You want to share what you're doing every day — and the lives you’re changing — and gain supporters, advocates and donors.
You want to tell stories that move people to action.
We want that for you, too.
You wish you could capture all the positive change you see every day, but you don't know how.
You don’t have a budget for video equipment — or you have video equipment, but you don’t know how to use it.
You don't have time to figure out how to make videos on your own — you need a helpful guide to show you how, step by step.
Perhaps you want to start making great videos NOW, but you need a little push.
You know the impact of video. We know the impact of video. And it’s time to get down to business.
Here’s how.
Nonprofit Film School is a self-paced, entirely online school, giving you a clear and comprehensive path for boosting your internal video skills.
Backed by years of expertise, professional experience and a desire to simplify the video-making process for you, Nonprofit Film School has what you need. All in one place.
Through videos, comprehensive PDF course manuals and helpful guides, the experts at Reliant Studios walk you through the whole video process — from beginning to end — step-by-step.
No hassle, no confusion. Start right where you are, with what you have.
Through fun videos, you’ll learn a bulk of information in small, easy-to-digest lessons. Avoid feeling overwhelmed by millions of blog posts, forums and outdated techniques elsewhere.
Walk away with actual skills and tangible resources to tackle everything from scouting locations to purchasing equipment to crafting compelling stories.
We don’t expect that you know everything about storytelling, equipment or editing videos just yet — and that’s okay!
We have created our lessons to be short, easy-to-understand and ready for you to implement right away.
Our Bonus Resources keep your video-making process moving forward.
“You have to know the rules before you can break them.” But what are the rules?
Understanding filmmaking best practices — about lighting, composition and editing — will help make your video stand out, grab the attention of your audience and share your story in a way that’s clear of distractions and full of heart.
Did you know that there are techniques used to tell stories well? Movies use them, comic strips use them and now you can use them too.
Our two favorite story structures, as well as our tips for interviewing, will equip you to draw out your best stories on camera.
Everything you need to make convicting and beautiful videos for your organization is in one place.
With a few hours of time, a mindset of dedication and the heart of a confident storyteller, you’ll see a return on investment after completing the first lesson.
Each Course comes with a manual that you can print off and use to follow along with the videos. We included “Put it to Practice” sections and “Pro Tips” in each, giving you real life examples of applying what you’ve learned.
We don’t leave you hanging on a few nice thoughts — you get to take what you’ve learned and apply it to the work you’re doing.
For any novice (and let’s be honest, intermediate) filmmaker, understanding equipment can be a hurdle. We break that down for you, explaining the differences in equipment.
Plus, our Equipment Guide is full of our recommendations for everything from cameras and lighting to editing software and stock resources.
Trusted by nonprofits for years, the Reliant Studios team has worked with universities, churches, state departments, domestic and international nonprofit organizations to tell their stories through video.
We toiled over the content for Nonprofit Film School for two years before launching, making sure we included the most important tips, tricks and best practices.
Nonprofit Film School is set up as five courses, broken down into 21 different modules.
Each module is centered on a video with one of our Professors, with engaging content, lighthearted music and on-screen text for complex topics.
The whole video process, from beginning to end.
Like transcripts, only better.
Learn from the experts.
Putting lessons to action!
Learn how to tell your story in an engaging and compelling way — one that moves your audience to compassion and action.
We cover everything you need to do to set your shoot up for success (including some key industry insights that you may have overlooked).
Conquer that intimidation of technical components once and for all as you become familiar with production basics.
Arm yourself with the right gear for the job and get a comprehensive understanding of what’s what (and why it matters).
Master the art of finishing what you started. This module covers everything you need to know to turn your video into a cohesive, compelling final product that you can be proud of.
In this course, you will learn about two basic theories of storytelling that draw people’s attention, holds it and encourages them to act. We’ll give you tips on creating a culture of storytelling in your organization, followed by some practical how-to’s for planning and executing videos with specific goals.
Learn how to “Bucket” and “Funnel” ideas through our Simple Creative Process — a process you can use to produce creative videos that help further your goals and objectives.
Approximately 30 minutes
Once you have your Messaging Strategy and creative treatment in place, you’re ready for Pre- Production. This is the phase when you get all the details in place for Production! In this course, we will talk about location scouting, casting and wardrobe do’s and don'ts.
