In the nonprofit sector, marketing goals and metrics that indicate success are tied to public awareness and fundraising. With thousands of different organizations for prospective donors to choose from, it’s critical to keep developing creative marketing ideas for your nonprofit organizations. These will help you stand out from the crowd and rally the most support for your cause.

One of the best ways to reach your awareness and fundraising goals is to leverage nonprofit video marketing as a primary channel. This year, people will spend on average 100 minutes/day watching video content – and video marketing generates more engagement than any other content on social media. Plus, one study found that 57% of online donors will make a gift after watching an inspirational fundraising video. 

Video marketing helps your viewers feel that they’re part of your mission, and visualize how their involvement can directly make a difference. 

Even though video has proven to be the best way to reach new audiences, gain exposure, and increase donations, most marketers that work for nonprofits have minimal budgets that make building a scalable video strategy challenging. However, with 90% of people saying videos are important in their decision-making process, some nonprofits are set to blaze the trail – by finding creative ways to produce video content with limited resources and/or budgets.

One of these nonprofits is AJC Global, a leading Jewish advocacy group whose main community-building channel is social media. For their 13-person team, an intuitive video creation tool like Wibbitz has provided the perfect opportunity to create short, shareable content to inspire potential donors.

AJC turned to Wibbitz after years of working with large-scale production companies that would deliver one video after four months of work. They realized that, with the right tool in place, they could empower every person within their organization to share their message through video – which would ultimately allow them to bring all their production efforts (and budgets) in-house. 

By investing in a tool like Wibbitz they’ve been able to do just that – and churn out 20x more videos on a monthly basis, with 2,900 production hours saved per video. Creating videos in minutes (instead of hours) has also allowed their team to keep their audience informed on the impacts of social change, at a much faster pace – which has accounted for. a whopping 4 million views on Facebook alone in the last 6 months. 

“Having Wibbitz means I don’t have to go to the legal department, get a budget, plan things out months in advance. We now have a tool that allows us to be much more nimble, and create content that we know will travel a long way. We can really anticipate what our needs will be, and have professional-looking videos ready when we need them.”

Jon Schweitzer, Director of Digital Communications and Public Affairs at AJC

Here’s a video AJC’s team created with Wibbitz to keep followers up to date on their latest initiaives:

Here are some more ways our customers are taking advantage of nonprofit video content – to grow awareness, and ultimately, reach their fundraising goals, without breaking the bank.

1. Educate the public like Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation

One of the most important aspects of marketing for nonprofit organizations is educating the public on the importance of the company’s mission. The best nonprofit video content does that by creating compelling visual stories out of otherwise dry facts and figures.

Susan G. Komen, a breast cancer-focused nonprofit, is a wonderful example of an organization that found a way to leverage data within video to educate its audience. Using Wibbitz, they incorporate important stats into their videos. 

They couple this with footage from their most successful events. This both inspires hope within their community and builds a sense of urgency for prospective donors to take action during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The call-to-action at the end of the video prompts viewers towards the next steps, so they know exactly what they can do to help make a difference.

2. Build communities like National Forest Foundation

Increasing donor loyalty and growing your community are often core company-wide goals for nonprofits. Typically, the nonprofit marketing and communications plan is responsible for supporting these initiatives. 

Visual video stories are powerful paths to community building and retention. This is because they give you the opportunity to not only provide information in a compelling media format, but to also interact with your audience by bringing their experiences with your brand to life.

In the example below, The National Forest Foundation shares a playful Wibbitz video of puppy photos they received as part of a photo contest for their trail hikers. Featured users are likely to share similar video content to their own social networks. So this type of nonprofit video strategy has the potential to create a splash across social media. 

3. Share inspirational messages like National Partnership for Women & Families

Last but not least, another effective way to engage potential donors and supporters is to inspire them with positive messages surrounding your cause. Similarly to community building, this creates a sense of belonging that leads to a trusting and transparent relationship between you and your audience.

The National Partnership for Women & Families created a quick and easy video using Wibbitz to share inspiring quotes from female powerhouses around the world. The emotional response elicits hope and power for women (a fundamental goal of this organization) and grows positive awareness in a more passive way. 

Like our second example, you can expect this type of nonprofit video content to perform well on social media. People enjoy sharing inspiring facts and news. In turn, these provide increased engagement and access to a larger audience of future donors.

 

So where should you use these videos once you make them? YouTube playlists, social updates, live Q&A sessions, or a series of story-based episodes to present your cause are all great ways to help you reach your goals of fundraising or raising awareness. 

You could also incorporate nonprofit video content into your blog posts, presentations, or emails to increase your response rate. Just make sure you’re diversifying your content – across channels and in different formats – as much as possible. By using the video inspo we provided above, and mixing these nonprofit video strategies into your own video marketing plan, there’s no doubt that you’ll start hitting all your goals in 2021 and beyond!