Asking For Donations With Video Storytelling
Asking For Donations With Video Storytelling
When it comes to fundraising, experts agree that a multi-channel approach is the best way to go. With websites, social media, email, direct mail, events, phone calls, and more—why not take advantage? After all, different donors respond to different methods. So, what’s the best way to stay on message and on-brand across all of those channels? Make a great video the centerpiece of your campaign!
The fundamentals of fundraising haven’t changed much. Be truthful and transparent. Focus on the donors and beneficiaries. Make it easy for them to understand what you want them to do and how they can do it. But there’s more competition for donor attention than ever. To rise above the distractions, you need messaging that will get you noticed. That’s where video storytelling can make a difference.
This article looks at the fundamentals of effective fundraising. When you understand your audience, you know what kind of stories you need to tell. When you design your stories to work in a variety of specific situations, you’ll be more successful. Thanking donors and showing the impact they’ve made through their generosity builds relationships you can rely on.
Make A Video The Hub of Your Online Fundraising Campaign
There are many ways to ask for donations. It all starts with a solid appeal and a plan to steward donors through the process and say thank you to donors when they give. But getting the right version of your ask in front of a potential donor will go a long way toward increasing the success of your fundraiser.
Some fundraising channels make it easy for you to use a video to make your appeal. Your website, donation page, social media platforms, and even emails can feature a version of a video story that you create to ask for donations. But even traditional approaches to fundraising can benefit from a compelling video story.
Face-to-face fundraisers can share your video with potential donors when they ask for a major gift. Peer-to-peer fundraising platforms allow you to load or link to videos. You can show a video at a fundraising event or direct supporters to an online video when you write a fundraising letter.
Organizations need to set clear fundraising goals. They need to get the wording right to make sure their appeal is an effective donation request. They need to find cost-effective ways to get their appeal in front of friends, family, and other potential donors. A video story is one of the best ways to get the attention of supporters and let them know why you need to raise money with a sense of urgency.
A Video Donation Request Lays A Solid Foundation
Asking for donations doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Some people get comfortable enough to ask for donations in person. Yet fundraising is an essential part of how a nonprofit organization can make a difference.
Nonprofits that do the research and writing that it takes to structure effective appeals can raise more money when they ask for a donation with a video story. Following best practices for donation requests can shape the writing of a script and the storyboarding of a shoot. Once you have the video it can be the cost-effective workhorse of your ask across multiple platforms.
Follow Fundraising Fundamentals When You Ask For Donations
Many nonprofits start out with nothing more than the support of friends and family. Asking for donations and raising money leaves them searching for the right words to use and the right person to say them. But without donations, they can’t do what they do to make a difference. The following tips and best practices will help any organization do a better job of raising money.
GoFundMe has put together a helpful guide to the fundamentals of asking for donations.
Inspire giving by truthfully telling your story:
Supporters are more likely to make a donation when you tell them exactly why you need resources.
Tailor your message to who you’re asking:
How you ask for donations should reflect who you’re asking. Potential donors and new supporters won’t respond to an ask that’s designed for friends, family, and peers.
Create a sense of urgency:
Why are you asking for money? What will happen if donors donate? What will happen if you don’t raise the resources you’re asking for?
Use email to your advantage:
Asking for a gift used to mean writing letters. Now you can use email to make a more personal ask. It also lets you link to a donation page and include media.
Make it easy to donate:
Be clear about exactly what your supporters need to do to donate in response to your request.
Be specific in your ask:
Let donors know the amount of money you’re asking for and what gifts in certain amounts empower your organization to do.
Get creative with how you ask:
Don’t forget to really communicate. When you ask for a donation, your request should sound like a technical manual. Emotions and urgency have to be part of how you ask for money.
Asking for donations to raise money forces an organization to sweat the details without losing sight of the big picture. You want to get the wording right but you want to keep the focus on the impact. It helps to give examples of what happens when one person decides to make a donation.
Research shows that people are more likely to donate when you ask for a certain amount. Supporters need to know exactly what they need to do to make a donation. How you say thank you is almost as important as how you ask.
Kinds of Stories To Tell Your Donors
There are certain types of stories that are perfect to tell when asking for donations. A video can set the story at the center of your campaign. You can structure the letters you write and the call script for fundraising calls around the video story at the core of the campaign. You can also post the video online, on social media, and on crowdfunding sites.
Effective storytelling can help you grow the support your nonprofit needs.
Your WHY
This is the mission-driven equivalent of a brand story. Don’t tell potential donors what you do or how you do it. Tell them why you do it in ways that inspire them to be part of the difference you make.
Show Impact
One of the best things you can do when you ask for donations is to show potential donors an example of what their support will mean to the beneficiaries your organization helps.
Let Them See Through Someone Else’s Eyes
An impact video helps donors see their support as a cost-effective way of making a difference. When you tell them the same story from a different perspective, you help them empathize with the people who need the difference your organization makes.
Give Them The Big-Picture Perspective
A long-term campaign in support of a major program can be hard for donors to appreciate. If you show them the 30,000-foot view of what you’re doing and what it will mean to the community, you help them see how their gifts will contribute to something bigger than they and their family can do on their own.
Video Stories Mean You’re Always Asking For Donations In Person
Donors and Donations Are Vital Nonprofit Resources.
It doesn’t matter whether you ask for donations online or with traditional letters. At the end of the day, asking for donations is what it takes to secure the money, resources, and support to pursue your mission.
A video story can take a nonprofit organization’s message to a page of their website, to social media, to emailed fundraising letters, and more. We help nonprofits and mission-driven businesses ask for donations and show appreciation for the support they receive. When you’re ready to make video storytelling part of your fundraising toolkit, give us a call and let us know how we can help.