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Fundraisers smart use of viral video

October 30, 2006 in General Fundraising, Nonprofit, Web, Multichannel Fundraising, Direct Response, Trends, Broadcast Media, Blog

While I realize there are many nonprofit organizations using viral campaigns to raise funds, I recently came across one worth a closer look for reasons explained later.  Fight Hunger: Walk the World is conducting viral video contest.  The winner receives a chance to win a trip to film a WFP school feeding project in a developing world. 

Fight Hunger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nope, this is not a new story — Beth’s Blog has written about it, as has Netsquared and Citizen Brand (I’m sure I’ve omitted others.)

However, here are my takaways:

  • It’s a fresh, new and innovative way to bond a donor to the organization.
  • It hits the target audience (youth/young adult) right down-the-middle.  When I showed this to my teenage son, he jumped at the chance to give it a try.  Haven’t seen this much excitement since the PSP.
  • The contest pay-off is substantial. The winner receives a filming trip and the video will be used in the upcoming Fight Hunger ad campaign.
  • The web site copy sticks to the mission of the organization. “Everyone who enters is a winner because by sharing your creativity you’re joining our global movement to end child hunger by 2015.”  There’s no fluff here to get the reader sidetracked.
  • The contest and rules are easily understood and clearly stated.
  • Readers can further spread the word about the campaign by adding one of several banner options to websites and blogs. Nice way to extend the idea beyond the contest landing page.
  • And in addition to everything else…you can donate to Fight Hunger right from the contest site. If you don’t ask, you won’t get.

Has the public responded?  I dunno.  I searched for the keyword “fhvideo” on YouTube, Google Video, blip.tv and ourmedia.org and didn’t find anything.  I’m sure I was doing something wrong. 

I’d love to hear from others out there that have had success with viral video or photo campaigns.  I guess I’d have to define success, but maybe I’ll let you do that.

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November 2, 2006 at 5:47 am

Fight Hunger

Thanks for your support - we’re glad you like our contest.

We have only had a couple of entries so far which is why you didn’t find the “fhvideo” tag (yet!!!) But we have been getting good coverage by blogs and film schools so we’re looking forward to some great entries. We’ll keep you posted!

Don’t know how old your teenage son is, but we have just set up a showcase for people under 18.

Cordelia at
www.fighthunger.org

Ending Child Hunger by 2015