idealist.org

Does your organization have a compelling story to tell? Are you looking for effective ways to make more tangible connections to your supporters, volunteers and donors? Do you want to increase the power of your messaging, but don't have the funds to launch expensive outreach campaigns?

Online video has emerged as a powerful way for organizations to reach people in the twenty-first century – and nonprofits are no exception. Today's advocacy, outreach, and fundraising are taking place online, and here at Idealist we think online video can be a key component or compliment to your outreach efforts. Over the past few months we have been working with YouTube to help nonprofits better understand and harness this new (and free!) platform through which we can all build support for our organizations.

And now YouTube has launched a special program targeting nonprofits, which will give you increased opportunities to engage supporters, donors, and volunteers online.

What is an Online Video “channel”?

On sites like YouTube, it's a centralized hub where people can see all of your uploaded videos, and connect with your organization via messages, subscriptions, comments and more. And as part of the YouTube Nonprofit Program, you'll receive these extra advantages along with your channel:

• Premium branding capabilities and increased uploading capacity
• Rotation of your videos in the "Promoted Videos" areas throughout the site
• The option to drive fundraising through a Google Checkout "Donate" button

Once your online video channel is up and running, you can use it to:

• Demonstrate and document your organization’s impact through video
• Keep donors, participants, and supporters around the world informed of your latest initiatives
• Call people to action through compelling video messaging
• Inspire user-generated content supporting your work by asking people to submit video content to your channel
• Highlight key supporters or members through video profiles
• Network with your allies and engage your adversaries directly on a highly-visible platform.

How to get started

1. Visit http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits to create your account. You must be an officially registered 501c3 organization to be eligible.
2. While you're waiting to have your application approved, start making videos and uploading them to your account. You can get tips on how to use your online video channel here.
3. Once you've been accepted into the program, send your username and channel URL to nonprofits@youtube.com so that we can keep an eye on your channel, support you, and possibly feature your organizations video!

Examples of Nonprofit Channels on YouTube

• The 92nd Street Y
• The Asia Society
• Youth Noise
• World Vision Stir
• Autism Speaks
• American Cancer Society
• Ed in '08
• Friends of the Earth
• The International Rescue Committee
• 24 Hours for Darfur
• The March of Dimes
• The ONE Campaign
• The Clinton Foundation

Questions? Visit the YouTube Help Center.

Other Online Video websites:

• MSN Soapbox
• Myspace TV
• Photobucket
• Revver.com
• Vimeo.com

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