11 Ways to Incorporate Video at Your Next Gala Event
By Stanley Meytin
Types of Gala Event Videos
As a Non-Profit, you know that the most effective way to raise money for your organization is hosting a fundraising event such as a dinner party or a gala event. A gala event brings together people for a fun evening while supporting your cause.
Having a video strategy for your gala event can play a huge role in helping people understand the purpose and mission of your non-profit. It also allows them to learn the benefits of donating to the fund, and hopefully will push them to take action.
A video can not only share your story with your audience but when done right, it creates the mood of the room and triggers emotions that you hope to get from your guests.
Video is a crucial tool to incorporate into your gala event.
57% of people who watch a video for a nonprofit go on to make a donation.
Here are 11 ways to use video at your next gala event that will leave an impression on your attendees.
Save the Date
If you don’t have enough details to start promoting your gala event but want to get people thinking about it, a Save the Date video is your solution. This puts the date on people’s mind, and onto their calendar without needing to be ready to share all of the fine details
Event Hype Video
This is a great tool to use to launch the gala event and get people’s information. Include an overview of highlights, what to expect, what they’ll experience, speaker line up and have registration information. Promote this with a short hashtag to assist people with finding your gala event on social media
Social Media Posts
Social media teasers are a good way to share some hints about your upcoming event and countdown or deadline reminders for any promotions or discounts. Keep these short and make a square version for Instagram!
Event Mission Statement Video
This is where you can incorporate the backstory of your Non-Profit Organization and the inspiration behind the gala event. When putting together this video, it is important that you have the right key players talking in your video. It should include a diverse group of people that are tied into the organization. You can include volunteers, team members, and staff and include a message from the organization’s CEO/Founder. When you are selecting who you are putting on camera, consider someone who has the type of charisma that your audience will connect with.
Behind the Scenes Video
People love watching behind-the-scenes footage to give them a sense of the inner workings of the event. Take a before-event and after-event video that shows the transformation of the gala event. Have someone conduct a Q&A with the speakers before they take the stage. Including personal content connects the viewer and adds a level of authenticity to your event. Customers like to be able to see the crew, staff working hard on the event or what their favorite speaker is doing just minutes before they take the stage.
Honoree Video
Before a gala event, organizations often choose to select one or more individuals to honor and thank for their involvement in the organization. On the night of the gala, they are acknowledged and often use a video to highlight these people’s accomplishments. This is a way to create a strong, powerful video that will evoke emotion from the crowd tell the story behind the individuals and why the organization is an important cause to them and what they have done to help your non-profit.
Sponsor/Partnerships Integration
If you have a Sponsor or Partner attached to your gala event, incorporating their brand into your event video is key. Curated footage of their involvement onsite at the event, ex. setting up their booth, interacting with the attendees, shots of their product is a great way to highlight their involvement
Live Streaming Video
Live streaming is so important because of the level of immediate interaction and engagement. Communicate information about your livestream in advance in order to build anticipation. When users join your live stream, they have the opportunity to ask questions, make commentary, use icons and visuals to show how they are feeling and connect with others posting on the live stream; all in a matter of seconds. Some social media platforms like Facebook Live and YouTube make it simple to be able to accept donations in real-time from people watching in. If you have the capacity to monitor this feature, then it’s a great opportunity for you to acknowledge your supporters and donors immediately with a quick Thank You shout out. Live-streaming is a great way to create brand hype about your gala event and for people who missed out will see how much fun it was! They might be the first to sign up for next year’s gala event.
Customer Testimonials
Testimonials give you credibility and allow you to put a face to your business. They are an important validation of your prospects from their peers, which provides a sense of trust. What were your attendee’s takeaways from the event, was it a success, would they attend again in the future, how would they describe it best to someone who was not there? If you are inviting clients to your gala event this is a good time to capture their feedback and you can repurpose this footage for future case studies. This saves time and money from coordinating another shoot.
Thank You Video
The event is over, your guests are still talking about the great time they had. Within 24 hours, some sort of communication should be sent to your attendees. Leaving too much time between your event and your thank you message will not be effective or engaging. Your Thank You message can include a personal thank you from the founder and highlights from the night. Donors want to know how their money is being used to help your mission, this is a great place to include how much money was raised from the event. If you already have your next event lined up, a great time to put a quick note to Save the Date.
Post Event Video Footage
Event recap videos keep the buzz going for attendees and if used properly, can attract future attendees. Everyone likes to be nostalgic and reminded of their favorite times. Use your post-event video to evoke that emotion in your attendees so they’ll want to come back for more or share with their friends. Consider creating a Sizzle, a 1-3 minute highlight video that pulls from all of your gala event video footage. You want people to look back at your event, talk about it and share it with others. It incorporates powerful clips from the day, upbeat or emotion-provoking music, crowd interaction shows (laughing, clapping, standing ovation) and your message. Think of it as a way to get your information out to the world in a quick, effective way – like a movie trailer. It should get them amped up. Remind them that this event will be taking place again the following year.
As you can see, when you have the right strategy, video can be a powerful asset to use throughout the pre, during and post-process for your gala event. With all of the footage that you have captured from your event, you can repurpose sound bites, key points, turn them into social media content to use throughout the year. With the right planning and video partner, you can find a way to be effective and efficient. This leads to saving not only time but money on creating your event video marketing strategy.
You now have 11 ideas of how to incorporate video at your next gala event and we have shared the benefits of why it’s so important to include these steps in your process.
Contact us to schedule a free 15- consultation about how we can help you with all of your video needs at your next event!
