Believe it or not, my Elvis obsession helped me arrive here, right at this video from University of Cambridge. Elvis has played a central, deified role in his life and in the lives of the women who knew him. But in this video, he’s cast as a more peripheral character. In the short clip, a Cambridge historian narrates the fascinating history of teenage fundraising in 1950s America...
It’s no secret that as technology grows, the world’s attention span shrinks. A 2015 study by Microsoft reported that the average person’s attention span is now about eight seconds. That’s down from 12 seconds in the year 2000, at the start of the digital revolution. So how can a nonprofit catch the eye of a potential donor when attention shifts so rapidly? Try video...
Nonprofits are increasingly using video content to amplify their missions, keep their listener bases updated, and generate new supporters and funders. In 2014 alone, video marketing campaigns for nonprofits generated 670 million views (a conservative number considering the volume of smaller nonprofits in the sector). Some of the most effective architects behind this movement today…
There are two awards up for grabs—one you want to win and one you definitely don't want to win. Yes, it's time for the Radi-Aid Awards! From now until Dec. 6, the creators of the awards are asking people to vote for the best and worst charity ads of 2016—known respectively as the Golden Radiator…
Have you checked Snapchat today? Did you get sucked into one of those Tasty food prep videos on Facebook yet? You know your audience has, and that means you have to think about your own video strategy. In a recent Parse.ly webinar, Sachin Kamdar, CEO of Parse.ly, joined video experts Travis Bernard, director of audience development at…
YouTube announced today that it will partner with StoryCorps—a nonprofit that records and archives oral stories from diverse voices in order to pass wisdom through generations—on a new program by which digital creators will be invited to produce video-based StoryCorps interviews at YouTube’s Spaces in Los Angeles and New York. The program is part of YouTube’s…
Earlier this year, my friend Vu Le suggested on his hilarious (yet pointed) blog, Nonprofit With Balls, that we need a nonprofit-themed reality TV show. He suggested titles like: "Dancing With Program Officers" "Hell’s Charity" "So You Think You Can Run a Nonprofit" "America’s Funniest Fundraising Videos" I think Vu was serious. And I had…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock with no internet, you realize that the amount of video content on social media has skyrocketed over the past few years. Here are just a few stats about video content: One-third of all online activity is spent watching videos. Eighty percent of people remember a video ad they…
Let me start by declaring what this post is not about. It’s not about making an image or video go viral. It’s also not about "post to Facebook" or "share on Twitter" messages after a supporter has donated or signed a petition (the after-action social share). It is about how nonprofits can move the needle…
Facebook Live is taking the news feed by storm! This (relatively) new live broadcasting feature lets any person, brand or nonprofit live stream events, reveals, celebrations and more. The Humane Society, The White House, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and many smaller nonprofits are broadcasting news-as-it-happens, museum tours and even feeding time for baby raccoons!…
