True.  Just how true was driven home for us yesterday at the first workshop we attended at the excellent Association Foundation Group’s 10th National Conference. LISTEN! Give! Stay!  What you need to do to attract and keep donors was all about the importance of creating long-term donor loyalty through an interactive process. Organizations, they argued, need to really engage with donors in order to create the kind of loyalty that creates a sustainable organization. While video was not a specific focus, the insights were highly applicable to video strategy at every stage. Nonprofit Development/ Communications Consultant Lennie Magida, Kae Dakin of Kae Dakin Consulting, and Laura Forman of Forman Communications led the presentation. A key slide in their Powerpoint presentation looks like this: The open doors represent an interactive process. Door one signifies that you have to get your donors’ and potential donors’ to open their eyes, door two to open their ears, door three, open their mouths by engaging in dialogue, door four open their minds…and door five signifies that final crucial step of opening their wallets. While this framework is a valuable way to contemplate any tools you choose, MiniMatters recognized right away how powerfully this points to the efficacy of video. Video opens eyes with engaging, moving visuals that make people take notice in the first place. Video opens ears by literally providing a soundtrack to tell the story. Video enhances dialogue by offering content in a medium that is fun and meaningful to discuss. Our clients have been able to create dialogue with donors and prospects by sharing video in person as well as through social media. Video opens minds by using the full power of multi-media to tell a story well. MiniMatters clients have found that video really helps donors open their wallets by the inclusion of a customizable action button. We close today with a shout out to Lennie, Kae and Laura for allowing us to blog about their session and to the Association Foundation Group for a conference with great content. If MiniMatters can help you open doors to your donors and prospects, or serve your other video needs, we’d love to talk with you at 301-339-0339 or via email at [email protected].