JULY CHALLENGE: Work on ONE Video That Demonstrates Full Relevance to Your Target Audience

Hey there!

We're a few days into July, and there's a decent chance your About page hasn't been touched since last year.

Here's what typically happens on a nonprofit website. A first-time visitor clicks over to your About page and finds a paragraph of mission language next to a grid of staff photos. No one is talking to them. No one is looking back at them. It reads like every other About page they've scrolled past this year, and it does nothing to show them you understand what they're dealing with.

That matters more than most executive teams realize. The About page is usually the second most visited page on a nonprofit site, right behind the homepage. The people who land there are trying to figure out if your organization actually understands their situation, and a paragraph of institutional language rarely answers that question for them.

So today, I want to show you the one page-level fix that will do more to make your organization feel relevant to a first-time visitor this month than almost anything else on your site: a 20 to 30 second video, built around a simple one-liner, of a leader speaking straight into the camera.

Let's walk through why it works, and exactly how to build it.

Visitors decide if you understand them before they read a word of your mission.

The StoryBrand framework is built on a simple idea: a visitor connects with whoever seems to understand their exact situation. Somewhere in your organization, someone already knows how to explain what you do in plain, human terms. That person just isn't on your About page yet.

A visitor's brain does quick, mostly unconscious work the moment they land on your site.

Is this for me?

Do they get my situation?

Would this actually work for someone like me?

Would getting involved actually make a difference?

A grid of headshots and a paragraph about your mission don't answer any of that. A person, looking directly at the camera, speaking to them for 20 seconds, answers all four at once.

This is also why the fix moves fast. One page, one person, and one well-built script are enough to prove you understand exactly who's watching.

A StoryBrand one-liner turns your mission into one memorable sentence.

Before you write a script, you need a one-liner. In StoryBrand terms, a one-liner has three parts. The character, the person you serve, has a problem. You, the guide, provide a plan to solve it. And there's a clear picture of what success looks like once they've worked with you.

That structure becomes the spine of your video. The script opens by naming the real problem your audience is facing, in language they would actually use. It introduces your organization as the guide who helps solve it. Then it paints a picture of what life looks like once that problem is solved.

The video itself runs 20 to 30 seconds, has a leader speaking directly to camera, and closes with one clear next step for the viewer.

Here's how to build it in five steps.

You or someone on your team can have this filmed, written, and live on your website within a week.

1. Draft your one-liner. Answer three questions: Who do you serve, and what's their biggest problem? What do you provide as the guide? What does success look like for them after working with you?
2. Choose your call to action. Decide what you want the viewer to do next: book a call, fill out a form, send an email, or download something.
3. Write the script. Follow the one-liner structure: name the problem, introduce your organization as the guide, paint the picture of success, and close with the call to action. Keep the language conversational, like you're talking to one person.
4. Keep the filming simple. A phone, natural light, and one person speaking directly into the lens is enough. Practice it a few times so the words come out naturally, like you're just talking to the camera.
5. Publish it above the fold on your About page, with captions added for anyone watching without sound.

If building this isn't something you're going to do personally, forward this to whoever manages your website. A comms director, marketing coordinator, volunteer, or contractor has everything they need here to move forward without asking you to explain any of it.

This is where handing the busywork to AI actually earns its keep. Below is the exact prompt you can copy and paste into Claude or ChatGPT. Answer a handful of questions, and it hands you back a draft that gets you most of the way there, often 90 percent or more. From there, you tighten it up, make it sound like you, and go shoot the video.

Copy this prompt into Claude or ChatGPT and have your script in ten minutes.

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT, then answer the questions as they come.

You are a StoryBrand-trained copywriter helping a nonprofit or ministry leader create a short About page video script.

Ask me the following questions one at a time, waiting for my answer before moving to the next question:

1. What is your organization's name?
2. What is your name?
3. What is your role or title at the organization?
4. Who does your organization serve, and what is the single biggest problem or need that person or group has?
5. What does your organization provide as the guide? In one sentence, what is the plan or solution you offer to solve that problem?
6. What does success look like for the people you serve, once they've worked with you? Be specific and tangible.
7. What do you want the viewer to do after watching this video? Choose one: book a call, fill out a form, send an email, or download something. Then give me the specific action and link, for example "book a call at [link]" or "download our guide at [link]."

Once I've answered all seven questions, do two things.

First, write a StoryBrand one-liner using this formula: [Character] has a problem [problem]. We provide [plan]. Success looks like [outcome]. Keep it to one or two sentences, in plain, human language, with no jargon.

Second, write a 20 to 30 second video script for me to read directly into the camera. Do not include directions, formatting notes, or commentary, only the words I will say out loud. The script should:

1. Open with a warm, direct greeting, my name, and my role
2. Name the problem the viewer is facing, in their language
3. Introduce our organization as the guide, using the one-liner
4. Paint a short picture of what success looks like
5. Close with the specific call to action I gave you

Keep the tone warm and conversational, like I'm talking to one person, not addressing an audience.

That fix was the simple one. Here's what's NEXT for your site.

Your About page has one job, and it's a relatively easy one: make a strong first impression in twenty seconds. Most of the other places a visitor, donor, or volunteer interacts with your organization are doing something harder. They're proving you understand someone's exact situation in the middle of a donation form, a follow-up email, or a thank you page, moments that don't come with a dedicated page or a script to fall back on.

Here are a few more places worth a hard look:

1. Your homepage above the fold, where a visitor decides in seconds whether to keep scrolling or leave
2. Your donation or giving page, where friction and generic language cost you gifts you never see
3. Your welcome email sequence, which either builds a relationship with a new subscriber or lets them go cold
4. Your volunteer or get involved page, where unclear next steps turn interested people away
5. Your event registration flow, where extra clicks and confusing forms shrink your signups
6. Your thank you page after someone gives or signs up, usually the most wasted page on the entire site
7. Your contact form, where a slow or generic reply undoes the connection you just made
8. Your social media bios, often the very first thing a stranger sees before they ever visit your site

Each one of these is its own version of the About page problem, a moment where someone decides if you actually understand them, and most organizations never plan for it.

That's usually where an outside set of eyes helps most. I'm a StoryBrand Certified Guide, and I help nonprofit and ministry leaders turn their websites into places that speak directly to the people who visit them. If you need help creating content with purpose for your organization, or help nurture raving fans for your mission, let's talk.