"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present"
Abraham Lincoln
Clive Thompson points out that the future of video use is only limited by our collective imagination. Capturing video and getting it on to a computer is very easy to do and affordable. Broadcasting and sharing video is free on YouTube. Thompson goes on to state that "the Internet has shown us that video is also good for mass-distributed conversation."
Nonprofits have to change their mindset on video. It's time to stop thinking of a video as a means to create an expensive, high-production value advertisement. Theres something unrealistic and not gritty about highly polished videos. They're also expensive to make. And finally, traditional videos engender a passive viewer experience. They don't promote conversation. They don't promote action - atleast not in a cost effective way.
Here are some ideas from someone who is admittedly not creative about these sorts of things. I'm sure you can think of some better ones.
- Start a YouTube Group and use it as your very own network. Post your own videos and ask your users to post their own videos.
- Have a contest. Who can create the best 30 second video about our cause?
- Use your events as ways to generate vids. If you have a walkathon or other pledge event fundraiser, ask the people who are participating to post vids on your new Youtube group. They can embed these videos in their profile pages of your Sweet software.
- An occasional vid of people in the office. Turn on the web cam in the office and conference room. See what happens.
- Day with the Executive Director. Ask the ED to get some quick vids of their day.
- Post videos asking for responses to critical issues.
- Create edgey videos. Break from tradition. If you want a response, a boring uninteresting video won't cut it.
Be creative. More creative than you have been and a lot more creative than i'm being right now. Keep it inexpensive and real by shooting with webcams in unfiltered settings and posting to Youtube. See what happens.
So why should nonprofits do this? You need more content. You need more ways to communicate to your members. You need to learn how to communicate in this growing platform. You need to have some fun and find new ways to generate revenue and support.
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