Lately I’ve been obsessing over fundraising trailers. Totally and shamelessly obsessing over them. Watching and reading and watching.
You may not be familiar with the term “fundraising trailer” but you probably already know what one is: a short video used to raise money for a project. It’s the video anchored at the top of a crowd-funding page, like Kickstarter, and/or it gets sent to potential investors. It’s a pitch for something that hasn’t been finished, you know?
One of my favorite fundraising trailers was by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions — and not just because I played Monkey Island as a kid. Their video is smart and it totally cracks me up. I’ve seen it so many times and I still enjoy it. Take a look for yourself below or on their wildly successful Kickstarter project page.
I loved playing Monkey Island as a kid. Grog-o-mint! < via >
Have you played Monkey Island? I loved it. My cousins and I still joke about it, as if we were the only ones to ever play the game.
Another one of my favorite videos was for the Dollar Shave Club. It went viral about a year ago, based on the date of an article from Huffington Post. This wasn’t a fundraising video for Kickstarter but it was an online commercial that stuck with me. That commercial was smart and funny, too. I’m sensing a theme. Watch it for yourself below or on YouTube.
Now that Kickstarter has been around a while — it was launched in 2009 — people are familiar with it. Most folks get the crowd-funding concept. They’ve been asked to contribute to a friend or family member’s campaign. They click on the link, go to the page, see the fundraising video, and immediately click on play. They watch the fundraising trailer to learn about the project, who is working on it, and how it’ll get finished.
Portlandia even commented on the Kickstarter fundraising trailer in a recent episode. For that, I am incredibly grateful. (Oh, I how do I love thee, Portlandia!?) They made a video which is oh-s0-delightful. I love it. Watch it here. (There was no way to embed the vid, sorry, y’all.)
So, yeah, I’ve had my wheels turning lately. I’ve been thinking back on the fundraising trailers that I liked, remembered, and enjoyed. I’ve been contemplating the effort that goes into making a fundraising trailer — especially one that accurately depicts the project and the people working on it. I’ve been thinking through what makes them memorable instead of painful. There’s a lot to think about.
More on this topic to come, y’all.