Raising awareness and revenue for your non-profit organization is a challenging, never ending task. You must keep your donors, organizers and volunteers committed and engaged while also coordinating outreach initiatives that bring in new donations to your cause. Here are 5 proven techniques to raise money for your charity or non-profit.
From Visiting Nurses Association – “Fund The Need” Video
- Give Your Cause a Voice… and a Face!
If a picture is worth a thousand words then moving pictures (or ‘Talkies’ as I believe the young people call ‘em nowadays) are worth a few million words. Images move people to action and connects people to your cause. A well-produced video not only tells your organization’s story, but it is a quick and effective way to convey emotion—If you want people to get involved, you have to make a personal connection. Consider having real people with real life stories talk about the challenges they face and how your organization helps.
- Show People What You’re Fighting For
Its easy to get the impression that the world at large is a cold, uncaring place and sometimes downright evil with the Hitlers, Stalins and Beibers of the world and my ending that headline with a preposition. But the reality is, people are drawn to people, to their struggles to their causes, the vast majority of people are good and do want to help. It just feels overwhelming. The real questions people have are: Who Do I Help? How Do I Make A Difference?
A video from McElroy Films will answer these questions and make a compelling argument in your favor. Like we said, the amount of causes out there can be overwhelming. You have to get people to identify with your work. You need to reach out and videos help crystalize your message and personalize it.
- Show People How Their Help Has a Direct Impact
Doing good makes people feel good. Altruism is a powerful motivator but your duty as an organization is to demonstrate precisely how donations– whether it is time, money or simply raising awareness by passing it along via social media– produce a real world effect, you must show people that your organization really does make a difference and thus, that they themselves are making a difference by supporting you.
- Call to Action
Present people with clear, unambiguous ways to help. It may sound ridiculously simple but a Donation Button prominently placed on your website and a hyperlink Donation button embedded in your video convert’s viewers into donors and supporters. Make it easy for them to share and to give, one click can make a difference.
- Spotlight Your People
Working for a non-profit is one of the bravest things a person can do, right up there with enabling “comments” on a YouTube video (People are really mean there!). But seriously, its every bit as important to showcase the people working behind the scenes as it is to showcase the cause your non-profit helps. Behind every great non-profit is a team of people with a passion and a story worth highlighinting.
- Fun!!!
How’s that old saw go? Comedy = tragedy + time, well no, it doesn’t but life is lived through the laughter and the tears. We all have obstacles to overcome. But what we really need is the companionship and the comradery of other people to carry us through, face challenges and win one in the grand scheme of a chaotic universe. Events such as Fun Runs, Challenges (ex. The Ice Bucket) Bike Rides, etc and videos of those events instill a feeling of community.
- Hire a Company That Work Non-Profit for Non-Profits
The McElroy Films corporate culture pretty much follows the Keanu half of Wild Stallions “Go Forth and be excellent to each other”. We offer special discounts and special booking considerations to Non-Profits. We will do our best to fit you in quickly, because literally, getting the message out can be a life or death situation and we are also going to do it at the absolute lowest cost an HD production can be done so as not to put additional financial strain on your organization.