“A Little Help From Our Friends,” Nonprofit Marketing Video – success story by Accessible Space
As a nonprofit blog and digital web agency, we seek to help your nonprofit be more easily found online and better able to attract potential users, donors and volunteers. From there we strive to help you get there. We do so by sharing ideas, but we want to add to this by showing evidence that these ideas work.
Here is one such example from Minnesota-based nonprofit, Accessible Space.
A little background on the nonprofit:
Accessible Space Inc.’s mission is to provide accessible, affordable, assisted, supportive and independent living opportunities to persons with physical disabilities and brain injuries as well as seniors. This mission is accomplished through the development and cost-effective management of accessible, affordable housing, assisted/supportive/independent living and rehabilitation services. What started as five accessible group homes in Minnesota, has grown to a nationwide organization providing this service to over 3,000 individuals in 31 states.
Their Nonprofit Marketing Inspiration? Video.
Rather than simply relying on their mission statement, photos and an about us page, Accessible Space invested in a video for their website and fundraising purposes.
The video highlights three consumers who live in ASI housing or receive ASI services. The six minutes of footage shows how their organization serves those in need. Watch the video below:
Why is video marketing such a success?
1. These clips are real and raw – they don’t just show the apartments or volunteers at an event, but Accessible Space sits down with people and asks them to open up about their experience.
“I hit a pretty dark place, was super depressed, didn’t think that I could do much and on top of that I had lost all of my jobs because they were all manual labor.” – Thabiso
“The fact that I’m alive is a miracle… ” – Susan
“The one thing that bothers me the most is that I have to have somebody help me for basically everything…” Mike
2. You learn about three very different situations in which Accessible Space’s services or housing could help. First there’s Thabiso, who was in an accident and suffered a complete spinal cord injury. Then there’s Susan who was physically abused to the point of “legally dead.” And finally there’s Mike who has had a disability since childhood.
This shows how multi-faceted the organization is much more effectively than several paragraphs could on a site page.
3. In the end this is an uplifting video. They don’t rely on inducing guilt to the viewer but rather they show how this organization changes lives for the better.
“A huge part of gaining back my independence was having Accessible Space come in and find me an all-accessible home where I can have a place for my son to hang out.” – Thabiso
“Things will work out in the end, especially if you have faith, but you can’t do it all on your own. When you get the help that can help you become who you are, that’s truly a blessing. – Thabiso
“If I weren’t living here.. I don’t know where I would be.” – Susan
I have learned and I live life to its fullest potential now.” – Mike
“As he got his apartment, it was a dream” – Mike’s mom
Take some notes from the success of Accessible Space. Remember to be authentic, share your story and inspire others to get involved. Please reach out to ArcStone if you’re interested in talking through video marketing for nonprofits.
