Video Production – Why Non-Profits & Charities Should Produce Fundraising Videos.

As the credit crunch continues to bite, charities and non-profit organisations around the world are under increasing pressure to hit their fundraising targets and to increase their marketing and outreach activities, even while their budgets are being squeezed. Video production is one of the most powerful alternative mediums for communicating the work of non-profit organisations and as more and more people have access to the internet, it's one of the most effective solutions around.

Here's 10 reasons why:

1) Nobody likes to read dry lengthy reports, packed with statistics.

2) Video can tell powerful, emotional stories that move supporters to take action.

3) The human brain processes and remembers visual images MUCH faster and for FAR longer than printed text.

4) Videos are far more authoritative than the written word. People tend believe what they can see, far more than what they read.

5) Video production is increasingly affordable and accessible. A high quality video can be made for a relatively small amount of money

6) Videos are incredibly versatile and therefore highly cost-effective, allowing any organisation to make the most out of their marketing budgets. Videos can be streamed online, duplicated onto DVDs, used in one-on-one meetings or as part of fundraising presentations and events. The right video can serve an organisation's fundraising needs for a long period of time and the footage can also be easily re-edited for use in future productions.

7) Once produced, a video can save a charity or NGO huge amounts of time, which can be used for other important fundraising and outreach activities.

8) A compelling video can help raise an organisation's profile and visibility, as well as hard cash.

9) A number of sites are emerging that specifically host fundraising videos and when used in tandem with these sites, videos can be an exceptionally powerful medium for conveying the importance of any cause.

10) Videos can be specifically tailored to appeal to hard-to-reach demographics.  

In my next blog entry, I'll be looking exactly how to produce and propagate an effective fundraising video.

In the last few years, there's been a revolutionary shift in the way that prospective students learn about study opportunities, as colleges and universities across the UK increasingly turn to video production as a recruitment tool. However, to take full advantage of any videos an institution creates or commissions, it's absolutely essential that the video content is also distributed across a variety of online marketing channels and that students are communicated with on their own terms. This means sharing videos via popular online social networks like Facebook and MySpace and creating branded channels on video-sharing sites like Youtube and Google Video. If done correctly, the content will be viewed by a multitude of online viewers and act as an extremely powerful element of any marketing strategy. Colleges and Universities who rely only on traditional marketing methods such as student fairs, education agents, hard copy publications and other one-way communication channels are missing out on a powerful new recruitment tool that in most instances is entirely free and will soon find themselves behind the competition. Many people in the education marketing industry are already calling this the era of "Recruitment 2.0". Let's take a look at how a number of institutions around the UK are already embracing these new technologies to boost their admissions:

Warwick University regularly uploads video content to both their YouTube Channel and MySpace Profile to reach out to potential students. "We are bringing the academe to audiences in a very new and exciting way," says Tom Abbott, content editor at Warwick. "This is a rich window into what the university experience is, which may be impossible to articulate in a brochure."

Durham University also run a popular YouTube Channel, which drives enormous numbers of potential students and parents to the university's main website. "We're experiencing a 12% increase in overseas applications at the moment and are really excited about the part that our online presence has played in this. Much of the research on courses, student life and the local area is now of course done via the web.   Statistically, our video portal has been receiving up to 40,000 clicks per month and we're continually hearing that it's been one of the best conversion tools we have for applications, particularly students from overseas, who often have to make the most educated decision on where to apply based on what they see online and in prospectuses", explained Durham's Web Marketing Officer, Claire Croft.

Westminster University and the University of Plymouth prefer to concentrate their attentions on Facebook. Both of their profiles contain a number of videos about life at the University:    

It's also worth taking a look at what American universities are up to, because in this area, they really are leading the way - often engaging with prospective students for up to 2 or 3 years prior to actual enrollment by creating loyal online communities around their institutions and re-purposing video content whenever possible. Both Duke University and Stanford University operate popular branded YouTube channels, which feature hundreds of different videos, ranging from professional produced promotional films to user-generated content.

 

Here at Spectrecom, we're the UK market leaders in education-recruitment video marketing, and have worked for years with some of the biggest names in higher and further education to recruit new students and manage institutional reputations. To find out more, please visit of the Education Recruitment page of our website.
 

I attended the Corporate Register's CR debates at the Royal Institution on 27 March 2009 where the main topic under discussion was the effectiveness (or otherwise) of written CSR reports. As the debate was drawing to a close at the end of the afternoon, several members of the panel and audience (including heads of communications from Shell International and Virgin Media), made the point that if we're going to get our message across, then as organisations we need to depart from traditional print media and engage with digital media and online platforms. Several specific ideas were advanced, and I thought it would be helpful to produce a list of 10 top reasons why video can be the most effective form of CSR communication.

1. Nobody likes to read dry lengthy reports, packed with statistics.
2. The human mind is programmed to remember pictures and images far better than the things we hear or read.
3. Video can have an emotional impact that the written word struggles to match.
4. Videos are far more authoritative than the written word. People tend believe what they can see, far more than what they read.
5. Video production can help bridge a communication gap between the generation that spawned corporate social responsibility and the younger generation whose responsibility it will be to sustain it.
6. Video provides a human face to an organisation. People connect with people.
7. Video streamed online is an environmentally friendly communications tool. Not only does it cut down the need to travel for presentations, it reduces paper usage and DVD production.
8. CSR videos are great for SEO. They can be repurposed and propagated online, driving highly-targeted traffic to your website.
9. A range of new online platforms are emerging to provide your film and your organisation with the visibility and the reputation it needs ( www.csrtv.co.uk, www.csrtube.net)
10. The video production process can inspire employers and employees to take part, helping to improve team cohesion. 
    

