Contest Eligibility

How many videos can my organization submit?
You can submit as many videos as you would like, but please note that the video has to have been produced between January 1st, 2011 and February 29th, 2012. Also remember that we are looking for the absolute best in nonprofit video. If your organization has a large amount of video content, try to focus on the videos that you believe are most exceptional.

My organization is in the process of getting our nonprofit status approved. Can we still enter the contest?
In order to be considered for the YouTube Nonprofit Program, you must have a Federal Tax ID at the time you submit your application. If you do not have your nonprofit status by the time of your submission, we regret that you will be unable to submit a video in this year's contest. But remember, this is an annual contest, and there is always the opportunity to compete next year!

My nonprofit is registered in another country. Can we still enter the contest?
At this time, only videos submitted from organizations registered in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia are eligible for the contest. We recognize there are exceptional nonprofit videos created all over the world, but only nonprofits from those countries can be considered this year.  We hope to grow the contest in size and scope in the years to come and look forward to inviting organizations from additional countries soon.

My organization is a local chapter or subsidiary of a larger nonprofit.  Should we enter the contest as a small, medium, or large organization?
Please consult the details listed below to see the budget sizes by which we define "small", "medium", and "large". 

• Small Organization - Awarded to best video made my an organization with an annual budget of $1,000,000 or less.
• Medium Organization - Awarded to best video made by an organization with an annual budget between $1,000,000 to $5, 000,000.
• Large Organization - Awarded to best video made by an organization with an annual budget of $5,000,000 or more.

Your size should be based on the budget of the organization with which your nonprofit status is associated.  So if your chapter or group has its own nonprofit status, then select the appropriate category based on your budget.  But if your nonprofit has the same nonprofit status as the larger organization, then you should select the appropriate category based on their budget. 

Our video was created in late 2011, but we didn't release it until 2012.  Are we still eligible for this year's contest?

You're good.  As long as your video was produced between January 1st, 2011 and the last day of this year's contest submission period (Febraury 29th, 2012) you may enter it.

I'm not a nonprofit, but I made a video for a nonprofit. How can I submit my video?
It doesn't matter whether the video was made by or for an organization, but the video must be uploaded to the organization's official YouTube channel, and that organization must be a part of the YouTube Nonprofit Program. Check with the nonprofit you made the video for, tell them about the contest, and see if they will submit your video.

We have videos uploaded to another video-sharing site, but not to YouTube. Can I send you the link for submission?
Unfortunately, we are only able to accept videos that are uploaded to YouTube and submitted through the contest gadget. We are also unable to receive DVDs in the mail. Please do your best to locate the original video file and upload it to YouTube.

YouTube Nonprofit Program

How do I know if I am a member of the YouTube Nonprofit Program?
Your organization is only a member of the YouTube Nonprofit Program if you applied at http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits and received a confirmation acceptance.

How do I apply to the YouTube Nonprofit Program?
Applying to the YouTube Nonprofit Program is free and easy. Even more importantly, it will help your organization get ahead by providing you with a bunch of free exclusive YouTube features and capabilites not available to the general public.  Visit http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits and fill out the application form (requires approximately 10 minutes). 

You can apply for the YouTube Nonprofit Program and submit an entry to the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards at the same time. YouTube will process applications as soon as possible, but your application may be delayed based on the volume of applicants.

Don't worry if you are not accepted within the time of the contest. We will judge all videos equally, and will only confirm entry into the YouTube Nonprofit Program if your video reaches the finalist stage when 16 videos are chosen by our panel of judges to be voted on by the public. Any video reaching the finalist stage that is NOT accepted into the YouTube Nonprofit Program will be disqualified and the next highest rated video by our judges will replace it. If your organization submitted an application and submitted a video that did not make it to the finalist stage, your application will still be processed.

Contest Details

I submitted my video, but I don't see it in the gallery of submissions.  What went wrong?
Don't worry.  To ensure that all publicly viewed content is appropriate and conforms to the contest guidelines, our team curators must first view each submission before we put it in the public gallery.  We check every day, but due to the volume of entries it often takes up to 24 hours to get to each day's videos.  You will be able to check back and see the status of your submission anytime. 

How do you determine the 16 finalists?
We will review submissions as they come in based on the below criteria.  Our team will narrow submissions down to the top 10 videos in each category, which will then be rated by our judging panel to determine the top 4 videos in each category.  Our judges are considered experts in online video, nonprofit marketing, film, and media, and will rate the videos based on the same criteria.

• Message:  Is the message clear?  Does the message take an original angle on the topic?  Do you know what the video seeks to communicate and what it wants you to do?
• Use of Video:  Did the organization take advantage of the video medium?  Could the message have been more effectively communicated using any other medium?  
• Quality of Video: Was the video made well?  Did it use good video technique including framing, sound, visual interest, etc?  
• Creativity:  Did the style of the video catch your attention?  Did you see something original and exciting?
• Storytelling: Does your video tell the story of a person/people, the issue, or the organization in question?  Did the video use narrative and story to educate and move the viewer?

What steps have you taken to prevent cheating?
When public voting opens, any person with a YouTube account can vote once a day, giving a video either thumbs up or thumbs down.

However, online users have become very sophisticated in their attempts to influence contest results.  YouTube has specific filters woven into the contest platform to prevent gaming, and we encourage all finalists to be fair and ethical when encouraging constituents to support their submission.

No software-generated, robotic, programmed, script, macro or other automated online or text message entries are permitted and will result in disqualification of all such entries. The contest partners reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any entrants it finds to (i) have tampered with the entry process or the operation of the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards; (ii) to be acting in violation of the rules or the spirit of the contest; or (iii) to be acting in a disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person or to have provided inaccurate information at any time during the contest.

For any other inquiries, please email coordinator@see3.net. This is the best way to reach us.  Please refrain from calling contest partners regarding the DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards.