Online Video: Give People Something Worth Sharing

BSD’s video department will be posting a series of tips and tricks for online video over the next several weeks. This is the second entry in the series.

Tip #2: Give something worth sharing. 

It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day routines of your work - whether at a nonprofit, a corporation, or on a political campaign. Your internal projects, events and milestones consume most of your time and attention.  But it's also important to keep in mind that an organization's internal priorities are not always the main concerns of its supporters.

While it sometimes makes sense to document splashy events like fundraising galas for your email list, always think about the concrete actions you want your audience to take.  Is a red carpet affair going to encourage donations and engagement, or is it going to make your supporters feel left out? 

For some organizations' audiences, this sort of event might be exactly the kind of content they want to see - but in our experience, supporters would be more interested in getting an up close look at the good work that their donations fund. 

BSD took this approach with Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit dedicated to fighting hunger in America.  While the organization’s previous video projects focused on raising awareness of hunger issues, they had not always documented their actual programs on camera. 

Our video team spent two days in Maryland and Washington D.C. last fall, talking to church volunteers, middle school teachers, and state officials about the help Share Our Strength provides to children in these communities.  Take a look at the video here: