Sharing Entries For Awards-Part Four, The Fundraising Video

We continue sharing the Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America’s entries in the National President’s Marketing Awards, a marketing and communications contest held by the National Council of the BSA.

The Friends of Scouting campaign video is submitted in the Finance Support Material category.  (Friends of Scouting is the council’s annual fundraising campaign.) If we are recognized with an award, it goes to Marc Tenholder, a Development Director at the council, and Chuck Voss, a veteran Scouter in Cape Girardeau, Mo., who works in the creative services department at KFVS.

Objectives
The Friends of Scouting campaign video is produced to accomplish a number of objectives:
• Explain how Scouting influences the lives of thousands of young people throughout our council
• Show families of Cub Scouts that more fun and adventure await them if they remain in the program
• Explain how the council is funded
• Show Scouts and volunteers enjoying the program and talking about its value and outcomes
• Ask prospective donors to make a Friends of Scouting contribution

The video is primarily created for use during Friends of Scouting presentations at banquets and other unit gatherings where families will be asked to contribute. The video is posted on the council’s YouTube site so it can be accessed from other websites and e-mail solicitations.

The video was produced in 2011 for use during the 2012 campaign.

Planning
We received positive feedback from the previous year’s video that featured youth members in all levels of the program. We wanted to improve this year’s video by including more ethnic diversity, featuring all council camps and properties, and showing all levels of the Scouting program.

Council staff members used FlipCameras to record interviews and activities taking place at our council camps during the fall. The raw video was cataloged. A script was developed and a rough outline was produced. A member of the council’s marketing committee, who also is a video producer at a television station in the council, reviewed the video, the script and the outline. He performed the editing, sound mixing, and recruited the professional announcer from his television station to perform the voice over.

More than 150 DVDs were produced and distributed to volunteers throughout the council’s 15 geographic districts. The video also was played during the council’s Friends of Scouting kickoff dinner and Executive Board meeting.

Impact
This campaign raises approximately $750,000 each year. To date in 2012, the campaign raised $324,450, which is tracking approximately 5 percent ahead of 2011.

Lessons Learned
Scheduling the editing and production of the video needs particular attention during an election year as our producer communicated to us that his workload will be quite heavy between July and November. We also plan to get more video of Cub Scout day camps and Boy Scout summer camps to better showcase the wide variety of programs and activities made available by Friends of Scouting donations.

We also received some negative feedback on the professional announcer reading the script. Instead of the more polished approach, some believe the script should be read by an articulate older Boy Scout or Venturer.

Slides From UMSL Continuing Education Course: Developing A Marketing Plan For Your Nonprofit

There were great conversations, questions and interactions during a University of Missouri-St. Louis Continuing Education class on developing a marketing and communications plan for your nonprofit organization on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010.

More than 25 people attended on Wednesday and there were some great questions and conversations.

I failed to include a link to one of the templates I used in the presentation. The four quadrants of developing a marketing and communications plan and committee can be downloaded by clicking here (PDF).

Here’s a link to my deck of slides:

Join Me For 2-Hour Course On Developing Your NPO’s Communications Plan

Many people who find themselves responsible for their nonprofit organization’s communications fall into one of two categories.

One, their organization doesn’t have a viable communications plan and they’ve been delegated that responsibility.

Or, two, their organization has a communications plan and they have no training or experience in communications.

If you fall into one of these categories, or if you would like to learn how to develop an effective communications plan for your nonprofit organization, you’re welcome to join me for a two-hour non-credit course at the University of Missouri-St. Louis Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program.

Developing an Effective Communication Plan for Your Nonprofit Organization
Wednesday, October 20, 3-5 p.m.
J.C. Penney Conference Center
University of Missouri-St. Louis
$30

Click Here To Register Online

Download A Printable Flyer (PDF)

Course Description: Nonprofit organizations are faced with an increasing demand for their services and a more challenging fundraising environment. Perhaps more than ever before, success or failure is determined by how successfully NPOs commuicate their mission and services. Whether you’re an executive director, board or staff member, plan to join us as we help you develop an integrated communication plan and strategy for your organization. We’ll look at ways to measure success and help you define and develop marketing and communication channels.

We’ll look at integrating traditional communications channels as well as social media into a plans for orgainzations of all sizes. We’ll also review some fundamental elements that must be in place for any communications plan to succeed in a nonprofit organization.

My goal is that every person who attends this course will leave with at least one or two strategies–if not an entire plan–that will help their organization achieve a mission-based goal.

See you then!

As Promised, A Quick Video Produced During CSPRC Luncheon

“Telling Your Story With Video” was the topic of Tuesday’s Community Service Public Relations Council luncheon at the Sheraton in Clayton. Kristen Hare of the St. Louis Beacon and Tiffany Collins of the Humane Society of Missouri were the presenters. (Click here to visit Kristen’s presentation resources.)

In an attempt to show how fast and easy it now is to produce a video, I brought my Flip camera and recorded a few scenes. I promised that I would post the video here by today and I met my deadline. (I didn’t promise the highest quality production; the promise was something easy and fast.)

If you would like to learn more about digital storytelling, KETC offers free classes. Sessions are available through March. Space is limited, however, so reserve your spot early. For more information or to register, contact Lauren Schwarze at 314-512-9144 or lschwarze@ketc.org.

