With a focused effort to use more storytelling video, DWFI is now better able to share its successes with its wide online audience. Complex topics are simplified and high-level topics made personal through the use of sounds and visuals. DWFI continues to increase its use of video as a key part of its communications strategy and has had great success over the past year.
A video featuring donors Robert and Karla Baltzell and their Student Innovator Fund garnered more than 8,200 views on Facebook alone, reaching 3,867 unique viewers. Through the video and this story of one couple’s passion for paying it forward, we reached other donors who may wish to do the same in the future.
Video also has allowed us to make our researchers’ published journal articles easier to digest, and it helped us demonstrate the articles’ impact. A video showcasing DWFI Research Project Manager Kate Gibson explaining her research on high yields and irrigated water requirements reached 8,626 views on Facebook.
Sessions from the 2019 Water for Food Global Conference are posted online, so the knowledge can live on and reach a wider audience. Research presentations from DWFI-supported students also were recorded and posted online, so students can share the results of their work.