This past Tuesday, I attended the Social Media for Nonprofits Conference in NYC. There’s always great content and discoveries to be made at the #SM4NP Conferences.  They tour around the country and are focused on providing great content and practical, tactical workshops and tools that nonprofits can put to work the next day. Full disclosure: I’m on their Leadership Council but I still know a good conference when I see one.

One of my favorite presentations came from Jereme Bivins and Jay Geneske from the Rockefeller Foundation. They were presenting one of their latest projects: HatchforGood.org. I had known about HatchforGood for a little while now but hadn’t given it a deep dive yet, so I was super excited to get this in-person primer at the conference.

Well, it’s really pretty great and it’s free. As the site tells us, Hatch acts like a concierge, connecting you to a suite of tools and a growing community to help you leverage storytelling to drive social impact and improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable around the world. The concept being that nonprofit’s stories don’t just materialize—they’re strategically planned, they’re creatively crafted, and they’re designed to achieve measurable outcomes.

Hatch has five sections, each designed to help you strategically craft, curate and share stories to drive social impact. As you answer questions, you are provided with suggested tools, case studies and resources that are customized to your needs. These recommendations will always be saved to your profile so you can access them later.
As you build your storytelling profile, you can explore case studies, look for ideas from storytelling thought leaders and even contribute your own. These resources can also be saved to your profile for later use.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of Hatch is that it has an ‘Evaluation’ section, which helps you measure the effectiveness and impact of your work. That’s great news for data-driven organizations and an impetus for those who struggle with metrics to wrap their heads around the impact of storytelling.

Great storytelling tools that make us smarter as organizations don’t come around often so go ahead, sign up and see how others are telling stories. It may inspire you to explore new ways of telling yours.

Hatch is currently in Beta. You can learn more at HatchforGood.org

The post HatchforGood.org helps nonprofits tell their stories appeared first on Socialbrite.

Sharing with your audience on multiple levels is key

Post by Teddy Hunt

Target audience:  Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, marketers, managers, general public.

Nonprofit organizations have to reach their audiences effectively in order to find supporters and donors for the cause at hand. Social media offers nonprofits the very platform they need to get their voices heard, but going the social media route doesn’t necessarily guarantee success. In order for your nonprofit to extend their social reach, here are a few pointers that’ll help turn your nonprofit into a social media darling.

Get your story out there

As a nonprofit organization, you’re always working on telling your nonprofit’s story to your social media audience in the best way you can. You need to let your followers know what you’re trying to accomplish in a straightforward way while also giving your mission a personal touch.

There are many ways to go about telling your nonprofit’s story, but no matter how detailed you get with your mission, always remember the three w’s: who, what, and why. Who is it your nonprofit is helping, what is your nonprofit doing to accomplish its goals, and why has your nonprofit chosen its charitable field on a personal level?

Say, for instance, your nonprofit is trying to end world hunger. When campaigning on sites like Facebook and Twitter, your nonprofit should introduce itself socially by:

• Describe who it’s helping — Is your non-profit trying to end hunger in a specific region, country, or on a local level? The sooner your nonprofit describes who it’s trying to help, the faster followers will respond to your efforts.
• Explain what it’s doing — Is your nonprofit involved in local food drives or money-raising events? How will those funds reach those in need? By describing your nonprofit’s process, your organization will look more professional and responsible, which helps build trust and makes followers more likely to respond.
• Explain why your nonprofit  is doing what it’s doing — Is your organization trying to end hunger because it’s affecting a specific community, or is it trying to help the hunger cause in general? Do you have beneficiary stories you can share with your audience? Giving your nonprofit’s story a personal touch will help others relate to your cause.

Keep your followers in the loop

Whether it’s a social media follower or a longtime donor, the secret that every socially successful brand will tell you is to keep your audience in the loop. This means not only keeping followers updated on your nonprofit’s charitable efforts, it also means sharing everything from your donation goals, to volunteer opportunities, to upcoming fundraising events.

Above all else, staying social with your followers means answering any and all questions that come your way through the social pipeline. Answering your followers’ questions helps keep your audience informed, involved, and feeling like part of the cause. So, reply to all questions and all comments thoughtfully, respectfully, and in a timely manner.

Don’t be afraid to ask

Your nonprofit’s social presence is there to help you reach out to your followers and part of reaching out is asking people to donate. That’s ultimately why you use social media and your followers are well aware of it, so never be afraid to ask for donations via social media come fundraising time.

If you follow all the pointers above and make your cause as engaging as possible, your followers will be more than happy to donate to your NPO. So, the next time you’re need of online donations, call-in donations, or volunteers, ask your social media audience for help and support — you’ll be surprised with the positive response you receive.

