See What’s Out There

We’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with YouTube to present the 4th Annual DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards! The contest will award a total of $10,000 in grants, funded by the Case Foundation, to the best videos of the year found in the YouTube Nonprofit Program—a special program that YouTube designed to help nonprofits achieve their missions. 


Starting today, submit any video your organization made last year by March 19, when a set of nonprofit and media professionals will select 16 finalists to compete in a public vote among the YouTube community. Awards will go to organizations of all sizes, including a special award for Best Innovation in Video. 


“We are thrilled to partner with YouTube for the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. With this contest, we get to highlight important nonprofit stories and help organizations engage with the YouTube audience,” said Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3 Communications. “In addition, we are grateful to have such wonderful partners who have been trailblazing how nonprofits use technology, video, and social media.” 


Now is your chance to get your nonprofit video featured on the YouTube homepage, receive great prizes from Flip Video and Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN), and have your work showcased at a screening in Washington DC, hosted by Nomadsland.



Winners will be announced on April 10 at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Atlanta.



Visit www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards to enter today!


This year, See3 is playing an active role in Tweetsgiving 2009, a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. Last year, Tweetsgiving raised $10,000 to build a classroom in Tanzania. But as the story behind Tweetsgiving demonstrates, the real focus is not to raise money but to share gratitude all across the web.

Over the next few days, we’re encouraging folks to create a short video of themselves expressing what they’re thankful for this year. All you have to do is upload it to YouTube, tag it with “Tweetsgiving”, and include the tweetsgiving.org URL in your video description.

Watch the instructional video below, as well as three Tweetsgiving videos made by members of the See3 staff.

To see videos that others have created for Tweetsgiving, visit the Epic Change YouTube channel.

Any questions? Write in the comments below.

If you missed your opportunity to donate to a nonprofit on Facebook during “America’s Giving Challenge”, which raised more than $1 million from more than 50,000 donations in 3 weeks, you now have another chance to give on Facebook.

A new program is going live today called the Chase Community Giving Program, between Chase and Facebook.

What this means is:

· For the first time ever, Facebook users will be able to choose from more than 500,000 small and local charities to decide which community organizations they want to receive donations totaling millions of dollars from a corporate philanthropy fund.

· Facebook users, now totaling more than 300 million, will be able to vote for which small and local non profits will receive donations totaling $5 million

· The eligible charity receiving the most votes will be awarded $1 million, the top five runners-up will receive $100,000 each and the 100 finalists, including the top winners, will be awarded $25,000 each

· This $5 million Facebook effort is in addition to the bank’s traditional philanthropic giving, and if successful, the bank hopes to commit more of its annual philanthropy funds using this innovative method of giving.

We’ve already seen a lot of people casting their votes on Facebook, so now it’s your turn!

It’s been a busy start to the week at the 2009 Convio Summit! At the conference, Nonprofit Live TV interviewed See3 CEO Michael Hoffman about creating a video strategy, video as a transaction, and why story still matters.

We also had the chance to speak with Convio staff and users during the three-day event. Watch what attendees took away from the last day of the conference.

If you want to see more of the Convio Summit, take a look at the videos featured on the See3 YouTube Channel.

I recently put together a webinar about how nonprofits can use YouTube effectively. This issue has become much more important than it once was. When YouTube first started, all of 4 years ago, the quality of the video was bad, the audience wasn’t so huge and messages about changing the world just seemed totally out of place amid the poor amateur video that was appearing on the site.

My, how the world changes quickly. YouTube has improved so much in the past few years that looking at the early version would be hardly recognizable. The changes are too numerous to mention but the quality has improved, user control has improved and what people expect to find on YouTube and how they interact with it has also changed.

I have pasted my entire 1-hour webinar below. It has both audio and the slidedeck and I was told it was quite packed with useful info.

If I had to choose a few key takeaways, this is what I would tell you:

1. Search is critical. Not only are YouTube videos showing up in Google first-page results, but YouTube itself has become a top destination for searches. So if you don’t have YouTube videos for your key search terms you are missing out. YouTube is now a CENTRAL part of an effective SEO strategy.

