Photo courtesy of jonsson.
In this special series, we’ll take a brief look at various different fearless inspirations from the past week or so. Whether it’s a fearless young changemaker who is taking risks, a new publication that expresses bold and innovative ideas, or an organization that is promoting change and that is not afraid to fail forward—we want to shine a spotlight on them and their work in the hope that it will spark a new movement to Be Fearless.
As Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation says, “The old way of doing things is simply no longer effective in this new world. It’s time for us all to take risks on new ideas, approaches, and initiatives. It’s time for us to be bold, to act with urgency, and to resist the tendency to let caution be our guide. It’s time for us to Be Fearless.” Will you join us?
A New Way to Use Video for Good
This is one of the most exciting things we've heard in terms of online video support of the "for good" space in quite some time...The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported that YouTube, one of the leading online video sites, announced this week that it will allow videomakers to link directly to select fundraising and petition sites like DonorsChoose.org, Change.org and Causes.com. In addition, YouTube has already begun allowing links to crowd-funding pages includuing Kickstarter.com and Indiegogo.com.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy noted, "Jessica Mason, a YouTube spokeswoman, said the company decided it was important to give nonprofits and their supporters the opportunity to have more ways to raise money and awareness through videos that are posted on the site. 'The idea is to take platforms that are already using the power of crowds and make it easy for any YouTuber to support a project,' Ms. Mason says."
We've been longtime supporters of video for good and have partnered in the past with the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards, which included a new "Fearless" category this year. Nonprofits submitted original video content in several categories to win grants and other video related prizes to support their continued work and exploration of video as a way to advance their pro-social ideas.
We at Social Citizens hope this new feature will be shared with other sites and organizations working to do good and incentivize groups to explore video as an integral tool for messaging and garnering support from constituents. This also opens a new door for individuals to connect with the issues they care about and find additional ways to support those causes in new and exciting ways.
“The most important thing to do is ask,” says Mr. Slutsky. “A lot of people don’t necessarily think about themselves as activists or advocates. We’re all about bringing new people into the fold of organizing around the things they care about.”