Now, there’s a possibility for them to be seen, too. After all, everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, right?

YouTube DIRECT is a video platform that organizations can embed right into their own websites to allow contributors to upload their relevant content. This opens a lot of possibilities for nonprofits, especially in a time when nearly everyone has a video camera on their phones.

One of the most obvious uses is to ask people to upload videos of themselves volunteering for your cause. Another idea is to ask them to create short videos explaining why or how they choose to support your particular organization. There’s even potential for a great PR event in which you create a contest for videos made specifically for your site. It’s way cheaper than hiring an ad agency to do a spot, and the participants will be genuinely enthusiastic.

Another of the advantages of this approach is that it has potential to engage younger supporters.

Don’t worry, though, about irrelevant content. The YouTube DIRECT platform allows for you to review and moderate any videos that are uploaded via your site. For added protection, you also have the option of requiring users to register at your site in addition to having their own YouTube accounts. The videos uploaded will also be posted to YouTube, with a link back to your organization’s site. In fact, they are actually hosted by YouTube, which means that they won’t be eating up all of your bandwidth.