully thought out. High-quality content is the driving key to more engagement and awareness of your issues. Unfortunately, most businesses in the NFP sector are regularly posting on social media or publishing blog articles but haven’t embraced video content.
Pushing out content in various mediums can be the key for your organisation to grow, which is ultimately what you want: more supporters, more donations, and more awareness for your cause. While it is true that videos will require more from your organisation in terms of equipment, time, and money, the potential ROI is worth it if it’s done correctly and invokes the proper response from your viewers.
How Your High-Quality Video Content Makes A Difference
Investing in video content is essential to help achieve the impact you want to make in your organisation. High-Quality video content can:
- Tell A Story: People communicate best through stories. In your videos, you have the space to tell a story and engage with supporters in ways that other mediums cannot provide. By telling the truth of your issue and creating a video that prompts an emotional response, viewers will be more receptive to the topic.
- Connects With Viewers: Videos are an effective way of connecting with viewers on an emotional level; they can be funny, sad, or even suspenseful. Viewers are able to connect with your NFP in a way that can’t be captured through text.
- Build Trust & Credibility: Video production content builds trust because it is seen as more authentic than text-based information. People only want to donate to charities that they trust to do the right thing with their money. By building trust through videos, you make it easier for potential donors to invest in your cause.
- Increase Engagement: Videos can visually capture the problems that your organisation is working to fix while helping to retain audiences, leading to increased engagement. In fact, social video generates 1200% more shares than image and text content combined.
- Easily Communicate Complicated Issues: Depending on your issue, you may find it extremely difficult to explain over text what your organisation’s mission is and how it helps others. Videos are an efficient way to help viewers understand complex topics in a short amount of time.
- Inspires Action: By providing videos showing your organisation and what you do, you’re making it easier for donors to contribute to your cause.
It’s clear that your organisation needs to invest in video in order to increase awareness, engagement, and donations to help you achieve the impact you want to have on the world.
Creating The Right Video Production Strategy For Your Organisation
Most organisations produce videos that only their members will watch or read without knowing how they can increase exposure for these pieces of content. And in today’s era where people don’t have time to sit down and read articles or watch lengthy video series because it feels like an obligation, creating purposeful content is essential.
In order to incorporate video production into your NFP’s marketing activities, you’ll need to determine how you plan to use your content and the strategy you will follow to ensure the right people see your video. Here are a few ways to create the impact your NFP is looking for from your videos.
- Determine How You Want To Use Your Content
The first step is to consider how you want to use your content. Are you trying to educate newcomers on why they should donate to your organisation? Or do you want to demonstrate the impact of donations to those who already contribute, to ensure they keep donating? Videos need purpose. They need a goal or an objective in order to have impact, so determine what you want the end result to be from those who watch your video.
- Plan Out Your Content
Not-For-Profits can use both short-form and long-form videos. Short-form videos are great for capturing attention quickly so you can get right into your message quickly. In contrast, longer-length videos give audiences time to explore without feeling overwhelmed with information from one clip.
Once you’ve chosen your ideal length, it’s time to plan out your content. What do you want to say? Who are you trying to reach? What is the feeling that you want viewers to walk away with? Make sure to write out your story from beginning to end and include a call to action for your viewers to donate.
- Choose One Topic
Remember to only create your video content around one topic at a time. You don’t want to try to jam multiple issues into one video. Instead, you want to create one narrative and stick to it throughout the video, so it’s clear what message your viewers should be hearing.
- Use High-Quality Equipment
Use high-quality equipment to create your videos. Not only does this make it easier for you, but as a NFP organisation, it’s crucial that viewers can see and hear what you’re saying clearly. The right camera is crucial because not all cameras are created equal, which can impact how your video sounds and looks. Plus, depending on the social media platform you’re using, you might need different-sized videos or shapes so that the viewer sees a high-quality video. A professional videographer can make a big difference to your outcome.
Don’t be afraid that your supporters will think that high-quality content means you’re investing all your resources on video production. A lot can be achieved on a modest budget, and remember, you are in the business of trust: you always want to be seen as professional.
Choosing The Right Social Media Platform
It’s not feasible for NFPs to focus on every social media network on the internet, or else you wouldn’t have time to fundraise, answer e-mails or do any other work with your NFP. This is because each social media platform has its own set of expectations, video sizes, and audiences.
As a NFP, you should consider the most popular platforms to advertise your cause, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Using Facebook For Your Not-For-Profit
Out of those mentioned platforms, Facebook is the most popular choice for a few reasons.
- Facebook has the biggest audience, with more than 2.85 billion active users in the first quarter of 2021.
- Facebook videos are for entertainment or emotional videos instead of how-to videos or lengthy explanations, making it an ideal platform for NFP videos.
- Facebook videos can pop up based on a user’s likes or what they enjoy seeing, which can help connect your NFP video to those who share similar interests.
- Facebook offers features specifically designed for NFPs, including tools like donate buttons, connectivity to your PayPal Giving Fund, donation reporting features and pledge match donations.
Using Instagram For Your Not-For-Profit
Instagram thrives on aesthetically pleasing videos and is an ideal platform if you’re trying to reach an audience that’s a little younger.
- Instagram has over 1 billion active users, so NFPs have a wide audience that they can connect with.
- Instagram has analytic tools that can help you monitor how your content is performing to ensure you’re creating content that works.
- Once you have a verified account, you can link directly to fundraisers or your own websites through your stories or profile link.
Using LinkedIn For Your Not-For-Profit
LinkedIn was designed for professionals and business communities. LinkedIn can help NFPs gain the support of corporate companies and established their credibility.
- LinkedIn has more than 756 million users to connect with through their network.
- Since LinkedIn is a group of professionals, NFPs can take advantage of this to reach potential employees or volunteers, gather corporate funding, and gain credibility for your NFP by showing your expertise through your videos and posts.
Each social media platform has its advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to consider who your audience is on social media and the goals you’re trying to accomplish with your NFP videos. Remember that you’ll need to measure and analyze your success with each video on each platform to ensure you’re creating successful videos and utilizing the tools available to your NFP.
High-Quality Video Production For Not-For-Profits
If you’re looking for a videographer and video production company to create videos for your NFP, look no further. The Jasper Picture Company has an expert team of talented video production professionals who are skilled in producing high-quality videos that will get the results you want from your social media marketing campaign. Contact us today, and we’ll show you how our experience can help your NFP reach its goals!
Not-for-profit video production examples
and while you are here why not check out 21 ideas for videos in 2021