2. The YouTube Nonprofit Program is The Bomb. If you are a US or UK registered nonprofit, and you are not religious or political in nature, apply for the YouTube Nonprofit Program, today. Right now. It gives amazing benefits to nonprofits in terms of branding and functionality.

3. The best part of the YouTube Nonprofit Program is linkable annotations—the ability to put links, anywhere in a video, that actually go to your website. “Donate Now”, or “Sign the Petition” become links that really work. Finally, YouTube has the potential to drive engagement. (You can watch how this works here).

4. No excuses. Even if you don’t have a budget and are stressed for time you can create a channel on YouTube and put videos in it. You can use existing video assets, repurposed video assets and make simple videos using a Flip Video camera or other low-cost consumer product.

5. Spend some time browsing nonprofit videos for ideas about what you can do. Most likely you will come across something with a style or tone that you think is perfectly appropriate for your message. Flatter them and copy their approach.

6. Fill your YouTube Channel with Favorites from complimentary organizations. There are great videos already online that speak to your message. Leverage those also. With the new YouTube channel designs, you can use these as a playlist on your channel.

Here’s the complete webinar. We are collecting questions about YouTube for future posts, so if you have questions, send them to info@see3.net

Without fail, we get a call at See3 every week asking us to produce a “viral” video. “You know”, they say, “a video that will get a lot of views when we put it on YouTube.”

And every week, without fail, there is a sigh and a deep breath among the staff at See3 as we explain that maybe a viral video isn’t what you really need. Maybe, we say, what you really need is a video strategy.

The Siren Song of Viral

Nonprofit organizations work very hard to get their messages in front of new audiences. They work to get people to join their emails lists, to show up to events and to eventually become donors. Unlike other marketing efforts that take the actual hard work of building relationships, viral video seems like a short-cut to organizational riches.

The viral video story goes like this: A video will be uploaded to YouTube and it will (magically) catch fire. People will send it to each other and it will get so many views that it ends up in the “Most Viewed” rotation at YouTube, which will only bring in more views and next thing you know 1 MILLION PEOPLE have watched our video!

At this point in the story I ask, “And so what does that get you?” Well, they say, when 1 MILLION PEOPLE know about us, many will go to our website, sign up and be compelled to donate because our video was so good [funny] [sad] [moving] [powerful].

It’s a nice story, but unfortunately, it rarely works out that way.

Facts about Viral Video

You cannot predict which videos will be viral hits

We never promise viral hits because very few organizations are interested in being edgy enough, or off-message enough, to make their video a must-see. YouTube is littered with videos that the makers had hoped would be hits. The real viral video hits – the ones that get in everyone’s email — are, with some notable exceptions, videos with cute pets, people saying stupid things, sex appeal, and other qualities that rarely have anything to do with a nonprofit mission. (All of us should envy the animal welfare groups, because they have the unfair advantage of cute furry creatures.)

YouTube views do not translate into website traffic.

The average video length on YouTube is about 1.5 minutes while the average session time on YouTube is about 30 minutes. What this means is that the most likely thing to happen after someone watches a YouTube video is that they will watch another YouTube video, not enter in your URL to check out your website.

You need long-term supporters, not 1-minute sympathizers

A consumer product, such as Blendtec, gets a benefit from having lots of videos watched on YouTube because it helps their branding, which in a retail setting, translates into purchases. Nonprofits, on the other hand, are not sitting on store shelves. Organizations need to have online strategies that follow-up initial interest with real engagement over the long term. One successful YouTube video, even if it moves people while they are watching it, does not facilitate this engagement. It can be part of a strategy toward engagement, but it cannot be an end in and of itself.

You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder.

The people who are most successful on YouTube aren’t focused on making a single viral video. They are making a series of videos with a character or a set-up that is interesting and brings people back for more. In other words, they are building an audience through regular production of videos that tell stories. That’s what you should be thinking about. By investing in many videos over a long period of time, you are also much more likely to hit on one that attracts others to join your long-term audience.

