Engaging + Soliciting Leadership Donors with the Help of Video.

When you think about developing a plan for leadership giving, it may not be top of mind to consider personal video messaging as part of your approach. When you factor in trends, such as Cisco’s prediction that video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2020 or that the Pew Research Center data shows that 78% of the 18+ US population owns a smartphone, one can start to wonder why video messaging isn’t part of your strategy.

Wondering where to begin? Keep reading or watch our latest ThankView How-To on the subject.

Draw inspiration from your existing appeals.

You already have the content — you just need to adjust it for the channel. Take a look at high performing appeals and apply some tweaks to get started.

Take your existing message and condense it.

Your tag line should be succinct and to the point. Video consumption is 3–5 times more recallable than copy alone, but if your message is too confusing or drags on, they’ll abandon your message before connecting with the call-to-action.

Are there any points you can make visually instead of through copy?

Statistics and impact areas can be more effective when shown visually. Can you feature behind the scenes footage of groundbreaking research? Or highlight the sound investment an area, like student scholarships, has?

If your pieces feature testimony, would these individuals be an impactful voice to feature?

If they’re already a leadership donor, the join me message still applies. If they benefit from leadership donors, highlight the life-changing impact giving at this threshold can have. Consider episodic content that builds over the course of multiple videos and culminates in a clear call-to-action and planned follow up.

The following examples from the United Way of Calgary take very different approaches but both have a clear message (impact) and call-to-action (give generously!).

For a more in-depth overview of ways you can create a strong leadership giving approach using video, watch our ThankView How-To on the subject, and sound off in the comments or our Facebook Community Group on the tactics you’re trying in your shop.