What if my story isn't about babies or kittens?

Are you a non-profit organization, or as Adam Braun, with Pencils of Promise, puts it, a "for purpose" business, with a passion for your cause, but find it really hard to tell your story or give your organization a voice?  

A lot of our customers used to freak out over the idea that if their cause wasn't about feeding children or rescuing abandoned animals, that their audience wouldn't want to hear them at all. But, little did they know about the following 4 reasons that motivated them to rise to the top of story telling for their organization.

What I'm about to tell you will help you find your voice and begin to create such powerful stories that will ignite your movement to go where no organization, like yours, has ever gone before.

Before we move forward, I need you to read to the very end of this video for more downloads and sites you can go, to further your knowledge on what I will be teaching you today.

So, here I go:

#1: Always know your audience

"Wait...what? Mauricio, I'm an organization, not a business!! I'm here to help the poor and needy."

And it is for that very reason why I want you to know your audience. "For Purpose" organizations ARE businesses. You are in the business of helping people improve, to be restored, to be given a second chance, to look out for the environment...

When you know your audience, you know who you are wanting to communicate with. You address your audience meeting their language and what makes them connect emotionally with you. I mean, would you address your mother as you address your sister??

As you search for your audience, be very intentional in discovering what generation you are drawing attention to. Keep in mind that marketing to Baby Boomers is way different than how you reach Generation X'ers and Millennials.

Here's a quote from Donna Tshiffely, executive director of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington back in May of 2014.

"While Boomers may have the money, the consumer base is dominated by the X'ers and the Y's. In fact, in 2015 there will be more X'ers and Y's in the workforce than any other generation. It's time to nurture those 2 generations into the philanthropic fold - before the Civic Generation and Baby Boomers disappear."

She's not kidding about that.

#2: Find Your 180 Customer

No...and I don't mean a 180 lb'er....You need to express your passion about your organization. In fact, you need to show it! And the best way to do that is by providing personal testimonies of people who have gone through your organization's program. Success stories!! Find one customer who has made an 180 degree turn, from bad to great!

Have a set of questions ready for them prior to the shoot. And ask them the hardcore questions. You heard me, I said, Hardcore! But seriously, you need to be direct with them. Ask them questions, like "how did you feel before walking through our program?"

Asking them about their feelings is a welcoming approach to move them to share from the bottom of their heart. As you invite them to share, they become more open and unashamed to share their feelings. Don't ever mock them. And I don't have to say that because I know that you are sensitive to their story.

#3 Watch Your Tone

In the New Hampshire primary of 2008, Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to swing the votes in her favor with a slight change on her tone of voice. At that time in her campaign, she was criticized for being too cold, and hard. It's like she was almost required to remind the viewers that she's still a woman.

Look for the tone in your story and make adjustments as necessary. When the tone in their entire story sounds angry, you need to help them adjust in the places where you know they need to sound more exciting, like when they begin to talk about the benefits of being a part of your organization. People pay more attention to the tone of your voice than the words that actually come out of your mouth.

I'm prone to believe this, "Emotion is one of the primary communication tools that connect people to one another." And you can tweet that, if you want. I can give you an example, two people are going through two separate moments. One is getting chased by ferocious dogs, while the other is running from the Russian mafia. Both are experiencing threat, anxiety, fear...but, nevertheless, they are experiencing the same emotions, yet in different settings.

So when you do set the tone, keep in mind that they need to be placed in the proper setting. So, that your viewers can interpret them properly. And having a roller coaster ride of emotions are the way to entertain your viewers.

#4: Show Your Emotions

I hate to see organizations that are not affectionate to the people or cause they serve. When your volunteers or staff are not showing emotion in the video, people will to notice and be tuned off.

So, with your customer's personal testimony comes personal b-roll footage. What is a b-roll footage you ask? It is footage that plays as a person is demonstrating a process or an experience. Like, your customer can be talking about how your program has helped them walk through life affectively. You can literally be filming them being hugged and taught by one of the staff members. 

I would never advise anyone to play pretend. But, genuine emotions will translate into genuine giving for your organization. The camera is quick to reveal a faker.

