A Glimpse of Impact
Oftentimes, working at an purpose driven organization means there’s a lingering question hovering above all your hard work, “Am I really making an impact?” It’s no different for us. We’re solely driven by a desire to make the world a better place. And with video, the impact is often less tangible. A person moved. Inspired. Catalyzed. Not exactly something that can be measured. And then there are the moments. Moments that drive you when the going gets rough. During the late night editing sessions. When your limps ache from more »
“This story will go on and inspire many people.”
The room was a sea of deadpan expressions begging an answer to the question, “Why are we here?” We were at the BRAC Learning Center, the night before our training started, with 32 members of BRAC, coming from all corners of Uganda (one woman travelled 9 hours by bus), Bangladesh and the USA. After the training was completed, Ann, one of the Ugandan participants, explained to me what they were thinking that night, “Everyone was confused. We didn’t understand why we would have a training on storytelling. It was so different more »
How to Create a Culture of Storytelling
Too many people believe that poverty is caused by a lack of money. But BRAC knows better. As the world’s largest development organization, changing the lives of 125 million people around the world, they know that poverty is sustained by a lack of opportunity, not money. We first saw their work in action 2 years ago in the villages of Bangladesh, where we heard unbelievable stories of women rising up and demanding change. They were preventing child marriages. Confronting corruption. Refusing to accept domestic violence. Insisting on political representation- heck, even more »
How to Translate Your Programs Into Compelling Videos
When High Water Women first came to us, the first thing they said was, “We want a video about our program.” We cringed a little bit. As we described in The Starter Guide to Non-Profit Video Storytelling, many non-profits fall into what we call “The Program Trap.” Their videos focus too much on what they do, instead of why they do it. Let’s be honest. Videos about programs end up putting people to sleep instead of making them feel something. We’ve learned that compelling, shareable, money raising videos are about people, not programs. 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 »
The Biggest Mistake (hands down) Non-Profits Make With Video
Yesterday, we started our discussion of the 3 biggest non-profit video mistakes by talking about the danger of eagerness without intentionality. But the biggest mistake is… 2. The Program Trap Creating engaging, sharable videos doesn’t seem to come naturally for most non-profits and I think I know why. Instead of highlighting naturally dynamic stories, non-profits tend to follow their first instinct when creating video. They represent their organization from their own point of view. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been approached by non-profits who tell us they want a more »
Telling a New Story: Black Male Engagement Challenge
Stereotypes are stories. They survive when we hear and believe a certain narrative about who a group of people are and what they do. But storytelling also has the power to destroy stereotypes. When we hear new stories that challenge the story we’ve heard before, it can change the way we perceive one another. Stories like the Welfare Queen/King become ways of justifying structural inequality against those who are already the most marginalized members of society. Stereotypes like this erase the immense effort that is required for people of color more »
New Release- Artist Portrait: RAAM
RAAM made a promise. He had finished art school in Accra, Ghana and was facing an uncertain future. He chose to take a path with no guarantee of success and promised himself that he would do everything he could to make a career as an artist. He began painting shirts and taught himself to sew, convincing local fashion shops to give him their extra scraps of cloth. He experimented with combining collage, paint and dying techniques- all from his parent’s home and began running his own business. He promoted his more »
She Can Tell Her Story Herself
The day we left Ghana, Boyu traveled 3 hours to say good-bye. Her best friend Esther told me that even though she couldn’t afford to finish her secondary education, she has continued learning because most evenings Boyu comes to her house to teach her what she has learned in school that day. That’s the kind of friend she is. She proves she cares with her actions. That last afternoon together, Boyu and I had a long talk. We talked about the uncertainty of our futures and where we want our lives more »
