Should Nonprofits Video Blog?
Posted by Catie Foertsch on Thu, Sep 09, 2010 @ 01:01 PM
We were recently asked a very interesting question: should nonprofits video blog?
The short answer is absolutely yes. Video engages, video connects, video starts conversations, video is spreadable. Video tells stories the way text and photos just can’t. It would be a positive addition to any nonprofit's blog.
However, before you run out and buy a new video camera or web cam, read on. Because things aren’t so simple.
Video blogging is generally understood to mean video of a blogger talking directly to a video camera, so that it looks to viewers like he or she is talking to them. A few years ago, it was the Next Big Thing. But it fizzled, for several reasons. You can read the full story of what happened to video blogging, but here are the bullet points:
- It’s harder than people thought
- It makes most people nervous
- It’s much easier to just type blog posts
So the real answer to “Should nonprofits video blog?” is Yes, they should, but they probably won’t – IF they keep thinking about video blogging as themselves talking to a video camera.
Another way to look at video blogging is using video in your blog. Any kind of video - doesn’t have to be video of you. It can be video of your volunteers cleaning up the parking lot or serving lunch. It can be video of the puppies you’re trying to find a home for, or video of the kids in your afterschool program, or the veteran who’s learning to play the flute. Or anything at all, as long as it tells a small story about what your nonprofit is doing today.
So go ahead and buy that video camera. Make plans to use video in your blog. And don’t worry about being nervous, because you don’t have to be in the video. Unless, of course, you want to be.