Now, for the resources that you have been waiting for.

If you need any additional help developing your target audience, we have a link below that will take you to a downloadable file, titled "Audience Profile Funsheet". This funsheet was designed by the people at The StoryTelling Non-Profit, specifically tailored for you to use.

We also included a blogpost from our friends at Non-profit Ally to teach you how to conduct a focus group: http://nonprofitally.com/five-tips-for-better-surveys. This can help you get prepped up and ready to interview your right customers with the right questions. 

Have any more ideas on how to make your stories engaging for your viewers? Let us know in the comments below!! Need tips and advice in designing your next video market move? Visit namesakepictures.com and sign up for our email newsletter.

And please, continue to stand up for your cause, because only you can inspire change in your community.

5 Ways to Improve Your Non-Profit's Video Interviews

It is not always easy interviewing people, who may not be used to the cameras. Let's be honest for a moment, not every person we've interviewed are eloquent in speaking or have the 'celebrity' look. What they do have is the heart for your organization. So, here's the question. What happens when you don't have the standard person to interview? With the following steps, you should be able to get the best interview conversation from any person you interview.

These are the steps:

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1.) Have a phone interview, before you do the filming. 

This helps break the ice between you and your interviewee. He or she will become used to your voice that then will feed into your confidence in directing your

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interviewee, because you would be preparing him/her for the camera. You will also be able to get more out of the phone conversation, because as they speak from their comfortable place, they may say something that can help add to the appeal of the story. For example, I found out about one interviewee's interest in playing the guitar, as I had her on the phone. I asked her if she would be willing to play the guitar to use as b-roll footage for her interview. She was delighted to do it! Having a phone interview also helps with creating a structure for your story. That way, you can navigate throughout the interview, by asking precisely for what you want, and not rabbit trail so much during the shoot.

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2.) Control the environment by selecting a place to film without much interference. 


Find out the location that works best for you and your interviewees. Set up the interview in places that would not require much of their attention, from their family or staff members. Choosing the correct location can help remove any tension. The camera easily picks up on stressful emotions. Most of our interviews take place in either their homes or place where they received the help. Keep in mind, that as long as these locations are helping with the branding of your organization, it will do no harm. Here's what I'm referring to. Do not film your interviewee, who used to be a former inmate transitioning into society or a rescued girl from human trafficking in a dark alley, for example. If your mission is to be a place of refuge to them, they shouldn't be filmed in darkness, because subconsciously your viewers are associating that dark alley with your organization. "Are they still stuck in that darkness?", they ask. The answer is "NO". So, you should be showing warmth and light colors that reflect the support you have been to them. 

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3.) Make them feel confident about their look throughout the shoot. 

Kindly, ask them what is their best side to take pictures. Yes, this may sound weird, but you do not want to make them feel subconscious about their look after the shoot at your gala. The more they see that you are on their side, the more cooperative they will become for you and your team. They will be prone to speak from their hearts, rather than be told what to say. The more confidence they have, the more believable your story becomes for your viewers. This is not to get you to panic in case things don't work as you were anticipating. But, the more and more you put these steps to practice, the better stories you will have for your organization.

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4.) Encourage them. 

Need I say more? Let them be aware of how good they are doing, despite of the small details. They are taking time away from their busy lives to pay you their undivided attention. In other words, encourage them because you are grateful for them. I know you are.  However, we tend to lose track of that in the middle of production. I do it sometimes. Encouragement also takes explaining the bigger vision to get them to see beyond their self-esteem. The interview is not about them, and it is not about your organization, either. It is way bigger. It is about the purpose, perhaps rescuing more people from broken situations, saving one more child's life from hunger, or  changing an entire community for the best. 

5.) Ask the heartfelt questions. 

Questions, like "How did it feel?", are always good to ask. Get them to explain the transformation that took place from before their experience with your organization to what happened after they walked through your door. My suggestion here: Include scripted intro and outro sound bites for your interviewee to say. I'm not really suggesting you to script all of their testimony. But, keep some bullet points in your notes from STEP #1 to stay on track of the story. When you have a beginning and ending, the middle should be easy to steer. I do suggest to get them to speak from their heart. By asking them the question, you are also getting them to answer what you want to include in their story. Emotion is everything in film. 

