Non-profit organizations aren’t your typical businesses.
For them, turning in a profit or meeting revenue targets isn’t the goal.
However, just because they don’t seek profit doesn’t mean they don’t need funds.
Donations are a major source of income for non-profit organizations so they can keep supporting their cause and make a difference in the process.
But as much as fundraising is important to keep such organizations afloat,
It’s a challenge that can feel like a tough nut to crack.
In this blog, I’ll show you how fundraising videos can help your nonprofit drive donations and not only meet your targets but also exceed them.
Source: Freepik
Fundraising videos are short, compelling videos created by non-profit organizations to request financial support from potential donors.
These videos typically showcase the mission, impact, and needs of the organization.
Often using storytelling to evoke emotional responses that drive viewers to take action.
In the digital age, fundraising videos have become even more significant for non-profits.
Especially as a marketing tool that brings people to their landing pages where they can make a donation.
An example of a nonprofit landing page for donations (Source: Feeding America)
Why are fundraising videos so effective?
Videos not only tell potential donors what your organization stands for but also make them a part of it before they even donate their first dollar to your cause.
In other words, fundraising videos increase your credibility in the eyes of a potential donor and reduce friction when it comes to giving your organization financial support.
Source: Radostina Georgieva x Dribble
Creating a powerful fundraising video involves more than just putting together footage and royalty-free music.
For non-profit organizations, it's about crafting a narrative that resonates with potential donors and compels them to take action.
Here are five key attributes of an effective fundraising video and how nonprofits can implement them in their own campaigns:
Source: Big Sea
Fundraising videos are a medium for emotional marketing.
With the only difference being that the end goal is not to drive profits but to increase donations.
What I could gather, emotional marketing is really effective.
Latest statistics from Persuasion Nation found emotional marketing campaigns to have a success rate of 31% or higher.
But how does this all relate to fundraising videos?
When a potential donor sees the emotional aspect of why your nonprofit is seeking funds,
It gives them a chance to see your cause beyond the monetary lens.
Now it becomes more about how their funds are making an actual impact through your nonprofit organization.
Focus on telling the story of an individual or community that benefits from your organization’s work.
Use clear and coherent visuals to build an accurate narrative that gives donors a look into the bigger picture.
Use interviews, testimonials, and real-life scenarios to illustrate the impact of your cause. Show the challenges faced and how donations can make a tangible difference.
As an example, here’s a fundraising video from WaterAid that used visual storytelling and character animation to bring awareness on water scarcity.
They used real-life events and places to craft their narrative, using animation to bring everything together.
Even though it doesn’t explicitly ask for a donation, it directs interested donors to their website and then to their donation landing page.
An example of a donation landing page (Source: WaterAid)
In this situation, emotional storytelling helped donors resonate with WaterAid’s mission and made them more willing to donate because of it.
Source: Quovantis x Medium
A great story needs to be paired with a clear ask.
Showing that your nonprofit needs donations isn’t really enough.
You have to tell potential donors that your organization needs funds as clearly as possible.
That’s where a strong video CTA can tell your viewers what to do next after watching your fundraising video.
For fundraising videos, your CTA works as a medium to convert potential donors into actual donors.
When it comes to CTAs in general, be as direct as possible.
Whether it’s donating, volunteering, or sharing the video, clearly outline what you want viewers to do.
As an example, here’s a fundraising video from UNICEF India that demonstrates the use of an effective CTA:
At the end of the video, they clearly tell viewers what to do next.
This directs you to their website landing page where you can see the donate button in the top right corner
The nonprofit website landing page for UNICEF India (Source)
Clicking on it brings you to their donation page where you can do the needful.
Notice how one clear and specific CTA not only helped donors find the donation page but also reduced friction when they finally decided to donate.
This shows how an effective CTA directly correlates to an effective fundraising video.
When it comes to nonprofits, “authenticity” is the target keyword.
Without authenticity, it’s difficult to show donors how their contributions are making a difference.