How YouTube Connects Nonprofits With Video Producers

Many nonprofit or charitable organizations are at a loss when trying to recruit volunteers with a specific skill set or gain pro bono assistance for special projects. Nonprofits often are able to find people to serve meals, coach teams or lead Bible study groups.

It’s often a struggle to find volunteers with specific communications skills. Paid staff members are often focused on completing many fundamental tasks to keep their organizations functioning.  When faced with producing marketing and communications materials to promote their mission or raise funds, they often must spend significant financial resources. Producing quality videos is one of those daunting tasks. Who is going to do this for us and can we trust them? How much is it going to cost? Will we get a return on our investment?

Now, YouTube’s Video Volunteers page is connecting charitable organizations with video producers to develop fund-raising and promotional videos. (Read CNN report on the topic.) The video posted above is by Shawn Ahmed, who produced a video for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. It’s been viewed more than 365,000 times. Ahmed previously produced a video in Bangladesh and raised funds for poverty relief there through his personal project, Uncultured.

“Telling Your Story With Video” is the topic for Tuesday’s luncheon of the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC). More than 80 people are expected to attend.  (Attendance is almost 25 percent higher than most luncheons. However, attendance is trending upward because of the outstanding content presented by marketing and communications professionals in our community.)  Click here for online registration.

(Disclaimer: Joe Mueller is president of CSPRC in 2009-2010.)

CSPRC Luncheon Postponed Until Next Tuesday, Feb. 16

The Community Service Public Relations Council’s lunch meeting scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9, is RESCHEDULED for Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. Registrations for the meeting will be automatically moved to Feb. 16th.  If you are no longer able to attend the meeting, please  call (314) 416-2237 or e-mail info@csprc.org.

Using Video For Storytelling, Fundraising

 

If nonprofit organizations are going to be successful in raising funds, they must effectively tell their story. It helps when stories have strong emotional ties and can be told with photography or video.

This video was produced last month as part of a National Court of Honor ceremony by the Boy Scouts of America here in the Greater St. Louis Area Council. The Scout received an Honor Medal, the second-highest that can be bestowed for an act of heroism.

It was shot with a Flip camera. Most of the editing was done with the software that came from the Flip camera. Some music and sound editing were performed later in the process. It was uploaded to the council’s YouTube site, www.youtube.com/stlbsavideos. A media advisory was distributed a few days before the event. At least two reporters watched the video and said it contributed to their decision to cover the event. (One television reporter almost duplicated the interview on the video. She had the Scout recall the rescue near the scene of the incident.)

After the video was played at the event on Wednesday night, the Scout received a lengthy standing ovation. Three members of the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s Executive Board made the presentation. (Photos from the event can be seen on Flickr.) The event kicked of the council’s 2010 fundraising campaign.

During a conversation with a friend today, it was mentioned that nonprofit communications and marketing professionals must be a jack of all trades and a master of none. As today’s social media channels evolve, fast and efficient delivery of good content trumps style and meticulousness.

Your feedback and comments are welcome.

Telling Your Story With Video

Using video effectively in your nonprofit organization will be the top of the Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, Community Service Public Relations Council luncheon. During a conference call today with the presenters, Kristen Hare of the St. Louis Beacon and Tiffany Collins of the Humane Society of Missouri. Ms. Hare is planning to focus on how organizations can best tell a story using video, especially if the person producing the video has more experience writing or editing stories. Ms. Collins is planning to present on how the Humane Society of Missouri effectively uses video to tell emotional stories.

Creating effective videos for your organization is possible, even if you don’t have much money. Both of the panelists will offer tips and information on how to produce videos in a cost-effective way for use in fundraising, and on your web site. Ms. Hare will also discuss equipment, editing software and how to write for video.

We hope our luncheons help our member’s organizations and others. With this in mind, CSPRC members can send a link to one of their videos that’s currently online. If you produced a video that, (a) you’re proud of, (b) was extremely successful, (c) one that didn’t accomplish your goal and you’re not sure why it didn’t or (d) any of the above, please send the link to seansmothers@hotmail.com and we will post it to the CSPRC home page. We hope this will help all of our organizations by sharing best practices and constructive critique.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER ONLINE FOR THE CSPRC FEBRUARY LUNCHEON

YouTube Adds Interactive Elements For Nonprofit Videos

Nonprofit marketing and communcations professionals quickly grasped the effectiveness of posting videos on YouTube sites. Videos can help promote programs, engage volunteers and enhance fundraising and capital campaigns.
Now, YouTube added two key elements that can drastically improve the ability of people to interact with your organization as they watch your video on your nonprofit YouTube site.
Here’s a video that explains the new tools and shows how easy it is to work with the interface.
Special thanks to Michael Hoffman at See3 Communications for passing this along. Michael’s recent blog post is mentioned in the video.

There’s No Such Thing As Being Too Prepared For A Crisis

This month’s newsletter from Guidestar had good item on crisis management to pass along.

“Blood in the Water: Why You WILL Face a Media Crisis and What You Can Do About It,” by Jason Hall, principal of Public Trust Strategies, had two great examples of how quickly seemingly mundane problems can become big problems.

Even if your nonprofit organization has a crisis plan, it probably needs to be updated to include social media or web 2.0 strategies. With very little resources or training, a nonprofit can effectively use Twitter and YouTube to communicate quickly and clearly in a crisis.