NCTech4Good

where tech meets social change

where tech meets social change

Captivate, Communicate, Convince: How an Impact Video Can Transform Your Next Fundraising Event

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For many nonprofits, hosting a fundraising dinner, gala, or auction is a key way to generate income. Because organizing special events can be costly, getting a healthy return on investment is critical. Showing a video at your event is a way to engage your audience and convey your organization’s impact in an emotional way. During this session, we’ll share how we worked with the nonprofit Families Moving Forward to create videos for their 2017 dinner series—and how these videos helped quadruple donations. We’ll share the most important things we learned, from finding the best stories to how and when to make the ask. You’ll learn how to apply these lessons to your next fundraising event to help raise your profile, cultivate relationships, and increase donations.

Liza Hoos and Rachel Healy
Liza Hoos and Rachel Healy believe in the power of video to change the world. They run Open Eye Creative, a Durham-based marketing firm that helps organizations increase donations, gain visibility, and connect with their community through video. Together they have more than 15 years' experience in video production and have completed documentary projects all over the world, from coastal communities in Mexico to the island of Palau.

Adventures in Story-Gathering

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We all have (and need) stories about the good our organizations are doing. But what does it take to collect authentic, powerful stories from “the field”? How do you make the most of your limited time on the ground? And how do you develop, pitch, and publish the story from there?
During this interactive session, we’ll talk about this and more:
Interviews: How to prepare for conversations with the people who benefit from your organization’s work, what types of questions lead to the most compelling answers, and how to establish trust so a subject will open up to you.
Photos: When to invest in a professional photographer, how to develop a shot list, creative ways to use (or not use) amateur photos, and tips for taking better photos with a mobile phone.
Case studies: We’ll offer examples from our own story-gathering adventures within challenging, resource-constrained circumstances. Discussion will include best practices, worst practices, and plenty of time for audience participation.

Margarite Nathe and Carol Bales
IntraHealth International
Concurrent Session

Speaker Bio
Margarite Nathe is the senior editor & writer and Carol Bales is senior communications and advocacy officer at IntraHealth International, a global health nonprofit that believes everyone everywhere should have the health care they need to thrive. As editor of the blog VITAL, Margarite writes about global health, international development, and making the world a healthier place for all 7+ billion of us. Carol’s expertise spans writing, photography, social media, advocacy, and multimedia production.

Using Video to Increase Your Donor Base

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Nonprofits that have successful content marketing plans share many qualities, but perhaps the most important one is a commitment to building a relationship with their audience. One of the most effective ways to do this is through video, which holds enormous potential for creating trust, engagement, and emotional connection. This lays the groundwork for a strong, sustained community of donors and advocates. But how can you effectively integrate video into your content marketing plan, especially when you’re short on resources? In this presentation, we’ll share practical strategies and examples for creating engaging video that builds your donor base — no matter what your budget is.

Liza Hoos and Rachel Healy, Instagram: @openeyecreative
Open Eye Creative
Concurrent Session

Speaker Bios
Liza Hoos and Rachel Healy believe in the power of video to change the world. They run Open Eye Creative, a Durham-based marketing firm that helps organizations increase donations, gain visibility, and connect with their community through video. Together they have more than 15 years’ experience in video production and have completed documentary projects all over the world, from coastal communities in Mexico to the island of Palau.

What Nonprofits Can Learn from Charity: Water

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Charity: Water is a nonprofit with a mission to bring clean drinking water in developing countries. It is also a leader and innovator for using the web to promote their mission, build a large base of supporters, and fund their work. This talk will look at how Charity: Water uses design, storytelling, action campaigns, and user experience principles on the web to make their global efforts possible. Nonprofits of all sizes can learn from what Charity: Water is doing right to make their own efforts more effective.

Matt Pusateri
Flying Dog Creative

Speaker Bio
As an art director, designer, and writer, I have helped people tell stories and communicate ideas for more than two decades. I’ve helped hundreds of clients take complex ideas and messages and make them more clear, focused, and effective.

I have managed and consulted with teams in various organizations, facilitating meetings and improving internal communication. I’ve bridged gaps between editorial, policy, marketing, and web development teams; strengthened relationships between in-house creative teams and consultants; and helped editors, researchers, writers, and designers collaborate to make better content.

In addition to 20+ years professional experience in design and digital strategy, I have two MA degrees — one in communications, one in writing — which help me work with clients to write, edit, and improve web content.

How to Find and Tell an Amazing Written Story

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Being able to tell your organization’s stories is vital to connecting with your audience!

I will talk about how you can find some of your stories. But mainly I would like to focus on the process of written storytelling. You need to craft it so that it will grab your reader immediately.

I will discuss written storytelling and draw points from my blog series: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/power-of-written-storytelling/

Some other points I’d like to make:

Story isn’t new! After all we have cave drawings to prove that! But what is new is the communication tools we use. Plus, the dialogue we facilitate.

There are so many places to tell a story. It’s difficult to know what medium to use.

Telling stories to your audience directly is a long-term plan, with amazing benefits.

Also, we’re running a storytelling speaker event and workshop in March and April in DC. So some of what I will talk about is based on what I learn there also!

Heather Ratcliff
NetSquared DC

Speaker Bio
I am a web content and social media strategist advocating for human rights and social change. I have worked with nonprofits and small businesses on reaching their audience, and prior to that, I was a journalist for about 10 years.

I blog at howtoreachpeople.com. You can read more about me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/about/ You can read more about what motivates me here: http://www.howtoreachpeople.com/what-jolts-you-awake/

NCTech4Good, an affiliate of NTEN and TechSoup’s NetSquared, is the local resource for nonprofit technology information. Join the sharing and networking at monthly meetings on the third Wednesday of the month, 6:30-8:30 p.m. usually at UNC-TV, and our annual conference, https://www.nct4g.org/. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @nctech4good, and with the hashtag #nct4g.