Approximately 15 minutes
Production Day is finally here. You’ve got your Messaging Strategy, your cast and you’re ready to capture everything — congrats! Take a page out of our book on how to prepare for and conduct an interview, compose a shot, light your subject, get good audio and operate a camera.
Approximately 45 minutes
There are so many makes and models of cameras and equipment that it can be overwhelming to select the ones that would be best for your organization. Our goal in this course is to help you select equipment based on what you’re looking to gain — are you looking for a certain level of quality, determining ease-of-use, considering budget-friendly prices?
These modules explain the pros and cons of a variety of equipment related to cameras, audio gear, lights and additional essentials.
We’ve also included an Equipment Guide for specific models that we’d recommend you consider.
Approximately 30 minutes
After gathering all of the elements of your Messaging Strategy, filming interviews and b-roll, now it’s time to pull it all together. We’ll help you sort through your footage, keeping what’s vital and determining what’s necessary for pushing your One Big Idea forward. With simple transitions and complimentary music, your video is steps away from being finished!
To get started, we’ll share our recommendations for editing tools, as well as where to find quality stock music and other helpful resources. For polishing your final video, we’ll provide you with tips for audio levels, typography and video length.
Approximately 45 minutes
Our goal is to walk with you from start to finish, giving you guides to apply what you learn throughout the courses.
In addition to our Professor-taught videos, these editable documents and checklists will make implementing your video process easier!
Use this editable PDF to organize your thoughts for each video. This will be a valuable asset as you clarify your goals, identify your audience and incorporate the Story Arc and Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle into your Messaging Strategy.
It especially comes in handy when working with a team, keeping everyone on the same page as you move through the creative process.
This is our holy grail of equipment recommendations. It's difficult for us to prescribe a package for you — each nonprofit is different! But with our list of pros and cons, price range and skill level, this resource is updated as new products or online resources come along that would benefit you (we'll send out an email when it's been updated!).
Use our tried and true techniques to draw out a story on camera.
Kristin has a Master of Arts in Counseling, which she has successfully integrated when interviewing people on camera, making them feel comfortable and valued. Use these same techniques (proven by our own work for years) to make the most of your interviews.
Location scouting involves more than finding pretty sites to film your interviews. We help you keep an eye (and ear!) out for what you should be considering and preparing for when it comes to Production Day.
This editable resource is almost a carbon copy of what we use at Reliant Studios to send out to talent and interviewees before a shoot.
Fill in the document, save it and send it out online — all without printing (if that’s your kind of workflow).
It's got the information everyone needs to know, including the shoot details, the schedule and what to wear on camera (both wardrobe and makeup notes!).
Work with your team to get everyone on the same page. Develop everyone’s skills for capturing Cinematic Gold, using unplanned videos to boost your marketing efforts. We've outlined our tips for you to make it super easy.
Complete the first lesson and you'll already experience the benefits of Nonprofit Film School. Knowledge is power!
Tackle the content as quickly or slowly as you want. You can complete Nonprofit Film School in a week or take your time and walk through it over the course of a few months.
Enroll today and your videos will be light-years ahead of where you are right now.
And that’s what we all want, right?
All-access enrollment for Nonprofit Film School for one individual
5 video production courses, taking you through the video production process from beginning to end
21 video lessons — over three hours of instruction — taught by full-time video production professionals and their time-tested wisdom
5 printable manuals to follow along with the videos, so you can take notes and dream up big ideas for your organization
15 bonus resources to make sure you can apply what you're learning
Accessibility to ask questions throughout course
Access for 12 months
All-access enrollment for Nonprofit Film School for up to five individuals from one organization
5 video production courses, taking you through the video production process from beginning to end
21 video lessons — over three hours of instruction — taught by full-time video production professionals and their time-tested wisdom
5 printable manuals to follow along with the videos, so you can take notes and dream up big ideas for your organization
15 bonus resources to make sure you can apply what you're learning
Accessibility to ask questions throughout course
Access for 12 months
Do you have more than five individuals who'd like to go through Nonprofit Film School?
Let us know, and we'll get you set up as an Expanded Group Plan.
Easy peasy!
