The Vatican is now publishing videos on YouTube at http://ca.youtube.com/vatican. According to Pope Benedict XVI, the internet is a “new way to speak of God”.  The videos are available in four languages. Considering that there are millions of people practicing the Catholic religion across the globe this is a great communication method for the Vatican. It is also a great way to share their message and culture with others who are not Catholic. Does the Pope watch YouTube? I don’t know but does it matter? He understands the value of communicating with an audience in a way they use and understand. You can too!

If you are a member of a non-profit organization or association you should consider setting up a YouTube channel to make use of the exposure this can bring in sharing your message and mission with the rest of the world. A YouTube channel is free to setup and operate. What makes it different from a regular account is that you can brand it with your logos and colour schemes and manage the content you publish. There are some restrictions such as maximum size of the videos (ten minutes or less) or use of copyrighted material (if you don’t own the rights to the audio or video material you’ll be shut down). Check out the YouTube user agreement for the details. 

The Vatican produces content through their Centro Televisio Vaticano (CTV). For them publishing this content on YouTube is a simple re-purposing of existing material. What about your organization? Where would your content come from? These days many people have vid-cams, digital cameras and even cell-phone cameras and most likely would be honored to share it with you for publishing on your channel. It’s called ‘user-generated content’ and many traditional media TV and print are combining this material with their regular newscasts. The technical requirements for a YouTube video are easily achieved with a standard home computer. Interviews, events and activities are some examples of what you can include in your videos. Don’t sweat the details, just go out and do-it. You’ll get better at it as you do more and learn more. In the meantime your association’s activities will be shared with the world.

Dean