5 Best Practices for Non-Profit Video Storytelling

This semester, our group has had the privilege of collaborating with local non-profit, The Mark Dombrowski Foundation. Mark Dombroski was a member of the Saint Joseph’s Community before his tragic death in 2018. His family started a foundation to share Mark’s legacy of kindness, joy and inclusivity with others. The Foundation’s main focus is providing funding for organizations that support and promote youth education, athletics, safety and well-being.

At our first meeting, we got to spend time with Mark’s mother Lisa, learn about Mark’s life and legacy, and the Foundation’s efforts. She provided us with background on their latest project: a crowdfunding campaign that will raise money for the building and dedication of a playground at the Middletown Free Library. Previously, Lisa worked at the library and spent many years taking Mark and his two brothers there during their childhood. The Middletown area lacks playgrounds open for public use, and The Mark Dombroski Memorial Playground will provide a gathering space for play, growth and happy memories with family. Youth Services Librarian Jason Fialkovich says, “Having the Mark Dombroski Memorial Park, or ‘Mark’s Park,’ would be a great way to carry on his legacy and continue affecting future generations and making their lives better. There are not a lot of parks available towards families in this general area, so something that Mark has his name attached to could really benefit the community and really inspire other kids to be like Mark and be active and give back to the community as well.” We decided that a video was the perfect medium to tell Mark’s story and share the vision and significance of the playground. 

Over the course of our collaboration with the Foundation, we have learned a lot about video storytelling for nonprofits, including aspects of interviewing, filming, and editing. The following are five best practices for non-profit video storytelling that we have learned this semester:

1. Timing is everything. With social media being the biggest platform for nonprofits to post their content it is essential to remember the expectations of social media. The attention span for social media is very small making it vital to keep the video short and sweet while still getting one’s main objective across to the audience.

2. Be quick to the punch and quick to engage. Audiences absorb content at a rapid speed, and are easily distracted. This makes it especially crucial to use film to tell an engaging and creatively artistic story. Video journalist Jourdan Aldredge details the shrinking attention spans of audiences which has led to the rise of micro-documentaries. 

3. Storytelling is about making people feel. Video is a form of media in which you can mold and arrange your content, and ask better interview questions, in order to appeal to the emotions of your audience. Telling a story is about making people feel, and so as consultants, we must first think about how we want people to feel, and begin to create around this feeling.

4. The first impression is vital. To keep an audience interested and involved the first impression of the video is extremely important. The opening has to be captivating or else there will be a decline in viewers as the video continues. 

5. A video is one of the most effective ways to raise awareness. A video is such a crucial medium to use when fundraising for a nonprofit as a video has the ability to be shared and reach a large number of people. Videos are also popular among nonprofits. They’re typically less expensive to create and the nonprofit can have a lot of say in the content they want created.