While packing your bags to head off to camp this summer, don’t forget your video camera(s)! You’re already going to take lots of great photos. You’re probably already planning to get some basic video footage of kids at camp and the incredible sunset over the waterfront, too. If not, please read this recent blog post from Socialbrite that discusses steps for creating video stories for nonprofits. The 8 minute video and 6 easy steps will help you get some great video this summer. If you have already been making videos at camp, the blog post still has a lot of tips to help you make your efforts even more effective.

There are a few points from this blog post that especially resonate with camp:

1. Camp is an ideal time to interview campers, staff, alumni, board members, and donors about what makes camp so special to them. Personal stories are ideal for communicating the unique impact of camp. You can record short videos and longer written stories to be used in eNewsletters and blog posts. For example, Herzl Camp’s Alumni blog offers good examples of stories and insights from alumni themselves. All of these stories can be collected while at camp.

2. Do you have a virtual tour of camp on your website or Facebook Page? You can easily take a Flip Camera and a basic script to show online visitors what is special about camp. Ideally, the video tour would be broken up into short segments, focusing on story.

3. Be ready with your camera for special events at camp. Have any reunions planned? Visiting Day? Other special celebrations? These are fertile ground for collecting stories and images that can be shared all year long.

4. If you haven’t already done so, consider asking campers to thank donors on video. They can be edited and merged to create powerful stewardship messages.

What can we do with all these videos?

Once camp is over, you’ll have a treasure trove of pictures, videos, stories, etc. that you can use all year long to help engage your constituency. Want to post a video montage of campers thanking donors for their gifts? You’ve got it. Hoping to share a story of alumni and what they are doing today? You’ve got it.

Of course, all that content can actually seem a bit overwhelming. Don’t worry – there is a simple way to help you spread out all of this great content over both time and various communications channels: the Content Calendar.

Content Calendar

A Content Calendar simply allows a team to plan what content to distribute when and via what channels. It can be as simple as a shared Outlook or Google Calendar. It could also include additional details about what content can be shared over multiple channels. Do whatever makes your work most effective.

Things to consider:

1. What is the best use of the content? Is it great for recruitment? Stewardship of donors? Solicitation? Or multiple uses?
2. How should it be communicated? Is it a simple photo that can be posted on Facebook or via Twitter? Is it a long-form story that should be blogged and sent via an eNewsletter? Can it be repurposed over various channels?
3. When will this have the most impact? Would it be great to use the story or photo to kick off the Annual Campaign? Could it help garner interest for next year’s Alumni reunion? Would it be an incredible touchpoint in stewarding legacy donors?

The important thing to consider today is: how do we capture this content? If you don’t capture the content this summer, you won’t even have the option of engaging your constituencies in this way. So get your cameras out and get those videos and stories!

by Kevin Martone, GIJP Technology Program Manager

Camp is an incredible place for kids to learn, grow, meet new people, and have new experiences. Camp staff and board members should follow this lead and make sure they are continually learning as well. This is why the Grinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy (GIJP) offers its annual conference free of charge to all of its participating organizations.
 
This is also why GIJP Business Systems Analyst Joe Ruotolo and I attended the recent Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) organized by NTEN. We joined 1400+ nonprofit staff members, including a growing group of Jewish nonprofit professionals, to learn how to utilize technology to improve our nonprofit communications, fundraising, and management.

Some key takeaways that we can all use in our work include:

• Stories are our most powerful tool for communication. Here are some key tips from a session about how to tell great stories:
  • Everyone in your organization should be collecting/telling stories: staff, board members, counselors, campers. For camps, this is easy – stories are as much a part of camp lore as campfires, swimming, and bug-bites.
  • Don’t recreate the wheel. Use stories that already exist!
  • Repurpose/reuse stories across channels. A longer story that can be used during a camp visit or in an eNewsletter can be shortened for a Facebook status update or Tweet.
  • 10 great stories are better than 100 mediocre stories. Don’t worry about the quantity, focus on the quality of the stories.
  • Pictures and video are effective vehicles for telling stories.
  • Consider guest bloggers for additional stories/content.

• Start with Mission –> Strategy –> and Goals (You’ve been working hard with your GIJP Mentors on that Strategic Plan for a reason!). For true success, everything has to tie back to moving your mission forward.

• Your communications have to be focused on your audience, not your organization: “Cause 1st, You 2nd.” Check your website, brochures, Facebook Page, eNewsletter, etc. – if the content is focused on what YOU do and not on your audience, get to work. Start with personal stories (see above). Focus on your IMPACT.

• YouTube now offers a customizable video player and the ability to allow users to upload videos to your YouTube Channel. Camps could use this for moderated video contests. Click here if you haven’t already signed up for a free YouTube nonprofit video channel.

• Use tools and templates to make your job easier and more effective. For example:
  • Create email/eNewsletter templates – don’t design every time
  • Create Press Release templates. Train staff in how to use.
  • Create a listening dashboard in Google Reader or Netvibes to make managing your social media efforts more efficient. For more information, here is a longer list of free tools that can help nonprofits use social media more effectively.
  • Create a “Central Info Bank” to store stories, quotes/testimonials, photos, stats; makes sure everyone has access. You can use a free tool like Google Groups or Dropbox.

   

In Summary…There are LOTS of nonprofits facing the same challenges as our camps. And many are overcoming those challenges with both technology and non-technology solutions. The key? Start with a strategy and goals and then DO IT! And remember to continually learn…just like your campers.

Want to learn more? This brief recap of the SXSW® Interactive 2010 Conference in March gives 10 quick takeaways from that conference for nonprofits that dovetail nicely with the Nonprofit Technology Conference.

Want even MORE information? Search for the NTC official hashtag on Twitter (#10ntc) or check out our live tweets from the conference at @gijp. The Foundation for Jewish Camp was also there – check out their tweets as well: @FdnJewishCamp. Many other Jewish organizations were present and tweeting as well!

And last (but certainly not least!), check out Beth Kanter’s blog – she offers great insights and examples about how nonprofits can use technology effectively. For example, here is her post about social media measurement based on her session on the topic at NTC.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments!

I posted some basics about how nonprofits can use video here. If anyone has any examples of videos they’ve posted on the web, please leave links in the comments below. I’d love to see what you’ve come up with! And other readers can learn from your experiences.

In the meantime, I ran across another blog post about using video at See3′s blog called see what’s out there. He gives a lot of tips about effectively using YouTube and telling your story with video. He also includes links to lots of great examples of nonprofit videos online.

Camps have great personal stories to tell. The internet has offered an easy way to share those stories via video. Please share any of your videos in the comments below.