Getting Started With Fundraising Videos: A Complete Guide for Nonprofits

Fundraising Videos 101: Our Top 6 Fundraising Video Tips 

Having an eye for visuals and knowing how to write a good script can be very helpful when you’re trying to make videos. However, it’s important to know that the true secret to making good videos comes down to planning.

When you take time to think about messaging and ways to reach your audience, making effective fundraising videos is simple. If you’re ready to make some great fundraising videos, make sure you follow these tips. 

1. Know Your Angle 

The best video editor and director won’t be able to produce good content if it doesn’t have a solid message. It’s important for every video you shoot to have a clear purpose. Take some time to think about your message and the impact you want to make with your content. 

Do you want this video to spread awareness for your cause to get more people to donate? Are you looking for volunteers to spread the word about your current fundraising campaigns? Are you trying to get the attention of potential big donors?

Sit down and up some thought into the end results you want your content to have. Once you have a clear understanding of that making an effective video gets much simpler. 

2. Give Great Info

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they’re creating videos for charities and non-profits is to assume that the people viewing them already know about their cause and organization. 

Remember, video content is such an effective marketing tool because it’s shareable. The people that are watching your video could be long time donors that follow your cause on social media or a completely new person that’s seeing your video because a search algorithm pushed it to the top of their newsfeed.  

This is why it’s important to ensure that your video answers some important questions:

• Who are you and what does your organization do?
• Why are you a worthy cause to donate to/pay attention to?
• Why are you raising money? 
• Why should the viewer care about what you’re doing? 

If you can ensure that your video covers all of these bases, you’re on your way to creating some truly effective content. 

3. Keep It Brief 

Despite constant studies that claim people have short attention spans, the average YouTube video has managed to get longer. Some content creators may choose to make videos longer to get more ad dollars, but you should focus on keeping your videos as short as possible. 

You’re trying to give people a lot of information in your videos. Overloading them with too much over a long period of time could make them disengage from your content. 

It’s also important to note that people that are unfamiliar with your cause may not be as engaged with the content. You’re going to want to grab their attention as quickly as possible so you can push them to take action.

4. Make Multiple Videos 

Don’t assume that all you need to do to get people to donate to your fundraiser is to make one video. If you want to market your fundraiser effectively you should make a series of videos to help your cause. 

You’re going to want to give your supporters plenty of content they can share with their friends and family. If they share the same video over and over again with others, you can expect people to tune out your message pretty fast. 

Think about different interesting ways to get your message across. This can make it easy for your experiment with different trends and messaging so you can learn what really resonates with your target audience. 

5. Share Everywhere 

Don’t just assume that posting your video once on social is enough to get donations. Start thinking of different ways you can use your video content to ensure that the right people can see it. 

Consider adding your videos to your email newsletters. Embed the video on pages on your website, or even consider making a special landing page campaign to push people directly to the video. 

Also, don’t make sharing your video a one and done deal. Make a schedule so you can periodically share your video on different platforms to get the most views possible. 

6. Get Some Help 

It may be possible to make videos are on your own, but that doesn’t mean that you have to do everything by yourself. 

Sometimes you’re too busy with other work to devote time to planning and shooting videos. You may want your videos to have a professional look and feel to them and don’t think you’re up to the task of doing it in-house.

Bringing in a video production crew to help shoot and edit your video may be one of the best decisions you make. 

If you’re having trouble coming up with a topic for your video or don’t know where to start, a professional crew can help you figure out what you need to do. They’ll also help ensure that the end results are polished and ready to be distributed anywhere you’d like. 

Start Filming Today

Fundraising videos are a great way to get more donations and spread the word about your organization and cause. Following the tips in this post can help ensure you create truly effective video content.

Are you ready to filming great videos? Whether you need help cleaning up something you shot or need to make something from scratch, we’re here to help. Reach out to us today so we can start working together to create great fundraising videos.