Sections of this topic
A number of years ago, we used a video recording as part of the capital campaign solicitation of 14,000 prospects for a 1,200 student (150-year-old) college. The “footage” was shot at various times during the school year and edited for various uses.
One application was as an introduction to the face-to-face solicitation of major gift prospects.
A second application was an 18-minute video that accompanied a pre-call letter for the solicitation of the majority of the (“lower-rated”) prospects of the school.
In that second application, 12,000 videos were sent to parents and alumni as part of that pre-call package — which was followed, within 4-5 days by a solicitation phone call from a student.
The students, with the support of the pre-call package, raised $6,000,000 in pledges.
It is interesting that in conjunction with a capital campaign ten years earlier — at the same school, student callers (with the same training and supervision, but without the video) “only” raised $5,000,000 from the same number of parents and alumni.
The video was so successful that major gift prospects who had not yet been visited, and (therefore) had not yet seen/received their own video but had heard about it from classmates, demanded to get their copy.
The mass-produced video was designed as a “warm and fuzzy.” It was narrated, both on and off screen, by a Hollywood star who had attended the college. There was, of course, some discussion of the capital campaign — about 3 minutes of the 18, but most of the footage “took the alumni (and parents) back” to when they (or their children) experienced what was displayed on the screen — in chronological order — from the first day at school through graduation.
I must emphasize, however, that a video will be of little value in a capital campaign if it isn’t used properly: if the solicitors (face-to-face or otherwise) don’t know how to conduct The Ask — including the handling of prospect concerns and objections.
Where a video, by itself, can’t raise significant dollars, it can be a great adjunct to the process. People-asking-people is still the most effective solicitation technique; and, prefacing The Ask with a creatively produced video can significantly increase contributed income.
BTW. The third use of the video footage was an edited version for the admissions office.
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We continue the discussion of
Video in Development
in next week’s posting.
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Have you heard about
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99-$4.99)
This posting is a sample of what’s addressed in the series.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating
or expanding your fundraising program?
AskHank
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We’ve been posting these pieces for the last five years,
and we welcome your questions/problems.
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