Take the opportunity to ask questions that will inspire them to give you the basic emotions they went through, before, during, and after your program, like "How did you feel before?", "What did you feel when you found out that we were here for you?", and "How are you coping with life after our program?". Here are some other great questions to ask, "What inspired you to...?", "What do you feel when your see your__________ on ______? (fill in the blank)", "What does (Volunteer's Name Here) mean to you?" "Do you feel empowered now?" "What was your biggest fear before this program?" "Did we help you overcome that fear?" "(Finish the Sentence) Rescuing animals brings _________ to my life, because________________."

I really hope this blogpost has helped you get a better perspective in telling your story. 

Now, I want to hear from you. Have you done any interviews? How did they go? Do you have any tips for me and our readers that can help improve the power of storytelling? Tell us about it on the comments below. :)

Please, share this post with your non-profit friends, who could use these tools to better their stories in your email newsletter. Continue to stand up for your cause, because only you can inspire change in your community. 

For the video format to this blogpost, watch the video below:

Name Sake Pictures Workflow Overview

Making Powerful Videos Using your Smartphone

How can you make powerful videos using your iPhone or any smartphone device?

Well tune into this video to show you how. This is the first of 6 video series titled, "Making Powerful Videos using your Smartphone"!

Get our FREE e-books about how to measure the ROI for your video: http://www.namesakepictures.com/#!ebooks/c17ll

In this video, you will learn:

- 2 reasons why you must begin video marketing for your company.

- What is a theme?

- What is the plot for your story?

- Create a story structure.

-Ask your interviewee what is something personal he/she can share.

-Inexpensive production equipment

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NameSakePictures

Tell Your Non-Profit Story with Video!

Listen to this podcast, by Steve Vick from Non-profit Ally.

Videos can be time consuming, laborious, and costly! Of course, you know that because you've been there and got the mug! Or maybe, this could be your first time. But, want to learn how to do it yourself when my team and I are not around? Listen to this podcast to learn how: http://nonprofitally.com/telling-your-nonprofit-story-with-video

Improve The ROI of Your Video in 3 Steps!

Do you often wonder about how effective is the video you produced? Are you hesitant to hire a video producer because you question a video's ROI? How can you confidently measure the success of your video without stressing over it?

In this blog, you should find helpful answers to these daunting questions.

You hear very often that video is the most effective marketing tool in any organizations. Articles, blogs, and familiar resources have given you the stats: 52% of US adults have watched or downloaded videos from the internet. The content they view are 50% humorous videos and 38% are educational and "how-to" videos. 72% of adults use social networking sites, that are popular to share videos. 91% of adults own smart phones. Out of that percentage, 41% use their phones to watch videos, 40% to record video, and 20% to upload video. I can go on forever.

With 22% of non-profits deciding not to use videos because they can't measure ROI (Return On Investment), be sure that by following these 3 steps, you will have to worry no more:

1.) Set your goal for the video.
2.) Give your viewers a "call-to-action".
3.) Find ways to measure the success of your "call-to-action".

1.) Set Your Goal For Your Video

Making videos requires time, energy, staffing, budget...the list goes on. So, it is preliminary that you figure out what your goal is for the video. Don't know what those goals are? Let me suggest to you 4 to use. Here I go: Awareness, Membership/Relationship, Fundraising, and Advocacy.

Awareness
With awareness, you are bringing to light a place, a person, an institution, a cause that may have been hidden from many in the public arena. It is what you do to let donors know about projects/events started in your organization. Perhaps, you want to tell them where you are located, or where to find a product/service.

We didn't film this, but only edited to tell people
to vote for Baby Adam, not ask people for money.

Membership/Relationship
This is where you tell your viewers how to volunteer, sign up for a petition, or even like you on Facebook, for example.

One of our first non-profit videos. Teens were asking teens to
sign a petition to have Congress stop legal abortion.

Tell your viewers where to go to donate!

