Reach new audiences & engage your supporters

Create a channel for your nonprofit with the name of your organization or cause. You can then connect your channel to a Brand Account, so you and others can jointly manage it through your own Google accounts, without requiring you to share login details.

To allow other people in your nonprofit to manage content on the channel, you can add people as channel managers. You can decide how much control each person in your organization has over the account.

As your channel is your organization’s home page on YouTube, you can organize all your videos and playlists into sections, so your users see what you want them to see when they get to your page. You can also create a channel trailer, to give your users a preview of what your organization cares about and also suggest content for your subscribers about topics relevant to your cause. Learn more about customizing your channel layout.

Channel art shows as a banner at the top of your YouTube page. You can use it to brand your channel's identity and give your page a unique look and feel. Keep in mind that channel art looks different on desktop, mobile, and TV displays.

Your channel icon shows over your channel art banner. It’s the icon that displays to other users for your videos and channel on YouTube watch pages.

Use these recommended guidelines when creating a new channel icon

• JPG, GIF, BMP, or PNG file (no animated GIFs)
• 800 x 800 px image (recommended)
• Square or round image that renders 98 x 98 px

Click here for more tips on creating or editing your channel art!

Pre-production will save you a lot of time. Before pressing ‘record’, find out what equipment works best for you, how to turn your idea into a story, and what other steps you can take to be ready for your shoot.

1. Use Storyboarding to create an outline of what you’d like to film, and what you want included in the video.

2. Visit the location you’ll be filming in before you shoot and try to avoid locations that might be too loud, have other events happening or be too busy to secure the space.

3. Set up a pre-production meeting to discuss goals of the video, set expectations of what you want to film and the time investment needed and share examples of work you want to replicate.

4. Prepare yourself (or your talent) to get the best “on-camera” results. Have the talent bring a ton of energy since some enthusiasm gets lost in the transfer from camera to screen. Expect a bit of time to warm up if they’re not used to being on-camera and consider wardrobe suggestions ahead of time to avoid distracting patterns or materials. Have your talent keep their feet firmly planted to avoid nervous shuffling or unnecessary movement and be encouraging!

Your mobile device should be more than enough to capture footage as video processing power is very good on most smartphones today. Use a phone tripod to stabilize your footage (these usually cost around $10-$15).

Good sound means capturing clean audio at an acceptable recording level, so that your audience understands what your video is communicating.

1. Ensure high quality audio with a Lavalier microphone which you can purchase from most online retailers (these are low-cost, usually around $10-12 for a 2-pack).

2. Get as close as possible! The further away your mic is, the worse the audio will sound.

3. Have a little bit of background noise? Use a background track (found in YouTube’s Audio Library) to cover it up.

4. Make sure that you’re not covering up the mic when filming on a phone.

5. Need free background music or sound effects? Check out YouTube’s Audio Library!

Good lighting encompasses much more than whether or not the viewer sees your subject. Before you shoot your next video, define the mood you wish to convey and evaluate what lighting conditions can contribute to that mood. Experiment with decreasing or increasing the light intensity to get your desired effect.

1. Don’t shoot directly in front of a window, with too much sunlight from behind otherwise your talent will appear like a shadow.

2. Try to use a room or space that has windows to utilize as much natural light as possible.

3. Try a classic setup of "three point” lighting, which combines a key light, a fill light and back light, to separate your talent from the background.

4. Avoid large bright spots, aim to have any lights you use be positioned at a distance to create a soft glow as opposed to a hotspot.

Use the ‘rule of thirds' and other tips for well-composed shots. Try to film people a little to the side, as opposed to straight on to make the video more visually interesting.

1. Have a little bit of space between top of video and the top of your talent’s head.

2. Keep eyes in upper third of the video.

3. Place person near line intersections to make the show more visually pleasing.