For small- to medium-sized nonprofit organizations, the thought of creating videos for marketing or fundraising purposes can feel overwhelming. They don’t have fancy equipment, sophisticated editing software, hair and makeup people, or spokesmodels at their disposal. But here’s the good news—you don’t need any of those things to produce an effective marketing or fundraising video! All you need is a smartphone and someone who is willing to be on camera and speak about your cause.
Recently, some members of the Beeline team conducted an interview with nonprofit marketing expert Caroline Griffin from Marketer on a Mission. She had a lot of great things to say about social media marketing and fundraising (specifically, using Meta ads). At one point during the interview, she talked about how her nonprofit clients have used selfie-style videos with great success on social media.
Creating a selfie-style video involves someone from your organization informally filming themselves on their smartphone. The resulting video can be posted on social media with little to no editing, and boosted so it gets seen by people other than just the organization’s followers.
There’s nothing flashy or polished about these types of videos, but they can be surprisingly effective in fundraising efforts, as well as in gaining new followers or supporters for your nonprofit.
Watch a portion of our interview with Caroline below, where she talks about selfie-style videos in nonprofit marketing and fundraising.
Here are a couple of examples of how you can use selfie-style videos at your nonprofit:
Highlight an Urgent or Specific Need
A selfie-style video can be very effective in raising funds for a timely or very specific purpose. Maybe your nonprofit needs donations in order to help in the wake of a natural disaster, or you have a client with an urgent need for medical care. Grab your smartphone and take a video in which you talk about the situation, how your nonprofit plans to help, and what you need right now.
Not only can you get a video like this out quickly on social media, but the “impromptu” nature of a selfie video can help reinforce the urgency of the appeal.
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In the video above, Caroline gives an example of one of her nonprofit clients that was able to raise $80,000 during the Maui fires to help stranded and injured animals, just by creating one selfie-style video for Facebook! The key was that they got the video on social media while the fires were still burning—while people were actively looking for ways to help those in need on Maui. Had the nonprofit waited until the fires were out, and then taken the time to put together a professional video about the situation, it probably would not have been nearly as effective in raising funds.
The more specific you can make your video appeal, the better! Don’t expect this tactic to be as effective when used for a general fundraising campaign or a Giving Tuesday appeal. And save the urgent requests for needs that are actually urgent!
Give a “Behind-the-Scenes” Glimpse into Your Nonprofit
You can also get good engagement from selfie-style videos that take viewers “behind the scenes” of your organization. Show them that good things are happening today, and introduce them to the people who are making those good things happen or to the people who are being helped by your organization.
A video like this gives supporters and potential supporters insight into how donations are being used right now. In addition, the unpolished nature of a selfie-style video makes viewers feel like they are getting an authentic glimpse into your nonprofit, rather than a “curated” view that would be portrayed in a highly edited video.
Who Should Be on Camera?
The person who takes the selfie-style video could be the head of your nonprofit, but it could just as easily be an intern—or anyone in between. Have the person on the video introduce himself or herself, and then deliver a concise message (one minute or less) with a clear call to action.
There’s certainly a place for polished, professional videos in the nonprofit space, but not every video your nonprofit puts out has to fit into that category. You can get great engagement from a video that costs you essentially zero dollars to produce, and just a little of your time.
The nonprofit marketing team at Beeline can help you strategically use the videos you produce for the best results. For example, in addition to posting them on social media, you might send them out to your email list or post them on your organization’s website. Our team can also help you come up with ideas for the types of videos you might want to create, and provide you with tips for filming. Contact us to learn more about how our nonprofit marketing agency helps organizations with creative, effective marketing plans, tailored to just about any budget!
We want to thank Caroline Griffin for taking the time to speak with us on video about her experience with social media marketing for nonprofits. She is currently running several “Get it Done” specials on her website for nonprofits. These are one-time services that can help nonprofit leaders jump-start a certain aspect of their marketing (maybe one they’ve been putting off for a while), such as digital advertising or creating a donor survey.
