ACLU Urges Rebate Recipients to Stimulate Freedom in High-Impact Fundraising Video

I received an email from the ACLU online team last Friday, showcasing this masterful video from  Colorado blogger Kenevan McConnan urging stimulus rebate recipients to pass through their checks to the ACLU. It's simple, a bit surprising and direct. It really works.

Here's how the video triumphs in positioning supporting the ACLU as supporting Constitutional freedoms:

• McConnan is anything but the kneejerk liberal you may expect to be supporting the ACLU. He's a regular guy hunter (aka sportsman), which broadens viewers understanding of whom ACLU protects. He....
• Lists how he considered spending the rebate to stimulate the economy (on hiking boots or binoculars, neither of which were made in the United States)
• Shares his conclusion that shopping isn't the best way to stimulate the economy
• Articulates why he's donating his rebate to the ACLU:
  • Wouldn't have done so before Bush took office
  • But the current administration isn't respecting the Constitution
  • As a result, he's lost his confidence in many civil rights, including the right of an accused to go before a judge, understand what he is accused of and receive a speedy trial.
  • ACLU are the "only guys out there consistently fighting for the rights guaranteed in the constitution."

This pitch, so intimately connected to the source of the rebates, beats those I've seen from other nonprofits hands down. It's a real stimulus. Any out there to match it?

P.S. On the "could have done better" side, the ACLU didn't make it easy for me to forward its email to a friend via a link or button. It's so easy to expand reach that way.

But there's worse: When I called the media contact listed on the ACLU Web site to reach the online team, he told me the team members were busy (all seven of them who signed the email, really?), refused to provide direct phone or email contacts and tried to pacify me by promising to pass on my message.  From an organization that's all about freedom of information, that's bad communication.

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Beam Me Up, Scottie--Already Discovered a Mind-blowing Communications Tool At Nonprofit Technology Conference

Arrived in New Orleans to balmy breezes and a surprisingly robust scene -- lots of tourists strolling around, lots of biz conferences in play. According to another Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) attendee, this is a huge change from just a year ago. I'm so glad to see it.

What's strange is that in the French Quarter -- which adjoins the conference hotel -- you can barely see a sign of Katrina, other than a mention here or there. I hope to have a chance to travel out to the 9th ward and St. Bernard Parish later today to see the real story.

Great Conference Design -- Helps Nonprofit Attendees Make Wonderful Connections
This conference seems marvelously designed to facilitate connections, not just the traditional conference us-to-them type learning. Last night I ate with a bunch of folks who are helping local nonprofits in this morning's Day of Service. My partner Roshani Kothari of OneWorld.net and I will help guide the Common Ground Clinic to integrate its offline and online communications efforts for higher-impact marketing.
More on that later.

Incredible, Free, Easy-to-Use Tool for Filming Quick Videos -- With Your Cell Phone-- That Automatically Stream to Your Blog, Web Site or a News Venue:  QIK
Over dinner (remember there are some real geeks here, who can't take a minute away from the latest and greatest tech tools -- but we need them), Chris Parandian of MobileFuture.Org videoed the lively conversation and showed us how it works.

Here are some ways you can put live to work, simply, easily and cheaply:

• Interview key players in your issue arena at legislative sessions, protests or community meetings.
• Play investigative journalist and show what shouldn't be happening. Think humane society capturing the inhumane treatment of the cattle in Texas recently.
• Capture imagery, conversations or happenings where ever you are to share live with external audiences or with your colleagues in an internal blog or wiki. Or even news from the field when you're out with a grantee, program staff or at a conference.
  
  • Sometimes nothing's better than seeing something live (I love to photograph great nonprofit marketing when I see it, and this kind of capture will make the outtake to you even stronger when there's action involved).
• And, of course, live stream whatever you take for external audiences to your Web site home page or blog.   

Just remember, you don't want to go more than a minute or two with these.

