Have you been putting off creating video content?

Have you known for a long time that your charity really should be creating video content to boost engagement?

Videos get far more views and engagement than simple photo posts on social media.

In fact, social video generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined. And viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text (Source: Forbes: How to Increase Engagement through Video Marketing, Oct 2022)

Nows your chance to be part of an innovative programme to support small charity organisations just like yours to create effective charity films from scratch using just a mobile phone.

Once you know how, you will be able to create as many films as you want for different purposes, helping to boost traffic to your website (and donations) whilst showing the public in the most powerful way, the amazing work you do. Start to unlock a more sustainable stream of income through public donations by nailing your video content this year.

How will it Work?

The Saltways and Funding School have teamed up to bring you an innovative 8 week package of remote support, delivered by professional fundraising consultants, with years of experience of film-making, fundraising and communications. Aimed at small charities, we will teach you how to make your own charity fundraising film in-house, and create your own seasonal fundraising campaign this Christmas. Requiring 4 hours per week of your time, over 8 weeks, we will handhold you through the process, providing 1:1 support and mentoring to each participant to:

• Come up with your campaign/appeal concept.

• Show you how to structure a fundraising appeal and work with your peers and professional mentors to identify a compelling hook and campaign message. 

• Help guide you with planning and producing your film, linked to you campaign using a mobile phone.

• Edit the film for you (whilst showing you how to).

• Help produce campaign copy to launch your appeal.

• Work together to launch your Christmas Fundraising Appeal at the end of November 2023.

• Learn how to thank donor appropriately and manage their data once the campaign has finished.

• The course start date and time will be agreed collectively.

What will you achieve from taking part?

• The package of support combines hands on practical training and mentoring from professional experts in their field,  so you can create your own high quality and effective video fundraising campaigns in the future, with very little cost and resource other than your time.    

•  By the end of the course, you will have not only created a fabulous seasonal Christmas fundraising appeal film and campaign, but will also have the confidence, knowledge and skills to repeat the process, with the potential to create a sustainable (and unrestricted) income stream for your charity.

• You will also learn what to do after the campaign has finished- how to thank donors and store data.

•  Film has the highest conversion rates of any digital media type and is critical to meaningful communication and engagement with your followers. A simple but great fundraising film will help you recruit new donors, encourage lapsed donors to re-engage, and help maximise donations and income across the board.

• Video will also help encourage your supporters to undertake their own DIY fundraisers for your charity, by creating an emotional reaction amongst your supporters like no other.

• Our expert mentors have in depth experience of helping charities find the key messages and stories that will resonate with your audiences, helping unlock donor support.

• Fundraising films about your work will create a ground swell of support, loyalty and admiration towards the work of your charity, helping you build the donor base that perhaps has eluded you until now.

• Meet other like-minded charity professionals on the same journey, to support, encourage and feedback to each other in a safe space.

Why do this course?

As we've already mentioned, video is really essential in the current competitive fundraising environment to raise your profile above that of your competitors.

Whichever type of fundraising you are focusing on, video content will help to secure funding by giving the viewer an insight into your charities world, helping to convey your personality, impact and culture in a way that the written word is far harder to achieve.

However, if you are anything like the many charities we've spoken with, there may be a range of barriers holding you back from tackling this area of your charities work such as:

• Time Constraints
• Lack of budget
• Not knowing where to start
• Being unsure of what to film
•  Uncertainty about how to use film content
• Fear of issues around data and privacy law
• Lack of confidence in how to create a film

But without investing in your knowledge and capacity in this area, you are missing out on money on the table. 

 If only people in your community knew of the great work you were doing and the transformative impact you are having, they may well choose to gift you a charitable donation, rather than an anonymous large charity with an established profile.

Although the course will require both a time and financial investment from your charity, you will be able to launch your appeal in time for christmas, and have the confidence and knowledge to create multiple video fundraising appeals in the future, using your new found skills and creativity!