How can nonprofits use online video to raise funds? It is easy and everyone can learn enough to get started. But why should you engage with online video as a nonprofit?
1. Video can be a weapon for non-violent nonprofits. You shoot with images.
Have you seen the documentary by Netwerk (in Dutch) about the project ‘shooting back‘. The projects hand Palestinians cameras so that they can film irregularities and make this known. You can watch some of the videos here on the site of B’tselem. How effective can this be for your own locally-organized events?!
2. Video brings across messages in a different way. Your message doesn’t drown in the sea of text.
At times I get pointers to weird videos and watch them. People like to watch videos in complement to all the reading they do. Furthermore, for nonprofits working in more ‘orally-oriented’ cultures, with less habits of reading text, it can be good to use video. However, when I’m in a hurry I don’t watch a lengthy video. So a combined strategy could be best. The time-span that people can watch videos in influenced by culture too. Some people like very short videos, for others, it doesn’t bring the point back home. (probably should have posted a video to prove this). You can always break your video into “chapters“- and that way a viewer can follow them as time allows, and you’ll get more VSEO benefits, too.
3. Online video by non-professional videographers has the ‘beauty of imperfection’. This means it is more authentic and does not have technical perfection that professional videos have. Hence, people can believe in it more easily than in videos that are purposely made to ‘sell’ the message of a nonprofit. But ALWAYS take these videos to a professional house to clean them up, and make them web-worthy before you post them online.
4. Online videos can walk or run across the internet.
Some interesting videos go viral. But even if they don’t go viral, you can host them on hosting sites like YouTube orblip.tv. The sites now provide you with a code that allows you to embed the video in your weblog or on your website. In other words, your video can travel. You can read about a practical example from UNICEF (videos going viral). And as a bonus, videos on YouTube generate about twice the SEO value, since YouTube is owned by Google- and is the second-most popular search engine behind Google itself.
5. With online video more people can enjoy the face-to-face events that you organize.
When you record a face-to-face presentation, or interview someone about the highlights of a meeting and put that online your event will have a wider outreach. What you are doing and organizing becomes more transparent. This is even more interesting for organizations working in far away places. In other words, you can bridge the gap between donors and your partner organizations in other countries without the donors traveling all the way to you.
Share YOUR ideas, thoughts and tips on Non-Profits using Video. I’d love to see and hear them!
Re-posted with excerpts from Joitske Hulsebosch