World Vision hands over its brand to YouTube vloggers

Thursday, August 26, 2010

In a new initiative, World Vision Australia has enlisted three well-known YouTube vloggers, or video bloggers, to help communicate the organisation’s story to the online community. 

The vloggers, Tom McLean (Frezned), Shawna Howson (Nanalew) and Alex Day (Nerimon), are from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom respectively, and have a combined total of more than 374,000 subscribers. 

The vloggers have travelled to Zambia with World Vision to learn how the organisation’s Child Sponsorship projects benefit poor communities. 

“We're excited to be one of the first international charities to directly engage the YouTube community in this way - opening the doors to our programs and allowing vloggers to get up close and personal with our work,” World Vision’s Digital Channels Manager Keith Don said. 

“We’re not sitting in the director’s chair and telling them what to vlog about, we’re just showing them our projects and letting them communicate what they see in their own way.” 

The vloggers have started posting videos from Lusaka in Zambia, and their online communities are responding. The vloggers’ stories have already had more than 400,000 views on their YouTube channels. 

Australian vlogger Tom said he wanted to do more than just entertain his online fans. 

“I took the opportunity to travel with World Vision because I want to feel like my vlogs are actually having a positive impact on the world rather than being just amusement,” he said. 

“I don’t think a lot of young people really understand what aid organisations like World Vision actually do, so I’m hoping that my vlogs will help shed some light on what poverty is all about and what can be done to address the issue.” 

Mr Don said taking three vloggers to Zambia was unknown territory for World Vision. 

“This is the first time World Vision has undertaken a project like this, and while there is some risk involved, we understand the power of social media and the need to get on board with this new form of communicating,” he said. 

The videos from the trip can be viewed on each of the vloggers YouTube channels, and on a microsite, www.worldvisionvloggers.com where all of the videos will be posted on a timeline. 

Ends 

Keith Don is available for media interviews. Vlogger profiles also available on request. 

Media contact: Sacha Myers, World Vision media officer, on 0457 926 018 or at sacha.myers@worldvision.com.au .

Media Releases, Poverty, Asia and the Pacific, Alex Day, Child Sponsorship, Shawna Howson, Tom McLean, World Vision, Young People, Youtube

Back to all Results