How To Create An Award-Winning Fundraising Video Outsourced: Woodward Academy
Chosen because Woodward Academy won Silver for Fundraising Video Outsourced in the 2022 Brilliance Awards. InspirED talked with Naylene Felt, Director of Annual Giving; Jordan Haverly, Annual Giving Manager; and Marla Goncalves, Marketing & Engagement Director about the winning project.
Target your Audience
Woodward Academy’s annual fALLIN for WA fundraising campaign is a condensed, six-week campaign to encourage parent participation in The Woodward Fund, the Academy’s annual fund. The Advancement team launched the campaign five years ago so that, instead of intermittent contacts throughout the school year, parents could be contacted in that six-week period to make gifts.
Motivate to Give
The strategy every year is to retell the story of The Woodward Fund in new and refreshing ways that are sensitive to the environment of Woodward’s community.
“In 2022, coming off of a series of challenging years for the world and Woodward Academy,” says Naylene Felt, Director of Annual Giving. “We determined that our theme should center around the idea of ‘Triumph.’”
As a community, they wanted to harness the feelings of accomplishment and overcoming hardships as a way to inspire giving. Students provided real, tangible examples of how they too overcame obstacles within the context of the Academy.
Plan and Outsource
The Woodward team worked with Consume Media, a creative video production company co-founded by Leo Falkenstein, a Woodward alumnus.
“We’ve partnered with Leo and his team every year for the fALLIN video production,” says Jordan Haverly, Annual Giving Manager. “And we’ve worked with his team on other occasions for events and admissions marketing.”
The production process kicks off with a creative concept meeting with the Woodward team, which they then bring to Consume’s team for execution. Production on campus is coordinated internally by Woodward’s Marcom and Advancement teams.
Choose a Theme
“We're pleased with the way the “Triumph” theme came to life in the video with student voices and specific student accomplishments,” Marla Goncalves, Marketing and Engagement Director remarks. “We challenge ourselves each year to tell authentic stories that motivate our parents to support The Woodward Fund and make visible the strength of our community.”
One thing the team may do differently next year may be to crowdsource more theme ideas before they meet with their creative partners.
Focus on Participation
Woodward Academy’s fALLIN campaign focuses on participation. The Academy-wide participation increased by 6% in January 2023 over the same time in 2022.
Reap the Benefits of Outsourcing
The Academy’s in-house Marcom team doesn’t have the staff or resources to produce high-quality professional videos, so they work with external creatives to meet those needs,” Jordan says. “The benefit is higher quality production values, and, in Consume Media’s case, a deep understanding of Woodward’s community as an alumnus and as a long-term creative partner.”
The budget for the overall video project was $9,000 and had two additional videos in the series—a reminder for midway through the campaign and a thank you video.
Advice for Others
The Woodward team suggests:
Work with a trusted partner.
Choose a freelance videographer (rather than a creative agency) to be the more affordable option.
Do it yourself if the budget won’t allow for outsourcing. “You can get quality video by storyboarding and scripting and using an iPhone.”
Keep videos short (under 2 minutes) to increase their effectiveness.
Congratulations, Woodward Academy! You are brilliant!
TEAM
Naylene Felt, Director of Annual Giving
Jordan Haverly, Annual Giving Manager
Marla Goncalves, Marketing & Engagement Director
Consume Media
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