Using Video to Promote Your School Fundraising

If the phrase, a picture says 1,000 words is true, how many words does a video say? It is the 21st century and video is the way of the world. So why not use this form of communication to help promote your fundraiser? Now don’t worry, making a video and getting it posted to your schools Web site might sound hard, but it isn’t. Video is a lot easier than you think! Here are a few of your questions answered so you can start advertising your school fundraising video online.

Do I need to buy a video camera?
No. If you have a digital camera, or a computer, you’re covered. Your digital camera has a built in video mode and most computers now have a video camera built into them as well.

Do I need to buy video editing software?
Most likely not. All new computers come with built-in editing software. Mac computers come with iMovie and Microsoft computers come with Movie Maker. Both of these programs are basic and easy to use. If your computer does not have one of these programs, ask around your PTO or PTA group. Someone is bound to have one of these software programs and would be willing to let you borrow it for a few hours. They might even be able to help you navigate the program. Nobody is expecting your school fundraising video to be award winning so getting just about anything posted is a start!

Is editing software hard to use and complicated?
Nope. It is very easy to use. All you have to do it plug in your camera to the computer, upload your video into the program and cut and paste your video together to make it how you want it. It is actually pretty fun once you figure it out. It should only take an hour or so for you to get the hang of it.

What kind of content should my video have?
Interview a few people about the fundraiser, like the principal or the PTO or PTA president. Ask them questions like, “Why did you decide on this particular fundraising event?” “Where will the money that is raised go?” or “Why do you think parents should participate?”

Interviewing kids for your video is always a good idea too. Ask the kids questions like, “How much will it mean to you to raise money?” or “What is your role in the fundraiser?”

And don’t forget to add the specific details like what the event is, what time it starts, where it is, how much it costs and who is hosting the event. A school fundraising video should be short and concise. If possible, keep any school fundraising video under 2 minutes to keep viewers attention.

How do I get it posted?
Ask your principal who is in charge of the schools Web site and call them. Ask them how to go about posting your video to the Web site. They will probably ask you to e-mail the video to them or mail them a hard copy and they will take care of the rest. If you can’t get the video on the school Web site for some reason, then use other outlets like YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook or MySpace. Upload your video to these sites and then send out a mass e-mail to the entire school with a link to the video.

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If you have a moment, take a look at some school fundraising ideas on our blog.

Sally Foster School Fundraiser - Fundraising Program Test Subjects...

Speculation abounds. I am so curious I can hardly stand it. I already know that this post is making me nervous and uncomfortable because it shakes things up a bit. Fortunately for me, fundraising blogs are not in the same boat as say writing for the New York Times so here ya go.

Sally Foster is changing the way they do business and they will most likely ask every school to be a test subject. I posted recently about how the change from a famous catalog to a gift card would be a test of technology and... it certainly will.

In my previous post, I mention that taking a risk on switching from a traditional fundraiser to an online gift card sale has some issues. What's strange is it seems like schools who like their Sally Foster fundraising rep will be on board to test this new fundraiser out.

It's not a rational decision to work with Sally Foster this fall. It's actually pretty risky. The safety of being able to estimate your profits will be compromised. The predictability that the parents and community will be happy is gone. If a group relies on a certain amount of money this fall, it's an even bigger risk because the profits may not be there in the end.

A recent PTOToday.com message board post outlined some concerns. They expressed concern that there are still limitations to computer access in their rural area, but more importantly, the older folks won't know how to navigate the fundraiser. Basically, this means that the community needs to be educated on how to take part in a new fundraiser.

The post goes on to say that they will likely still do the fundraiser with Sally Foster but will lower their profit estimate in case it is a bust.

I just think that is strange and it points to the fact that Sally Foster must have some great fundraising reps in the field. They obviously have some big fans out there.

So, what can be done?

Ultimately, groups will arrive at their own decisions. I believe most will sign up to try the new fundaiser out. Today, schools are in the process of discovering the specifics of the program and deciding for themselves if it works for them.

I think my only real hope in writing this post is that ONE group that can't take a risk on even losing a few thousand dollars, finds a better fundraiser that can earn them an extra few thousand on top of what they earned last year.

Let the PTA's and PTO's that are willing to absorb the risk on their own accord, test out the new Sally Foster program this fall. On the other hand... If a school is counting on every single penny from their fall fundraiser and can't take a risk - they should look to a company with a consistent and more predictable earning history.

I'm still very excited to see how this all turns out for Sally Foster and the schools that work with them this fall. This is one of the most interesting developments in school fundraising in quite some time.
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Author Note - Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising. I do have a personal interest in earning schools fundraising business, but in this case, I feel an obligation to point out that any new fundraising program is a risky one.

I have confidence that Sally Foster will be testing technological fundraising out full-force this fall. I do think that there are some schools that may just find, it's a bit more than they should take on. For the sake of groups that are really hurting, I hope my feedback helps.

This is probably about as controversial as my blog has ever been but in many ways I am still a fledgeling blogger. If you enjoyed or didn't enjoy what I've said, please let me know by commenting on this blog. I can be reached at twitter.com/BelieveKids as well.

Thanks for looking!