Right now the QIK service is free, as long as you have the right cell phone and data service plan from your provider. Jump on it, experiment with it and share it with your colleagues. This has a lot of potential.

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8 Hard-Hitting, Exciting, Moving Nonprofit Videos -- Vote for the Best

Camera. Lights. Action.

Eight incredible videos have been selected as finalists for the 2008 DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards.

There are two compelling reasons for you to watch these productions:

1. Learn what your org can do. These are models of what your organization can do; representing various production values (and so cost points), issue focus and style. Contact the orgs who've produced the videos you like for more guidances on the what works and what doesn't.
2. Hone your understanding of what works best in online video. Voting requires evaluation of these videos; and your evaluation will strengthen your own understanding of the impact and challenges of the video medium. Don't run away. Online video is a must-have arrow in your nonprofit's marketing quiver.

Vote today.

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Your Chance to Hone Your Video Skills, and Win a Trip to Frisco -- 2nd Annual DoGooderTV Awards

Calling all nonprofit marketers! See3 Communications and the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) invite you to submit your videos to the contest, hosted on DoGooderTV.

The theme of this year's contest is From the Ground Up: Using Technology to Engage Constituents and Make the World a Better Place.  Last year's winner, Avaaz' "Stop the Clash of Civilizations" has been viewed over 1.5 million times on YouTube. (Take a look--this is fabulous, compelling and catchy. You'll want to view it at least twice.)

I love contests and awards. They get me off my b___ to create, to push myself, to experiment for client organizations (and to win a great prize on occasion). Use this opportunity to do this same with a few videos for your nonprofit, even if its a first-time production for you.

The dets:

• Videos can focus on almost any issue area.
• Submission deadline is February 15th, 2008, with finalist videos posted on DoGooderTV March 1st so viewers can vote on winners
• Winner will be announced at NTEN's annual conference (NTC) on March 21. 
• The winner will be awarded an all-expense paid trip to the 2009 NTC to be held in San Francisco.

Jump into this no lose, little cost, a bit of risk and effort opportunity with great potential for fun, marketing impact and perhaps even a trip to Frisco.

More information here.

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Broadcast Your Cause via YouTube -- New Channel Launched for Nonprofit Videos

Seems it's all the rage for corporate media entities to go nonprofit. Last week YouTube, Google and MTV announced nonprofit initiatives.

Most interestingly, YouTube announced Broadcast Your Cause, a way to make it even easier for people to find, watch and engage with nonprofit video content on the site. YouTube’s 2007/2008 Clinton Global Initiative commitment enables nonprofit organizations (501c3 tax filing status required for US orgs) that register for the program to receive a free nonprofit-specific YouTube channel where they can upload footage of their work, public service announcements, calls to action and more.

The channel will also allow you to collect donations with no processing costs using the newly-free Google Checkout for Non-Profits. YouTube’s global platform enables nonprofits to deliver their message, showcase their impact and needs, and encourage supporters to take action.

Meanwhile, the recent launch of ThinkMTV, MTV's social activism social network (that's a mouthful) has angered nonprofits planning or running social networks and turned down for funding by the same foundations (Case and Gates among others) who are funding this initiative. More from The New York Times here.

Obviously corporate media entities see that affiliation with nonprofits is of value to them. I see these initiatives as a complement to nonprofit-only networks if they partner with the right nonprofits on focus, strategy and communications. More is more. Reach audiences where they are. Yada yada yada.

Others are angered and/or threatened by these big boys stepping into the nonprofit world. Only time, and the nature of the partnerships these entities develop with nonprofit organizations, will tell how their involvement impacts nonprofit results. Stay tuned.

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How to Use Online Video to Strengthen Your Nonprofit Marketing Impact -- Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants

How do you put online video to work to boost your nonprofit marketing? That's what I asked colleagues to share in this week's Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants.

