Clay Myers-Bowman

Sorry: the boat left a long time ago.
photo by Clay Myers-Bowman

Does your nonprofit organization have a video on the front page of your mobile-enable website? If not, you’re missing the boat. In fact, the boat left a long time ago and you’re standing on the pier looking panicky (we called them piers not docks on Lake Wawasee). Of course, you may not even know what I’m talking about. “Vimeo,” you say? “What the hell is that?”

Here’s a short tutorial to help me paint a picture of what I’m talking about.

1. You probably know that a short video (under 5 minutes) is a great way to showcase your nonprofit organization or cause. A video is much more appealing and compelling than a brochure or newsletter. There are literally tens of thousands of examples on the Intertubes.

2. Nonprofits have been using video to tell their story for decades. I produced and edited my first nonprofit video in 1990. It was an overview for an agency that they used at the beginning of United Way tours. It’s hardly a new phenomenon.

3. You know about websites? Right?

4. A report from Pew Research earlier this summer says that 17% of cell phone owners do MOST of their online browsing on their phone. Further: 88% of U.S. adults own a cell phone of some kind … and more than half … (55%) use their phone to go online.

The study characterizes the reliance on mobile phones for Internet access as “not only very fast but widespread,” meaning that more people across age and socioeconomic demographics are increasingly using phones to go online.

5. Finally, another Pew study back in 2011 (ancient history in Internet years) found that 71% of online Americans use video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, up from 66% the previous year. And don’t think we’re talking about wealthy, white, urbanites:

“Rural Internet users are now just as likely as users in urban and suburban areas to have used these sites, and online African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely than Internet-using whites to visit video-sharing sites.”

Bottom line: Your nonprofit organization needs to showcase your leaders, volunteers, events and successes by using videos that are posted and shared on your mobile-enabled website. If you have a cause that matters, you should be using video to tell your story.

Need help doing that? Call me. I’ve been producing, directing, shooting, and editing videos for nonprofits since 1990. I’ve even won contests. You can see a few recent examples below.

How is your nonprofit using video to build your case and engage donors?