Our fundraising guru this month is London marathon runner Peter Goldsworthy. Peter took to his local park with a video camera and a chalk board to create a simple, yet effective video that has helped him raise well over £5,000 for Whizz-Kidz.
Video is a really fun and creative way to tell your fundraising story and connect with your supporters. Plus, with the help of smart phones and digital cameras, it’s now super easy to put something simple together.
Here are some top tips for creating your own video:
- Talk openly about your fundraising.
You don’t need to worry about having a polished script. It will sound sincere and honest to just naturally talk about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. The key thing is to speak clearly and to not rush.
- Think about what’s going on in the background.
The microphone will pick up background noise. If you’re inside, set yourself up in a quiet room away from the TV. If you’re filming outside, try and avoid any busy streets with lots of traffic.
- Let people know how they can donate.
Make sure your fundraising page and your text code are proudly on display. You could add some text to a video with an online video editor like vimeo. Or to keep things really simple, write it on a piece of paper and hold that up.
Take a look at Peter’s video and find out how he put it together.
How did you come up with the idea for the video?
I wanted to do something a little different so I spent some time thinking about how I could involve friends, colleagues and strangers, all in the same video. The idea of using a chalkboard came from a film which I had seen promoting the football world cup in South Africa during 2010. By using a chalkboard you can get around everyone’s natural shyness in front of a camera and you can include more people in a shorter video. My nephew was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, yet my family remain hopeful of him achieving all his dreams. It was with this in mind that I came up with the theme of asking others about their own dreams.
How long did it take you to put together? What did you use?
The filming itself took only a few hours in the park near our home in London and in my office. My wife and I had a lot of fun filming it and we also realised how difficult it can be to approach strangers with the request to be filmed! We both dressed in our Whizz-Kidz t-shirts and carried flyers and other promotional material to show potential cast members. Other than that all I needed was a video camera, some chalk and a board.
What’s been the general response to the video? Has it helped your fundraising?
The response to the video has far exceeded what I had hoped for. I think those who know me have been surprised by the creativity (I’m an accountant so it was unexpected!) and they have all been extremely generous. I have had donations from whole families who have pooled their funds in order to meet my initial targets. It has been an extremely rewarding experience and I haven’t even run the London Marathon yet! I hope that the money I raise will change many people’s lives.
If you’ve created a video to tell your fundraising story, we’d love to see it. Add a link below or post it to our Facebook wall.
Tags: camera, creative, Fundraising, London Marathon, video, whizz kidz, YouTube