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Charities turn to videos to solicit support (excerpt)
By Cristina Maldonado
Starting a dialogue
Consider The Hub, the online video-sharing arm of Witness.org, the human rights advocacy group. Since its November 2007 launch, the site has urged people to "See it. Film it. Change it." The group solicits video from individuals, advocates and organizations to document—with user-made videos or videos made by Hub staffers — incidents of abuse and human rights violations, as told by those on the ground and those being victimized. Videos posted so far on the site tell stories that have included reports of peacekeepers accused of rape in Haiti to a citizen video of a rally outside a Cambodian prison in support of wrongly accused inmates.
Hub manager Sameer Padania says the Hub grew out of Witness's desire to see footage from cell phones and personal cameras shared alongside Witness's existing footage. "If you think about the fact that by year's end there will probably be around a billion PCs in operation around the world, and something like 3.5 billion cell phones, that's another frontier," he says.
But not all nonprofits using video are looking to expose wrongs as much as they're trying to reach out to new supporters and would-be backers and engage them in dialogue. Last month, for example, the Canadian-based international nonprofit TakingITGlobal began spearheading a youth video contest that it and 10 other nonprofits and academic institutions, including the U.S. State Department, are backing. Called the Democracy Video Challenge (DVC), TakingITGlobal is promoting the contest through its Youth Media Exchange, an online video-sharing Web site. DVC is soliciting 3-minute videos from youth around the world. The project asks participants to complete the sentence, "Democracy is…" Says TakingITGlobal's project
coordinator Natalie Rodic: "What's important for us is the discussion that takes place around the videos." The online platform, she says, allows for ongoing global dialogue among peers in one forum —and, perhaps, more likely to appeal to younger generations.
Other nonprofits, meanwhile, are outsourcing their cause videos to more experienced production companies. See3 Communications, a Chicago-based consulting company, is working with causes to produce online video campaigns and teach them how to continue projects on their own. "Even with the current economic challenges," says See3 President Michael Hoffman, "we're seeing a tremendous growth in people budgeting for this work because they understand that those who effectively tell their stories will gain the mindshare they need to be successful at fundraising."
Hoffman knows from experience. In 2006, he persuaded Amnesty International USA to launch a video campaign around torture that involved, of all things, humor. Making a reference to the U.S. policy of extraordinary rendition — a term used to describe the transfer of alleged terrorists to countries known for brutal interrogation techniques — the video asks passersby if it's okay to torture people — as long as you, personally, are not doing it yourself. "It got people thinking about the issue," Hoffman said. "By turning (that issue) on its head, it was extremely effective" in raising awareness. |
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"See3's level of experience shows through in the quality of the work they produce."
Barbara West Stone
Vice President for Development
Uhlich Children's Advantage Network (UCAN) |
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