Tiva Quinn at #Net2van's "Video for Nonprofits"

1. The Art of Finding Your Story
By Tiva Quinn
Onwords! Consulting
Onwords.net
tiva@onwords.net

2. Tiva Quinn,
Onwords! Consulting
About Me:
• Over $20M raised through the power of
storytelling
– Ecotrust Canada
– Alaska Native Heritage Center
– 10 years consulting on planning & fundraising
• Animator since 2011
– Seedstock Community Currency
– Reel Causes

3. About You
• Interested in video
• Don’t have a staff position for it
• Most of you are repeat Netsquared audience,
so part of that overall dialog

4. Starting out w video:
common problems
• No staff often means several dep’ts
brainstorm together (good)
• But no one is really asking video-centric
questions to guide the process (bad)
• Like anything, 85% of making a good video is
planning
• But a lot of NP’s will charge in without even
asking the top 2 planning questions…

5. The Top Two Planning Questions
Who is our audience? What do we want
them to do?

6. Who is it for?
• People you serve
• Existing donor/volunteer base
• New audience w aligned values
• New audience, neutral values – education
• Specific demographics?
• Going beyond the choir!

7. What do we want them to do?
• Donate
• Volunteer
• Contact politicians
• Change spending habits
• Change diet, recycle, share goods etc.

8. What’s Their Problem
Traditional Mktg Question:
What problem can you solve for this audience?
Non-profit variation:
Why would this audience
care about what you do?

9. What’s Their Problem, Pt.2
• Linkage / Ability / Interest – how does that
translate into search terms they might use?
• Honest SEO is in. Make sure those search
terms are a good fit for the video you make.

10. 8 Non-profit Storytelling rules
(that I learned from grant writing)
1. Start off strong – NEVER assume you’ve got a
captive audience.
2. Always include head & heart.

11. Non-profit Storytelling rules
3. Rely on familiar themes and visual
metaphors, but…
4. Also use new information or a surprising
twist – they’re here to learn.

12. 8 Non-profit Storytelling rules
5. Make sure you describe a problem that’s
fixable, not an overwhelming crisis.

13. Non-profit Storytelling rules
6. The #1 question you must answer:
“so what?” (Why should I care?)
7. Build it & they will come does NOT
work! How will they find you?

14. 8 Non-profit Storytelling rules
• Last One:
8. Go backwards or spiral out if that’s the best
way to find your story.

15. Balancing Acts

16. What Have You Already Got?
• Go over successful ask letters, events,
proposals – why did it work?
• Survey or focus group your supporters –
what’s in it for them?
• Remember to look for head & heart.
• Ask staff too, but this video is not for them!

17. Starting to Think Visual
• Who is your audience?
– Pacing
– Tone / language for voiceovers & text
– What visuals make sense

18. What do you want them to do?
• Take action?
– 90 seconds, tops – then
lead directly to a page
focused on that action
• Learn something?
– 5 minutes, tops – no
dead pixels

19. As You Look For Your Story
• Start thinking about context – where will you
advertise, what’s the style there?
• Starting point formula:
– 1/3 empathize
– 1/3 explain
– 1/3 call to action

20. Brainstorm Variations
• What if we used relatable characters & a
Hero’s Journey, like Meatrix or Reel Causes?
– (people you serve? Or donors?)
• What if we speak directly to “you” like Follow
the Frog?
• What if it’s more word-driven, w a series of
illustrations to add interest, like Story of Stuff?
• What if we do something interactive or
crowdsourced like “It Gets Better?”

21. If You’re Really Stuck
• Do you have an enemy? What’s their story?
How can you undermine it?
• Do you have competition? What makes you
different? (Do NOT name/shame competition
in your video… )
• Can you do a spoof like Meatrix or Old Spice
ads? (careful w this…)
• Write a rant about stuckness & see what
comes up

22. Next Steps
• Run the script(s) past a test audience, make
sure it makes sense to them – a sketchy draft
vid would be even better.
• What’s the Title? Upworthy brainstorms 25
titles or more for each shared link.
• Where will you promote it?

23. Sources
• Winning the Story Wars, Jonah Sachs
• Made to Stick, Chip & Dan Heath
• Into Focus: A Benchmark Guide to Effective
Nonprofit Video, See3 Communications
• Playbook for Good, Youtube