"Nonprofit Film School covered so much more than I thought I would be getting! I assumed just a few general “how to” videos with ideas that would be outside of our probable logistics. I was so wrong.
This is literally the best! I just can't get over how great this is! It's all the behind the scene tips that I never knew I needed to know.
And people. I love how it helps you learn how to draw the stories out of people. Like stories they didn't even know they had in them."
LIBBY MODEROW
City Impact
Lincoln, Nebraska
Making great videos after going through Nonprofit Film School will only happen if you put in the work and implement the processes we recommend.
If we’re wrong about that, please let us know!
However, if you are completely unsatisfied within the first 7 days, you can contact us to discuss a potential refund.
Each day that goes by is another that someone has yet to be impacted by what you do.
It's worth investing in yourself or your team to share your stories with the world through video.
Learn the skills, gain the confidence, follow our directions and you'll see immediate results through how you approach storytelling and the video-making process.
Even the tiniest nonprofits can make a huge dent in the hearts of others.
Get your whole team on board, creating a culture of storytelling like none other.
We welcome you, colleges and universities!
Improve your video skill set on your own.
Every shape and size.
Keep changing lives and sharing what you're doing.
Small or large, use your skills to help your community.
Proven interviewing techniques
Guided consideration of various equipment options
Tried + true storytelling strategies
Guidelines for who should be on camera
A step-by-step guide for editing your footage
Our bread and butter is helping organizations expand their mission and tell their stories through clear, emotionally-compelling and goal-achieving videos. Through creative video storytelling and production, we compel and ignite viewers to take action, resulting in incredible outcomes.
And we love what we do. We’re made up of caring, accomplished and diverse creatives who continuously develop and enhance fool-proof methods for our creative process. In fact, these time-proven methods are exactly what inspired us to find a way to share this expertise with others — and thus, Nonprofit Film School was born!
The professors of Nonprofit Film School are experts in their field and have spent years studying and perfecting all elements of video storytelling. So to say you’re in good hands would be an understatement.
Click the drop-down links below to read the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.
Nope! You can learn all about the foundations of video-making and apply what you learn with the equipment you do have, even if that's only a smartphone or camcorder.
We do discuss the basics of what sets some cameras apart from others, giving you recommendations for if you're ready to purchase something new. If you want great audio, instead of “okay” audio, our recommendations will help you make the step up, but you certainly don’t need to purchase expensive equipment to make good use of everything you’ll learn.
After enrolling, you'll have access to this course for 12 months.
You can access the course online, from anywhere, with your unique log-in (email and password) that you create.
Once an individual signs up for a Solo or Group Plan, you’ll get instant access to the course. For Group Plans, we’ll send you a unique access code for your additional users within one business day; they’ll use that code to create their own accounts (see more on Group Plans below).
The course is hosted on Teachable, with a video of one of our Professors teaching you as if you’re sitting in the same room. Besides, seeing your Professors proves that we’re real people :)
Each Course comes with it’s own Manual, which is like a “transcript” but it’s more valuable than that — it’s got images, room to take notes and it’s perfect to put in a 3-ring binder to reference often. Same goes for our Bonus Resources: print them off, share them with your team, reference them often, make great videos.
Group plans are intended for one organization to purchase access to Nonprofit Film School for up to five users. The individual who signs up for the plan (the “Group Administrator”) will gain access to Nonprofit Film School immediately. Then, within approximately one business day, the Group Administrator will receive an email with a unique coupon code for the other four users to access to the school for $0. (Be sure they sign up for the “Group” plan and enter the coupon code when checking out.)
Each group member will have access to the school for 12 months after the date the Group plan was purchased by the Group Administrator, after which point the access to Nonprofit Film School will need to be renewed. Example: If a user creates their account 2 months after the Group plan was created, they will have access to the school for 10 months.
Group plan users must all have the same email domain to qualify for Group pricing.
Expanded Group Plan Do you have more than five individuals who'd like to go through Nonprofit Film School? Click here to let us know, and we'll get you set up as an Expanded Group Plan.
Nonprofit Film School is primarily a self-guided online school. However, students have the ability to post comments under each course. Comments will be regularly monitored and replied to by your Professors.
The school is optimized to work from the browsers of computers, tablets and mobile devices.
Certainly! Reach out to us and we’ll get you set up and ready to go.