How to Create a Top School Fundraising Incentive Video

Learn how we created a motivational school fundraising incentive video that inspires more students to sell

Anytime you’re attempting to share an action video on the web, it’s a challenge. There are so many ways that people can interpret it. You may think that you’re clearly conveying your intended message, but how do you know for sure? It’s especially hard when you’re attempting to create something that’s never been done before.

There are not that many school fundraising incentive videos out there, to begin with. To make things even more difficult, at the time we were attempting to promote a whole new prize program class. This took things to a whole new level. In addition to creating something that people would understand, we realized that we were going to have to be willing to step outside of the box and take some new risks.

Such was the case when we produced our Big Event Magic Show incentive video. It turned out to be a lot of work, but it was well worth it. Our primary objective was to give students who would be watching the video at their fundraiser kickoff the feeling that they were actually at the show firsthand experiencing all of the illusions.

What was even more of a challenge was producing a video that would motivate students to want to sell items out of their sales catalog so they could qualify to gain free admission to a thrilling live magic show assembly? We knew that we were more than halfway to our goal when we were able to get students to say, “How did he do that?”

When you’re at a live show, there's a huge amount of energy and excitement. Our goal was to capture as much of it as possible on video while making our ultimate message easy for most everyone to understand. Here’s what it took:

It’s About the Storyline

Fortunately, the performer that we used to create our magic show video already had a plot. In fact, he offered several different options. The program we used to build our video around was called the Yes I Can Magic Program.

This specific program incorporates a goal-setting theme that teaches students about the importance of self-confidence and believing in yourself. As a result, you’re more likely to commit to worthwhile goals and find ways to achieve them. The magician teaches the students about goal setting by integrating magical illusions into his presentation and then uses audience participation to take the message to a more personal level.

The whole idea is to make learning fun and exciting. Students will always learn more when they’re engaged in something.

There are 8 types of educational assemblies that our magicians teach from and the school gets to pick which one they feel is most relevant for them.

Recruiting an Audience

Anytime you shoot a video that involves school fundraising you have to recruit students who are willing to be in the video. Fortunately, this process was made much easier by working with a local elementary school. We were able to use their students for the audience in exchange for giving them a free assembly. It was well worth it for both sides.

Yet, there was still a major hurdle that we had to overcome. You can’t shoot a video with minors involved without parent consent. So we still had to get parents for over 500 students to sign release forms allowing their students to be on camera that would ultimately be used for promotional purposes.

Any student who didn’t return the signed release form couldn't be captured in the video. Since our goal was to have as large an audience as possible, getting these forms back was vital. Fortunately, we had an overwhelming response from the parents. They not only wanted their children to be in the video but to experience the essence of the show. Once all of the equipment was set up, the students basically ignored the cameras and the school treated it like a normal assembly.

Capturing the Magic

One major challenge with shooting a live video is that ‘the show must go on’. There was no way that we could completely capture the full effect of the illusions the first time around. Even though there were multiple cameras showing the action from different angles, there was nothing that could compare to the live show.

Therefore, after the show was over we re-shot many of the illusions again so people who would be viewing the video for the first time could experience as much of the effects of the illusions as possible.

When all was said and done, we knew that regardless of how excited we were about it, the video would have to convey our intended message. The decisive test was going to be how it performed at a live school fundraiser kickoff assembly. Would it inspire students to want to sell items from their brochure? Was the magic show portrayed in the video bring the assembly to life for those who could only watch from their cafeteria big screen? Well, our results over time have definitely spoken.

Learn more about our magic show incentive

Read More Information.

Why a Scratch Card Fundraiser Makes Sense in 2020
How to Make School Fundraisers Great Again (2020)
4 Lessons School Fundraisers Teach Kids: Best Tips 2020