Calling All DoGooders!

Announcing the 2014 DoGooder Video Awards!

Presented by See3 Communications, YouTube, the Nonprofit Technology Network, The National Youth Media Network and National Alliance for Media and Culture

See3 Communications (which merged with Darim Online in 2012) is once again teaming up with the amazing partners listed above to host the 8th Annual DoGooder Video Awards. This is a HUGE opportunity for Jewish organizations to showcase fantastic videos created in 2013, and to get the word out about the good you're doing. Check out the video and the press release below for more information, and let us know if you submit – we'd love to cheer you on!

See3 Communications, the leader in online video for nonprofits, and YouTube, the world’s largest online video community along with the Nonprofit Technology Network, announced today the launch of the 2014 DoGooder Video Awards. The DoGooder Awards recognize the creative and effective use of video in promoting social good. Cisco, a global leader in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is generously contributing a cash prize to one contest winner. Cisco combines human and technology networks to multiply its impact on people, communities, and the planet. The National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture in partnership with the National Youth Media Network & with support from The National Alliance for Media Literacy Education and others, will also provide additional prizes to the winner of the new Youth Media category.

In addition to prizes provided by Cisco and the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, contest winners will receive free registration to the Nonprofit Technology Conference, the signature event hosted by the Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN). Finally, the winners will see their videos (and their message) featured on the hugely popular YouTube Spotlight Channel.

Now in its 8th year, the DoGooder Awards program is dedicated to giving those cause advocates that use video a place for their work to shine. This year, the program is excited to open up participation to include younger do-gooders ages 12 to 21 who best communicated their thoughts on pressing social issues in a way that inspired others.

"We are really excited to launch another year of the DoGooder Awards," said Michael Hoffman, CEO of See3. "When we started the awards 8 years ago, no one knew why they needed to focus on video. Now, the majority of all bandwidth is video and video messaging has become more important than ever for nonprofit organizations around the world. This year, we are pleased to present the Most Inspiring Youth Media Award, where we can showcase the up-and-coming video makers dedicated to social change. Once again we have the investment of YouTube, NTEN and Cisco to make this all possible and we are grateful for their dedication to the nonprofit sector."

Beginning February 1st, video submissions will be accepted via the contest website until February 15th, in the following categories:

  • The ImpactX Award: honoring those videos that have demonstrated impact for their causes.
  • The Best Nonprofit Video Award: honoring nonprofit organizations using video to make change.
  • The Funny for Good Award: Recognizing effective use of comedy to make people laugh and take action.
  • The Most Inspiring Youth Media Award: For youth who best communicated their thoughts on pressing social issues in a way that inspired others.

Members of the YouTube community will have the opportunity to vote for the best among the finalists from February 28th through March 10th.

The winning videos in each category will be featured on YouTube’s coveted Spotlight Channel, receive a free registration to next year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference and will be recognized at the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 13, 2014. The winners in the ImpactX category will receive a cash prize from Cisco to help them harness the power of human and technology networks to multiply their impact on the people and communities they serve. Additional prizes will be awarded to each winner as well.

Celebrating its eighth year, the DoGooder Video Awards has awarded thousands of dollars in grants and prizes to support the work of organizations doing good. Last year, over 800 entries were submitted from more than 300 nonprofit organizations, with winning videos from Rainforest Alliance, Pathfinder International and more.

Organizations and individuals can enter the contest by going to www.youtube.com/dogooder.

Designing for Social: Nefesh bNefesh New Contests

Marketing is one thing.  Designing intentionally for social engagement is another thing all together.   This is a story of a very fun creative process that has resulting in two contests announced this week.

Nefesh b’Nefesh (the Israel org that promotes and facilitates aliyah by minimizing the financial, professional, logistical, and social obstacles to doing so) approached us eager to “amplify the conversation about aliyah in the American Jewish community”.   While they have helped bring tens of thousands of new immigrants to Israel, discussion of aliyah isn’t really normalized in the American Jewish community. So, what can social media to do help?

The key to social media is the social more than the media.  The challenge was to create content that wasn’t talking AT people, but talking WITH people.  And further content that people in those conversations would want to share with their friends and family, leveraging networks to spread the word. That’s designing for social.