Link to your victories

Whether your organization reached a personal goal of signing on a handful of new volunteers or it reached its quarterly fundraising goal early, it’s important to link to all your nonprofit’s victories. Linking to large and small successes could inspire others to get involved, by highlighting how no win is ever too small.

By keeping in mind some of these social media tips , an organization can help build a greater sense of community on their social channels and ultimately grow their following.

The post How nonprofits can extend their reach & build community appeared first on Socialbrite.

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, marketers, managers, general public.

We talk a lot about the newest ways to connect with our supporters and donors, all the latest digital marketing trends and apps that are aimed to engage, build community and inspire. But one of the things we don’t talk about that much is vulnerability and the inherent power that it has over getting a story to stick and helping to build trust, loyalty and openness in our digital communities.

I recently attended Erwin Penland’s seventh annual Food For Thought conference in Greenville, South Carolina. Food for Thought is an “unconventional convention” that celebrates the intersection of creative thinking, digital marketing, entrepreneurialism, social responsibility and food. The three-day conference brings together some of the country’s leading entrepreneurs, innovators, thought leaders and chefs.

One of the things that really stuck with me is how many of the presenters courageously shared personal and professional stories, and came from a place of deep vulnerability in front of their audience. It was arresting, surprising and deeply engaging. You could hear a pin drop during many of the presentations. Not your typical plenary, to be sure. I couldn’t stop thinking about these presenters and their stories; their stories somehow became my stories. It made me want to learn more about them and share what I had learned with others.

How to build trust and engagement in our online communities

The stories these speakers shared, from Catherine Hoke, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Defy Ventures, who shared not only redemption stories of the formerly incarcerated beneficiaries her organization helps, but also her own stunning tale of loss and redemption – to Scott MacEachern, the creative force behind the LIVESTRONG brand, who shared not only the remarkable trajectory of that campaign, but his own personal and professional journey of loss and betrayal when much of the LIVESTRONG brand was called into question.

These speakers were raw, emotional and brazenly honest, and it got me thinking – how do we bring that level of vulnerability into our storytelling and into how we build trust and engagement in our online communities? How can we dare ourselves to be more transparent, more courageous, and therefore, more memorable? I think often we feel we need to be fun, serious, teach, share – and we should – but what if we brought in more vulnerability and honesty to our work? What effect would that have on your relationships with your supporters?

Well, it certainly gave me a lot to think about this week. Here are five potential ways you can bring more of that vulnerability into your work:

1Sharing your organization’s wins and triumphs is super important, but building a strong community foundation built on trust means you share your wins and some of your struggles or losses. How can we challenge ourselves to be more transparent? We gain respect and increased support when we share our struggles with our real life networks. Social media community engagement is no different.

2Ask your community for what you need in a humble and honest way – you’ll probably be surprised by the response.

3Ask for feedback from your community. Open yourself to getting deeper, more meaningful feedback from your supporters. What do you really want to know about your community? Challenge yourself to ask more meaningful questions.

4Introduce your team! This one seems like a no-brainer but we often don’t do it. Introduce your staff, volunteers and board. Throw up a fun photo or two of them. Interview them on why they’re passionate about what they do.

5What if at the end of the year, along with our impact and annual reports, we included a list of things we wanted to achieve but fell short on? Do you think we’d get dinged, or potentially open ourselves to the opportunity of being supported and funded on the things we couldn’t get traction on? That’s my “vulnerability challenge” to you.

Any other ways you can think of to add openness and vulnerability to your work?

The post The power of vulnerability on our social communities appeared first on Socialbrite.

Why nonprofits need to tell their stories by creating new content

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, marketers, journalists, general public.

I‘ve been to dozens of nonprofits’ offices, but there’s a phrase I’ve never heard uttered even once: content marketing.

Sounds kind of mysterious, doesn’t it? But when you strip it down to its essence, content marketing is just a way for organizations to tell their stories.

I was interviewed, along with marketer Greg Jordan, about content marketing for nonprofits at a new podcast from the Content Marketing Examiner moderated by publisher Martin van der Roest. Here’s our conversation:

To get discovered online, you must create fresh content

Some highlights from the podcast:

• Don’t be put off by the term “content marketing.” The marketing landscape has evolved with the realization that all nonprofits and businesses are media entities now. If you have a nonprofit or business with an online presence, guess what? You’re a media publisher. For people to find you through search, you have to create content. The webinars I give for CharityHowTo cover search engine marketing in part and explain why keywords are critical to your nonprofit or business.

• Content comes in many forms, from blog posts and Facebook updates to Pinterest pins and Twitter tweets (I’ve never liked the term “micro-blogging” so won’t use it here).

• Don’t get hung up on crafting perfect content. Don’t get frozen by writer’s block. As my partner John Haydon likes to say, Done beats perfect.

