The Moran Center is a nonprofit organization based in Evanston, IL with a single goal: Youth Advocacy. Although it takes many forms, they are fighting the good fight on all fronts. Whether through representation, redirection, or restorative efforts they are making a difference in the lives of Evanston youth.
" The James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy (the “Moran Center,” formerly the Evanston Community Defender Office, Inc.) provides low income Evanston youth and their families with integrated legal and social work services to improve their quality of life at home, at school, and within the Evanston community.
Our goal is to provide Evanston youth and their families with the tools to refrain from engaging in potentially delinquent behavior, the support to successfully emerge from a challenging legal situation, and the ability to reintegrate into the Evanston Community as productive citizens. To that end, our programmatic approach focuses on direct advocacy and representation, juvenile delinquency prevention, and client and community restoration."
To bring life to this mission, they choose to have let’s dabble use video to show rather than tell. To learn more about their amazing work, enjoy the following video.
Video editing is not as scary as it may seem, but in order to get started you have to have your computer ready to go. What are the essentials? Your camcorders software, Windows Movie Maker, Real Player, and Any Video Converter. These programs will help you get the videos onto your computer and into Windows Movie Maker where you can easily edit them into your finished product.
Your camcorders software (if using one of our recommended shoot n share camcorders) is installed the first time you plug your camcorder into your computer. However, keep in mind this software usually never needs to be used again. Why? Because when you plug in your camcorder from then on, a dialogue box appears and you can select “Open folder to view files” and navigate to your files. The navigation is not the same for every camera but will be something along the lines of:
Open folder to view files > DCIM > 100MEDIA > (here are your files)
So to get started right, watch the following video to get the specifics and install your camcorders software.
After your camcorders software is installed the next ingredient is Windows Movie Maker. This program has evolved over the years from it’s beginnings in XP, to a touchy version for Vista, and finally Windows Movie Maker Live for Windows Seven. Of all the versions our favorite is the tried and true version for Windows XP. Luckily, it has kept up with the times and is available for Vista as well as Seven. So download the previous version of Windows Movie Maker and watch the following video for all the details of installing this free, powerful video editing program on Windows Seven.
Next, we have a video player, this is not necessary for every computer. However, if you are having problems viewing your video files, it may be a life saver. This is because video players like iTunes, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player bring codecs into your computer when they are installed. Codecs are magical instruction booklets that your computer uses to understand video files. So if you are having problems viewing your cherished videos, download Real Player and watch the following video for all the details of its installation.
Last but certainly not least is Any Video Converter. This program has saved me time and time again. The problem is that Windows Movie Maker does not understand every type of video file. Think of file types as languages. If your computer speaks italian, french, and russian, but you import a video file in spanish, your computer can not understand it. Same goes for file types, Windows Movie Maker’s favorite type of file is .wmv because it is a Windows file type. So to be safe, I always convert my file types from whatever they might be (.avi, .mov, .mp4) to .wmv and Any Video Converter lets me easily do this for free. So download Any Video Converter and watch this video for all the specifics on getting it installed correctly.
And there we are, everything we need to import, view, convert, and edit our video files is installed and ready to go. Next step? Well, if you have footage that is ready to edit, but are not sure where to begin then let’s dabble is your new best friend. We have free video tutorials that will teach you all you need to know, just jump down to "Editing a Real World Example in Windows Movie Maker" to learn how to use this free, powerful editing program.
The job hunt is best executed by a person who knows the lay of the land and is well prepared. Preparation is something we can all handle, but getting to know the lay of the land takes precious time. Recently, a job seeker at a networking event raised the question of organizations revolving around nonprofit organizations, nonprofit management, fundraising, etc that have job postings.
So I offered to share a list of organizations that I have complied over the last few years working in the nonprofit arena with let’s dabble; although they are mere bookmarks to me, to the job hunter they are so much more. So after sharing the list, I realized that I should continue to share it and maybe help another job seeker.
The following are links to job listings/searches associated to each website or organization.
The Nonprofit Resource Center is a comprehensive service and support center for nonprofits based in Sacramento since 1989. Offering a professionally staffed library, grant funder database, fundraising workshops, and management networking, the Center is a resource in the purest sense.
And just recently, it’s Tools area got an infusion from let’s dabble and our video tutorials teaching the fundamentals of video production. Some of the tools offered by the Center include information on funding your organization, running your organization, starting a nonprofit, models, templates, and philanthropy.
For organizations up and running the “Running Your Organization” area covers even more detail with advocacy, lobbying, boards, financial management, HR, Legal, and Marketing and Communications.