First, we identified key target audiences who are ripe for considering aliyah and are also highly engaged in social media.  While many who are retiring may consider moving to Israel, they are not the target “highly social online” demographic we sought.  The two we landed on: Those getting married and starting to shape a new life together; and those seeking exciting employment in a tough economy.

Next, how to get those groups talking about aliyah?  We helped Nefesh b’Nefesh design two contents: The Best Job Contest and The Wedding Gift Challenge.   In the Best Job Contest winners will be awarded paid jobs with top rate companies based in Israel such as SodaStream, IBM, and The Times of Israel, among others.  In the Wedding Gift Challenge, winners will prize money to help start their life in Israel, and/or IKEA shopping sprees and vineyard tours. 

In the contests, participants are evaluated based on votes on their contest page, and in the Job Contest, also on creating online content (blogs, video, tweets, etc.) about their process of deciding and planning to make aliyah.  By incentivizing those considering aliyah to make their thinking and planning transparent, the participants themselves are amplifying the conversation about aliyah in their social networks.  Which, we assume, largely also fall into the target demographic we seek to reach.

Every organization has a mission, but that doesn’t mean the staff alone are responsible for bringing that mission to life.  If your goal is wide communal action, change of perception, or something as bold as amplifying a conversation about aliyah through the American Jewish community, you can’t rely on direct messaging alone, whether that’s by mail, email, Facebook page or otherwise.   It’s time to engage your constituents as your ambassadors and evangelists.  How are you doing it?

Know someone considering aliyah?  There’s loot to be won!  Check out the Best Wedding Gift and Best Job Contest and spread the word!

DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards

Video has increasingly become the most powerful medium for communicating your mission and programs, and engaging supporters in sharing your content through their social media channels like Facebook. Nonprofits are learning to take advantage of this medium in creative and powerful ways, with creative approaches, great storytelling, and fun graphics. Each year, See3 Communications, in partnership with YouTube, hosts the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards. This year, winners will again have the chance to win one of four $2500 grants generously provided by the Case Foundation, awesome video cameras from Flip Video, a free registration to next year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference provided by NTEN and more. New this year: for small nonprofits that have small funds in the video department, there is a new category for the best “thrifty” videos produced for under $500. On top of all this, the winning videos will be featured on YouTube’s HOME PAGE in March. Talk about a boost to traffic. Submissions for Best Small, Medium, and Large nonprofit organization videos must be a video that was made in 2010. Entries for the Best Thrifty Video category can be for videos made any time before the end of the submission period. Each nonprofit can submit as many videos as they would like, but, we encourage only the best work from each organization.

  • Entries cannot exceed 10 minutes in length and are limited to nonprofits from the US, the UK, and Australia. See contest rules here.
  • All nonprofits are welcome to enter their video. There are no specific categories or missions we are looking for.
  • You can submit your videos from February 4, 2011 until March 2, 2011. Tell your friends to submit as well!
  • Starting March 7th, voting is open to the public, so be sure to share the word (Email, Facebook, Twitter, carrier pigeon).
  • Your organization MUST be a member of the YouTube Nonprofit Program. If you’re not, make sure that’s the next thing you do after you read this post. If you’re picked as a semifinalist, we’ll make sure you’re a member by the time voting begins.

And of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without a video. See, this is why it’s so powerful – I can embed this video in a blog in 10 seconds, and it just brings the text to life, don’t you think?

For more info on the context, visit http://www.youtube.com/nonprofitvideoawards You might also want to check out our previous posts on online video. Let’s see some entries from the Jewish community! Got a video to brag about? Post a link in the comments!

