The post How to Create Video Content for Nonprofit Donations appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

That’s partly why video marketing is so popular—it’s a highly effective engagement tool. According to Visually, a video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80% or more. And according to Brightcove, social video generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined.

A well thought out video strategy can be an affordable yet highly useful way to communicate and engage with your audience, and you don’t need to hire a professional—you can create good quality videos with just your smartphone. If your nonprofit hasn’t dipped its toes into the world of video marketing, you’ve probably at least talked about it. And now that Google has announced it will include video ads in search results, it could be a smart time to take the plunge.

Here are eight video marketing tips to help you kick off your video strategy:

1. Use video to tell your stories. Testimonies from people who you’ve helped, as well as stories from volunteers and staff are unique to your nonprofit—they make for great original content that no other nonprofit can share. Instead of just writing about these stories, show them. Video is the perfect platform for creating an emotional hook with a story that tugs at the heart.

2. Capture people’s interest. If you know your audience well (and hopefully you do), you know what will pique their curiosity and interest. You can communicate touch points that are pertinent to your cause through video. Share the latest news, research and statistics about an issue that’s near and dear to your organization’s heart. Promote your latest fundraising event and make an ask for registrants or volunteers. Anything that’s relevant and interesting to your constituents could be a potential hot video topic.

3. Get social. More than 100 million people take some kind of action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments, etc.) every week. Encourage interaction such as commenting and sharing, and use platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to distribute and promote your videos.

4. Get personal. Video is the perfect opportunity to give donors a behind-the-scenes look at how your nonprofit works. You can introduce staff, feature a volunteer of the month, give a quick recap of your latest event or record what it’s like to prepare for an event. Just be authentic—that’s an endearing trait.

5. Keep it brief. With online videos, less is more. Three to four minutes (or less) is considered to be pretty ideal. With longer videos, viewer retention can drop below 50%. Shorter videos also produce higher brand recall than long videos, which means donors will be more likely to remember your message if you keep it succinct.

6. Educate about your cause. You may have plenty of information about your nonprofit’s mission and cause in written form on your website, but video provides another educational tool that may prove to be even more effective. Create a quick video to educate website visitors on the importance of your cause, the need for support and what’s in it for them. This is evergreen content that you can both share on social media and host on your site.

7. Remember mobile. Mobile video usage has been exploding. Last November, Facebook claimed 8 million video views every day with more than 75% of those happening on mobile devices. As mobile video grows, so will mobile video advertising. The ability to capture a constituent’s attention with a video and then redirect them to your website is playing a key role in this growth. Did you know that consumers spent more time engaging with their smartphones than watching TV last year? Engage these smartphone users with a quick video promoting your brand, and send them to your site for more information.

8. Include a call to action. What do you want your viewers to do once they’ve watched your video? Don’t make them guess—clearly tell them. Calls to action like “learn more” or “donate now” can lead to your website and drop visitors off on landing pages created specifically for conversion. The important thing is that you end the video by prompting the viewer to take a specific action.

Take a few minutes now to brainstorm: What are the specific uses for video that could benefit both your organization and constituents?

The post Eight Ways to Grow Your Mission with Videos appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

It just so happens that content marketing is Nonprofit Hub’s game. We’re here to make it a little easier and a lot less daunting for you to implement a killer content marketing strategy.

Follow these steps outlined by our Managing Editor and marketing extraordinaire, Lyndsey Hrabik to implement and master content marketing into your organization’s marketing plan.

Crash Course on Content Marketing

Transcript:

Let’s talk about something the marketing world has been buzzing about for a few years now—content marketing. 

It’s ok if you haven’t tried it, or simply haven’t mastered it yet. That’s why we’re here.

So first of all, what’s the buzz about? Why are companies AND nonprofits throwing a fuss? Simply put—it’s a great marketing tactic. Let’s break down why.

It’s a way for you to assert yourself as an authority on a specific topic. For nonprofits, it’s also an outlet to tell your story and to simply….be heard. 

For example, let’s say you’re an organization that helps provide food and shelter for the homeless. Start your content marketing efforts by building content showing what you’ve done for the community. Compile statistics about how many people you’ve served. Interview the people you’ve helped. Let them be advocates for you. When you’re done with the video or article or testimonial, post it to your site. Then share it with your social media channels, your email list or wherever appropriate.

A beautifully told story about the work you’ve done has the power to reach the world.

When you’re thinking about what story you want to tell to the world, consider this one word—relevance. Be relevant to your audience. Only say something if you actually have something to say. Too often, people get caught up in posting things to their site or social media like a robot. Nobody wants to listen to a robot…unless it’s a really COOL robot. I digress.

Post relevant content that you would be excited about.

We’re currently working on a complete marketing guide for nonprofits to get you an indepth look at what it takes to succeed. Be on the lookout for that on nonprofithub.org in the near future. We’ll post it in the comments as soon as it’s finished.

Thanks for watching. Now get out there and do more good with your day.

Video produced by Interactive Media Architect, Devin Thomas

The post How to Master Your NPO Content Marketing [VIDEO] appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

We were lucky enough to catch up with Adrian Sargeant and asked what change can nonprofits make in their marketing strategy that will make a big difference. Listen to his response in the video below.