• Greg Jordan made an important point: Before you begin, start with identifying your business goals. Write them down, make them something that’s attainable, realistic and worth achieving. And measure them, little by little.

• I suggested trying to find individuals who represent your cause or brand. Ask if they’d be willing to share their stories. Have someone inside your organization, or a contractor, come in and capture those stories on video, on audio or in text. By bringing your story down to the individual level, you make it universal.

• Consider asking people in different parts of your organization, in a respectful way, whether they’d be interested in sharing their skills and passions. Do they blog in their off-hours? Do they shoot photos or video on the weekend? Are they willing to attend an event you’re putting on to help capture it and share it in social media?

• Greg reminded us that it’s not just about creating your own content. It’s about sharing others’ content and updates.

What would you add about storytelling or content marketing for organizations?

Related articles on Socialbrite

• 8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling
• 10 secrets to video storytelling success
• Step-by-step guide to creating a media strategy
• Complete guide to creating a video project
• How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video
• How nonprofits should be using visual storytelling
• How to create high-quality Web video interviews
• Visual storytelling checklist

The post Content marketing: We’re all media publishers now appeared first on Socialbrite.

How 15-second videos are taking advocacy campaigning to the next level

This is the third part of a series on how nonprofits can use video. Also see:
• Part 1: What to consider when investing in video
• Part 2: 7 top video editing tools for nonprofits

Guest post by Mike Kondratick
Director of Strategy, See3 Communications

Nothing tells the real, impactful human stories of actual constituents like video. In the years that I spent as an advocacy program director, collecting user-generated video from our supporters – advocate stories, testimonials, and messages to legislators – was always high on the priority list.

These programs, no matter how well conceived or how good our intentions, were always difficult to manage. Folks would use a variety of ways to capture the video: Flip cams, their laptop’s camera, their smartphone, etc. The video got back to us in different ways: email, links to YouTube pages, posted to our Facebook fan page, etc. Organizing the footage to make the desired impression on potential advocates and/or legislators was a time suck. And, regardless of how well we crafted message points for our supporters to simplify the process and make it less stressful, the video that came back had varying levels of usability. In short, these programs were a hot mess.

Enter Viddy, the latest mobile-based, social video collection/sharing app. Viddy has created a platform that streamlines and simplifies video production, collection, and display. And, in my opinion, it’s the best available tool right now for advocacy organizations to make user-generated video campaigns at once easier to manage and more impactful.

This post won’t focus on the laundry list of Viddy’s features. You can find good feature-based reviews and comparisons of Viddy vs. Socialcam elsewhere. I’ll note only the features that I think make this app unique for use in the nonprofit and advocacy space.

A focus is on keeping mobile video short & simple

Viddy’s focus is on keeping mobile video short and simple — in other words, perfect for users with varying levels of experience and comfort with video. In fact, it’s been described as “the Instagram of video.” Setting up your organization’s presence couldn’t be easier. Just go to Viddy.com or download the app from the AppStore, enter a username and password, and upload your logo. (Viddy video can only be collected via mobile device, so regardless of where you sign up, you will need to download the app.) The main drawback, as of now, is the lack of an Android version, but that’s coming soon. The sign-up process for your supporters will be just as easy. Finding and following other organizations and friends requires a simple search.

The video collection process is where Viddy really shines. Response rates from advocates on video asks are low for lots of reasons — the biggest being that people are just going to be nervous capturing themselves on camera. Though Viddy can’t change this aspect of human nature, it does smash many of the other barriers.

First, it limits the length of any video to 15 seconds — a limit that does not exist on Socialcam. Some are going to look at this as a drawback, but to me it’s a key differentiator. After you spend some time looking at the video on the Viddy platform, you start to realize just how long 15 seconds really is and how much you can communicate.

Returning to my advocacy program experiences, no matter how few message points we gave people for their videos or how well-written those points were, our supporters always stressed over ‘performance’ aspects—how to combine the points, how long they needed to talk, etc. Because the video ask was still so amorphous in their minds, few attempted it. A 15-second limit provides all the structure you need. There’s only time for a name, key message points, and an ask for a legislator (or a one or two sentence story). A short time limit reduces the level of effort and stress.

Do you really need more than 15 seconds from an advocacy video?

This also got me thinking about just how many times I needed more than 15 seconds from an advocacy video. I couldn’t really think of any. Whether it was a testimonial for our program or one of our events, a message urging a legislator to support our issues, or a thank you message for a legislator, pretty much all of them could be accomplished in 15 seconds or less. And, invariably, I’d find myself having to edit down the longer videos I did get to combine them with other clips or to fit with typical short attention spans that people have with most online platforms.

