Anyone who has used a computer in the past year is well aware of YouTube: the video phenomenon that took the internet by storm in 2005. Firstgiving has jumped on the bandwagon and created the YouTube application as well as our own YouTube channel. A channel is a centralized location (or profile) where others can see your favorites, bulletins, comments, and more. We have been rapidly adding videos made by Firstgiving users to the “favorites.” By clicking on the orange button entitled, “subscribe,” you will be able to make comments on our featured videos, get updates when we have added something new, and get ideas for making your own fundraising video for your Firstgiving page!

As we look through all of our “favorites,” we have come up with a few pointers to what makes an engaging video. We recommend you:

• Keep it short and sweet: A 1-2 minute video can easily give enough information without the viewer losing interest.
• Use a catchy song: Music works great for setting the mood. Think about your favorite movies and the role the soundtrack plays in how you experience them.
• Advertise your Firstgiving website at least TWICE: Props to the people who showed the link to their page in their video. While the viewer can easily pause and rewind to find the link, it’s better to show it a second time at the end of the video as a reminder of what your video is all about
• Lastly, make it enjoyable! Whether your video is a cute cartoon, tells a tragic story, charts one’s training progress for a marathon, or shows you shaving your head…do something unique to grasp the attention of your viewers!