“72% of people prefer a video instead of text when learning about a new product or service,” according to Hubspot. And that same sentiment applies to stewardship: donors would rather view a video than read text.
The beauty of ThankView is the ability to easily create a personalized video for every person in your campaign without a videographer or production company. But some users worry that the video from their computer’s webcam or phone is not high quality enough to send to their recipients.
In this article, we’ll highlight how two of our clients upped the quality of their webcam and iPhone ThankView videos.
How to Upgrade Your Webcam Game
Chelsie Field, the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at the University of Massachusetts Amherst decided that they were going to personalize each of their ThankView videos. Current UMass Amherst students were the recorders reaching out to donors and alumni to thank them for their gifts.
Chelsie has a background in video production and did not want to sacrifice the quality of their videos in order to personalize them.
So she didn’t.
She and her student workers created a photo booth where they would use a Logitech webcam for their personalized videos.
Other pieces of potential video equipment you could purchase can depend largely on your budget. Here’s a great article from Wistia detailing the best equipment to buy starting from low to high prices.
Attachable webcams will result in better lighting in your videos and greatly increase the overall quality — the Logitech C920 captures up to 1080p at 30 frames per second.
How to Up That iPhone Video Quality
When it comes to filming on an iPhone, we’ll take the lead from our clients Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas — they’ve filmed a majority of their ThankView videos on an iPhone.
Can You Hear Me Now?
The most recent models of iPhones and Samsungs have great video quality, but not always the best sound quality. Here’s a great solution to the sound conundrum: Invest in an attachable microphone for iPhone.
Unleash Your Inner Spielberg
Sam Ferrigno is Alley Theatre’s Individual Giving Associate and go-to-guy for all things video. Sam was able to enhance Alley Theatre’s videos using approachable video editing software like Adobe’s Premiere Pro and Adobe Spark.
Looking for the easiest editing software that’s ThankView approved? For simple cuts, we recommend:
For your ThankView videos, it’s important to remember that your video does not have to be feature film vision and audio quality. The important thing is your message. And if a microphone or attachable camera can help your message come across clearer, it could be a great investment for your organization.
A Final Checklist for your video:
- Is it a personal outreach to a donor or alumni?
- Does it demonstrate the impact of our donor’s gift?
- Do you ask for more action from the donor? Whether it’s a call to share a video on Facebook or a “Donate Now” button, it’s great to ask “how does your video strength donor engagement?