Second, Viddy provides just enough in the way of production effects to improve the overall video quality without overwhelming the user. As you get ready to shoot, it gives you tools to track your audio and light levels —just enough to make sure the video looks good. After the video is completed, you have only three options (should you want them): choosing a thumbnail image, adding a visual effects package, and choosing a soundtrack.

The troubles I described above with collecting and managing the video I received? Viddy solves these as well. Each Viddy production can be tagged. So, you can give your supporters specific instructions to tag their video with your organization’s name, an issue name and/or a legislator’s name. As these videos are completed, they’ll show up in your feed (assuming you’re following your supporters). You can also search by tag to see your videos nicely grouped. The quality of the videos will also be consistent since they’ll all be generated by the higher-quality video cams available on iPhones and, soon enough, Android-powered phones.

Social sharing with Viddy, as you’d expect, is also very user-friendly. You can quickly share your advocates’ videos on your organization’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+ page. (The one caveat I noted is sharing through your organization’s fan page. You can do this through Viddy.com using your page admin’s Facebook accounts but, from what I see, you can’t do this through the mobile app. Let me know if this is possible in the comments below.) You can also grab the embed code for your website or blog. Through the mobile interface, you can also quickly post the video to your Tumblr or share it via SMS.

To be sure, I’d like to see additional features added over time, most notably the ability to include overlays to drive additional advocacy actions. And, for Viddy to be a feasible mobilization platform the Android version will need to be reality. But once that happens, issue campaigners will have a widely available platform that:

1. Limits the stress of video collection by providing a short time limit
2. Provides for a higher level of quality by using higher-quality video cams and basic production effects
3. Makes video collection and organization drop-dead simple
4. Facilitates social media campaigns around user-generated video by making social sharing quick and easy

How can Viddy help your cause?

Think about how Viddy can build your video library and how you can roll this user-generated content into your future video projects and production. Mashups of constituent messages? Check. A wall of advocate message videos on your website? Check. A quick solution to create video contests? Check. A constant stream of simple and direct advocate testimonials? Check.

Has your organization tried Viddy for an advocacy campaign? What do you think of the overall feature set? Share your thoughts with us below!

The post Video for your cause: Get giddy over Viddy appeared first on Socialbrite.

Hardware & software for telling your organization’s story through video

This is the first of a three-part series on nonprofits’ use of video. Also see:
• Part 2: 7 top video editing tools for nonprofits
• Part 3: Video for your cause: Getting giddy over Viddy

Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, journalists, video producers.

Guest post by Stacy Laiderman
Senior Producer, See3 Communications

I‘m going to let you in on a little secret: Producing video in-house at your organization isn’t as scary as it sounds. More than ever before, organizations are using video as their primary vehicle for communicating their issues and telling the stories of their cause while the tech becomes easier for laymen to use. That’s not to say that you don’t need at least one professionally produced video. You do.

But organizations rarely have the budgets to hire pros to create every piece of video content. Creating your second-tier video content in-house is within reach. First, you need to know how to navigate the galaxy of good, bad and in-between products that is the video marketplace.

Here’s a roundup of gear and other things to think about from a seasoned producer’s point of view.

Before you think of buying gear

Before delving deeply into the best type of gear for organizational video, let’s play devil’s advocate. This is a question that applies mostly to small and medium-sized organizations that may be hesitant to shell out $3,000 to $4,000 for a decent professional video production system: Does your organization have the human resources to create videos?

I’m not talking about tacking on video production tasks on to your communications department’s already hectic steep list of to-dos. Does your organization have an individual or team that is motivated to produce videos? If not, that should be your first investment.

One of my production associates at See3 also teaches photography. He told me, “I meet a lot of hobbyists and amateur photographers in class, but one of the largest groups of people who come in are folks who wanted to help their company with their photography skills.” As an employer, one of the most empowering things you can do before buying a killer camera kit is to first see who in your organization is interested in helping to produce videos — then motivate that individual or team by investing in training and classes for them. Empower your people with the fundamentals to create good video stories and help them learn the production process. The right gear is only as good as the people who are confident enough to use it.

That said, let’s talk about the equipment.

Audio

Audio is key. In fact, it’s often more important than visuals. Remember one thing: People will watch bad video with good audio but won’t watch even the best-looking video if the audio sucks. If you went to see “Transformers” in the theater and couldn’t hear the dialogue (and clearly, the amazing dialogue is the best part of any Michael Bay movie) or the explosions, you’d walk out, right?

If you’re on a tight budget, the onboard mic is okay for interviews in quiet rooms with subjects less than 4 feet from the camera, and for recording ambient sound. But if you’re planning anything more than that, you need to get a wireless mic pack.

The Lectronics systems are the best, and the EW-100 from Sennheiser is also great. If you’re going to use wireless audio in an urban environment, don’t spend less than $800. Seriously, anything else and you will be throwing money out the window.

