FILM AND TELEVISION FUNDRAISING
STRUGGLING TO START YOUR NEXT FUNDRAISING MASTERPIECE? One of the scariest things in the world is a blank piece of paper. Derek Humphries suggests how you can get started to produce a script for a fundraising film. And you’ll find the tips work for almost any other form of fundraising too.
I
have no idea how many fundraising communications I’ve written. Hundreds of DRTV scripts, mail packs, press adverts, banner ads, emails, telephone scripts and more. The one thing they all have in common? I thought they were impossible. There was a moment in the creative process when I thought they could never work. And for some of them, it was a massive challenge to even get started. So how do you overcome this barrier? When DPS_Ad_HK_Small_B_EDIT_Jan16_v2.pdf
1
a piece of fundraising creative work seems impossible, how do you get started? And how do you do so while also keeping it simple, for the best fundraising is undoubtedly simple. That is to say, it appears simple when it is done! However, as the great Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff once said: ‘Soccer is simple. But it is difficult to play simple.’ The list of ways to get started and simplify is undoubtedly endless. But from my experience, here are eleven places you can 15/12/15
1:35 PM
start. They won’t all work for you, so the trick is to understand which approaches give you most success. 1: Start with trust: Creativity is a team game. Surround yourself with people you trust. You don’t want people who will tell you everything you do is great. You need people who you trust so that you can accept their views on how to make ideas better, and indeed realise their ideas may be better than yours!
Finding it hard to see how drtv can work for you?
22
F&P Magazine | April / May 2016
Insight, analysis and inspiration for nonprofit executives and leaders
“A photo stuck above your desk, looking back at you, will remind you that what you write is not abstract. It will be written by one person (you), to be read by one person, to inspire action.” 2: Start with your audience: I hope that’s obvious. But what I mean is, start with a photo of an actual person; a person who looks like how you visualise your target audience. A photo stuck above your desk, looking back at you, will remind you that what you write is not abstract. It will be written by one person (you), to be read by one person, to inspire action. Looking into someone’s eyes will keep you on your toes, and keep it personal. This person isn’t a disinterested bystander; in fact it’s your job to make them the hero of your story. 3: Start with the first person: There is an ‘I’ in ‘film’. There are two in ‘fundraising’. You need to use them. One ‘I’ is the person viewing the communication. The second ‘I’ is the person communicating. Remember, this is a person not an organisation. So use the first person, and use personal language. Who is the messenger? Is it you, a frontline aid worker, a special needs counsellor, a celebrity ambassador, someone who has used your services? Each one will allow you to communicate in a different way. 4: Start with the images: It can be a mistake to just start writing. Some of the most powerful fundraising I have ever seen started with a single image or piece of footage. It can be useful to try to tell your story solely in images. And then see how few words you need to convey the full meaning and to prompt people to act. 5: Start moving: Sitting at a desk, staring at a blank sheet of paper, or even worse a blank screen, is hardly conducive to creativity. So get up. Walk about. Go outside. Identify where and when ideas come to you. For me it is when I dream, when I’m in the shower, when I walk the dog, and when I am on a train. But,
hey, we’re all different, so spot the places and actions that unlock your creative thinking. 6: Start sticky: The marketing writers, Chip and Dan Heath, identified six attributes that make ideas stick. See if these trigger ways to approach your fundraising communications. Ideas that stick tend to be Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and Story-based. 7: Start with a structure: There must be hundreds of ways to structure a film, right? No. The screenwriting expert, Robert McKee, defines 25 story structures, and every single Hollywood film complies with one of them. Aristotle thought there were only four story structures, while Chip and Dan narrowed it down to three: • The Challenge Plot: David and Goliath: where something small faces overwhelming obstacle but wins through. • The Connection Plot: The Good Samaritan, where someone shows uncommon care and compassion. • The Creativity Plot: The unexpected moment. See which one of these plots works for you. 8: Start late: Like a good screenwriter, enter any story as late as you possibly can. It was this convention that enabled Hollywood writers to invent the prequel (when you watched the first Star Wars movie, it was
engaging partly because lots of backstory had already happened). Same with your fundraising comms. Don’t load down the viewer or reader with lots of unnecessary backstory. It’s just boring. And boredom doesn’t inspire donations. 9: Start with a block of granite: When Rodin wanted to sculpt The Kiss, he began with a block of rock and simply took away everything that didn’t look like The Kiss. OK, it’s not quite that simple, but creating good communication is about being prepared to cut, delete, and chip away at all the unnecessary material and see what beauty emerges. 10: Start in the pub: Or the coffee shop, the tea room, or anywhere you can chat with someone. Talk about the fundraising challenge you face in plain English. Chat to a friend about it. Forget jargon, forget organisational messages, forget the written word. Instead, just listen to how you talk about your fundraising issue to a normal, friendly human being. The spoken word is often where you should start. 11: Start with your heart: Passion inspires passion. So your most inspiring fundraising messages will be written when you have a powerful personal emotional connection with the cause. Whether it is joy, fear, anger, despair, or unbounded hope, start with what you feel in your heart and work from there.
Derek Humphries Derek Humphries is a Creative Director/Strategist at DTV Group. He carries out creative consultancy projects worldwide, and helps 25+ causes in around 30 countries raise money through film and television.
Then drop a line to plain talking, fluent in fundraising DTV. Email info@dtvgroup.asia to speak with Alex, Lauren, Kerri, Derek or Peter. Or find out more at www.dtvgroup.asia
Insight, analysis and inspiration for nonprofit executives and leaders
F&P Magazine | April / May 2016
23