Nothing is Impossible- New video for the Global Women’s Water Initiative
“A single drop of water can start a wave.” From the first moment I gave Gemma Bulos a hug upon meeting her this summer at the Dell Social Innovation Lab, I knew I’d met someone special. I treasure good huggers. I was so enthralled by Gemma’s energy & story (she travelled for 9 years around the globe with $700), that I wrote a postcard to my best friend who is living in Botswana about her the next day. So when we found out that we were going to be in more »
Top Ten Tips for Creating Contagious Content
Every non-profit wants a viral video; often this is the justification for investing in video in the first place. If your video goes viral, you know it’ll be worth the investment. Often, if this goal is not achieved, organizations become disenchanted with video as a whole. But just giving up is not the smart response. Video is the future of internet content. It’s not going anywhere, it is only going to grow. So instead of throwing in the towel, make a commitment to being more intentional and smart about your more »
What’s this storytelling revolution all about?
A couple weeks ago, I was coming back from a meeting in midtown and I was in the Bryant Park subway station. As I looked around, I realized I was surrounded by stories. But not just the stories of the interesting people around me, but literally the word ‘story’ on ads all over the station. It is clear that we are in moment of heightened cultural awareness about the importance of storytelling. But later, reflecting on these ads, I began to wonder: Why is a larger awareness about the power more »
Video is the First Step, Not the Last
Your non-profit invests a couple thousand dollars into a video. You post it on facebook and your blog and then expect it to go viral. It doesn’t happen and your video gets maybe 200 hits. You’re bummed. All the hard work, and what to show for it? Too many nonprofits just put their video on one or two sites and hope it’ll be seen. Here’s some tips: Create a Distribution Plan Brainstorm with your staff and key supporters about who they have connections to. Find ways to be resourceful and far-reaching. more »
Non-profits: Creating Videos But Not Seeing Results?
We’ve found that while many organizations now recognize the power of video, they find themselves struggling to use it to its fullest potential. So what’s to blame? This week we’ll look at the 3 biggest mistakes non-profits make when creating videos. 1. Eagerness without Intentionality Non-profits are jumping into video, but many don’t have a plan to guide them. The result? Their videos to fail to generate the momentum they’d imagined. Spending time, energy and money on a video that nobody wants to watch just isn’t worth the investment. Videos more »
Video: Why We Are Soft-Wired to Care
“Empathy is grounded in the acknowledgement of death, a celebration of life and rooting for each other to flourish and be.” This video by RSA animate (whose work inspired this video we recently made) features Jeremy Rifkin, political advisor and author, explaining what makes us homo empathicus. He says that we are soft wired for sociability, attachment, affection and companionship. It has a lot to do with mirror neurons, which we’ve talked about before. Because of mirror neurons, when I see another human experiencing an emotion- anger, frustration or joy- more »
How to Make People Give
I recently read Made to Stick, a brilliant book which was recommended to me about ten times until I finally picked it up. It breaks down the key ingredients of ideas that ‘stick.’ One of the elements is that an idea must be emotional. To support this claim, they describe some pretty fascinating research about what puts people in the mindset to want to donate money to a cause. Here’s the study: Researchers gave two groups of people different appeal letters to read. One group got a letter featuring statistics more »
We Wrote An E-book!
Many non-profits recognize that online video storytelling is the most powerful driver of online fundraising. The problem is that after identifying they want video, most aren’t sure what to do next. Many dive in without thinking about what kind of story will garner the response they are looking for. Most don’t know what outcomes they want. Some start by creating completely boring overview videos which explain each of their programs. Others create videos, post them to facebook once, cross their fingers, close their eyes and hope that donations will suddenly start pouring more »
Stories Worth Sharing- Everyday Courage
Good afternoon, friends! It has been a great week for us and we have been thrilled with all the support we have gotten for our reel and Boyu’s Story. Be sure to check both of those out if you haven’t yet. Hope you enjoy these stories we’ve discovered this week- The video is about the Rescue Mission of Trenton and its importance to the individuals they serve. The video is simple, powerful and moving. We found it through this post on The Digital Naturalist which highlights some really great character-centered more »
Bearing Our Souls: Our Reel
I’ll never forget when I realized the power of storytelling. I was twelve. I watched The Deep End of the Ocean, a movie about a woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) whose son is kidnapped during her class reunion. Ironically and devastatingly, she realizes when he is a teenager that he has been living a few streets down from her for the past ten years. I remember sobbing, internalizing the weight of her pain- and my three sisters mocking me for being a crybaby. That night I couldn’t sleep. Michelle’s agonizing loss was incomprehensible more »
