TOOL TUESDAY: Seriously Easy Videos With Animoto (and a nice nonprofit discount)

June 28, 2011 by Kerri Karvetski

Video is awesome. Video is powerful. Video can deliver amazing results.

But it ain’t easy.

Yes, smartphones and Flip video cameras have made it easy to capture video. The gobs of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute attest to that.

But many nonprofits and businesses shy away from video because they know a good video is not just about capturing video. A good video is about telling a story and having a purpose, i.e. capturing leads, raising awareness or soliciting donations. It’s also about knowing the medium and editing your footage to create a coherent and compelling message.

Making a good video entails both storytelling and technical skills. No one wants make a bad video, so a lot of us just don’t try.

Animoto Helps You Make Stunning Videos

If you’ve got photos, you can have a good video. Very few technical skills required. Really.

Animoto is a web-based service that sets your photos to music and turns them into videos. Check it out.

Animoto thinks like a director and an editor, combining your images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques used in television and film. The technology takes into account every nuance of a song – the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation and vocals.

Animoto is a tool, not a magic bullet. You still need a compelling story structure, decent photos and solid copy.

Make and share an Animoto video and I guarantee someone will ask you how you did it.

Thirty-second Animoto videos are absolutely free. Pick an animation style, choose your music, add some text, upload your photos and Animoto makes it stunning.

Pull in images from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket or SmugMug. When you are done, share your video easily via email or on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or Tumblr.

Animoto comes with about a dozen animation styles and music in a variety of genres. Paid accounts give you more options – download videos, produce videos without the Animoto branding baked in and add a link to the end of your video, a feature that’s a must if you are going to use the video to make an ask (sign up, donate, etc.).

Pro accounts with all the bells and whistles are just $249 per year, or $39/month. Click here for Animoto pricing.

Free Animoto Pro Accounts for Nonprofits & Educators

Here’s the best part – nonprofits and educators are eligible for free Animoto Pro accounts!

Here’s a video that volunteers at Amnesty International US put together recently in support of Iranian student leader and prisonor of conscience Majid Tavakoli.

To qualify, nonprofits need to submit a charity registration number and to register with a nonprofit email address, not a personal email address. The Animoto website states that it will take about 14 days to process a nonprofit application. Click here for Animoto for a Cause.

Educators must provide school, grades and subjects taught and class website/blog. Likewise, educators must submit the application using an official school email address. Click here for Animoto for Education.

I highly recommend the Animoto blog for tips and tricks, webinars and tutorials. Definitely read 5 Ways Animoto Can Help Your Cause and Animoto For A Cause 101.

If you end up using Animoto, share your video here and I’ll share it on the Company K Media Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Tool Tuesday blog posts feature products and services I’ve actually used, like and recommend to nonprofits and small businesses.

Animoto & Instagram: Perfect Together? (gigaom.com)
5 Facebook Apps for Getting More From Your Photos (mashable.com)
YouTube Good Work Helps Non-Profits Find The Video Help They Need (googlefornonprofits.blogspot.com)

photo credit: PearlsandaCardi

Posted in Creativity, Grants, Photos, Tools, Video | Comments

Google gathers nonprofit offerings under one, big umbrella

March 17, 2011 by Kerri Karvetski

This week, Google announced a revamped Google for Nonprofits program, a suite of services and resources that will help nonprofits expand their impact.

The biggest change is that now there is one application for all of Google’s nonprofit offerings. Previously, you had to apply separately for a Google AdWords Grant ($10k/month free advertising), nonprofit YouTube account (no ads), Google mapping technologies and Google Apps.

This single application not only streamlines the process, it lets nonprofits know about the other important resources available to them.

Also new is the Google Nonprofit Marketplace, a place to find Google-vetted technology partners to help nonprofits implement Google AdWord campaigns, map technologies and more at a free or discounted rate. There’s about 35 vendors listed already from all over the world – US, Canada, Israel, Italy, Russia, Norway, UK and Philippines, to name a few.

Also check out Google’s library of case studies and the Google Nonprofits Blog.

Posted in Grants, Search, Tools, Video | Comments

TOOL TUESDAY: Jing Captures Your Screen

August 31, 2010 by Kerri Karvetski

I couldn’t help myself – I fell in love with Jing.

It began innocently a few years ago, when I needed a better way to capture a portion of my desktop. Jing (by TechSmith) was free. It was yellow and shiny. It floated gently across my screen and tucked itself away in the top right corner. Someone, somewhere along the line recommended it.

It’s addictive.

Like many tools in its class, Jing does a fine job of capturing your screen. It can capture your entire browser or zoom in and take a snapshot of a smaller area on your screen.

Why would you want to capture your screen? Think tech support – ever tried to describe what’s happening on your computer, either on the phone or in e-mail support? With a screen capture you can show it.

Jinxed myself bragging about this one...not zero now.

It’s also incredibly helpful for showing my clients how to do something, especially a behind-the-scenes task or function in the software and services we use to run websites, e-mail marketing and social media — Drupal, Joomla, WordPress, Facebook Pages, Basecamp, Mailchimp.

Jing kicks it up a notch by letting you capture a short video as well, also known as a screencast. Screencasts capture not only what’s going on on your screen, they can capture your voice, and some programs, like Camtasia Studio (Jing’s sister) and Screenflow, can capture a video of you. Jing covers the basics; if you want fancier, check out Camtasia or Screenflow.

When my clients ask, “How do I edit a post, add an application or upload new subscribers?” I answer with a short, 30-90 second screencast. My clients love it and it’s a godsend for teacher and student alike.

Jing lets you do some minimal mark-up – draw an arrow, add a text box, use a highlighter. That’s generally one step beyond the screen capture capabilities you’ll get with your basic Mac or PC software.

Where Jing really shines is its seamless connection with Screencast, an online storage space for videos, images and documents. Here’s how it works:

Capture your image with Jing
Mark it up (look here!)
Download the image to the folder of your choice, or (drumroll)
Share it on Screencast (or upload to Flickr), and have the link to your image on Screencast automatically put in your clipboard

I hope you caught that. Cause now if you are using instant message or e-mail, you just saved a whole lotta steps. No downloading and uploading an attachment. Paste a link. Easy for you. Easy for the recipient. And so very nifty when you want to share something lickety split with someone on IM.

Screencast has some slick capabilities as well. You can make playlists of your screencasts and embed a screenroll in your website or blog, like this:

I’ve cheated on Jing with it’s sister Snagit, which has deeper mark-up functions and a rolling screen capture that lets you capture the browser bits you can’t see down below. I come back to Jing because it’s so darn useful.

Jing is free (wahoo) and a snap to learn. Jing Pro gives you longer videos, better video compression, direct upload to YouTube and some other goodies for $14.95/year.

Posted in Tools, Video | Comments