Which also brings “transparency” into the equation too.
Effective fundraising videos honor authenticity and transparency through their presentation.
It builds trust and credibility which turns skeptical donors into confident contributors who support your cause in the long run.
Use real footage and avoid overly polished production that might feel disingenuous.
If you’re using animation, make sure the visual design (from the animated graphics to the visuals assets) accurately portray your nonprofit message.
Here’s an example from Save The Children which tells the story of Margarita and how the Ukraine War negatively affected her life.
It uses a type of whiteboard animation to bring her story to life in the most authentic way possible.
The premise of war is hard to digest any way you look at it.
But the use of animation makes the presentation feel real and depicts human suffering on a more emotional level.
The video acts as a subtle fundraiser which directs viewers to the organization’s website where the link to donate greets you right away.
Notice how the organization is clear about wanting donations on their website.
In such a case, this video serves both as a fundraising video and a video CTA that tells donors what to do next.
On the surface, the premise of a fundraising video is quite simple.
You ask potential donors to support your cause financially.
But notice when I put it like this, it comes off as highly insensitive and haphazard.
In reality, nonprofits need to put in an extra effort to make their intentions stand out.
And that’s where an immaculate combination of strong visuals and engaging audio can work in your favor.
Fundraising videos bring this combination together really well.
And in my opinion, using animation in your fundraising videos brings the best of both worlds and takes it up a few notches.
You have two options here:
For live-action, invest in a good camera, lighting equipment, and sound equipment to produce your video.
Take extra care while filming so your end video comes out more professional.
A great example of a live-action fundraising video I could find was this one from Charity Water.
If you’re going with animation, make sure your animated assets are designed properly and fit in coherently throughout your video.
Make sure the audio (whether you’re using a voiceover or sound effects with music) is clear and doesn’t overpower your message.
Here’s an example of an animated fundraising video, again from Charity Water
Both these videos do the same thing: Direct donors to Charity Water’s website and show them where to donate.
The nonprofit landing page of Charity Water where they ask for funds to interested donors (Source)
What I like about this organization is that they’re direct when it comes to fundraising.
Every video that they put out on their marketing channels have a singular goal of attracting donations.
And that’s what makes their fundraising videos so effective.
Whichever industry you serve in, one truth is always apparent.
Attention spans are short and declining.
While a neurological argument can be made as to why this is concerning.
I’m more interested in understanding why this is a challenge from a fundraising standpoint.
See, your donor needs to know if their funds are going into the right hands, and they need it fast.
So if your fundraising video communicates that efficiently, you have an effective video at your hands.
A concise and specific fundraising video is what drives donations in the long run.
Keep your video length concise to the point that it gets your message across.
My recommendation would be to keep it under 2 minutes, ideally between 30 to 90 seconds.
Here’s an example from the Alzheimer's Association that’s 30-seconds long.
They use a blend of mixed-media and infographic animation to present recent statistics on dementia and how their efforts have made a positive impact here.
But here’s where they surprised me greatly
They have uploaded the same video but with different video lengths.
The same fundraising video has been uploaded with different video lengths (Source: Alzheimer’s Association YouTube channel)
I also noticed the same video uploaded in Spanish too.
The same fundraising video is uploaded in Spanish as well (Source: Alzheimer’s Association YouTube channel)
Which shows how they embrace video localization to get more and more people invested in their cause.
And the multiple video lengths is an obvious attempt at getting eyeballs across multiple platforms apart from YouTube.
The same video with a shorter video length can be used as an Instagram Reel or as an Instagram video ad.
Increase the length a bit and you can use it as a landing page video as well.
The point being, one fundraising video can (and potentially did) help Alzheimer’s Association drive donations through multiple channels of marketing.
This is an example of the Video-First Approach to marketing and has many more applications than fundraising.
Here’s a dedicated video on it if you want to learn more:
The point I’m trying to make for nonprofits here is to keep your video length ideally between 30 to 90 seconds long so you can use it across multiple channels and meet your fundraising goals quicker.