Here goes:

• Alia McKee of Sea Change Strategies Direct remembers how Video Killed the Radio Star (not a bad song 20 years later). She recommends that online video should complement -- not replace -- more traditional and online channels at this point. She also shares 5 key tips for online video success, including keeping it under 2 minutes.
• Steve Andrews at the UK-based Whitewater agency shares the SolarAid (a nonprofit he's helping to establish) online video strategy -- they'll be using video primarily to deliver timely, tangible, powerful feedback to donors. Donors and beneficiaries will be able to converse via blogs and vlogs (video diaries).
• Higher ed marketing guru Bob Johnson suggests that online video is an expectation for many nonprofit audiences (definitely for prospective college students) and warns against talking heads and other staged approaches. He also stresses the importance of quality production -- as budget permits.
• Katya Andresen advises on how to succeed in nonprofit marketing in a quick-and-dirty (but effective) video, with links to easy directions for doing it yourself. Katya, you win the "most original" prize by a landslide. Enthused by her video experiment, she goes on to critique Neiman Marcus' anniversary video campaign, concluding that show, don't tell is the ultimate video must.
• This startling video from Greenpeace absolutely captivated me because it's startlingly original, short, a bit frightening and hugely compelling because I get blamed for a huge world crisis. I clicked on the call-to-action link at the end of the video.
• Hatef Yamini at Frogloop interviewed video experts at Online Video Services (OVS) who advise that knowing your audience and selecting video "stars" that appeal to that group is key. Another  important guideline -- quality counts, e.g. you get what you pay for. OVS estimates the cost for a professional video shoot, including editing, at $1K for each minute of on demand finished content. 
  
  • Caveat -- There is an active debate what quality means, and adds, in online video. Some Carnival bloggers hold out for the authenticity of amateur video. My take -- that amateur video will soon become tedious as the novelty of the medium erodes. Expectations for higher-end production values will begin to increase very quickly. I've watched this cycle before, most recently with blogging.

Some Nonprofit Video Successes
There are many powerful nonprofit videos out there to inspire and guide you. Here's a list of top picks from Carnival bloggers:

• The Buffalo Movie -- Video evidence connects donors and beneficiaries
• This video from UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School lets students talk about how they advance their careers in a great example of "storytelling" content that's more effective delivered in video than written out as text.
• The Central Dallas Ministries Transition Resource Action Center produced this video, which motivated NPowerDC's Jocelyn Harmon to become a first-time donor.
• Kids radio program Kidcast put together this simple video to spread the word. Thanks to David Brazeal for the heads up.
• Alia points to IRC communications officer Emily Holland who recently traveled to Darfur to document the lives of displaced Sudanese survivors. Her video diary shows us that IRC is working on the ground in key areas and is an absorbing story. Again, authenticity rules.
• NC environmental organization RE3.org is using video for online training, with the long-term goal of reducing training-related travel. This is a very simple and clever use of video -- RE3.org simply video tapes a PowerPoint presentation with the audio, resulting in a full-fledged Webinar. Simple but elegant.
• OVS credits the California Bar Association with setting the bar in using video as a fully-integrated component of its anti-smoking campaign. Here's Carol Burnett.

Let me know (click the Comments link below) how your nonprofit is using video, and what's working best. I'll spread the word.

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This Video Grabbed Me Hard -- Here's How Online Video Can Boost Your Nonprofit Marketing

I asked fellow bloggers to weigh in on best practices in nonprofit use of online video (the faintest outlines are just appearing as it's a whole new world) for this week's Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants.  Here's my take, which I'll introduce by sharing a Greenpeace video that had a huge impact on me and explaining why it works:

• The imagery grabs me:
  • It's so different from how we're used to seeing children -- we've comfortable and familiar with seeing children in bright colors, playing happily. This child narrator is almost post-apocalyptic; frightening but 150% compelling.
  • It's stark, monochromatic and exceedingly simple. I think it's yet another example of less is more.
• His narrative is startling; angry, grave, serious, graphic. I feel that as an adult, I owe it to him to listen, and to act.
• Blame is assigned to adults, like me. It makes me want to do better. The immediacy of being blamed makes me sit up and listen.
• It's short(1:43) but includes everything I need to know, including a call to action.
• Surprise is the strategy of success here. Just as I find that surprising my 4-year-old (let's say with a new strategy to get her to dress quickly for school) always works, we all respond to what's different. Here's a child demanding his rights, which he does deserve. Video offers an almost endless number of opportunities for surprise -- in narrative, in background sound or music, in imagery.