People who like to watch kittens in paper bags may actually not be good donor prospects

The first question we ask about viral is, “Viral to whom?” The unspoken viral video assumption is that random people on YouTube are potential donor prospects. Some of them may be, of course. But it is likely that the people who spend a lot of time watching the viral video hits are teenagers, for example. You are better off identifying and speaking more directly to the audience who is most likely to already care about your core issues.

One of our biggest viral video hits was this video for the Maryland State Teachers Association. It only has about 2000 views. How can it be considered a viral hit? Because the goal of the video was to influence a debate about education funding and the state-level policy-makers and journalists that matter in that debate all heard about it, passed it on, and watched it. It worked.

Towards a Video Strategy

Viral is just another way of saying “word of mouth” and at its core it means that people pass the content on to one-another without the need for much intervention from the organization. In this sense, having viral marketing work for your organization is important. If you have really important, interesting things to share – and you share them in creative and interesting ways – then people will pass them on to their friends and increase your marketing effectiveness.

Where you should start with online video is to make a commitment to using this new medium to connect people to your work. You need to think about what the important and interesting things are and ask yourself, “How do we document this work?” You need to ask yourself why do you think what you do is important, and ask your staff as well. You need to then capture – on a regular basis – those important and interesting things. If you can find the funny stories, the creative metaphors, and turn your issue on its head once in a while, so much the better. But please, stop focusing on making a viral video and start focusing on making a viral cause.

For more information about nonprofits and online video, watch the See3 Guide to Online Video.

Last week, Michael Hoffman spoke about online video as part of the “Social Media for Cause Marketers” workshop at the 2009 Cause Marketing Forum.

He spoke about how the web is changing from an electronic brochure to an interactive channel, how video can enhance your existing cause campaigns, and about redefining what “viral” really means. Check out his slidedeck below and leave a comment if you have any follow-up questions.

Social Actions’ Change the Web Challenge is a one-of-a-kind online competition that aims to inspire third-party developers to build innovative tools that make it easy for people to find and share opportunities to make a difference.

See3 is a proud media sponsor of this event which will engage websites, programmers, bloggers and nonprofits around the world interested in using their skills and networks for social change. See the slideshow below for details about the contest (hint: there are exciting prizes!)

For more information visit socialactions.com/changetheweb and check out the google calendar for events. You can also follow @changetheweb on Twitter for the latest campaign updates.

This week I had the pleasure of attending the Feminism2.0 conference in Washington, D.C. It was a one-day event packed full of panels and breakout sessions with leaders from prominent women’s organizations such as Feminist Majority, NOW and NARAL as well as feminist bloggers, artists and activists.

What I liked most about the conference was the diversity of people that attended. It was a great mix of races, genders, ages and because the conference was focused on organizing women online and off, there were techy and non-techy people present.

A major theme that came out of the conference was bridging the gap between old and new activists and using technology to engage the younger audience. Jen Nedeau, my fellow Women’s Rights blogger at Change.org, moderated the panel, “At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off”. She emphasized in her presentation that young activists need to be engaged where they live online with customizable options to participate.

Here’s a video that Nerdette from NotMyGal filmed of that panel (yup, that’s me listening in the background):

Jen mentioned to me after the panel that NARAL Pro-Choice America is a prime example of an organization that is getting Web 2.0 right with their FreeWillPower campaign.

It was great to hear because See3 created the FreeWillPower campaign specifically to appeal to a younger audience and give them ways to opt-in based on their own interests. For example, participants can watch videos, get ringtones for their phones, submit a design to a t-shirt contest, take a quiz about reproductive rights and find information on an interactive map, among other things.

I think Jen is correct in her observation that young people aren’t necessarily going to search out a nonprofit’s website themselves but will be receptive to participating with the tools and social networks they already use every day.

I think a challenge that the feminist and reproductive rights movements face today is how to provide ways for young people to make the cause their own. Luckily, the internet is a great place to connect with this new generation in fun and creative ways.