Reading Time: 5 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
Types of Gala Event Videos
As a Non-Profit, you know that the most effective way to raise money for your organization is hosting a fundraising event such as a dinner party or a gala event. A gala event brings together people for a fun evening while supporting your cause.
Having a video strategy for your gala event can play a huge role in helping people understand the purpose and mission of your non-profit. It also allows them to learn the benefits of donating to the fund, and hopefully will push them to take action.
A video can not only share your story with your audience but when done right, it creates the mood of the room and triggers emotions that you hope to get from your guests.
Video is a crucial tool to incorporate into your gala event.
57% of people who watch a video for a nonprofit go on to make a donation.
Here are 11 ways to use video at your next gala event that will leave an impression on your attendees.
Save the Date
If you don’t have enough details to start promoting your gala event but want to get people thinking about it, a Save the Date video is your solution. This puts the date on people’s mind, and onto their calendar without needing to be ready to share all of the fine details
Event Hype Video
This is a great tool to use to launch the gala event and get people’s information. Include an overview of highlights, what to expect, what they’ll experience, speaker line up and have registration information. Promote this with a short hashtag to assist people with finding your gala event on social media
Social Media Posts
Social media teasers are a good way to share some hints about your upcoming event and countdown or deadline reminders for any promotions or discounts. Keep these short and make a square version for Instagram!
Event Mission Statement Video
This is where you can incorporate the backstory of your Non-Profit Organization and the inspiration behind the gala event. When putting together this video, it is important that you have the right key players talking in your video. It should include a diverse group of people that are tied into the organization. You can include volunteers, team members, and staff and include a message from the organization’s CEO/Founder. When you are selecting who you are putting on camera, consider someone who has the type of charisma that your audience will connect with.
Behind the Scenes Video
People love watching behind-the-scenes footage to give them a sense of the inner workings of the event. Take a before-event and after-event video that shows the transformation of the gala event. Have someone conduct a Q&A with the speakers before they take the stage. Including personal content connects the viewer and adds a level of authenticity to your event. Customers like to be able to see the crew, staff working hard on the event or what their favorite speaker is doing just minutes before they take the stage.
Honoree Video
Before a gala event, organizations often choose to select one or more individuals to honor and thank for their involvement in the organization. On the night of the gala, they are acknowledged and often use a video to highlight these people’s accomplishments. This is a way to create a strong, powerful video that will evoke emotion from the crowd tell the story behind the individuals and why the organization is an important cause to them and what they have done to help your non-profit.
Sponsor/Partnerships Integration
If you have a Sponsor or Partner attached to your gala event, incorporating their brand into your event video is key. Curated footage of their involvement onsite at the event, ex. setting up their booth, interacting with the attendees, shots of their product is a great way to highlight their involvement
Live Streaming Video
Live streaming is so important because of the level of immediate interaction and engagement. Communicate information about your livestream in advance in order to build anticipation. When users join your live stream, they have the opportunity to ask questions, make commentary, use icons and visuals to show how they are feeling and connect with others posting on the live stream; all in a matter of seconds. Some social media platforms like Facebook Live and YouTube make it simple to be able to accept donations in real-time from people watching in. If you have the capacity to monitor this feature, then it’s a great opportunity for you to acknowledge your supporters and donors immediately with a quick Thank You shout out. Live-streaming is a great way to create brand hype about your gala event and for people who missed out will see how much fun it was! They might be the first to sign up for next year’s gala event.
Customer Testimonials
Testimonials give you credibility and allow you to put a face to your business. They are an important validation of your prospects from their peers, which provides a sense of trust. What were your attendee’s takeaways from the event, was it a success, would they attend again in the future, how would they describe it best to someone who was not there? If you are inviting clients to your gala event this is a good time to capture their feedback and you can repurpose this footage for future case studies. This saves time and money from coordinating another shoot.
Thank You Video
The event is over, your guests are still talking about the great time they had. Within 24 hours, some sort of communication should be sent to your attendees. Leaving too much time between your event and your thank you message will not be effective or engaging. Your Thank You message can include a personal thank you from the founder and highlights from the night. Donors want to know how their money is being used to help your mission, this is a great place to include how much money was raised from the event. If you already have your next event lined up, a great time to put a quick note to Save the Date.
Post Event Video Footage
Event recap videos keep the buzz going for attendees and if used properly, can attract future attendees. Everyone likes to be nostalgic and reminded of their favorite times. Use your post-event video to evoke that emotion in your attendees so they’ll want to come back for more or share with their friends. Consider creating a Sizzle, a 1-3 minute highlight video that pulls from all of your gala event video footage. You want people to look back at your event, talk about it and share it with others. It incorporates powerful clips from the day, upbeat or emotion-provoking music, crowd interaction shows (laughing, clapping, standing ovation) and your message. Think of it as a way to get your information out to the world in a quick, effective way – like a movie trailer. It should get them amped up. Remind them that this event will be taking place again the following year.
As you can see, when you have the right strategy, video can be a powerful asset to use throughout the pre, during and post-process for your gala event. With all of the footage that you have captured from your event, you can repurpose sound bites, key points, turn them into social media content to use throughout the year. With the right planning and video partner, you can find a way to be effective and efficient. This leads to saving not only time but money on creating your event video marketing strategy.
You now have 11 ideas of how to incorporate video at your next gala event and we have shared the benefits of why it’s so important to include these steps in your process.
Contact us to schedule a free 15- consultation about how we can help you with all of your video needs at your next event!
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