I showed you plenty of examples on what fundraising videos are and how an effective video looks like in action.
But I want to go into more detail on how you can make your own fundraising videos if you’re just starting out.
In this section, I’ll give you a step-by-step starter guide so you can take the first steps.
Let’s begin by exploring…
Source: Signal
When your fundraising video is made with a solid plan, it hits the mark every single time. Here’s how you can get started with this step:
Source: Tubik x Dribble
Now that you have the basics clear, it’s time to put the wheels in motion and begin production on your fundraising video in full force.
But before you do that, you need to first decide what kind of fundraising video you’re making.
Is it a live-action one or a fully animated one?
Depending on what you choose, the steps that follow will differ:
Source: Rev
You again have two options here for which the steps differ.
If you have decided to commission your video to an external agency, then you can directly skip to Step 4.
But if you’ve decided to embrace in-house production, here are some steps to help you out:
Source: Postmedia Solutions
Now that your fundraising video is ready, it’s time to promote it among your target audience.
Here are some actionable steps to help you do that:
Up until this point, we have seen some great examples from well known nonprofit organizations.
Let’s look at some more examples in this section.
Starting with…
The first example comes from the nonprofit organization, American Red Cross.
It takes a medical animation route to bring awareness about Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).
They use animation to clearly point out how it’s the most common form of genetic blood disease in America,
Promptly using visual design to inspire blood donations to support patients suffering from SCD.
Notice how it doesn’t use technical jargon or complicated storylines to put their point across.
The entire presentation is sincere and responsible, doing justice to SCD as a disease and its devastating effects.
Storytelling is a great medium to bring awareness to topics often ignored.
This example from Oxfam International attempts to do that using this fundraising video.
In just 45 seconds, it brings to attention the effect of wealth inequality on climate change and subsequently on the inhabitants of Africa.
Using a medley of contrasting colors and character animation,
Oxfam International objectively portrays political imagery while also clearly communicating their message where it matters the most.
Like I said before.
War is unjustifiable, no matter how you look at it.
But it’s accepting the consequences of conflict that’s truly heartbreaking.
Doctors Without Borders responsibly portrays an instance of it through this fundraising video.
It tells the devastating story of a woman who fled Sudan as the war erupted to save herself and her children.
She and her children were among the 8.6 million people that were displaced due to the conflict.
But the way the video addresses her personal atrocities is tear jerking.
Showing the woman writing an open letter, describing how she tragically lost her children due to lack of medical care brought upon by the Sudan War.
Animation turns this tale of tragedy into a story for humanity as a whole.
Inspiring everyone to stand together to make medical facilities accessible when humanity needs it the most.
Our next example comes from the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
This fundraising video takes you to Afghanistan and gives you the ground reality of the country after the Taliban took over in 2021.
Using real testimonials from teenage girls straight from the capital, Kabul.
But the thing I liked most about this video is how animation was able to depict real stories without compromising real identities.
Such responsible presentation of facts helps nonprofits build credibility in the long run.
As it shows their commitment to something beyond just garnering donations.
Around 2.5 billion tons of food produced is wasted every year (Source)
But this statistic, is at the end of the day, a statistic.
To feel the true impact of global food wastage requires an extra step.
This fundraising video example from the World Food Programme demonstrates this perfectly.
It uses facts and statistics to show the true impact of food wastage and its correlation to world hunger.
The balance of cartoon animation and kinetic typography makes a global crisis feel relatable without coming off as insensitive.
This example (and the ones we saw along the way) prove one thing for certain.
The implementation of animation is one of the best things nonprofits can do for their fundraising videos.
So what did we learn from our exploration of fundraising videos?
They are a great tool to help nonprofits attract donations, no doubt about that.
But we also saw how they helped organizations have difficult conversations nobody was willing to.
How it helped them tell stories that mattered.
I hope this article has helped you in your fundraising efforts.
And showed you how the power of video and animation can take them to the next level.
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