So whether you are just starting, established, or could use a little direction, The Nonprofit Resource Center is there to help.
Video has changed the way we remember, share, and view the world. What I am referring to is video storytelling and it is a new genre of video… or web video to be precise.
Video in the sense of hollywood, big budgets, and years of training will never die… nor would I ever want it to (I love going to the movies!). But it is important to realize and take advantage of professional video’s little brother; video storytelling. It is far less than full-feature films, far less than short films, and less still than brief documentaries. It lives online and is the marriage of advancing technology and a person’s natural creativity.
Smart phones have allowed better and better photos (so much so that many of us have laid to rest our beloved point-and-shoot cameras). Similarly, smart phones and inexpensive camcorders enable us all to create high quality short videos for sharing online. These videos are each a story: a story of a vacation, a birthday, a nonprofit fundraiser, or a weekly update. Thanks to advancements in the way we record, edit, and share video we are able to tell previously untold stories and share them in new and engaging ways.
This perfect storm of a persons raw creative talent and new technologies is what let’s dabble is all about. We empower you to create video stories and share them online. The skills needed are commonly unknown and unpracticed, but they are easy to learn and easy to master. With a little know-how you can write a script, shoot the video, edit the video, and share it online in a few hours.
If you would like to learn more or are interested in learning the skills I spoke of, then you are in luck; we can teach you, for free. Using…. drumroll please… short web videos. Learning video through video, it’s a brave new world.
The following video outlines the new advancing technologies. It discusses why the ability to shoot, edit, and publish video is now easier and more inexpensive than ever.
The means to make a video is the tip of the iceberg, the impact comes from looking at how we can use it. Moreover, since the cost of producing video has dropped dramatically, we can use it in ways previously never considered: training videos, video grant proposals, custom thank-you videos to generous donors, or program updates. This video outlines what web video means for nonprofits, how it can change the way they share their mission, their successes, and their future.
Finally, researching new equipment to buy can be mind-numbing with so many options and endless reviews; it can be over-whelming. Therefore, when you are asking yourself: what equipment do I need, what are the options, and how much does it all cost? Have no fear, we did the homework, this video answers those questions and more.
Google has a miriade of tools and helpful resources for nonprofits and it is called Google for Nonprofits. It goes beyond the YouTube nonprofit program, which is a piece of the Google for Nonprofits pie.
It includes such resources as:
– Google Apps
– Google Grants
– Google Analytics
– YouTube Nonprofit Program
– Google Earth Outreach
These tools are great and the details of each include more and more helpful resources. Just take the YouTube Nonprofit Program for example. It provides listing on the YouTube nonprofit channel for increased exposure, free google checkout for donations, “call to action” overlays on videos for directing traffic to nonprofit websites, and more. You can learn more on how to apply to the YouTube Nonprofit Program by watching our free video tutorial.
The following video goes into more detail regarding Google for Nonprofits and the services it provides.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights or ICIRR celebrated 26 years of working with the community with a fundraiser. In attendance were Lawrence Benito – executive director of ICIRR, Al Riley – Illinois State Representative, Katy Salgado – Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Leticia Barrera – Logan Square Neighborhood Association, let’s dabble and so many others.
ICIRR, in their own words,
“…is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society.”
As 2012 comes to a close, we wish them all the best for 2013. To learn more and get a taste of this years fundraiser check out a fantastic use of web video.
Acceptd is a tool for helping students get into the school of their dreams by simplifying the application process and connecting them with the right performing arts program.
It helps schools by streamlining the decision process allowing decision makers to review, rate, and track applicants in one easy-to-use place.
At let’s dabble we love helping people learn something new, like web video. For Acceptd it is rethinking the application process. Either way, life just got a little easier.
Having a website made and hosted can be costly: from one thousand dollars to tens of thousands. Since that rarely is a drop in the bucket, it good to know that you can make and host your very own website.
If you are looking to do-it-yourself, then video tutorials are always a blessing. While let’s dabble walks you through the process of making a web video. This resource guides you through the waters of hosting a website.
To view all their website tutorials you can visit their youtube page.
Vertical video typically happens when recording with phones, which is becoming more and more common with the high quality of the lenses in smart phones.
In technical terms it is recording in an aspect ratio of 9×16 rather than 16×9, this makes playback on a 16×9 screen less than great. So when filming your video dabblings be sure to keep your camcorder properly positioned for the best possible footage.
This playful video discusses the problem, while at the same time making you smile. Enjoy.
