Charities and non-profits are not only capitalizing on the growing demand for emotional content, but also showing their storytelling savvy in the process.
Video could make social issues visible to millions of people around the world, and this type of content marketing continues to pay huge dividends for charities.
World Water Day Video: over 600,000 views
Top 10 most watched non for profit videos
Save the Children’s wake-up call about the war in Syria is the most viewed non-profit video of this year, with 44+ million views across the internet, and over 1.3 million social shares.
Music videos are always incredibly popular with our clients.
Here are the charity videos that attracted the most attention this year in terms of views:
Most Shocking Second a Day – Save the Children 44,043,427
Would You Help a Freezing Child? – SOS Children’s Villages 21,673,029
Arnold Works at Gold’s – After-School All-Stars 19,809,431
Will It Crush? – Omaze 13,637,226
Tree Of Life – Lifebuoy 11,142,287
Do They Know It’s Christmas? – Band Aid 30 10,732,553
Luge – Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion 8,502,619
#ViolenceisViolence – ManKind 8,400,196
#LaughLearnGive – YouTube & Comic Relief 8,101,846
There Is No Them, Only Us – Bank of America and (RED) 7,896,679
Successful Video Marketing for Non-profits: 4 Strategies
What makes an engaging, relevant, and successful non-profit video?
#1 Make it Genuine: Tap Into Real Emotions
Non-profits should run toward emotion and not away from it. In today’s video environment, consumers want to watch content that moves them to tears, moves them to joy, and perhaps most importantly, moves them to share the videos with their friends. The type of emotion that consumers want is especially opportune for non-profits, because, for the most part, non-profit’s mission and message are innately emotional and engaging.
An excellent example of this is Save the Children’s ‘Most Shocking Second a Day’, a video that depicts a scenario where a British girl watches as her life in the U.K. turns upside down in war-time carnage.
#2 Tell a Real Story That Viewers Can Relate To
Real emotion comes from real stories. A real story can take multiple forms: a stat, an anecdote, a tell-all. ManKind Initiative’s ‘ViolenceisViolence’ video aims to shine a light on domestic violence against men. Did you know that 40% of domestic violence in the UK is against men? The non-profit put on a stunt in London where women abused men in public, and the clip generated a huge amount of discussion and publicity for the cause.
#3 Be Creative: Capture the Imagination With Great Storytelling
There is more than one way to tell a story or explain a fact and it doesn’t have to be a straightforward appeal for funds or awareness. The biggest successes in branded video find a way to tell that story or explain that fact in an unconventional and surprising way. It’s the surprise that get viewers talking and sharing.
SOS Children’s Village created an amazing narrative around the horrendous conditions for children in war-torn Syria with its ‘Would You Give Your Jacket to Johannes’ campaign. It placed a young boy at a bus stop in the middle of winter, freezing cold because he lacked an adequate coat or jacket, and watched how adults reacted.
#4 Get Your Story in Front of th