Werth-It Fundraising Blog

In the old days, if you got on television, you could tape it and perhaps send the tape to a few people, or you could keep it in the office and perhaps show it a few times.  Now, if you get on television, you can post it on www.youtube.com, email the link to all your supporters, and see if you can make it “go viral” — that is, have your supporters send it to others.

You can get on television and create a two-minute video that you can then post to YouTube and send around, at no cost and in the next couple of weeks.  Want to know how?

A volunteer at one of my nonprofit clients recently showed me how to get on television at any time.  He pointed out that local city governments broadcast their meetings and put them on local cable access television.  You’ve probably seen cable access television: it’s on your cable tv, and it broadcasts things like local government meetings.  You probably don’t watch it, but many people do.

It’s simple to speak at a government meeting and be televised.  You can go to your local city or county government website and find out when meetings are held, and whether they’re broadcast.  Also find out when they allow public comments, but they’re usually at the start of the meetings.  You attend, you fill out a form, you’ll be introduced, and they’ll film it for TV.  Get a copy of the video (either by taping it off TV or asking that it be sent to you), upload it to YouTube, and post the link to your website or send it around in an email.

Since public comments are short, you have just a couple of minutes to explain what your organization does and what you want to promote.  However, this is endlessly repeatable, and it makes for a nice video for YouTube, all at no cost.

If you want to repeat this, you can, as often as you want.  I recommend sending over other people to talk, as it gives them practice and they can talk about different things, like upcoming events or how your organization has helped them personally.

If you have questions about fundraising or board development for your nonprofit organization, please write me, Katherine Wertheim, CFRE, at katherine@werth-it.com.