 Check out the rest of our coverage from AFP 2015: 

• How Your Organization Can Connect with Millennials with Derrick Feldmann
• AFP CEO and President Shares Fundraising Insight with Andrew Watt
• What Your Small Staff Should Be Doing Right Now for Donors with Shannon Doolittle
• The Donor Retention Change You Can Make Right Now with Jay Love

The post [AFP 2015] Follow Sargeant’s Orders: Changing One Aspect of Marketing Your Fundraising appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

And so, the questions remains—how can we harness the power that millennials bring to the table and use it for good? At AFP 2015, we caught up with Achieve President and millennial expert Derrick Feldmann to chat about it. See what Feldmann has discovered about millennials through his work by watching the video below.

Want more on connecting with millennials? You can catch Derrick Feldmann as a moderator at MCON 2015 in Chicago this summer, June 24-25.

Check out the rest of our coverage from AFP 2015:

• Follow Sargeant’s Orders: Changing One Aspect of Marketing Your Fundraising with Adrian Sargeant
• AFP CEO and President Shares Fundraising Insight with Andrew Watt
• What Your Small Staff Should Be Doing Right Now for Donors with Shannon Doolittle
• The Donor Retention Change You Can Make Right Now with Jay Love

The post [AFP 2015] How Your Organization Can Connect with Millennials appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

We caught up with AFP President and CEO Andrew Watt to talk about the current state of fundraising and what NPOs could be doing to improve their organizations. Check out what he had to say in the video below.

Check out the rest of our coverage from AFP 2015:

• Follow Sargeant’s Orders: Changing One Aspect of Marketing Your Fundraising with Adrian Sargeant
• How Your Organization Can Connect with Millennials with Derrick Feldmann
• What Your Small Staff Should Be Doing Right Now for Donors with Shannon Doolittle
• The Donor Retention Change You Can Make Right Now with Jay Love

The post [AFP 2015] AFP CEO and President Shares Fundraising Insight appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

We asked expert fundraiser Shannon Doolittle what small organizations can be doing to keep donors around for good. Here’s what she said:

Check out the rest of our coverage from AFP 2015:

• Follow Sargeant’s Orders: Changing One Aspect of Marketing Your Fundraising with Adrian Sargeant
• How Your Organization Can Connect with Millennials with Derrick Feldmann
• AFP CEO and President Shares Fundraising Insight with Andrew Watt
• The Donor Retention Change You Can Make Right Now with Jay Love

The post [AFP 2015] What Your Small Staff Should Be Doing Right Now for Donors appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

At AFP 2015, we caught up with our friend and Bloomerang donor retention expert Jay Love to find out what nonprofits should be doing to ensure that they’re going to make the cut for second round donations (and thirds, and fourths…). See what he said in the video below.

Check out the rest of our coverage from AFP 2015:

• Follow Sargeant’s Orders: Changing One Aspect of Marketing Your Fundraising with Adrian Sargeant
• How Your Organization Can Connect with Millennials with Derrick Feldmann
• AFP CEO and President Shares Fundraising Insight with Andrew Watt
• What Your Small Staff Should Be Doing Right Now for Donors with Shannon Doolittle

The post [AFP 2015] The Donor Retention Change You Can Make Right Now appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

The post The Greatest Online Video Ever Made by a Nonprofit appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Name recognition and branding isn’t the most important thing Millennials consider when looking to make a difference in the world. They want to know how they can make a difference and this is why it is important to you to share all the great work you do on social media. Use pictures, videos and stories to illustrate the great work you are doing.

By selling the work you do and the impact you have, you can recruit Millennials to be part of your organization, and if you play your cards right, also get them to eventually become donors down the road.

Transcript

It’s time to stop fooling ourselves. No more thinking that everything is hunky dory between us and our millennial base. No more “Meh, we do social media. They have smartphones. They show up at our events. We have them, hook, line and sinker.”

What nonprofits need to realize is that… Millennials don’t care about you.

Still reeling from that? It’s no wonder. Nonprofits have been dedicating precious time and money toward getting the younger generation on board with donating. And, to an extent, they’ve donated but, we still have work to do.

What sets this generation apart from the others is not how they donate. But rather, why. Millennials are standing up and making an impact, but it isn’t based on name recognition and an organization’s popularity. It’s all about the cause. Millennials aren’t swayed by particular organizations, it’s through the issues that we are trying to tackle that we gain their support. Through donations or volunteering, more or less, millennials support ideology behind an organization than the organization itself.

So, what does this mean for nonprofits? Nonprofits need to sell the cause, not just the organization itself. This is where posting pictures and videos, and featuring stories in general on social media becomes important to your mission.

Look around a mall, a sporting event or even in school. You’ll probably find a ton of millennials with their heads down and smartphones out. They’re incessantly checking their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts. Promoting the work your organization does on these avenues is one of the keys to success.

Don’t just say “we rock” and leave it at that. Promote the goods. Post stories, pictures, make videos and feature the benefits you’ve helped to create. Give them the details of how donations have helped the afflicted and where the money goes. You’ll never know how much transparency will benefit the cause so feel free to over share.

From there, you leave it their hands. Yes, that sounds like a recipe for disaster, but look, you’ve given them the reason to join in. When they see your organization is genuine and making a difference on the issue they care about, then they’ll want to join in, too. And you know how it goes. They’ll tell two friends. Then, those friends will hopefully tell two friends. Then, they’ll tell two friends. And so on. Then, they’ll share this with their friends and continue the trend onward and upwards.

In summary, to engage Millennials you need to take the message to them and engage them in your mission. By showing them how they can contribute to your mission, they will become more invested in your nonprofit, which will lead to a lifetime of volunteering and eventually those highly sought after donations.

Thanks for watching.

The post How to Sell Millennials on Your NPO [Video] appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.