Fundraising
Use this one goal very wisely. Tell your viewers where to go donate for your cause and how to become your own personal fundraisers. Causevox.com has great resource on how to get started.


Advocacy
Make this video emotional enough to engage your viewers to stand with you and make a difference. Show them stats and how are people, animals, places, health, and/or the environment are impacted. This is where you make your non-profit the hero. "This is why we are here..." Finish the statement in your advocacy video.

We didn't create this video. But, it can give you
an idea of what an advocacy video looks like.

2.) Give Your Viewers a Call-To-Action

Always tell your viewers where to go next. This is what we named the "Call-To-Action". It will not do your video any good, unless you specifically tell them where to go and how to do it. This step is critical to help you find the results you want. As you guide them, make it clear for them, where to click, how to sign up, what form to fill out, and don't forget to give your audience an incentive to take their next step.

Requesting people to comment, share, and like
can help you win!

With Awareness
Your best bet is to ask your viewers to share, comment, like, re-tweet, re-post your video. Simply upload your video on any social media site. These will also increase the probability for more people to engage with your video content. Get their perspective on current issues happening around your cause. This is where, I would suggest, to build a relationship with your fans. They might be discovering more about your organization as they begin to build trust with your organization.Win their loyalty. Get them to sign up for your email newsletter to learn more about your organization throughout the year, but don't quit sending them newsletters.

With Membership/Relationship
Encourage a potential volunteer to apply online. Motivate a person to sign that petition or else they will lose their chance at changing a life/project/cause for a good purpose. Be enthusiastic. Use empowering words to get them to click through where you want to take them. It will pay off!

With Fundraising

Tell them where to go to make their donation. Don't get them to click too much. Use a red DONATE button to get more clicks. Red is a good color to use. Help your donors get a visual understanding of what or who they are giving to. Display giving tiers. Encourage your donors to fund-raise for you. Use www.causevox.com to set tiers and give each fundraiser a page help you meet your financial goal!
For every time a donor has to click to get to the "Donate" button, you lose 10% of donors. Make it convenient for them. If you are using email marketing to fund-raise, use the www.viewbix.com.

With Advocacy
This is where you want to get your viewers fired up to share your passion (video) with others. Get them to click the "Share" button in your social media site. You may, also, want to partner up with other supporters to help you share your video. Unplug for a minute. Think offline. Companies and/or organizations that share the same passion as you do, who would be willing to share the video on their social media site, like LinkedIN. You never know. Their advocates can become yours.

3.) Measure the Success

Think of a strategy that can help you measure exactly what your video needs to do. Calculate the convert rate, perhaps.

This is a small sample of a Facebook algorithm for this video
posted on our Facebook page.

Awareness
Watching the number of likes, comments, and shares escalate can help you get an idea. Reading your Facebook's algorithm and understanding the numbers happening behind the scenes can also help you get a better figure for how effective your video is becoming. Working with Name Sake Pictures' Facebook Page, I know that video engages more people than any other visual aid. Measure the numbers of new email subscribers with your email marketing tool, like MailChimp, or AWeber. Set a goal for the number of subscribers to be attained in a timely manner.

Membership/Relationship
You can easily calculate the number by the numbers of applications that get turned in from volunteers, new fans who "liked" your Facebook page, and sign ups. Use a "call-to-action" button right below your video to send them to the conversion page (i.e. application page). Again, I encourage you to look into getting viewbix.com .

Fundraising
With a clear strategy, an interactive fundraising page, and time to manage your fundraising campaign, you should be confident that your video will be put to great use. Your ROI under this category will profit you wonderfully. There are 5 things to keep in mind when it comes to online fundraising, however. Click here to read more.

Advocacy
The best way to calculate the success of your advocacy video is by seeing the number of interaction happening on your social media site. Perhaps motivating people to sign up for your email campaign can help you get a better understanding of the new lives committing to your cause.

Lastly, however you plan to use your video, include a simple "Call-To-Action". Give them steps. Just make sure you're not making them crawl into their ear to get to their elbow. Find measurable tools to give you the results you are wanting. But, plan ahead. That way, you are certain that you will get solutions. Name Sake Pictures can help you find the solutions you need with your video package.For more information about how to go about it, go to www.namesakepictures.com and into the "blog" section!

