Using Audio- and Videotapes Videotapes are the other main medium which can benefit your group in both audience development and fundraising. The broadcast means that up to 25,000 people who did not attend can view the event. The station provides a cameraman and equipment as a pro bono community service, and the Arts Council benefits greatly in terms of audience and outreach. Ms. Mushet has also included a videotape as backup material for a recent, successful, grant proposal to a local foundation. A reading or performance will be more interesting, and make a more compelling case for your organization, than a tape of your director simply talking at the camera about your group's purpose or activities.
Common problems are poor lighting, too-quiet sound, and unclear focussing.
These problems can usually be alleviated through some prior experimentation with camera and lighting placement. Any tape you submit with a proposal or report should be short and of good quality, cued to the proper location on the tape, and you should have watched it first yourself to check its quality. Used properly, photos and audio- and videotapes can turn your flyers, press releases, and grant proposals and reports into vivid multimedia productions. Like the initial gathering of these pieces of documentation, using them effectively requires staff time and money, but the results can help to increase the size of your audience as well as your potential for receiving grant money. The documentation you collect and use in your relations with the press and public represents the public image of your organization, and can help connect your organization with potential members and funders.