Your non-profit does great work! It is upon you to spread the word and get more people involved.
In 2024, trust in non-profits rose to 57 percent after a steady four-year decline. There is no better time to promote your cause and seek the support of your target audience.
However, communicating your organization’s accomplishments, vision and mission can be challenging. People rarely look at text-based ads and posters/flyers anymore. Why? It is hard to conjure up strong emotions using just words. But a compelling video can charm, evoke emotions, and carve the memory of your organization and its mission/goals into the viewer’s mind.
When it comes to charitable causes, stories matter – use compelling videos to tell yours.
This article describes the process of creating enthralling non-profit storytelling videos.
Importance of Video Storytelling for Non-Profits
As a non-profit, you probably have many moving stories to tell. These accounts may revolve around hardship or perseverance. You can use such stories to raise awareness for your cause, inspire volunteers, or raise money.
Other advantages of video production for nonprofits include spreading brand awareness, boosting web traffic, encouraging social media sharing, and turning viewers into lifetime supporters. You can create a deeper connection between your target audience and your cause with the help of quality videos.
Tips for Creating Storytelling Non-Profit Videos
You can attract and build lasting connections with supporters using successful non-profit videos. Streamline your storytelling video production process with the following tips.
Identify Your Audience
As a non-profit, you might assume everyone is interested in hearing your stories. However, this is not always the case. You must customize your content to specific viewers if want to succeed. Knowing your target audience will help you create attention-grabbing content that matches their preferences.
To get a better understanding of your audience, start by going through your list of donors and analyzing their demographics. What is their average age? Where are they located? Are they employed? For instance, if most of your donors are young, you might be better served by crafting short-form video content, which is popular among people within that age group.
You can also learn a lot about your audience by checking out what other non-profits similar to yours are doing. What type of content are they producing? Where do they get the most engagement?
Surveys and questions can also provide a ton of useful information about the direction you should be taking your video creation efforts. Ask your supporters why they choose to work with your organization and what they might be interested in learning about your projects. Use their responses to create your next video.
Choose a Storytelling Approach
You can use nonprofit videos to raise money among donors or educate potential supporters. To get the most out of each video, you must understand its role in your organization’s overall communication plan.
Depending on your goals, you can create different types of storytelling videos including:
- Fundraising Videos: These videos encourage supporters to contribute financially toward a specific project.
- Public Service Announcement (PSA) Videos: These are short educational videos designed to inspire behavioral change or raise awareness.
- Testimonial Videos: Considered powerful recruitment tools, these videos allow your partners, donors, and clients to share how your organization is making an impact.
- Organizational Videos: They describe the mission and origin of your non-profit by providing an overview of the entire organization.
- Explainer Videos: These videos demonstrate what you do and the steps you follow when doing it. Nonprofit explainer videos break down complex topics into easy-to-understand videos.
- Marketing Videos: Non-profits also need to market themselves and their cause. Video marketing for nonprofits casts a wide net and uses these videos to teach viewers what you do.
Regardless of which type you choose, your non-profit videos should show the impact of your efforts and encourage viewers to provide support.
Craft a Narrative
To ensure successful video storytelling, you must know how to tell a captivating story. This will help you take your audience through the journey of a beneficiary or the organization as a whole.
Every good story must have several important elements, including:
- Main Characters: To inspire support, storytelling videos need main characters. This can be an individual or individuals impacted by the organization’s efforts. Examples of potential main characters include beneficiaries, volunteers, founders, or donors.
- Story Arc: This phrase refers to the path followed by the story being told. This may revolve around the challenges faced by the main characters and how the organization is working to resolve the issue.
- Supporting Information: This involves fleshing out stories by providing accurate and relevant information. For instance, you can say your non-profit has helped 20 unhoused families find shelter.
- Conclusion: Your story needs a conclusion that wraps things up and encourages viewers to get involved by donating, sharing, liking, or commenting on the video. Use a clear call to action to point viewers toward the desired action.
A professional video production company can help you create a compelling story that captures the attention of viewers in a matter of seconds.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
A CTA can be defined as a brief message at the end of your video informing viewers of what you want them to do after watching the content. It empowers them to get involved by taking a desired action. You can use a CTA to ask your audience to share the content, sign a petition, volunteer, or donate.
When it comes to CTAs, you have three main options, a button, text, or spoken words (verbal).
Remember to add a sense of urgency to your CTAs by using words that evoke emotions.
Create Professional Non-Profit Storytelling Videos!
It is possible to create a storytelling video on your own. However, to ensure that you end up with professional-looking and sounding content, it is recommended that you partner with a team of experienced storytellers and video production pros.
Our Orlando Video Production Company, NG Production Films, can communicate effectively and efficiently to produce high-quality video production. We have over a decade of experience to produce the next video production project for your organization. Call NG Production Films today for a free no obligation consultation at 407-233-3236 or fill out our contact form for a prompt reply.