As many of your know, this week (Feb. 5-11) is the beginning of Idealist's Imagine a Better World initiative.  As of this writing, in less than three weeks people have self-organized 268 meetings in 70 countries to imagine a better world together.  You can sign up for, or host a meeting, near you here.

Ami Dar, the founder of Idealist, has posted his welcome message to be played at the meetings  on YouTube.

This is the first time I've seen a nonprofit use YouTube to disseminate information to a specific audience, as well as to the general public.  YouTube has mainly been used by nonprofits to get the word out about their cause, in the form of a mini commercials like these, but posting videos for specific audiences, especially trainings, could help to spread the word as well.

Sharing trainings online for specific groups could prevent nonprofits from reinventing the wheel.  For example, if a job training program posted a video about what to wear for an interview, or how to format a resume online, other job training programs might use it.

Posting trainings online could also establish a nonprofit as an expert, and increase traffic to their site.  For example, if an organization posted a training video about how to screen volunteers who want to work with children, they might become the go-to place for that information.

Finally, because people process information differently, posting a video explaining how donors can throw a house party might inspire different people to host an event than those who received an email about it.

What are some other ways  (aside from mini-commercials) that you have seen nonprofits use video online?