Flickr: SpecialKRB We took it upon ourselves some time back to designate February "Love Your NPTechie Month." You should tell that to your boss, colleagues, loved ones, heck, even the coffee barista. Then wait for the appreciation (and chocolates) to wash over you.

And since we're all about community here at NTEN, we know you want to share your appreciation for your fellow nptechies as well.

By Melissa Nelson, Media Production and Outreach Manager, Blackbaud

Video is a great way to engage constituents in your mission. It adds a visual element to what might be an otherwise text heavy email, blog, or website. Supporters react to hearing and seeing real people talking about issues or an organization’s mission coming to life with visual examples.

A video that actually empowers constituents to take action and interact with your organization is key to a conversational video. 

First, think through the four basic steps:

By Michael Hoffman, CEO, See3 Communications

It's important that nonprofits understand the world we're entering right now, a world that will fundamentally change how we communicate with our constituents.

Until recently, television had very little to do with nonprofit organizations and their missions. The only nonprofits on TV were the large, child sponsorship organizations running direct response ads --or, if they got lucky, a local organization covered on the local news. We were locked out, unable to use this powerful tool for social good.

We're entering a time, however, when the very meaning of television is changing and the barriers that have kept nonprofit organizations from tapping into this powerful force are crumbling. The bottom line is that video will become a primary means for every organization to educate the public, advocate for change, and raise the dollars needed to fuel their missions.

Now is the time to plan for this future.

If you weren't with us at 10NTC, you didn't catch See3 CEO Michael Hoffman announcing the winners of the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards in front of a packed lunch crowd in Atlanta, Georgia.

The lunch was good, but the videos were fantastic -- and we wouldn't want anyone to miss out on those.

Watch the 4 winning videos now!

Watching videos online is no longer a passive experience! In fact, you can now use YouTube features to drive actions and donations, create "Choose Your Own Adventure" style experiences, and make your video the talk of the web (quite literally). Ramya Raghavan of YouTube was kind enough to preview her upcoming 10NTC session, Activating Your YouTube Audience for us last week. You can watch the full presentation here:

Session Slides

Flicker photo: mastermaqEvery year at the NTC, we partner with See3 to bring you the DoGooder Nonprofit Video awards. You may remember "Children Need a Bailout" from 2009, or "Breathe In, Breathe Out," from 2008. We're at it again in 2010, this time with more YouTube-y goodness!

Check out today's announcement from See3:

For those of you who missed it, last week we held a Member Appreciation Webinar with Basho Mosko from the Flip Video Spotlight Program and Michael Hoffman from See3 Communications about how to create an introductory video for your organization.

Those who attended the webinar had a chance to show the community what they learned. They posted a wide variety of inspirational, funny, and just plain well made videos as examples of what they learned. You can check them out on our Facebook page.

Flickr: gynti_46 I've always been one of those people who thinks the number 13, and those special Fridays that fall on the 13th (like today!) are actually lucky. And maybe Mitch Ashley will agree with me now, because he's our daily NTEN Member Appreciation Winner for Today!

And hey, the luck continues today for all NTEN members, because there's a free member appreciation webinar today that includes a chance to win a Flip Ultra:

Welcome to the 2nd week of 2009 NTEN Member Appreciation Month! There are a couple of treats for NTEN members this week that I hope you can take advantage of:

We mentioned this event earlier on this blog, so we figured we should update everyone on the outcome.

NTEN rockstar member David Neff, along with his co-organizers, launched the first ever Nonprofit Film Festival this year. Their project, Lights. Camera. Help!, had an open call for submissions of films made by nonprofit and advocacy organizations that demonstrated their missions.

There were 140 films submitted from around the world, and the 20 finalists were screened at the festival, July 31st - Aug 2nd. The judges had to choose one winner, and it was: