You've been here before. Low engagement and donor response feel minimal. The board questions why the $12,000 nonprofit video production you commissioned only got 237 views. Additionally, to make things worse, other organizations with half your budget get ten times the engagement on their content.
It’s frustrating. You’re left wondering, “What are we doing wrong?” You know your work matters. Your impact is good. You know, people would care deeply about your mission if you could reach them effectively. Despite investing in video production and following best practices, your videos still fail to engage.
The Real Problem Isn't Nonprofit Video Production
Most environmental organizations assume their storytelling problem is a video issue. Some think that investing in video storytelling would make their story more straightforward. But videos don't magically create stories; they amplify them.
Here's what we've learned after producing over a dozen environmental nonprofit videos. Your storytelling problem is rarely a video issue. It's almost always a problem with the storytelling infrastructure.
Four Symptoms That Signal a Deeper Problem
Try to see if your organization does three of the four symptoms. If so, your video challenges likely stem from missing a storytelling infrastructure:
Symptom #1: Reactionary Video Making
You always scramble to create videos for upcoming deadlines. This could be things like grant applications, fundraising events, and campaign launches. There's no planned storytelling approach, just a series of "Oh, we need a video for this" moments.
- You're always behind,
- Always stressed, and
- Never able to create something strategic because you're in constant crisis mode.
You don't have a storytelling strategy that anticipates and plans for your content needs. Each of your nonprofit video productions becomes a reinvention of your organizational narrative.
The Content Marketing Institute(CMI) reported that a lack of clear goals was the hihest reason B2B content strategies aren't as effective. While this isn't specific to environmental nonprofits, it highlights the the importance of being intentional and clear.
Symptom #2: The Video As A Story Creator Misconception
You keep hoping that the following video will finally "tell your story" in a way that clicks. Each new video project feels like starting from scratch. You're trying to capture the essence of your entire organization in 3-5 minutes. Despite many attempts and large financial investments,
- You never feel like you've nailed your story.
- Each video feels incomplete or somehow "off."
You're asking a video to do something it cannot do: create your organizational narrative. Video can only amplify and showcase stories that already exist.
Symptom #3: One-Off Video Habit
Your video stories feel disconnected from one another. There is no cohesive narrative thread tying them together into an organizational story. Each video exists in isolation, requiring viewers to start from zero understanding of who you are and why you matter. Despite having several videos:
- You don't feel like you're building narrative momentum.
- You're not deepening your audience's connection to your mission over time.
You lack cornerstone stories and a content hub. They both allow content to build upon previous narratives rather than starting fresh.
Symptom #4: “Throw the Kitchen Sink” Mentality
You cram your entire mission, several programs, and more into a single piece. The result feels overwhelming and unfocused. When you try to say everything, you say nothing memorable. This kitchen sink mentality causes information overloaded. Eppler and Mengis (2004) argued that information overload occurs when the amount of information exceeds the processing capacity of the recipient. This leads to confusion, stress, and mental fatigue.
- Your videos spark polite responses but little to no real engagement.
- People watch but don't act.
- They understand your work intellectually but don't feel emotionally compelled.
Each video feels like it must carry the entire weight of your organizational story. The feeling is amped when you don't often invest in video storytelling.
What These Symptoms Mean
If you recognized your organization in most of these scenarios, the issue isn't your video production quality. Nor is it 100% your messaging or your comms team. The issue is that you're trying to use video to solve upstream problems. Picture your organization as a house. You've been trying to fix foundation problems by repainting the walls. The paint job looks better temporarily, but the underlying structural issues remain. The foundation is the infrastructure for your content.
The Infrastructure-First Approach Before
Organizations that create consistently effective videos don't start with video production. They begin with a storytelling infrastructure:
- Strategic narrative alignment that connects storytelling directly to organizational goals
- Cornerstone story development that establishes reusable narrative assets
- Content systems that support regular story collection and organization
- Audience journey mapping that clarifies what each piece of content should do
When this infrastructure is in place, video production becomes a strategic tool. It's no longer a reactionary process. Each video serves a specific purpose within a larger narrative ecosystem. Content builds upon previous content rather than starting from scratch.
The result?
Video stories that consistently engage audiences, build donor relationships and advance organizational goals. They're amplifying well-structured stories rather than trying to create them from scratch.
Shift Your Nonprofit Video Production Focus
The attraction of a beautifully told story through video is fleeting. Shift your gaze to whether your organization has a storytelling infrastructure in place. Do you have a system to make any content, especially video, effective? Creating videos to tell your story in hopes of increasing funding is a band-aid approach. It might work for a season, but like all seasons, they change. A storytelling infrastructure will help you know what to create during environmental changes.
Take the Next Step
Has anything in this article resonated with you? Do you want to understand what a storytelling infrastructure looks like? If yes, read our guide on building a storytelling infrastructure.
Related Articles
References
Artificial intelligence (AI) was used in the creation of this article. Check out our AI Ethical Use Statement.
- Content Marketing Institute. (n.d.). 57+ Content Marketing Statistics To Help You Succeed in 2025
- Eppler, M. J., & Mengis, J. (2004). The concept of information overload: A review of literature from organization science, accounting, marketing, MIS, and related disciplines. Information Society