As I’ve mentioned before, you don’t need a video camera if you want to make a YouTube video. Still pictures can have an equal impact. To bring out their full potential, you’ll want to upload them into an editor like Windows Moviemaker or iMovie.
Then you’ll want to play around with two things: transitions and movement. Transitions are things like dissolves and wipes that you can put between the pictures. This can smooth out the edits and make them visually more pleasing to the eye. You can also use a transition to signal a shift in topic or mood.
Movement involves introducing motion into a still image. So you might have a pan across a picture or you could have the image go from a wide shot to the close up. This is a great way to jazz up your photographs and make them come to life.
In essence, you’re introducing low level animation to your photographs. The documentarian, Ken Burns, is well known for using this technique.
Sometimes it’s easier to show something than it is to talk about it. Take a look at this video clip from one of my presentations. I had audio but no video to go with it. So I used a series of photos and stock images to illustrate the story. Note the use of transitions and movement.
If you’ve decided to take the social media plunge, then give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve taken a big step toward your goal of having a stronger relationship with your donors. It’s an inexpensive, yet highly effective way to market your organization.
But before you start blogging as well as posting items on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, you should take some time to get everything set up. You need to do a few things while creating each account before you start sharing. Here’s your to-do list:
Pick your username. You may want to go with your organization’s name or you may want use more of a branded slogan. I would use the same username for all of your social media sites as it will make it easy for people to look you up.
Pick a picture or logo to represent your nonprofit. Again, use it across all social media platforms.
Post your mission statement as well as links to your website, if you have one.
Post your contact information. Make it easy for people to find you.
None of these steps are all that complicated but together they will take a few minutes to set up. The time will be well invested as they’ll help make your organization look more professional online.
When you look at YouTube videos that are from nonprofit organizations, do the people talking seem a bit robotic? Their delivery just seems a bit off. The problem isn’t with the person so much as their energy. And this can hurt your effectiveness with social media.
There’s something about a video camera pulls down your energy level. In my TV News days I had to work on making sure that I increased my energy level during my delivery. It’s the same thing that actors on stage have to do while performing. They need to make sure that their performance can be understood by the people in the back row of the theater.
So break out your video camera and play around some. Try saying something with your normal energy level. Then say it again a few more times but each time I want you do so with more energy. At first this may seem a bit unnatural but try it. Then watch yourself and/or ask others to watch you and see which take they like best.
While you don’t want to sound like a commercial, you can learn from listening to them. There the performers boost their energy, which creates higher level of engagement between them and the audience. In person, you might seem a little strange but with video it’s natural.
If you’re not sure how to get started, think about this while you’re talking: “I can’t wait to tell you about something that will improve your life.” These and other verbal triggers can help you get in the right frame of mind.
As a nonprofit, it can be easy to forget that your donors don’t know everything about you. Think of them as occasional visitors to your world. Social media can be a great way to remind them about your mission and your accomplishments.
Imagine if you took a friend, who is an out of town visitor, to a party. As you go around the room, you make sure your guest is comfortable in every situation and receives any necessary background information so they feel a part of any conversation.
To achieve the same outcome online, use YouTube, Facebook, blogs, and Twitter to maintain a constant flow of information to your donors. In today’s economy, it can be one of the most cost effective moves you can make. Remind them of your mission, what you’ve been able to accomplish, and what still needs to be done. You want to make your supporters proud to stand behind you and feel that they’ve made a wise choice in getting behind you.
Look at everyday events for topics for updates. Has someone recently attended or spoken at a conference? Tell your donors the most interesting thing that happened there. Has your organization received any certifications lately? While this may seem dull, it lets people know that others rate you highly. And how has the economic slowdown impacted your clients?
Silence is bad news for a nonprofit so keep the dialogue going through social media.
Pat yourself on the back for using video as a social media tool. It’s a great way to increase the relationship between your organization and your supporters. You can post your clips on YouTube and then distribute them through your blog and Facebook page. But sometimes video can create some challenges. n segments where someone from your team talks directly to the camera, do you notice that they may seem a a bit stiff?
Here’s a suggestion to make them seem a bit more normal and appealing to your viewers: After you’ve got a good take on your camera, do another. In most cases I bet it will be better than your last one. The reason is that you get to do a take knowing that you’ve already got a useable one “in the can.” This knowledge takes away some of the pressure to perform. You’ll relax and be less worried about being perfect.
It’s a trick movie directors and actors have done for years. First you cover your bases with a usable take. Then you try something new. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t. But it give you options, so you’re not stuck with something that doesn’t represent your organization very well.
Video is a great social media tool in that it doesn’t cost you any more to try something different. Let me know if this strategy works for you. I’d love to showcase some before and after examples.
Why not use social media to answer some of your organization’s frequently asked questions. Write the answers as a separate posts on your blog. Voila, you’ve got some really good content online. And remember you can also link your blog to your Facebook page to increase your exposure.
This not only strengthens your blog but also provides you with an additional resource. You can now direct people to go to your blog for answers to questions like, “How do I find your building,” “What population do you serve,” and “How much of my donation pays for the cost of administration?”
The beauty is that you get to control the discussion. You’ll keep your supporters from going off on tangents that can waste staff time and lead to misunderstandings.
The other day I heard about a nonprofit that was using social media. I clicked my way to see how and what the group was doing. Sure enough the agency was using Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. It also had some other features on its website designed to promote interaction between the group and its followers. So far, so good.
But when I checked out the group’s Twitter page, I noticed a potential problem. In my opinion, the agency is using Twitter too much. On several days there are at least five new posts . That’s a lot for your supporters to digest. Remember, they’re likely following other groups and people. From what I’ve found, if you send out too many tweets, you may get tuned out.
Imagine how you’d feel if your phone rang five times a day with news from a friend. Now imagine that happening every day. You can have too much communication sometimes.
The good thing is that the posts were good. I think they need to be spread out a little more over the calendar. Five updates a day seem like too many to me. I think one or two works best. Share your best material and build up a reputation for having strong content. Sometimes it’s best to leave your audience wanting more.
Some nonprofits are a bit shy about embracing social media. And sometimes it’s for good reason. I don’t want you to be like a lot of places where they start the project but soon become frustrated and then drop it, swearing never to return again. In today’s economy you can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity to strengthen the ties between you and your donors.
With that in mind, I have a homework assignment for you. I want you to come up with at least five outcomes from your social media strategy.
Reallythink about what you want to get out of it.
Next, back up from there and determine how much staff time will need to be invested in the project. Can you make a long term commitment to this process?
Finally, plan out what you want to do during your first few weeks online before you get started. You may want to stockpile some content. That takes some of the pressure off you. This way you can see if you need to adjust staff time or decide whether you want to increase or decrease your social media activity.
Here’s an example of a quick YouTube video you can use to boost your nonprofit’s social media profile. Take a look:
I had an event. I then shot it with an ordinary camcorder. I added some narration and edited it all together on my computer. Voila! I’ve got a mini-news story. This is a great promotion tool for your supporters. The room where the event took place was pretty noisy. Otherwise I probably would have tried to have gotten a soundbite from someone I would have interviewed.
This clip can be posted to your blog and to your Facebook profile. So for less than a couple of hours of work, you can produce a high quality product.
Posted by Ken Okel 