What with our membership in the Telegraph Business Club and London’s Business Junction, I ‘m doing quite a bit of networking these days. As an ice-breaker, people invariably start off with something along the lines of, “So, how’s business treating you in the recession?” Some have even suggested (and I can’t help thinking, somewhat tactlessly) that perhaps corporate video is a bit of a superfluous and unaffordable luxury in times like these. Well, if we’re talking about an expensive and glossy morale-boosting boast-fest for the AGM, I might be inclined to agree. But I would also agree with the worldly-wise Rob Vincent of Radley Yeldar. Speaking in the March edition of Televisual magazine, Rob commented on recession-driven trends, saying that ”Videos that are all about rhetoric, hype, spin and style over content are not what people are looking for. It doesn’t mean that creativity is out of the window, but it needs to be appropriate creativity”. In other words, a targeted message is still extremely important, and video is one of the most cost-effective ways of conveying that message. This is particularly true where online video is concerned, and respondents to a Televisual survey repeatedly made the point that the internet is where we’re seeing the biggest growth in the use of corporate video.

One of the emerging themes from all of the industry briefings I’ve attended over the last year (and there have been quite a few!) is that in a recession we need to market our businesses as never before. And yet, for many organisations, this coincides with a squeeze on marketing expenditure. We’re being asked to do more with less. Clearly then, if we’re going to achieve greater marketing impact with our dwindling resources, we’re going to have to do something differently. And for many, this means turning to the internet. Now, you won’t be surprised to learn that I happen to think that online video is one of the most cost-effective ways of reaching, and communicating to, a targeted audience. We’ve been around long enough to see this happen in practice. The videos we made for Durham University are routinely getting around 40,000 views a month, and applications, especially from international students, are up as a direct result. Aside from marketing and promoting products and services, video is a cheap way of getting all sorts of messages out there, from charity fund-raising drives to public sector campaigns aimed at increasing awareness of targeted initiatives. Of course, it’s not just video on a home site that does the all of the work, that same video can play on YouTube, Google, Facebook, MySpace and online directories like FreeIndex.co.uk.

At Spectrecom, we’ve seen the requirement for online video, as opposed to DVD, increase to 85% of our production output. And it’s comparative low cost has seen enquiries rise significantly – yes, even in the recession. We’re approaching our financial year end, and this rise in online video has helped us to increase our sales turnover by 38% compared to last year. And there’s still two weeks to go …
 

Back in 2006 we had recognised that online video was going to see massive year on year growth and we set up a small satellite website, streamwebvideo.com, to focus on one-off video clips. It was rather an amateur affair and without any ranking on Google, it was promoted through pay per click. But we did get some good enquiries and produced some good work on the back of it, but it didn’t take long to see that we had to move up a gear. For a start, we needed to bring the whole company into the mix, trading on all of our existing work. So we decided to put online video at the heart of our operation and to promote it from our main site.

We continue to look carefully at the way internet video clips are being used online, and at what people are prepared to pay for professional results. We settled on a one-off all-in fee of £600 for a 90 second clip. Below this, video users might just as well buy a small camera and film and edit the clips themselves. How long would that take? How good would it look? Where would the video go, beyond your own website?

It depends what you’re trying to communicate of course. If you’re trying to sell that grandfather clock in the garage on eBay, your own video would probably be suitable for the purpose, but if you’re trying to promote your company on the internet, and the video results are poor, you can imagine what that would do for your image.

Look at it another way. Business owners, including one-man bands, usually make a significant investment in their websites. The video is going to be one of the most important features on the website – if not the most important. So it makes sense to take the professional route to ensure the best results.  

In the video production business, £600 would be considered about as cheap as it gets, and I did worry about damaging our brand by putting the package together. However, right at the centre of our brand is our ‘Video for All’ statement, which means just that – making professional video available to all who want to use it. Moreover, our business model allows us to offer it. We compete with some of the UK’s largest production companies, and they have considerable operating costs. But the Spectrecom studio is based in Deptford, not Soho, and we’re an incredibly lean and mean operation. We have our own in-house staff and equipment to help make sure the budget gets spent on the films we make, and not on fancy offices and coffee machines (Matt take note!*).

So what does the client get for their £600? Well in practical terms, a project consultation for starters, a 2 hour shoot at their premises or elsewhere, up to 90 seconds of edited video clip with titles and music and one draft edit approval, our branded video media player, and advice on propagating the video on various social networks and directories. But the marketing consequences for the client can be enormous. Not only do they get a show-stopper for their website, possibly adding that all-important human face to it for the first time, but in terms of online marketing potential they get access to a whole new range of sites and directories, and all the interest that generates to help drive people to their own site. In 2009, there can’t be many better ways to invest that £600!  

*NB: Matt has taken note - he gets his fix in the morning before work.

a.greener@spectrecom.co.uk