10 Questions to help kickstart your organization’s next video production!
Posted by [email protected] on May. 24, 2026 / Subscribe 0
Author: Tolsma Productions
We’re celebrating our 30th year of helping nonprofits tell their stories of impact using video! Over the past three decades, we’ve learned a lot, and we’ve refined these questions over the years as we’ve collaborated with clients, playing ours small part to advance their missions. Whether you’re producing a capital campaign video or social media content, here are a few questions your team should be asking as you embark on your next video production project.
What is the purpose of my program? Put it into a single sentence. That will help you focus, and the more focused your program is, the more effective it will be. Use verbs like “to teach, to motivate, to celebrate, to inform.” If you are unable to clearly answer this question it’s time to pump the brakes–the rest of your production should flow from the objectives you distill here. Having disparate objectives isn’t a problem–it’s an opportunity! With a little planning you can edit two or more versions of the video, each one tailored to the objectives you’ve laid out. For instance: perhaps one version of your video seeks to engage individual donors where another has the goal of educating people who may need your organization’s services.
Who is my audience? Again, focus is the key. The more tightly you can define your audience the better. Do you have two or more separate audiences? Don’t worry–make sure they’re clearly defined, a different version of the video can be edited for each one. For instance, as with the example above, one audience may be the demographics of your most likely individual donors whereas another could be those of the people your organization serves.
What do I want to achieve? Define several objectives for your program. What action do you want the viewer to take after viewing this program? What should they believe, know, or feel? Limit yourself to 4 or 5.
What’s my budget? Know what is an appropriate amount for you to spend. Share that information with your creative partners. That way they’ll be able to create a treatment that will achieve what you want at a price that works for you. Remember–you’re not just budgeting money, but also time. Regardless of whether you are hiring a team of professionals which whom you’ll collaborate, or handling the entire project in-house, producing a video is a time commitment.
How can we increase accessibility? It’s important that we ensure the work we’re creating is accessible to your audiences! This starts with ensuring that all videos are captioned, whether at your event or online. Consider audio descriptions and ASL as well, particularly when using video as part of a live event.
How many other uses can I think of for this program? Maybe that longer piece you used at your event can be broken up and used on social media. Or in an email to donors. On your website. You’re making an investment. How many different ways can that investment pay you back? As with the examples about multiple purposes and audiences, with a little planning, multiple tailored “deliverables” can be produced from the same footage.
And now following from question 6, how and where will it be shown? At a big event? Small event? Virtual event? Social Media, or your website? Will viewers watch it on their phones or tablets? On their large screen TV, or on a huge screen in person? All of the above? You should ensure that each video you produce is tailored to the platform or venue where it will be viewed. For instance, if you produce a video for your gala it will most likely by in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Sharing that same video on Instagram the next day? It’s best to re-edit to one of their aspect ratios.
What resources do I have? Photos, video clips, in-house talent. Think of all the things you might be able to bring to the table that may add to the production.
What branding resources do I have? You’ll want your program to be branded to fit in with your guidelines or the design for a special event.
Who will be involved in the approval process? Often overlooked, this is an important question to ask. You’ll want to have buy-in from the get-go from those who will have something to say down the road. This will save time and expense, not to mention a lot of frustration.
No two productions are the same, but we’ve found that asking the above will help get almost any project off the ground. What questions do you have? Tolsma Productions’ James Copes is always happy to try to answer questions and hear ideas - [email protected]
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