On February 10th 2009 at the 3LD Art and Technology Center in New York City, social media guru Jeff Pulver is producing SocComm - The Social Communications Summit. At SocComm, they will explore the state of “Social Communications”, where things are headed in the future and where the money is today and will be tomorrow.

The topics at SocComm will span across: Media / Internet / Communications / Entertainment, something Jeff calls the “MICE” space. SocComm will have a mixture of individual talks, on-stage interviews / conversations and a number of “group chat” sessions.

Seating at SocComm is limited. Register and reserve your seat at birth of a new industry. To register visit here.

More information regarding SocComm can be found here.

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SocComm Summit Agenda
(as of Jan 19, 2009)

Feb 9th: 6:30 - 9:30 PM - VIP Dinner (for Speakers + VIP Delegates)

Feb 10th

7:30 - Registration Opens
8:00 - 9:00 - Coffee / Tea + “Real-Time Social Networking”

9:00 - 9:20 - Jeff Pulver, founder SocComm, “Connected Culture”

9:20 - 9:40 - (M) David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor, Fortune Magazine

9:40 - 10:00 - (I) Fred Wilson, Partner, Union Square Ventures

10:00 - 10:20 - (E) Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine Library TV

10:20 - 10:40 - (I) Peter Hirschberg, co-founder + Chairman,The Conversation Group (+ Special Guest)

10:40 - 11:00 - (E) Steve Greenberg CEO and Founder, S-Curve records and Chairman of Nabbr, former President, Columbia Records

11:00 - 11:20 - Morning Break

11:20 - 11:40 - (M) Jeff Jarvis, Associate Professor and Director of the Interactive Journalism program at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.

11:40 - 12:10 - “Will Law and Policy Kill the Social Communications Revolution Before It Starts?” - Glenn Manishin, Partner, Duane Morris LLP; Brock N. Meeks, Center for Democracy & Technology; Peter Corbett, CEO, iStrategyLabs; Beau Phillips, Partner, CLS.

12:10 - 12:40 - (I) “Being a Mom in the Digital Social Evolution”
- Lindsay Maines, Katja Presnal, Audrey McClellan + Beth Feldman.

12:40 - 2:00 - Lunch

2:00 - 2:20 (E) Shelly Palmer, Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group, LLC

2:20 - 2:40 [TBA]

2:40 - 3:00 (E) Kenny Miller, EVP, MTV Networks Global Digital Media

3:00 - 3:30 “Advertising & Social Communications: Demonstrating value to Big Advertisers” - Jeff Greenfield, COO & Co-Founder, C3 Metrics; Anthony Pitts, Director of Strategic Analysis, Burst Direct; Vanessa Branco, CEO, Versa 9

3:30 - 4:10 - (I) “Social Media & Multiple Personality Disorder” - Sandra Fathi, President, Affect Strategies; Rob Key, Converseon; Brian Solis, FutureWorks

4:10 - 4:30 - Afternoon break

4:30 - 5:00 - (C) “Exploring the effects of Social Media on the future of Communications” (Aswath Rao + [TBA])

5:00 - 5:20 - (E) Laura Roeder, “Running the online world of a Real-World celebrity”

5:20 - 5:50 - (E) Social Gaming: Kevin Slavin, Area Code; Monty Sharma, co-founder, Vivox

5:50 - 6:00 Wrap up

6:00 - 7:30 - SocComm Cocktail Party

Note: (M) = Media / (I) = Internet / (C) = Communications / (E) = Entertainment

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(note: schedule subject to change without notice)

Seating is limited.

To REGISTER, visit: http://www.amiando.com/soccomm.html - The cost is US$ 495 for the event and US$ 695 for special VIP Registration. VIP Registration includes access to SocComm as well an invitation only dinner on February 9th and a special VIP lunch on February 10th. There are a limited number of VIP seats available.

Note: Press + Bloggers - please email: jeffp@pulver.com if you would like to attend SocComm.