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How Should Nonprofit Marketers Put Online Video to Work? -- Want Your Take for Next Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants

I’m hosting next week’s Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, and would love to have you submit a post on how nonprofit organizations should be putting online video into play.

Couldn't have put it better than Agitator Tom Belford last week, when he posted Video Rules the World. That's a slight overstatement but stats don't lie. According to a new IBM study Tom cited, folks spend more hours weekly on their computers than watching TV. And according to ComScore, lots of that time is spent watching online video -- 3 of 4 U.S. Internet users watched an average of over 2 1/2 hours of online video in May 2007. That's a big audience just waiting for your organization's videos (which are now far easier and cheaper to produce than ever before). 

So I'm calling all carnival bloggers to brainstorm on:

• How should nonprofits be using online video? What are the best applications out there -- the Executive Director talking head introducing a new program, a "from the field" video reporting back on this week's progress or....?
• Where and how does video fit with other marketing channels -- replacing, supplementing or...?
• Important aesthetic considerations?
• What are 2-3 short online video clips you're impressed by, and why?

I'll report out to you next Monday on  what these insightful bloggers have to say about nonprofit use of online video. That post should serve as a practical guide for your organization to get started online video wise.

Bloggers, here's what to do:            

1. Some time between now and Saturday noon (EST), September 8th, load your post or select one from the recent past that fits the bill.

2. Then send me your post's permalink (not the blog’s URL) at npc.carnival@yahoo.com  

3. On the afternoon of Monday, September 10th, I'll post the carnival.  I’ll comment on, and link to, the most relevant 7 posts submitted. 

Being part of this carnival is a great way to boost traffic and be found by new readers.  In the weeks my posts have been featured, I've seen a modest but persistent increase in traffic. In addition, I’ve found it refreshing to be motivated by colleagues to think and comment.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort,
Nancy

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Crowdsource for a Slogan that Sticks

Taking the contest strategy of audience engagement to the Nth degree, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is calling loudly for entrants and votes for its new slogan. With its Bump Up Our Majority campaign, the Committee is seeking a slogan to carry it through the 2008 election -- for use on its Web site, bumper stickers, campaign handouts.

For the right creative writer, it's a great chance for broadscale self-promotion as the winner becomes part of the Dem story. For those who just vote on the existing slogan choices presented, it's a fun way to participate. For the DSCC, it's a cheap way to get immediate publicity, develop more loyal and engaged supporters (with contact info) and come out the other end with powerful messaging. Win-win-win.

What's particularly effective hear is the language (I got an email urging me to join the fun) that the Dems use:

We need a turn of phrase that really jumps out and tells you right off the bat what this election is all about.  In 1992, it was "It's the Economy, Stupid."  In 2006, Democrats simply said "Had Enough?" It was the only question America needed to ask.

We got a few ideas, and we even taped one of our brainstorming sessions.  Take a look and then, do us the favor of voting for one of our top picks.   But if you got something better, we'll throw that in the mix too.

Then, once they've engaged you, they step up and throw in critical points on:

• How important it is to stay engaged
• The potential power, and impact, of the dems
• Spreading the word on the contest and the campaign.

Congrats Dems on a fun, high-energy way to make a splash at the height of the end-of-summer doldrums.

P.S. According to Wikipedia, crowdsourcing is "taking a job traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call." More to come in future posts about other ways your nonprofit can capitalize on the creative energy of your audiences.

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