THE INFORMED PHILANTHROPIST

TECHNOLOGY: YouTube: A New Way for Charities to Connect to Supporters

Chronicle of Philanthropy - November 15, 2007

In September, Google's YouTube announced that it plans to dedicate a portion of its video-sharing site to charities. Since that announcement, YouTube has received hundreds of applications from non-profit groups interested in creating their own vido site.

Until now, non-profits used video to publicize their aid projects at annual fund-raising dinners. The target audience of the video was limited to those supporters who attended the dinner.
The annual fund-raising dinner is old world philanthropy. The internet is new world philanthropy. YouTube will provide non-profits with an unlimited audience! YouTube attracts 56 million people per month. YouTube also attracts 10,000 hours of new user-submitted videos per day.

Two questions arise: 1) How can a non-profit create a unique presence in this new form of communication? 2) How can the non-profit realize an increase in donations?

Marketing experts believe that the YouTube video must be short, simple and powerful.The video must be no longer than 3 minutes. In the past year, the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) collected more than 60 hours of video footage from its workers helping AIDS patients in Uganda, tsunami victims in India, and poor residents in El Salvador. The AJWS is now editing these videos in order to show them on YouTube. AJWS's cost was $2,000; this entailed purchasing four video cameras and video-editing software equimpment. AJWS expects to get noticed on YouTube because it will be one of the first Jewish philanthropies to be posted on YouTube's new charity site.

AJWS expects to benefit directly from YouTube's new charity site because the site will allow non-profit groups to attach a Google Checkout donation button to their posted video to allow viewers to make a donation. Google has agreed to process all donations free through the end of 2008.

As the start-up cost is so minimal, small non-profits have the opportunity to create YouTube videos that can be viewed by an unlimited audience. The key is to get in early.