27 Video Ideas for Christian Nonprofits, Businesses & Organizations (with Examples)
Dec 13, 2022
Video is not just a great investment— it’s now a critical one if you want to increase brand awareness and reach new audiences. As of 2022, online videos make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic. People share videos with their friends twice more often than they do photos, articles, and other types of content.
For Christian non-profits or businesses with so much to do and so little time, content strategy is probably the last thing on the agenda. But it doesn’t have to be. To get you started, here are 27 video ideas that effectively showcase who you are and what you’re all about:
BTS: Behind The Scenes
Show your audiences the work that makes what you do possible. Shedding light on the process makes them appreciate what you do even more.
Here’s a fun video that The Life Christian Church made to show what life is like on the production team.
Reaction video
Join the conversation that’s already happening in your niche. One of the best ways to get your foot in the door is to associate yourself with a thought leader, or offer valuable insights yourself. Do this by responding to a blog, or a video, or a current event.
The United Methodist Church, for example, did a reaction video to the election of Delores Williamston, who became the first Black woman Bishop in the South Central Jurisdiction.
Inspiration/Vision-casting
Help your audience understand the importance of the work you do, and let them envision the future you see.
Here’s a neat brand video produced by our friends at CDF Capital that talks about what they do and why they do it.
Thank you
A thank you video shows public recognition and gratitude for the support you receive from your donors or customers. It captures body language, tone and facial expressions that can’t be conveyed through words alone.
Wheaton College went creative and personal with their thank you video to donors. They asked students around campus to write thank-you notes on a chalkboard and compiled them into a video.
Testimonials
Give your fans a platform to share why they support your business or organization. There’s nothing more powerful than hearing stories of people who have gone through a transformation.
Our friends at World Impact produced a short video to tell the story of a woman who attended an intimate women's retreat— one part of their urban ministry.
https://www.facebook.com/World.Impact.Inc/videos/297567665857635
Audience submitted Q&A
Get to the core issues and pain points of your audience by addressing their questions. A video is a great way to flesh out details and nuances, especially for more complex questions.
Here’s a Q&A video done by the folks at Courage To Lead that answers some big questions about leadership, and ties them to a book promotion.
Top 10 FAQ
Ask your sales or customer service to compile a list of questions that they receive the most often. Produce a video that talks through all of them, or split them into shorter-form videos for social media. In the future, perhaps they won’t even need to pick up the phone to ask.
Here’s one our friends at Portable Church Industries did to teach church volunteer teams how to efficiently load their equipment back into the truck after service is over.
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Role-play/acting
If you have a couple of extroverted staff who don’t mind getting in front of the camera, ask them to play out a skit— perhaps one of a relatable scenario that your audience frequently encounters.
You can use these videos to share with internal staff too. For example, here’s what Biblica (The International Bible Society) created to show their team what NOT to do on Zoom calls.
Parody video
What are people talking or thinking about? What or who do they listen to? What’s capturing their attention? Stay relevant by tracking these topics and then putting your own spin on it.
Check out this fantastic parody performance of Bohemian Rhapsody at the C3 Conference. The lyrics were spun to talk about the unglamorous side of serving in ministry.
Time-Lapse
Show the process from start to finish at an event, or someone’s role, or on a trip.
Check out this time-lapse of Operation Mobilization’s crew preparing for the maiden voyage of their newest ship, Doulos Hope.
Interview
Let your audience listen in on real-life conversations with team members, customers, donors, volunteers, conference speakers, authors and more. Bonus tip: turn your video into an audio file and publish it as a podcast episode.
Here is a brief interview with one of American Bible Society’s conference speakers. In it, she talks about how biblical and mental health principles can come together in trauma healing.
Screen sharing video
If your business or organization requires customers to interact with a screen, chances are they’ll need a walkthrough video. Save them from having to read through a help article or chat with support, and instead show them exactly what they need to do on screen.
Our friends at the Christian Community Development Association recorded a screen-share video to show the sign-up process for a conference they organized.
Tutorial/teaching video
Did you know that 70% of Youtube views are of tutorials and explainer videos? Help your customers help themselves by teaching them how to do a particular task. Bonus tip: Get straight to the point. Save the fancy transitions or talking intros for other types of videos.
Here’s one of the many how-to videos that Olive Tree Bible produced to teach users how to get the most out of their app.
Formal announcement
Share the big, important things with your audience as if you were there with them in person.
The Children’s Hunger Fund filmed a brief announcement to share the news that they’ve won a prestigious award, to thank their supporters, and tie their efforts back to the mission they’re trying to accomplish.
