Quantifying Video

I had an
interesting request form one of the readers the other day about the roi
of video and its impact on increasing donations. It is an absolutely
valid question, and also a very difficult one to answer. Unlike direct
mail and phone solicitation Video is not a self contained fund raising
technology, it is a component and part of a strategy. Here is my
response to her in hopes it may answer some questions out there about
the value of video.

Here is what I am going to say about video and actual measurable
impact; it is exceedingly hard to prove that video generates MORE
donations. The thing with videos is that it creates a more sticky user
experience and therefore should increase donations by virtue of
increasing traffic. We are in the middle of a Prototype sharinghope.tv
I  am not sure if we are remeasuring donation patterns but more
importantly I am not sure that you can dollar quantify affinity.

One
of the most interesting things I have ever heard about donation patters
came from Sheraz Haji former CEO of Get Active. He said that the more
touch points that you have with constituents the longer their donor
life span is AND the greater their overall giving. They may give less
to specific donation opportunities but they give more often and more
overall.

Unlike direct mail that has a specific solicitation
to an specific audience video is a living component on the net and may
or may not attract. I would say with good tracking and analytics you
can see the number of visitors and the donation activity. How many
visitors and how many donations ad how large. You can compare them to
your other channels. The winning combination should, in theory, always
be a cross channel multi layered approach to attracting donors, and
giving them value for their donation.

As a closing note SHaring Hope. TV earned a bit more media coverage recently on local Austin News.