6 Non-Profit Video Marketing Tips for Successful Advertising of a 501c3

Did you know that there are more than 1.5M registered 501c3 non-profits in the U.S. alone? Every non-profit organization in the United States faces its own set of unique challenges and presents very specific opportunity for the audiences they market too. As a non-profit, video marketing should be an integral element of your marketing and advertising campaigns, especially if you’re promoting your 501c3 non-profit organization online. But how can you be sure that your non-profit video marketing is setting the standard to outshine the potential competition of other non-profit owners with a similar reputation or goal?

Storytelling is often the deciding factor that sets apart the non-profits that succeed from those that struggle to survive. In fact, non-profit video marketing that is carefully planned around a unique story which your audience can resonate with and feel emotionally bound to can literally make the difference in whether your non-profit survives – or not.

But before you go pumping advertising dollars into the creation of non-profit marketing videos, make sure that you’ve reviewed these top tips to ensure you go down the right path!

1. Touch on Audience Emotion for Maximum Effect

Think about any video you’ve watched recently and can recall, what do you remember about it? For most people, the answer is “how the video made me feel,” some will say, “It made me laugh,” or “It made me almost cry,” these emotions are the key to grasping the audience and creating a memorable experience. In fact, a recent study by HubSpot found that asked people what the last marketing video they remember watching was and why it was memorable, the leading answer was that humor increased recall. But not just humor, touching on people’s emotions specifically is what leads to the remembering your business or brand. 

Non-profit video marketing that focuses on audience emotions, whether it’s shock, humor, wow-factor, or something entirely different are more likely to be watched all the way through, and later recalled, than videos that fail to connect with the emotions of the audience.

2. Share Your Mission so Your Audience can Resonate

Taking the time out to share your mission is important to any non-profit video marketing campaign. It’s your mission that is the driving force behind why you do what you do not for profit, and this is also generally what you can expect your audience to resonate closely with. A short, very strong video that shares your nonprofit mission and purpose while also introducing the founder or people behind your non-profit organization can significantly improve audience connection with your 501c3 boosting their ability to resonate with your nonprofit brand.

3. Spread Awareness for Your Cause & Explain What You Do

Every human that watches a marketing video has the exact same question on their mind – “What’s in it for me?” Which is why it’s important for non-profit video marketing to focus on answering that question by explaining carefully what you do and to spread awareness for your cause with your video content.

Creating short, easy to follow, fun to share marketing videos that represent your “WHY” and which showcase your cause can be a great way to increase awareness. These videos are likely to be shared on social media and elsewhere to boost reach for your nonprofit.

4. Don’t be Afraid to Highlight Success or Impacts Your Non-Profit Has Made

Your non-profit is a community organization that (hopefully) had made positive strides towards helping others. Don’t be afraid to share your highlights or to otherwise showcase the impacts that your non-profit has made on the community. It’s okay to celebrate your nonprofit and it’s equally alright to include testimonials or other highlights of your accomplishments in video form.

Not only do those new to your audience appreciate seeing social proof to back up your claims, they’ll be happy to hear from others about your non-profit through testimonial videos. In fact, this is a way that non-profit video marketing can reassure those who already support your 501c3 or are considering the addition of their support to assist you in accomplishing your goals.

5. Use Storytelling to You Advantage

Every great nonprofit is backed by a story, use it! Whatever your story is, sharing it through video is one of the many ways that you can connect with audiences and keep them engaged and interested in what you have to share. Raising awareness for your non-profit, through the sharing of video content that directly addresses your story is almost always a winning strategy.

Think about how you can incorporate details of your story into your content to help your audience feel connected with your non-profit and want to help. By sharing your story, you’ll be giving your audience something to remember about your 501c3 that matters.

6. Don’t EVER Forget the CTA

A call to action is important in any non-profit video marketing campaigns that you initiate, don’t forget to include it! Whether it’s a simple call to action that asks the audience to follow your nonprofit social profile or something more complex like asking for a donation, creating video content that lacks a call to action is like giving away opportunities – can you afford to just let opportunities pass you by?

Make sure that you’ve got a strong CTA for your non-profit organization and that it directly relates to the content that you’re sharing. This way viewers know exactly what you expect from them!