Creative Crowdsourcing Empowers Non-Profits to Spread the Word

In the last few years the term “crowdsourcing” has grown into a catchall phrase that has been used to describe everything from Wikipedia, to the recent SMS donations to Haiti. If you aren’t aware of the term, a simplified definition of crowdsourcing is essentially taking a task that is typically done by one person and opening it up to a large group to take on the same task. However, the reality is that non-profits have been at the forefront of crowdsourcing long before Jeff Howe coined this popular term.

Most non-profits have relied upon “the crowd” to offset the cost of hiring labor or advertising agencies for many years. Yet, few could have imagined how the internet would push crowdsourcing to a new level for the non-profit world. It now seems like every day a new online service is allowing non-profits to reach more donors, more effectively promote their cause, and squeeze more value out of every penny spent.

A relatively new online form of crowdsourcing has started to elevate the marketing and branding efforts of non-profit organizations to those of their for-profit peers. Creative crowdsourcing is a more recent addition to the arsenal of tools allowing non-profits to expand their brand on a tight budget. Often simplified down to a creative competition, the goal of creative crowdsourcing is to find the best creative content submitted from a large, diverse group. Creative crowdsourcing can be used to source anything from graphic design and copy, to television ads and radio spots. More than just a cost reduction for non-profits, creative crowdsourcing brings organizations the power of choice and the ability for its constituents to become involved.

Take for example NAFCU, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. NAFCU came to GeniusRocket, our DC based creative agency powered by crowdsourcing, to source television advertisements to promote credit unions in local markets around the country. As with most non-profits, NAFCU was working on a small budget. Approaching a traditional agency would have cost them anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Through GeniusRocket, NAFCU was able to offer a $3,000 award to a community of up and coming artists who were willing to take the risk by creating content for the competition. Across a 30-day period, NAFCU received over 20 videos produced by over 20 artists across the globe. NAFCU selected three videos from the crowd and returned in subsequent months to source two more specifically themes ads. You can check out the videos here and here. David Frankil the President of NAFCU Services was, “overwhelmed by large volume of very high quality ads received, which the credit unions were happy to use.”

For non-profits like NAFCU, creative crowdsourcing is clearly able to provide a diversity of high quality content at an affordable price. Yet an equally important benefit to non-profits, is the ability to enlist support and bring awareness to a cause. Ashoka, the organization for social entrepreneurship, has recently launched a video competition on GeniusRocket to promote their campaign, “Everyone a Changemaker™ World.” Through this project, Ashoka is currently asking filmmakers to “envision a Everyone A Changemaker™ World, where everyone has the self-permission to create positive change in their community.” By enlisting artists around the globe to participate, a new group of individuals are conveying Ashoka’s message from their own perspective. You can check out the details of the project here.

Clearly the non-profit world has always seen the power and value of the crowd, yet with the adoption of creative crowdsourcing, these organizations have been able to extend and improve their marketing message like never before. Brands are using new ways to communicate to their target audience and it’s crucial for any organization to maintain momentum by continuing to use new mediums to get their message across. Creative crowdsourcing makes any medium both innovative and accessible regardless of the budget. For more information on how you can get you can implement creative crowdsourcing, visit www.GeniusRocket.com.

Peter H. LaMotte
Executive Vice President of Marketing and Operations at GeniusRocket

For more about crowdsourcing, check out this other great blog post, "Non-Profits: pay attention to crowdsourcing"