Periscope and Nonprofits: A Love Story

The mobile app Periscope is the latest release from Twitter, and nonprofits should be excited. Currently only available on mobile devices, the app allows users to live stream anywhere they are. This takes global engagement to a whole new level, as Periscope allows users to view live events all over the world. As exciting as this is for entertainment, nonprofits will greatly benefit from taking advantage of the app.

Periscope allows nonprofits to tell their stories live, captivating the interest and engaging potential donors from around the world.

Visual storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in a nonprofit public relation professional's pocket. When utilized effectively, it allows for readers to engage on an emotional level with the nonprofit and it's mission. Periscope allows a nonprofit to do this- live, and anywhere!

This past month I downloaded the Periscope app on my iPhone (this was after I realized that they, unfortunately, do not have a website to access on a computer). I was on a mission to find an example of a nonprofit using the new social media platform.

To be honest, I was not impressed at first. It appears that a lot of users worldwide use it for social media purposes, making it difficult to find legitimate accounts that are live. After failing to find live nonprofits on Periscope, I added all of the accounts that I followed on Twitter. Still no luck.

So, I decided to create the example I was looking for. This past Saturday, April 9 at The Children's Playhouse BuildFest 2016 event, I conducted the nonprofit's first ever Periscope broadcast. Each year Appalachian State University's Physics and Astronomy Club host a demonstration at the annual STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) event. Adults and children of all ages are delighted at the interactive demonstration, making it perfect to broadcast on Periscope.

I was ultimately very pleased with my first Periscope broadcast (above). During my first view I was critical of what I had produced, but in watching it a second time, I tried to view it as someone who did not go to the event.

In re-watching my broadcast, I felt like I was walking around viewing everything as if I was there again.

Doing this showed me how effective Periscope can be in sharing the fun, inspiration, and knowledge that interested yet absent individuals can enjoy.

Apparently not many nonprofits have caught the Periscope bug. If it continues to stay on the radar of public relations professionals as it appears to be lately, I foresee it being used much more frequently by nonprofits in telling their story to donors.

What are opportunities and/or challenges that you see with Periscope? Share your thoughts in my new comment section below (which I will be discussing in my next blog ;)

Warmly,

Colette

#nonprofit #socialmedia #children #donors