A lower cost option is to grab a wired lavaliere microphone for $200, which will suit most sit-down interview situations.

Recommendations for quick and dirty ‘pocket’ shooting

These are some simple products that most NPOs should familiarize themselves with. They’re small, inexpensive and good choices for your people in the field who need to point and shoot on the fly.

The iPhone: Seriously, this is one of the best low-fi options out there. You can also set up your phone to host a live stream event. Just know that the zoom on these lo-fi devices don’t work well, so when filming you need to be in the action, otherwise everything will come out looking distant. Don’t forget a mini-tripod where suitable.

If you’re looking to move up a little:

Kodak Zi8 camcorder: While there are some cameras out there with better image quality, the Kodak Zi8 gives us above average quality HD video and the ability to record better sound than a camera with on-board microphones. The Kodak also gives the option of using external memory cards making data transfer easier and less dependent on having a charged camera battery.

Sony EMC-T6 (audio): This small external mic will yield higher quality sound than the built-in mic, allowing subjects to record voice over and other important dialogue.

Conservatively, the total cost per package is about $300.

Consumer grade products

These are a wide variety of retail models that you can find locally or products that people in your organization might already own. When using these, consider the following:

• The No. 1 thing when looking at cameras is that you check the resolution size to make sure you can get at least 1080p quality.
• These days, most consumer cameras are tapeless, so make sure to figure out how much memory you’ll need and that you have a HD backup.
• Also, make sure your camera allows for an external microphone plug-in, in case you want to upgrade in the future. Hint: you will.

Recently, I was working on a project in Ecuador’s Cloud Rainforest and knew that I didn’t want to bring the most expensive high end gear. Also, I just didn’t need it! I shot on the Canon Vixia S20 series and loved it. The only nit to pick with this model is that most of the controls are on the screen, which can be a little cumbersome. This model is no longer available new, but you can always buy used, or the newest generation – the Canon Vixia HF M500 – for $528.

Pro gear

If you’re trained and ready to start creating video on high-end equipment — and have the budget! — consider the JVC GY-HM100U. It has a few major features that make it better and more cost effective for your department over the long run.

• JVC has just launched the HM150u, starting at $2,250. Check out its features.
• It records in a more universal XDCAM format while can be edited natively by most computers and software, without the 10x increase in file size of AVCHD.
• The camera has an SD card slot so you can back up your files in the field; JVC was the first company to implement this. This is a huge asset due to the volatile nature of digital data. The upgraded model allows you to record to both memory card slots at the same time)
• Many of the major camera controls are ergonomically located on the camera body and highly accessible, not buried in the menus. This is a big deal because you never want to have to search for small things like white balance or audio settings in the middle of a live event or interview. Those buried camera settings can cause you an aneurism in a tight situation.

Side note: Make sure to buy extra camera batteries. You can’t shoot an all day event with 60 minutes of juice.

DSLRs

Now I know everyone reading this blog post is probably wondering about DSLRs. Yes, DSLRs are an option and they are great. In fact, I will say they are beautiful! But ask yourself what you’re using it for. DSLRs are not the preferred choice for “run and gun” situations. To be sure, if you have a trained staffer and need top-quality content, it will produce beautiful images for your organization. To realistically use the DSLR for most situations you either have to have the Olympic gold in holding a camera steady or you need all the bells and whistles that essentially turn the DSLR into a shoulder mount professional camera. In the long run, by the time you have the lenses and peripherals you need to get 100% out of your DSLR, you’ve spent the equivalent of a Sony EX-3 (a very expensive camera).

I personally use the Sony – NEX7. I love it for the pocket size body but I can still add interchangeable lenses. The audio on it, like most other DSLR Canon and Nikon cameras, is terrible. So I also had to buy a separate Tascam DR-05 recorder.

See3 has the Canon 60D which is more of a traditional DSLR body and has a Tascam DR-100 as well.

Remember, if you are recording audio separately you will need to sync up your image in post production. Our recommendation to help you do this faster than a speeding bullet is to use the PluralEyes plug-in ($149) for your editing tool.

Considerations when integrating video gear with an editing solution

What format does the camera record in and is it compatible with your editing software? Here’s a scenario that has created many a money pit and bottleneck in people’s post-production: A camera records in the AVCHD format, which is a format that cannot be natively edited on most software (with the exception of Adobe Premiere). You must first convert the file then import it into the software you are using to edit. Sounds simple, but here is the catch: If you have 1 hour of footage, that is about 8GB. It will take you roughly 3 hours to convert the footage, and the resulting converted files will be about 10x the size at 80GB. This is a huge post production burden and you will end up burning through a lot of time and buying a lot of hard drives to store these huge files. So based on this example, every time you shoot 1 hour of footage you are committing to 3 hours of compression time in which a computer is tied up, plus about $80-$100 for a hard drive to store that footage.

