Testimonial Videos—A Great Way to Reach Out

Few things are more powerful than personal testimonial videos. Yet what’s more daunting than trying to film people stating how much they love your organization and events? Finding the staff time, contacting members, and setting up equipment can seem insurmountable—even for skilled nonprofit managers ready to use video to reach out to potential members, donors and other stakeholders.

With a little ingenuity, foresight and planning, there are ways to produce high-quality testimonial videos that are convincing, sincere, and fresh without overtaxing your members, your budget, or your staff’s time. A recent project completed at the annual meeting of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP) provides an excellent case in point.

In a quiet area of the exhibit floor at the October 2014 annual conference in Anaheim, CA, PPP provided MiniMatters with a temporary video studio comprised of a double-sided booth in a quiet area of the exhibit floor.  PPP then invited conference attendees to stop by and say a few words on camera about how membership and participation in PPP had helped them to achieve their goals as gift planners, advisors, or vendors within the industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8_XQvBklBM

Many of the video testimonials given at the conference were only around a minute long, and were not very taxing for participants. Yet the ten videos completed shortly after the conference’s close provide PPP with a video supply that can be accessed and used on their website and in their own membership campaigns as well as conference promotion and fundraising all year. PPP is a nonprofit that serves as the source for education, research, and advocacy for all professionals who have a role in designing and implementing donors’ philanthropic plans.

Board or Fundraising Committee Member Testimonial Videos Are a Great Way to Engage

PPP board members such as Wendy Chou who participated in the filming served as highly effective advocates for the organization, fulfilling their roles. (Tip: Testimonial videos featuring board members, which they can share with their individual communities, are a great way to engage board members in organizational development and fundraising, as mentioned in this article.)

The mix of new and veteran attendees in the videos was also particularly helpful – providing a way for PPP to reach out to different constituencies and promote commitment and membership in the organization.  There were even video testimonials given by sponsors—providing a way to promote financial support for the next annual conference in 2015.

To encourage participation and interest in the videos, PPP promoted the filming project throughout the conference on the official conference app.  After the conference, tweets, e-newsletters, e-blasts, and websites have been showcasing the finished projects. As often happens with the realm of social media, those who had been filmed share the videos within their own networks, providing further exposure for PPP, its meeting, and its mission of helping people and organizations create meaningful charitable giving experiences.