Take My Copy of Twitterville

Yes, it’s true. I want you to take this book out of my hands. I’ve read it, it’s great, but now it should be yours. As I’ve written before, I won this book from Beth Kanter and the author Shel Israel, with a promise that I’d pay it forward. So it’s your turn to elbow and claw your way through the throngs of hungry readers with your insightful comments, but first a few reflections to whet your appetite:

  1. While I’ve loved Shel’s previous work, I did expect this to be a well written “capitalize on Twitter’s exponential growth” book. In fact, it’s incredibly insightful, with great profiles of people and companies using Twitter in really creative ways. It stretched me. It’s also completely accessible to beginners. A fine line that Shel seems to have walked perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised.
  2. It challenged some decisions I’ve made – decisions that were strategic and thoughtful when I made them. For example, using the organization name and logo instead of the person’s name and photo, even when they are tweeting for the company. I’m still chewing on this one. In the meantime, I’ve edited @DarimOnline to show that it’s mostly, not entirely, Lisa at the keys. I’m curious how others think about offering this “human face” and transparency while still promoting the brand and, perhaps most importantly for many small organizations, creating continuity if/when staff turns over.
  3. I was reminded that you can start small and casual. As one guy from Ford is quoted, “Twitter was… the country store, where people came in and out and shared their gossip, and there I was, sitting by the pickle barrel.” (pg. 85)
  4. It’s more about listening than about talking. It’s so counter intuitive to so many of us that it can’t be said enough.
  5. One person in the organization can actually lead major change. So many examples were about one person in a large organization using this little tool in their remote cubicle, and it seeped into company culture because it was so darn useful.

So… that leads us to the question: How is Twitter useful for you? Alternatively, you can share your best piece of Twitter wisdom, or a Twitter-related question you’re wrestling with. We’ll choose our winner around Sukkot. And… please leave your Twitter username with your comment so we can check you out!

How I Won a Copy of Twitterville (and you can too!)

Shel Israel (co-author of Naked Conversations with Robert Scoble) has a new book, Twitterville.

Beth Kanter was giving away copies Twitterville the other day. I saw it on Facebook (I’m a fan of hers) but it was also on Twitter and her blog. (She’s a pro at making the most of multiple channels, without leaving me feeling inundated from every direction. It’s a real art.)

Beth periodically runs contests like this. She asks people to leave a comment responding to a particular question to enter the contest. It’s not random — she picks those whom she thinks are most deserving or will make the most of the prize. What I love about these contests is that by having a public entry process, she creates a forum for interesting people to share their work and ideas. I always learn something from reading the other entries.

So I left a comment saying how much I appreciate this approach to surfacing great ideas and practices. And heck, if giving away the book can do it, if I win, I’ll re-give-away the book to surface more good things, specifically in the Jewish community where we work.

She loved the idea and I won the book! (Well, to be honest, by the time she announced the winners she had about a dozen books – there were so many good responses that the author kicked in some copies, she found more promo copies, and others bought copies to add to the contest!) You can read about the results here.

And the punchline is … Shortly we’ll be putting up our own blog post to give away the book (once I get it, and read it). We’ll be asking about how you’re using Twitter in strategic and goal oriented ways. So start thinking about it, and experimenting on Twitter so you’ll have something juicy to share when we announce the contest. And, as always, you’re welcome to share your experiences (what’s working as well as what you’re challenged by) in the comments here.

P.S Another great Beth post on Twitter: How nonprofits are using hashtags

What you’re favorite Beth Kanter nugget of wisdom? Leave a link in the comments.

NTEN Conference or Membership – FREE! Give Us Your Best Social Media Story.

Darim has stuck up a deal with the Nonprofit Technology Network, otherwise known as NTEN. NTEN is a valuable central destination for all things nonprofit technology related — webinars, conferences, CRM, CMS, social media, video, marketing, communications, strategy, etc. Membership is not expensive, and incredibly valuable.

As a way to help the Darim community learn about and take advantage of NTEN, Darim and the Jewish Communal Service Association are partnering with NTEN to solicit your best stories. We want to know how you are using social media, and what the outcomes have been. This contest is open through April 1. On April 1 we will announce the winners. Prizes include FREE REGISTRATION FOR THE NTEN CONFERENCE in San Francisco, April 26-28 (winner is responsible for transportation and hotel) – valued at $649; free one year membership with NTEN for your organization – valued up to $200; and a free private tutorial or consultation with Darim staff via phone or webinar – priceless! (First place winner gets their pick).

Submit your story by posting it in the comments on this blog post by April 1 (or, if you prefer, you can email us). Please make sure to tell us who you are, your role, your organization, what tool you’re using, how you’ve used it, and what the outcomes have been (data, anecdotes and reflections are all welcome).

Let’s hear what you’ve got!