Editing software recommendations

Adobe Premiere Elements 11 ($99) is terrific entry level editing software. For more advanced users, Adobe Premiere Pro ($750) is a fine choice. Adobe works on both Mac and PC and is what most smaller post-production agencies are moving toward with the recent changes in Final Cut.

If your organization is already using Adobe Elements in house, you can purchase the cloud package, which gets you the entire creative suite for $50 a month. The benefits are you will never have to upgrade again and there is an attached cloud storage solution. This is not big enough for all of your footage, but it is a great place for an archive of final products.

Get started – don’t sweat the hardware

Ultimately, it’s about how you tell your story, not the tools you tell it with.

Just remember: A camera doesn’t take good picture, and sound devices don’t get good sound unless the driver knows how to get it and has a story in mind. Whatever you do, be motivated and work with equipment you are comfortable with. And before you even press record, know why you’re filming, what you are filming and what it will do for you as an organization!

The post What to consider when investing in video appeared first on Socialbrite.

How your nonprofit can capture the best stories on camera

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, brands, educators, video producers, Web publishers, storytellers, individuals.

This is part 2 of a two-part series on video storytelling. Also see part 1:
• How to find amazing, powerful stories for your nonprofit video

By Lindsay Oberst
Socialbrite staff

Stories are a great tool, which nonprofits too often don’t take advantage of. Whether you’re running a campaign or conveying your organization’s mission by spotlighting the people you help, you should be thinking about how to find stories that move people to action.

Once you uncover those stories, it can be hard to get people to tell them on camera and to get the details needed to make an awesome, powerful story. But by following the suggestions below, you can come away with great visual stories that should resonate with your community. And remember, a photo collage with a voiceover can be just as effective as a traditional video.

The following are tips from people who regularly make videos for social good, including Chris Yates of Huddle Productions, Cara Jones of Storytellers for Good, Tritia Pocci, who has created strategy for marketing media content, and Danielle Bernstein of Clear Films.

1Understand your goal. Think about what you want to accomplish with the video: Enlighten people about a cause? Move them to action? Don’t muddy it up with multiple missions. Have a plan.

2“Research, research, research,” Pocci said. Take the time to be inspired, know your subject and figure out what will work in your video.

3Keep it really simple. “Start with a simple storyline, get clear about the message you want to communicate and visualize the most concise way to convey this message through an interview beforehand,” Pocci said.

4 Don’t bring notes to the video session. This will help the person on camera feel more at ease and will cut down on distractions. “Subconsciously they’ll think they’re being interviewed and they’ll clam up,” Yates said. So just memorize a few key points that you want to cover. Adds Pocci: “Interviews can take on a life of their own, and sometimes that is where the magic happens.”

5Don’t have the person look directly at the camera if your subject will be sitting down. Place yourself to the left or right and have them look at you. This will help them feel more comfortable as they talk.

6Work with only a two-person crew: a videographer and an interviewer. “I generally start these conversations while the videographer is setting up and just have him or her tap me on the shoulder when the camera is rolling,” Jones said. But remember: You can be your own crew, too, and do a one-on-one interview.

7Use people who want to be on camera. “They are generally the most articulate and comfortable,” Jones said.

8For reluctant storytellers, Jones advises motivating them by providing them with a larger sense of purpose. “They may need to be reminded that by telling their story they can help the nonprofit raise funds or reach out to others in their shoes,” she said.

9Put them at ease — start the interview with a subject they feel comfortable talking about. “Even if it’s totally unrelated to the interview topic, this will help them get used to being on camera,” Jones said.

10Discuss sensitive subjects ahead of time. If you’re dealing with difficult subjects, talk beforehand to the person about what they feel comfortable talking about. “This instills a sense of trust and allows them to be prepared for difficult questions,” Jones said.

11Remind people that you have endless tape. “I always remind people that if they don’t like something they say they can start over again … and again,” Jones said. “If they are getting stuck on something, I find a different way to ask the question to put them more at ease.”

12Shoot some footage of them doing what they love to do. You can shoot them sitting down and talking with you, but you may want to break that up with shots of them doing instead of just talking — say, teaching a workshop, or working in a greenhouse.

13Look for the right chemistry. Sometimes the person with the story is not who you’d expect. Pocci cites the lead singer and lead guitarist from the hair band Poison. One has a sassy, gregarious, carefree personality, the other tends to the pensive, serious side. Which is better suited for your video?

14Spend time with people. Get to know them a bit better before you start in cold on an interview.

15Be confident. Steer the interview in the direction you want it to go. If the discussion meanders, pull it back to achieve what you want to accomplish.

16Show respect for the person telling their story. Be sure to thank them and let them know when it will appear online.

