Robin Smalley, head of multi-national NGO shares about her power fundraising tool: Video!

I first worked with Robin Smalley over ten years ago.  She had been a successful television producer and director who was now working in the world of non-profits, at The Media Project.  I worked with her on a Telly award winning documentary and a series of consciousness raising videos.  When she left The Media Project, she went to work with an NGO, called m2m (for mothers2mothers)  in South Africa – I didn’t know much about it until she called me to help create a fund raising video.

     

When we started, Robin had scraps of interviews of the mothers helped by her program, and b-roll that others had gathered, but still, she needed an effective video that would enable her to raise the money m2m so desperately needed.    She needed a video she could send to potential donors,  use on the web, and, perhaps most importantly, use when she spoke in person to potential stakeholders in the m2m organization.

Because we had worked together so well eight years earlier, we easily came to an agreement.  For $5000, she contracted me to create the powerful video that she and her partners have used ever since in their fundraising.  In the three years since we created the new video, m2m’s funding has swelled from 2.5 million dollars a year to over $9 million.

Here is the new video:

So, here is what Robbin has to say about the efficacy of video for your organization, and about working with BeeKeeper productions.

BeeKeeper:  First of all Robin, tell us a little more about mothers2mothers.

Robin: Mothers2mothers is a Non-Profit NGO operating now in seven countries employing 1400 HIV positive moms, on 600 sites.  We work to keep mothers alive to raise their babies, and help babies be born without HIV  by preventing transmission of HIV from mother to child.  We also empower women to make healthy choices for themselves and their families and help them fight stigma in their communities.

BK: Talk about why video has been powerful for your organization.

Robin:  When it comes to educating people as well as raising money we don’t have the luxury of bringing our potential funders to sites, but we want them to meet our mothers, so the next best thing is to introduce them to our amazing mothers through video.

We need to be able to show busy Americans why they might care about someone on the opposite side of the globe, and the most effective way we can do that is through video. 

In a nutshell, the video you made for us helps people empathize with our mothers and broadens their horizons without taking the trip.

In the video, we show that the mothers' dreams for their children are no different than the ones that we have for our children: we all want our children to be healthy and have a long happy life.

BK: How exactly do you use the video to help you fund raise?

Robin: I use the video in for presentation and for every speech. I can’t imagine being able to give a presentation without video. Because no one can talk better about the program than the mothers can. 

But you know, a video isn’t any good if it doesn’t engage a viewer’s heart strings and bring our women closer to home, which is why the one you made for us has been so effective, it really hits the right emotional tone.

BK:  I think people recognize the importance of getting their message out there, but they also think it’s expensive, what do you have to say to that?

Robin:  Yes it is expensive but  you have to look at it in terms of net gain, if it is compelling and engages potential funding than it’s worth it.

The fact is you are spending a lot of money, and you want to make sure you get the kind of quality you are spending for otherwise it’s wasted.  It's worth spending a little bit more to get effective quality.

In terms of working with Stephanie Hubbard, from my perspective, I didn’t have the time to baby sit this project.  I needed to have someone I trusted whose work I knew that I knew would come back with the kind of job I wanted.  I’m probably pickier than most because I have a television background, but I just didn’t have the time, and I knew Stephanie would do a terrific job.

I think it’s really really important to hire someone who has the same vision that you have because it's crucial to have someone who gets your funders and your organization and who has the style and story telling ability to put it all together.  Stephanie Hubbard is that person for us.  Who you choose to do your video is not something you want to economize on.

BK: So finally, can you wrap up what video does for you as a fundraising tool?

Robin: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In todays life video is our picture.

As someone who has grown a non profit very quickly, nothing is a better tool than video.

Fund raising is all about selling.  It’s all about getting people to sympathize with people they have no stake in and video is the key that opens that door. So it's an essential tool to taking your organization to the next level.

BK: Thank you Robin, and thank you for all the good work you and m2m continue to do.

Robin: Thank you too Stephanie.


LINKS:  To www.stephaniehubbard.com     To m2m.org