Collecting Video at Camp this Summer
While packing your bags to head off to camp this summer, don’t forget your video camera(s)! You’re already going to take lots of great photos. You’re probably already planning to get some basic video footage of kids at camp and the incredible sunset over the waterfront, too. If not, please read this recent blog post from Socialbrite that discusses steps for creating video stories for nonprofits. The 8 minute video and 6 easy steps will help you get some great video this summer. If you have already been making videos at camp, the blog post still has a lot of tips to help you make your efforts even more effective.
There are a few points from this blog post that especially resonate with camp:
- Camp is an ideal time to interview campers, staff, alumni, board members, and donors about what makes camp so special to them. Personal stories are ideal for communicating the unique impact of camp. You can record short videos and longer written stories to be used in eNewsletters and blog posts. For example, Herzl Camp’s Alumni blog offers good examples of stories and insights from alumni themselves. All of these stories can be collected while at camp.
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Do you have a virtual tour of camp on your website or Facebook Page? You can easily take a Flip Camera and a basic script to show online visitors what is special about camp. Ideally, the video tour would be broken up into short segments, focusing on story.
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Be ready with your camera for special events at camp. Have any reunions planned? Visiting Day? Other special celebrations? These are fertile ground for collecting stories and images that can be shared all year long.
- If you haven’t already done so, consider asking campers to thank donors on video. They can be edited and merged to create powerful stewardship messages.
What can we do with all these videos?
Once camp is over, you’ll have a treasure trove of pictures, videos, stories, etc. that you can use all year long to help engage your constituency. Want to post a video montage of campers thanking donors for their gifts? You’ve got it. Hoping to share a story of alumni and what they are doing today? You’ve got it.
Of course, all that content can actually seem a bit overwhelming. Don’t worry – there is a simple way to help you spread out all of this great content over both time and various communications channels: the Content Calendar.
Content Calendar
A Content Calendar simply allows a team to plan what content to distribute when and via what channels. It can be as simple as a shared Outlook or Google Calendar. It could also include additional details about what content can be shared over multiple channels. Do whatever makes your work most effective.
Things to consider:
- What is the best use of the content? Is it great for recruitment? Stewardship of donors? Solicitation? Or multiple uses?
- How should it be communicated? Is it a simple photo that can be posted on Facebook or via Twitter? Is it a long-form story that should be blogged and sent via an eNewsletter? Can it be repurposed over various channels?
- When will this have the most impact? Would it be great to use the story or photo to kick off the Annual Campaign? Could it help garner interest for next year’s Alumni reunion? Would it be an incredible touchpoint in stewarding legacy donors?
The important thing to consider today is: how do we capture this content? If you don’t capture the content this summer, you won’t even have the option of engaging your constituencies in this way. So get your cameras out and get those videos and stories!