What tips do you have for getting people to tell stories?

Photo credits:
• Image at top by jsawkins
• 2nd Image by newmediaconsortium
• 3rd image by Repoort
• 4th image byDplanet::

Related

• Guide to shooting better online video (Socialbrite)

• 8 tips to help you shoot video like a pro (Socialbrite)

• 4 ways to tell a visual story for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• Mash up a visual story for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• A quick guide to multimedia software (Socialbrite)

• Complete guide to creating a video project (Socialbrite)

• More resources to help your organization create media (Socialbrite)

The post 16 tips for making video interviews come alive appeared first on Socialbrite.

Guest post by Kristy Graves
TechSoup Global

Storytelling is one of the most powerful vehicles to convey your organization’s message. This month TechSoup Global and a number of digital media experts are helping the nonprofit community learn how to hone your storytelling chops.

Starting Thursday, Jan. 13, join TechSoup’s Digital Storytelling Event. Participate in webinars, online events and discussions to learn how to tell your organization’s story through video and photos. Then, create a digital story showcasing your organization’s work and submit it for a chance to win prizes, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Flip Video Slide HD or an Optoma Pico Projector. No production or storytelling experience is necessary – this online lab will teach you how.

Head over to TechSoup’s Forums to learn how to start storytelling. Then, use the digital story you created and put those new skills to good use. Here’s the overview:

What

The second annual Digital Storytelling Challenge. Create a 60-second YouTube video or five-panel image story on Flickr, telling us about your organization. Training and resources provided by TechSoup and its partners. Prizes for the top three submissions from Flip Video, Flickr, Adobe and more. See full details.

When

This is a series of online-only virtual events.

Jan. 13 to 31: Submit your entries.

Jan. 13: First Webinar, How to Tell Your Digital Story, with Michael Margolis of GetStoried and Rob Kershaw of the Center for Digital Storytelling

Jan. 20: Second Webinar, Tools for Digital Storytelling, with social entrepreneur Melissa Jun Rowley

Jan. 31: Close of submissions

Feb. 23: Screenings, awards and mixed reality event, more details coming soon

Who

Any nonprofit or social benefit organization. All experience levels welcomed.

Cost

Free!

Visit the Digital Storytelling Challenge page for more details, instructions/guidelines, see the expert judges, and other ways you can participate.

Follow along, RSVP and join the community online:

Twitter: #TSDigs

Facebook: TechSoup 2nd Annual Digital Storytelling Challenge

LinkedIn: TechSoup Global Digital Storytelling Challenge

If you’d like to get in touch, feel free to reach out to the TechSoup team at tsdigs@techsoupglobal.org.

Related on Socialbrite

• Digital storytelling: A tutorial in 10 easy steps

• Digital storytelling from soup to nuts

• How nonprofits should be using storytelling

• Visual storytelling checklist

• Mash up a visual story for your nonprofit

• Create video stories for your nonprofit in 6 steps

The post Storytelling goes digital with TechSoup’s help appeared first on Socialbrite.

Stupeflix & Animoto offer new ways to tell a story

Updated to remove RockYou, which has switched its business model to focus on games, and Slide, which closed up shop in March 2012.

By Kim Bale
Socialbrite staff

In a world where we’re bombarded with 3,000 messages a day, it’s hard for nonprofits and social change organizations to break through the noise and get your message across in just a minute or two. But a new generation of multimedia storytelling tools lets you do just that. You don’t need high-end video editing software — just a compelling message, some good visuals and a knack for mashing up content and music in an eye-catching way.

Three companies that are helping to blaze the new multimedia-meets-Cuisinart terrain include Animoto and Stupeflix. The sites make it simple for you to upload photos — often from existing Flickr or Facebook accounts — add captions and music, and create a finished product that is both professional-looking and affordable.

Photo sharing services like Flickr and Photobucket let you embed a photo slide show — here’s a nice slide show by the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation — and we like those, too. But we love the new breed of multimedia roll-your-own-video sites, which take visual storytelling to another level. You’ll notice that these sites cater to pop culture; don’t worry about that, so does YouTube!

Here’s a look at what they offer:

Stupeflix

Among the most advanced in multimedia technology, Paris-based Stupeflix has a lot to offer. It lets you choose from four basic themes and upload your images from your computer, Facebook, Picasa or Flickr. You can easily arrange your images by using drag and drop and add a soundtrack by choosing files from your own computer. Preview your creation and export it for free or upgrade to a higher quality version for just a few dollars. You can automatically upload it to Facebook or YouTube for no cost, or remove the Stupeflix brand and create own your own commercially licensed video for $5! (Of course, you’ll want to make sure you have the rights to use the music or that you use only a small portion, though this area of fair use is far from settled law. However, if you plan to sell DVDs, make sure you’ve secured the rights to use of all content in the video.)

