Make A Fundraising Video that is LIT

estimated read time: 2 minutes

Make A

VIDEO

Fundraising Video That Is LIT

by Bri Castellini

If you do it right, you won’t just earn $, you’ll earn loyal customers

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Start With The Problem You Are Solving

The first 15 to 20 seconds of your video should show your audience the stuff they’re excited about.

What problem are you solving and how is your brand different from ones that already exist? How can you illustrate this with video footage, archival materials (news reports/features), photos, or graphics? If you are selling a product, SHOW it to us as a close-up. If it’s a service, show us what that service looks like.

One note: Think twice before starting your video with you speaking to the camera. Your friends and family will be delighted to see you talking about your new business, but they are not your main audience.

Bri Castellini is a screenwriter, director and podcaster. As Seed&Spark’s film community manager, she teaches, writes about and consults on crowdfunding, and has helped artists raise over $2 million since beginning in this role late in 2019. Bri co-hosts the podcast Breaking Out of Breaking In, a practical filmmaking podcast for making great work without playing the Hollywood game.

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EleVate Magazine

May 2021, Issue 1

PERSERVERANCE MAD BANK FUNDRAISING VIDEO

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Know Your Audience

Know your audience well enough to start with a bang and connect to what they’re looking for. What’s in it for them? Your pitch video should be as much about the people you’re pitching to as it is about the project you’re pitching. There are two ways to answer what’s in it for them: TANGIBLY and INTANGIBLY. • The TANGIBLE pitch is pretty simple: Highlight an incentive or two they’ll get as a result of contributing to your campaign. (These are the incentives you list on the main fundraising page.)

• The INTANGIBLE is less simple but arguably more powerful: What are they looking for, and how are you delivering it?

Put yourself in their shoes. Pretend you are a person who wishes your business existed. If you came across this video, what would convince you this is the right way to solve the problem? What would encourage you to keep watching and contribute to the campaign? The answers to these questions should guide the design and script of your pitch video (and yes, you need a design and a script).

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Keep It Short

Statistically, your audience will only watch 90 to 120 seconds of your video, so the important aspects of your pitch need to happen during those first two minutes. And your total runtime shouldn’t be much longer than that.

It’s hard enough to get someone to contribute to a stranger’s crowdfunding campaign; you don’t want to make the barrier for entry harder by asking them to watch an eight-minute video!

When you end your video, lay out your calls to action – contribute to your campaign, share your video, follow you on social media. Include a campaign URL in case they discover your video outside of the campaign page, and use some final video footage to stick with your audience as they get their wallets out. The final beat is just as important as the first, so leave them ready to commit to funding your campaign but still wanting more – and ready to follow your brand as you launch and beyond.

PERSERVERANCE MAD BANK FUNDRAISING VIDEO

May 2021, Issue 1

EleVate Magazine

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