Nonprofit Video Ideas

Now more than ever, nonprofits are using video in their marketing and outreach campaigns.

Videos can be a creative, dynamic and captivating way to get your audience’s attention and boost engagement with your cause. With social media and video streaming being the norm, getting your video passed around on social media is a great way to spread the word about your nonprofit.

This blog article is designed to spark thinking about what kinds of videos might be most helpful for your nonprofit. Most of the videos listed here are not our videos — but they are excellent examples of the types of videos you should consider. Beside each video type is a rough price range.

BUILD AWARENESS OF YOUR CAUSE

In order to build awareness of your cause among an unfamiliar audience, effective storytelling and high quality production is important. If they are uninteresting and poorly done, potential supporters will skip ahead and you will lose them.

Enroll Your Audience: $$-$$$$

Do you need to raise awareness of the problem your organization was created to solve, to enroll your audience in the need to get involved and support your case? Using real people, whether they are your staff, clients or actors, is the best way to build a human connection and to convey emotion. They are often expensive because of the cost of a good scriptwriter, director, actors, multiple days of filming in multiple locations, editing, etc.

I Am An African Man

Dolphin Project - My Friend

Follow the Frog

Animated Explainers: $$-$$$$

These videos are a great way to inform your audience while entertaining them. An animated video is excellent for abstract topics that may be difficult to convey using actors. Because of the cost of scripting, animation, voice-over, music and sound effects, a well-done animated video is often expensive.

The Women's Aid Organisation (WAO)

Shelter - 9 Million Renters

The Girl Effect: The clock is ticking

EDUCATE ON YOUR ORGANIZATION

Program Overview: $$-$$$$

Once potential supporters have a basic understanding of your cause and why it’s important, they need to be convinced your organization can effectively address the need. Use a program overview video to highlight your history and accomplishments.

The Story of “charity: water”

Living Classrooms Foundation Children’s Target Investment Zone

ASK FOR SUPPORT

Commercial: $$$-$$$$

Television has reigned as the biggest visual media for decades. Today, a TV commercial can do double-duty as a quick attention-grabber online. Usually they are used to make an important call to action. Broadcast media is expensive and has very strict quality and timing requirements, so expect a good commercial to cost.

Bake College Online

St Jude Children's Research Hospital

CULTIVATE A RELATIONSHIP

Event Highlights: $-$$

Viewers can get a great look into your message and what your nonprofit has done by watching highlights of a recent event. Getting video of talks, b-roll and interviews can be a worthwhile investment that yields a whole series of edited shorter videos on key topics.

Families for Justice Reform NOW (FAMM) Rally 2018

Lilly Singh Addresses World Leaders at UNICEF

Chasing Jesus Conference Highlights

Imagine Dragons Benefit Concert Highlights

Recruitment & Training: $-$$$

Recruitment videos lay out how volunteers, supporters and potential staff can get involved and support your cause. They are often based on interviews, which give personal insight into what it’s like inside your organization.

Careers at World Wildlife Fund

PBS Recruiting & Admissions

Career Interview - Phoenix Zoo Director

Bridging the Gap (Maryland Pro Bono Legal Training)

Testimonials: $-$$

Hearing from those your serve is a great way to highlight your work and build trust with your audience. Individual short testimonials can be great social media and blog posts. String together a series for a really strong message. Or edit a testimonial into a profile of an example benificiary.

Because of Girl Scouts single testimonial

TUGG testimonials

Brianna's Story | Planned Parenthood

Tracy’s Story | Accessible Spaces

Advocacy: $-$$$

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advocacy), advocacy is an activity which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Consider an advocacy video to make your case if your organization’s mission would benefit from a change in the law or public policy. These can range from simple illustrations of how a public policy is impacting individual lives to well-developed visually-oriented messages.

Veterans and their caregivers - Jim Sursley

Better Transportation for a Better Region

Donor Thank-You Videos: $-$$

A thank you video to donors is a great way to show what their money has accomplished over the past year. Make it short, highlight impacts, and personalize with appearances from staff and/or beneficiaries.

Happy Holidays from International Center for Journalists

Center for Comprehensive Health Practice Thank You

Johns Hopkins University

Asha House THANK YOU

Live Stream: $-$$

Live streams are quickly gaining in popularity, and most of the major social media platforms feature a live stream option, which can live on long after the event is over. This is a great way to display your nonprofit’s live events and programs, to broadcast important interviews, and to capture behind-the-scenes experiences. Even without a video crew, your smartphone can be used for a simple, inexpensive live stream. The best live stream videos are relatively short and effectively capture a pivotal moment. Only a very motivated audience will wade through a long video with poor audio.

Feeding America Special Guest at Salesforce World Tour

Maryland Nonprofits Live Stream