Product walk-through/Unboxing videos
As of 2017, the total time people spent watching unboxing videos was equivalent to watching the movie ‘Love Actually” more than 20 million times. People love being able to have an overview of a product to inform their purchasing decision.
You don’t necessarily need a physical product to do these types of videos either. For example, the folks over at Logos Bible Software filmed a live demo of the latest version of their application. This gives customers an in-depth look into the software and its various use cases.
Breaking news
Get your audience up to speed on what’s happening in the world. You can choose to share your organization’s news, or related news from others in your niche or from a relevant cause.
For example, in response to the Ukraine crisis, Prairie Lakes Church created a video to share what they were doing to help.
Big reveal (new event, offering, staff, etc.)
Build up excitement with a teaser video of the next big thing. Investing time and effort into promoting what’s new will signal to your audience that this is something they ought to look out for as well.
Compassion Canada created a video to introduce their new CEO, and inform donors of her background and vision for the organization.
Highlight key points of an article
If your business or organization already publishes blogs, you can spread the reach of your content by making a video of it as well. Talk through the key points of the article or simply read out a salient paragraph.
For example, the well-known Christian blog DesiringGod paired this short video with a blog about God’s providence.
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/god-will-give-you-everything-you-need
Reminder/rehashing/summary of the annual report
Showcase the work you’ve done throughout the year in video format. This creates a more engaging visual experience than just a PDF report.
The Polk County Housing Trust Fund summarized all of the work they did in 2021 in a 4-minute video. They showed the exact same pictures and numbers that were on the annual report, but doing a video made for a more dynamic presentation.
Rant/Pet Peeve
Empathy wins people over. Show your audience that you get it—whatever it is— by voicing their hidden pain points and frustrations for them. Then, provide some answers or alternatives.
Here’s a great example from an episode of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, where the hosts discuss the issue of ministry/church leaders not being able to have fun with their work.
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Daily reading
Offering a consistent and structured activity to engage in is a great way to build relationships with your customers or donors, and turn them into advocates. Create videos of daily readings related to your niche or cause that provide value or educate them.
Our friends at Living on the Edge have seen great success with Daily Discipleship with Chip, where participants get a 10-minute video to watch and a study guide to work through every day, at their own pace. They have already produced multiple studies that help Christians understand Scripture and apply it in their own lives.
Live video
Going live is an excellent way to stay top-of-mind with your audiences and interact with them in real-time.
Here’s an archived livestream video done by Operation Mobilization, where they talked about the launch of their newest ship Doulos Hope, and answered questions from their ministry partners and supporters.
Ad/sales video/commercial
Going back to the basics never hurts. Sell your product, service or cause the good old-fashioned way using attention-grabbing video ads.
World Vision Canada produced an excellent video showcasing their cause in just 30 seconds.
Review Video
Try things out before your audiences do and save them a step. You can do so with destinations, products, services, or events related to your niche. By creating unbiased and thorough reviews, you’ll also be seen as an authority in the field.
ProPreacher published a video review of the ESV Thinline Buffalo Leather Bible, which is a product of interest for its target audience of pastors.
Serial
Some things can’t be communicated in just one video. You can opt to create a vlog, micro-course or multi-part video series that provides value to your audience.
In an effort to be transparent and accountable to its history, Princeton Theological Seminary produced a multi-part video series to address the seminary’s complex ties to slavery and colonization. Seeing as it was a big and sensitive topic to discuss, they broke it down to 4 episodes to flesh out the issue and show how they made amends.
Deep on a niche topic/long tail
It’s been said that our attention spans have been getting shorter over the years, but that’s an oversimplification of what’s going on. In reality, Youtube videos between 7-15 minutes get great engagement and actually improve a channel’s overall watch time. Videos like these are a great way not just to inform or educate your audience, but also to spark conversations.
To address the negative influence of youth culture in modern worship, the Gospel Coalition produced this 18-minute video containing key moments from a group discussion with church leaders.
Confession
Share something from the heart that your audience will resonate with. This allows them to see your brand or business from an authentic angle.
Here’s an excellent example by Brady Shearer, who candidly shares his perspective on the decline of churches.
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As the media landscape continues to evolve, it’s important for nonprofits and businesses alike not to fall behind. Video not only makes content easier to consume, but also helps your audiences connect better and more deeply with your message. If you’re looking for ways to revamp your video content strategy, let’s talk. Until then, happy filming! 📽️
We'd love to share our approach to content strategy as well as our A.R.T. of Engagement Framework for creating content with purpose. Let us help take the guesswork out of marketing so you can connect with the right audiences.
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