How to Film Promos for Nonprofit
Increasing visibility and exposure for your Nonprofit is incredibly important and, since 57% of people who watch a nonprofit promo video go on to make a monetary donation, it makes sense to learn how to film promos for Nonprofit exposure. When it comes to building up your nonprofit organization in order to create change, evoke support, and deliver the intended message of your organization, a video can really go a long way. In fact, you know what they say — if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be priceless!
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Filming a promotional video for your nonprofit organization can have many benefits. In fact, before we discuss the steps to filming the perfect promo for your nonprofit, let’s take a look at the benefits of nonprofit promotional videos…
- Nonprofit videos that are shared through YouTube’s Nonprofit program have amassed more than 5 Billion views and counting.
- According to Google, nearly 40% of those who see a nonprofit video will research the organization in the next 24 hours, and 75% of those who do research these organizations mention that the video helped them to better understand the nonprofit’s mission and message.
- The addition of a promotional video in an organization’s email campaigns can improve CTRs by 65% while reducing unsubscribe rates by up to 25% or more.
The Steps to Take
There’s really no question as to the value of a nonprofit promo, but do you know how to film promos for nonprofit organizations?
Making a video for your nonprofit isn’t so hard, especially when you secure the support of a professional film crew like Beverly Boy Productions! Whether you opt to go the professional route, or you attempt a DIY, in-house promo video, here’s the likely steps to filming a promo for your organization.
Step 1: Define Your Goal
What are you promoting about your nonprofit? Are you looking to create awareness to your mission and organization? Do you want to generate donations to your cause? Are you looking for others to spread the word and share your nonprofit with the world?
Whatever your goal is, determining your core message and the purpose of your promo video is the first step. This is where you lay the foundation and set the tone for the rest of the pre-production, production, and post-production process.
Step 2: Set Your Budget
Nobody likes to talk about budgets, but it’s important, especially if you intend to hire a professional to help you film your promos. A promo video for your nonprofit can be your license to connecting with a huge and incredibly supportive audience – but it’s not going to be free. Even if you film the video yourself, there will likely be costs involved.
Be realistic about your budget. Know that a typical video is budgeted per minute with prices ranging anywhere from about $500 per minute on the absolute lowest of the low side (and incredibly uncommon) to about $50K per minute at the absolute highest (and again, incredibly uncommon).
Chances are, your nonprofit promo video will fall somewhere more along the lines of being between $1,000 and $10,000 per finished minute, and since most promotional videos are only about a minute or so long, you can expect this to be a good starting point.
Step 3: Prepare to Film
Once you’ve got your ducks in a row, it’s time to prepare for shoot day.
Make sure you’ve achieved the following before the big day:
- Created a story that shares your nonprofit message.
- Researched your target audience, and wrote the script to their needs.
- Defined your call to action and how it will be delivered in the promo.
- Determined the cast and crew needs for promo.
- Secured a shoot location/time.
Step 4: Shooting the Promo
Learning how to film promos for nonprofit organizations is 1% learning about the organization and 99% focusing on the target audience. Okay, maybe the percentages aren’t exactly that, but the key here is to make sure that you know your audience and that you’re ready to film footage that your audience will most closely resonate with.
Shooting the promo will all depend on the story or message you’re delivering. Make sure that you’re capturing extra footage, specifically b-roll, so that your editor can incorporate it into the final piece.
If filming interviews as part of your promotional video, be sure to capture your subjects from at least two different camera angles, never from immediately in front, and always double up on your microphone to ensure great audio!
Step 5: The Finishing Touches
Once you’ve filmed the promo the footage will go to your editor for the finishing touches. Nonprofit promo videos are generally just a minute or two long, so the editing shouldn’t be too intense, but you can still expect several hours to go into the process.
The post-production crew will add text, graphics, and sound to your video to bring your story to life. Learning how to film promos for nonprofit organizations that are interested in sharing their message with the world represents one of the most important tasks that Team Beverly Boy has picked up on.
With 20 years experience, we specialize in producing nonprofit promos that capture the essence of your message, connect deeply with your audience, and resonate with the intended group — give us a call at 888-462-7808 to learn more.