The video above created by Stupeflix highlights Seedcamp 2008, a gathering of entrepreneurs in Europe. It can be used as marketing material or as a highlight reel of the conference.

Just as interesting, though, is Stupeflix.tv, an aggregation of tweets and Flickr photos updated to the minute and arranged based on topic. Check out this channel on global warming.

Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

One of the mainstays of this space, Animoto enables you to create a video consisting of images, footage and licensed music. On top of that, you can create, download and burn professional, DVD-quality videos. A powerful call-to-action button can be placed at the end of your video, linking viewers back to your site, where you can engage them further in your cause. Nonprofits have the opportunity to apply for a free Pro account, upload their photos and text and see a finished production generated by Animoto.

The American Cancer Society created this powerful video to market their program Camp Adventure. They were able to upload photos, insert text and choose from Animoto’s more than 1,000 available songs to complete the video. Your finished product is immediately available to share via email, Facebook, your website or blog, YouTube and the list goes on.

However, one thing that puzzles and disappoints us about Animoto is that you can’t embed other creators’ videos. This was possible a year ago but the functionality has now been removed. Megan, a member of Animoto’s support team, told us: “Unfortunately, due to privacy/access issues, we can only allow the creator of the video to have access to the embed code.” (In our view, this is a major drawback — certainly for activist organizations — and will likely cripple the leadership role Animoto once had in this space.)

Thus, we can show you the 60-second spot we created for Socialbrite, above, but we can’t show you the following video slide shows:

• JGI Snare Removal Programs by the Jane Goodall Institute

• Save Darfur (note: choose music that complements your subject; we think the blaring rock doesn’t work here)

(Note: An Animoto user points out that if you upgrade to a $5 Pro account, you can download your video, upload it to YouTube and share it. Good solution.)

Fourteen months ago the company released Animoto for a Cause, giving nonprofits and community activists free and unlimited access to the full range of Animoto’s services, both standard and premium. You’ll find 13 cause-related videos on Animoto’s Cause Case Studies page.

Other video mashup sites

Other websites offering animated slideshows include:

• Glogster

• Yodio (warning: annoying audio introduction)

• Kizoa

• Masher

• Photo Peach

• Pixorial

• Slideroll

• Smilebox

Related

• Create video stories for your nonprofit in 6 steps (Socialbrite)

The post How to mash up a visual story for your nonprofit appeared first on Socialbrite.

The importance of storytelling to nonprofits from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Expert gives tips on how to bring causes to life

When it comes right down to it, nonprofits and public-benefit organizations have a hard time telling their own stories. They assume that the public shares their passion for the cause, and so they move on to conveying dry stats and research reports to buttress their case instead.

Wrong approach.

They should be telling stories. Suzanne N. Smith, head of Social Impact Architects in Austin, Texas, discusses why storytelling is so important to nonprofits — and, indeed, any organization. She gave this 15-minute video interview at the recent Social Enterprise Alliance Summit atop the Hyatt in downtown San Francisco.

Says Suzanne: “I’ve seen nonprofits bury themselves in text and data, and we’ve forgotten the stories that are inherent in the work that we do.” Her stirring presentation was about how to surface those stories and balance them with the hard data that makes nonprofits effective and efficient.

Why do nonprofits have a hard time telling their own stories?

“I think we drink our own Kool-Aid and think what we do is such a great idea — why wouldn’t people want to help the homeless or be a mentor? And we forget that … we have to use persuasion and influence … to get people to believe in those same things the way we do.”

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo

Stories are our universal currency, and they help us break through the clutter of the 3,000 messages we’re bombarded with each day, she says. But there’s hard science behind why storytelling is so important. In research on the brain, scientists have found that hearing a story rather than simply reading text fires up a richer set of connectors, it sparks emotions, it summons up connections with memories, and so “you remember things when they’re in a storytelling format two to seven times more than you do than if you just get the text alone.”

Suzanne recommended these books as providing effective communication strategies:

• Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
• Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
• A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
• Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin

Examples of effective storytelling

Smith cites the Red Campaign around HIV-AIDS and breast cancer organizations like Race for the Cure and the pink ribbon as good examples of “identity campaigns” using storytelling that associate an organization with a worthy cause. She also cited NotForSale as an effective campaign for its use of individual stories.

What tactics should small to mid-size nonprofits use? “I’d be a collector of stories,” she says, and making sure people within the organization understand on a fundamental level what the organization’s own story is. “Cut through the clutter and get down to the heart of what it is we want to accomplish.”

She cited the oft-told aphorism: “People won’t remember what you say or what you do, but they’ll remember how you make them feel.”

The post How nonprofits should be using storytelling appeared first on Socialbrite.