We've all heard of the elevator pitch you're in an elevator for 30 seconds to a minute with an investor
How can you successfully and concisely sell your business?
For nonprofits donors are your investors and you can pitch people far and wide with YouTube and social media
In this episode I'll help you bring your pitch into the 21st century
with these tips for a fundraising video
This is 5 tips for your fundraising pitch video
Organizations across the board are pivoting to video
77% of Americans now own smartphones and on average watch over a thousand minutes of video per month
This just goes to show that people want your information to be...
Video is a quick way to get your message out there in a world with a decreasing attention span
Looking specifically at fundraising
Studies from crowdfunding sites like IndieGoGo have reported that
campaigns with pitch videos raise 3x more funds than campaigns without pitch videos
more money for more impact
But before we get to the tips many of you might be thinking
we don't have equipment or a video editor to take this on... how would we even execute this?
If you are in the 77% of Americans with a smartphone, you can do it
A pitch video doesn't have to be oscar-worthy in quality and a smartphone video may even feel more authentic
With these tips, you can point and shoot your way to an engaging pitch video even if you aren't Steven Spielberg
#1: Roll the credits
Who are you and why should viewers care?
Remember that it's not just your loyal constituents who will be finding the video
but their friends and their friends of friends
Give viewers a brief outline of your vision and mission while showing them your employees and volunteers
Don't be big and don't be modest
Show and tell the audience why your organization and the people in it are awesome
Tip #2: Channel Pixar
In his book "To Sell is Human" Daniel Pink outlines the Pixar pitch
This style is modeled on the narrative structure of a Pixar film
Turn your fundraising pitch into a story using the following formula
Once upon a time [blank]... every day [blank]...
...one day [blank]... because of that [blank]...
...because of that [blank]... until finally [blank]
Source from your mission statement
adding more details about why you need donations, where they will go, and why
To reiterate think of it as: this is the problem we have...
...this is why it is a problem, and because of your donation we can do this to solve it
Tip #3: Keep it short
Short attention spans! You've probably already zoned out while watching this video
Your video pitch should be no more than 2 minutes long
Tip #4: Be human
Include human faces in your video either as talking heads or as b-roll and
beware of the curse of knowledge: steer clear of technical or internal jargon
Explain your cause, your goals, and why you are fundraising
like you're talking to your grandma or your nephew
Tip #5: Just ask
How much do you need and what are you going to spend it on? Always end with an ask
Be clear on how much you want to raise and what you're going to spend it on
If possible, outline the impact of different donations to make it feel tangible
For example, $5 can get turtle a hat and $10 a sweater and so on
Cute pictures or b-roll always help
Now go take a camera or a phone and start shooting your pitch video
Have more tips to share? Tweet them at us @wholewhale and
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