If you have any other ideas to improve your video ROI, leave us a comment! Like us on Facebook for find more blog posts, like this one, in your newsfeed.

5 Tips to Succeed in your Online Fundraiser

Fundraising is a tough task to stay on focus. But, it doesn't have to be impossible. Most of the non-profits that I surveyed, in recent times, have told me that out of all necessary elements, like awareness, volunteers, memberships, and money, they all stated that funding was a big priority. Without it, they wouldn't be able to do what they do best, restoring the broken in our community.

According to the IRS in 2012, 72% of donations came from individual donors. 21% came from grants, and businesses. With the rise of social media networks, organizations are hopping on the train of peer-to-peer fundraising. With the research provided and the success stories heard from Causevox, Charity Waters, and Craigslist Foundation, I came up with 5 quick tips to help your fundraising become another success story.

1. Plan your online fundraising event! This is crucial. You need to have a beginning, middle and end to your fundraising strategy. Most fundraisers start BIG and end BIG. But it is throughout the middle where it lags like crazy and people take their time in giving. So, you also need to know how to stay focused during that time period. Know the length of time the fundraising will last. Plan your online event to take place with another, live event where you have the platform to speak to many people about your fundraiser. The Nonprofit Tech For Good is great place to go and get organized with awesome ideas.

The Projest SOS team: They are really great at planning and organizing. 

2. Create a "story" video for your fundraising event. The power of visual aid will help increase donations to about 45%. People's brain can process visual about 60,000 times faster than simple text. So, simply including a lot of words and no visual substance, would be a loss for you. Either hire an outsource company to do it, or do it yourself. Make sure the audio is in good quality. Also, take your time finding a compelling story to share in your video. Capture more stories throughout your fundraising event. Simply use your smartphone. Need help for capturing great stories? Go to our website (www.namesakepictures.com), google Gary Vaynerchuk, and/or Stillmotionblog.com. Learn to tell a great engaging testimony by going to this blog article: http://namesakesblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/5-ways-to-improve-your-non-profits.html

3. Make the determination to use viewbix.com as you use email to send your fundraising page. Viewbix is an excellent tool that helps embed your video directly into your email to allow the viewers to click and watch without getting directed anywhere else. Its click-through-rate is over 400%. Studies show that for every click made to get to the donate button, you will lose 10% of donors. What Viewbix also does is that it lets you add a "DONATE" button right under the video. Make sure you make the color of the button red. It will outperform any other color by 21%.

ViewBix is a really great tool. Your logo can go on the top left side. Easy Call-To-Action on the bottom.

4. Make your donors feel like they belong in an exclusive community. By that, I mean draw them emotionally to your cause. Win them as evangelists to share the news about your organization. Encourage them to set their own fundraising page, create their own video, and get creative to help partake in your organization's financial goal. Charity Water did a phenomenal job using people's birthday as a day to help them generate more funding. Thank them publicly on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Offer them rewards for every time they donate a certain amount of money. Treat them like gold, because they are partnering up with you.

Charity Water is one nonprofit that gets fundraising!

5. Make the goal, the objective and rewards as tangible as possible for your donors. When you do, you will be able to see great results. Again, help them process the image much faster than reading the text. Pages with images increases engagement to about 180% more than those without images. For your goal, you can say "$100 will help 2 children get fed in a month". Make your "story" video show the objective. For your reward, take pictures and place them on your page for people to see or get an idea.

Lastly, I will not make this a 6th tip, because it may not apply to every non-profit. But, Google does have a program for non-profits, where you can get a grant for up to $10,000 of advertisement on their search engine. You have to apply to get it, however. That money can go into marketing your online fundraising event. 

I hope this was a lot of help for you. If you need a professional video producer and/or help with your online fundraising for your non-profit, call us for a free consultation. Visit us @ www.namesakepictures.com. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to support the work that we do: https://www.youtube.com/user/namesakepictures. 

Let us help you bring the message of your heart to life! Have a blessed day.