Note: This guest post is from Rachel Jellinek of Reflection Films, a skilled filmmaker and savvy marketer. Thanks, Rachel!

When telling your organization’s story through video, pay attention to several key considerations.

First and foremost, how would you answer these questions?

• What do you want people to know?
• What do you want people to feel?
• What do you want people to do?

What do you want people to know?

Ask five to ten people outside of your organization what they think you do.

• What’s your mission?
• Whom do you serve?
• What are your services?

Their answers might surprise you! Some may know about only one of your programs, or mistakenly believe you only serve a specific population or geographic area.

Has your organization ever been confused with another group? If so, why? Take note of any myths or misperceptions about your nonprofit or your field.

Video is a powerful tool to reframe the way people understand your organization and its impact. Videos offer you a unique ability to create an emotional connection through storytelling.

For example, the Union of Concerned Scientists hired Reflection Films to create a series of videos profiling their experts. A common misperception: as a science-based organization, they are all about data and numbers.

We focused the interviews on what motivates their experts. The goal was to show their staff as passionate, thoughtful, and relatable people.

What do you want people to feel?

People can feel a wide range of emotions when learning about your organization.

Do you want them to feel inspired? Outraged? Empowered? Included?

Ideally, you want people to feel sufficiently motivated to respond to your call-to-action.

This excerpt is from a video we produced for The Children’s Room, which helps children and families deal with grief.

The goal of the video: viewers feel empathy and compassion towards people struggling with the death of a loved one. Since death and dying are challenging – you don’t want your audience to feel overwhelmed – it was important to include positive moments of connection and healing.

What do you want people to do?

If you get people emotionally invested in the problem you’re trying to solve, then you also need to communicate how they can be part of the solution.

We produced a fundraising video for the Boston Nature Center, a Mass Audubon sanctuary.

In addition to letting people know about the center and inspiring people to feel a sense of wonder and appreciation, the goal was to raise money for their scholarship fund. They promoted the video consistently on their website, in their e-news, at events, and on their social media channels.

The result: Using the video, they raised $100,000 for scholarships.

The three “Ps” of fundraising videos

When creating fundraising videos, consider the three Ps: pride, possibility, and purpose.

• You want donors to see, hear, and feel pride in how far the organization has progressed, thanks to their generosity.
• You want them to envision possibilities for the future, understanding their power to have an even greater impact.
• You want them to feel a sense of purpose in helping your organization achieve its goals and create change in the world.

OK, I’m hooked – what do you want me to do?

Unfortunately, many nonprofits tell their story in a compelling way – then they leave their audiences hanging, uncertain about how to become involved.

Either there’s no call-to-action or too many. Hey, viewer: volunteer, attend our event, like us on Facebook, donate, contact your legislators, become a member, etc., etc. Given so many choices, the potential donor or volunteer becomes paralyzed.

Create a clear, compelling path to action. Offer easy steps for people to take.

Finally, test your links! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve clicked on a call-to-action button, only to get an error message.

Building your video library

Seeing the world through other people’s perspectives brings us closer to one another. When people make themselves vulnerable by sharing their stories, we all become more connected.

That’s key to an effective video. When you care more, you’re motivated to do more.

To help motivate people, create a library of short videos. Aim for two minutes or less! If you try to cram in too many voices or too many details, you risk diluting your key messages. Worse yet, viewers will lose interest and bail out.

Building a library of short videos also allows you to share content over time, across a variety of channels, for different target audiences, moments, and calls-to-action. It increases your flexibility.

As you plan your communications calendar, always look for opportunities to embed video clips into your e-news, blogs, and social media posts.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any follow-up questions or would like to discuss a potential video project.