America loves social media, and it’s not just us! The entire world has been connected and arguably addicted to social media networks. Through sites like Facebook and Myspace we’ve created another world in which we are able to identify with one another. No surprise there. What is surprising is the only recent emergence of non-profits on the social media scene. Sure, every non-profit has a webpage. It’s highly likely that most non-profits are now connected to their members through Facebook and even Twitter. Some non-profits have even expanded into developing their Tumblr and/or their StumbleUpon pages; potentially even posting things on Pinterest.

This week, the entire world was taken captive by a now, very well known video called Kony 2012 (which, I will post below) put together by a nonprofit called Invisible Children.

As a non-profit, you might be thinking- so what?

Actually, this is an outstanding example of what you can accomplish with something as simple as connecting all of your social media sites simultaneously. This video, DESPITE the fact that it is an incredible thirty minutes long; grabbed the attention span of an entire nation, and then world. 76 MILLION people have now viewed this video. Half of these viewers probably had no idea who Joesph Kony and/or the LRA was. Now, the 76 million viewers are both educated and passionate about a cause they knew nothing about. Within 24 hours the video went viral on Youtube and facebook while simultaneously becoming a popular world twitter trend… Even more importantly, how many people have donated or become involved in a cause they knew nothing about until they saw it on their facebook page?

You may not agree with this video and you may not care about the message that Invisible Children is trying to spread; but ask yourself- how can my non-profit utilize social media and videos to educate millions of people around the world? It’s a fantastic opportunity to challenge and excite those who work with you in your non-profit while also revitalizing your members’ interests in your cause. The best part about these videos is that they have the potential to unify millions of people for one cause; and so do you.

I found a great resource for non-profit education on social media and video feeds called See3 which introduces ‘Media with a Message’ videos. This website also includes free webinars and resources to help you get started on your journey in attracting members and (potentially) donors. I really love this website, they use videos to teach their audience about ways to use video in order to connect with their donors and members (talk about in your literal education…).

Never fear if you are not a non-profit; this resource can also be incorporated into a lesson plan for high school and college students. Challenge your classes to create educational videos about a subject that they are passionate about and find a way to spread them through social networks to educate people, instead of writing a typical paper about the same subject in which only you (their teacher) sees it. It could be a great way to see creativity come alive, and also find out about your student’s interests in a way that doesn’t bore you (hopefully…) 😉

I hope you find this as challenging, motivating, and as exciting as I do! Good Luck!