Creating Top-Notch Videos for Your Nonprofit

More and more nonprofits are sharing videos of their work with donors, volunteers, and policy makers. Advocacy groups led the charge, using video to make their case to potential supporters, but other kinds of nonprofits have added video to their communication efforts. Baltimore’s National Aquarium, for example, creates at least 20 videos a year, says Scott Melton, who leads the aquarium’s philanthropy efforts. And the Oregon Food Bank has been making videos for six years or so.

Still, leaders at some nonprofits worry about the time and resources needed to create videos. Those who have invested in it say it is well worth it, and experts stress that today’s nonprofits cannot afford to overlook video.

Videos get almost double the attention and social-media shares than do text posts or static images, according to Adobe’s U.S. Digital Video Benchmark Review.

“I know from many years in the trenches that people who connect with a video will not only increase their donation, but also increase their personal involvement in an organization,” says Amy DeLouise, a multimedia producer.

And these days people view video content on mobile devices far more than they did five years ago. According to the most recent Cisco Visual Networking Index study, 75 percent of the world’s mobile content will be video by 2020, so digital storytelling is more important than ever.

What to Know

Whether you outsource the work to a professional videographer or produce videos in-house, says Ms. DeLouise, your group will need to commit a significant amount of time. It’s essential that staff members guide the work at these three key stages:

1. First, staff members should figure out how the story fits into the group’s overall communications strategy. They should help identify existing footage or photos that could be used and review story outlines and scripts.
2. Midway through, employees should coordinate when and where the video crew will shoot footage. They should review rough drafts and edited scripts.
3. Lastly, staff should handle distribution and promotion of the finished product.

Depending on the story you are trying to tell, the video may include many things, but all videos should contain these six essential elements, according to Ms. DeLouise:

1. A story arc: Whether you design a video driven by interviews or testimonials, or one that relies primarily on a data visualization or other information, it must tell a story.
2. A hook: All videos need a way to capture viewers’ attention and keep them engaged. This can be anything from compelling interview snippets to attention-grabbing data or infographics.
3. Exposition: Quickly explain the backstory of the video’s central characters and setting. (You don’t need a narrator for this. You could instead use descriptive sound bites from an interview).
4. A challenge: Establish and describe the central challenge that needs to be overcome, and at the end provide a call to action, either clear or implied.
5. Music: Music is an important character in these videos. Online stock libraries offer millions of choices in many genres, and the website Makerbook provides links to a variety of sources for free music online.
6. Brevity: Your final product should be no longer than three minutes, say experts. “Videos longer than that need to be spectacular to keep the audience watching,” says Ms. DeLouise.

And no matter what, say experts, remember that the most compelling stories are those told by real people, not a narrator or “talking head.” Whenever possible, weave interviews together, so your video shows real people telling true stories.

Dispel Myths

Oregon Food Bank’s in-house video staff, which is part of the charity’s communications team, has produced dozens of videos, including this one about one of the group’s beneficiaries, Felicia of Coos Bay, Ore.

Lindsay Trapnell, the food bank’s videographer and photographer, says the videos she creates dispel myths about people who receive food assistance. “It erases the ‘us-versus-them’ mentality and makes people see this could be their neighbor,” she says.

She chooses which stories to tell by attending focus groups the charity holds throughout the state. It was at one such meeting that she came across Felicia, who was full of personality and unafraid to tell her story. Ms. Trapnell and a colleague then went to Coos Bay and spent about a day and a half interviewing Felicia on camera. After the two days of shooting, it took a couple of weeks to edit the footage down to a final product, which runs under four minutes.

Ms. Trapnell doesn’t think it’s necessary to write out every element you want to include in a video, but she always prepares some interview questions in advance and creates a list of visual elements to incorporate. She usually ends up with about two hours of interview footage plus some B-roll footage.

When it comes to the actual interview, even the most composed person can be nervous about being filmed, so Ms. Trapnell suggests keeping the conversation casual. Take some time to genuinely get to know the person before you start filming. Ask what a typical day or week in the person’s life is like.

Ms. Trapnell says she aims to create a sense of authenticity, something that today’s savvy viewers can connect with and feel is genuine.

“Storytelling in general is such a vital tool for nonprofits,” says Ms. Trapnell. “We’re really drawn to that human connection.” And, she adds, “that’s what drives people to volunteer or donate.”

Keep It Real

As the National Aquarium prepared to celebrate its 35th anniversary, the development team wanted to create something that would stand out, resonate with its audience, and share the aquarium’s history, said Mr. Melton.

One fundraiser recalled talking to Robert and Kay Sauers, longtime supporters, at an event years earlier. The couple had recounted their first date, which took place at the aquarium on its opening day in 1981. The team decided having the Sauers tell their story would be a clever way to convey the aquarium’s history.

The video (created and produced by the in-house video team) did much more, however. In the video, Ms. Sauers also spoke about the aquarium’s role in educating visitors about ocean conservation and showing children, especially, a side of the world they may yet not know about.

Mr. Melton acknowledges that interviews with staff members wouldn’t have been so compelling. “Coming directly from the mouths of this couple who’ve invested 35 years in us, it’s so much more powerful than anything we could have said.”