Engaging People with Film

EDITORS NOTE: Taken from my post here.

What’s the top thing you can do this year to engage your constituents? Both online and off? Quick, what springs to mind? Well I’m here to tell you that it should be video.

If you are going to do one new thing in 2011 to help get the word out about your organization’s mission, it should be to create a video. Lights. Camera. Help. Now sure, as the creator and co-founder of my own nonprofit called Lights. Camera. Help., I may be a little biased!

Lights. Camera. Help. is the world’s first nonprofit focused on helping other nonprofits do good through film. We do this through our education programs, volunteer match programs, screenings and our annual film festival. But what I am here today to do is share three tips to help you get your first project up and running.

1. Check out the Flip Video Spotlight from the folks over at Flip Video. This really cool program lets you buy cameras at a two-for-one price break. All you have to do is tell them, in under 500 words, why your nonprofit deserves to be in the program.

2. Now that you are starting to film, check out Creative Commons to find amazing work to build upon—not everything you shoot needs to be video. Find some amazing photos and even music to mix in for free over at http://search.creativecommons.org/. And, they are a nonprofit just like all of us!

3. Now that you are starting to put together your first video, you may be starting to think “Where should it go?” Check out the amazing YouTube Nonprofit Program. I think having your video on the #2 search engine in the world would be a good place to start, right? Just be sure to check out the rules they have for nonprofits and the types of videos they accept. So what are you waiting for?

In the meantime, check out the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival for a little inspiration. For the net2thinktank crowd!