As AI continues to improve, sports marketers are tapping into the data to help them understand what fans really want.
Creating personalized content is becoming easier with machine learning, and organizing and sharing that content is becoming a seamless process.
On this episode of “On the Record with ‘Sports Professor’ Rick Horrow,” PhotoShelter CEO Andrew Fingerman sits down with Rick to discuss the ways artificial intelligence is transforming the industry, and how PhotoShelter is leaning into AI technology to maximize content ROI for teams, organizations, and their sponsors.
Here’s a recap:
AI is changing the game for sports marketing, brand building, and fan engagement.
Creative teams can now make educated adjustments to their strategies and their workflows with data and analytics, so their AI content makes a bigger impact. Metrics help teams understand the bigger story behind content distribution and make more data-driven decisions on their campaigns.
We are just scraping the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI and how these tools can transform the way brands and organizations execute and amplify their work.
The next phase is automation.
Until now, photos needed to be tagged in order to be searchable and subsequently, the most useful to creative teams. In an ideal world, all of your content would be tagged to perfection and everyone in your organization would be able to find what they need when they need it.
However, this is not reality. 40% of the 5 billion assets housed on PhotoShelter are not being tagged. That means it would take more than 200 days for people to tag all of the assets uploaded to PhotoShelter each month.
For creatives using PhotoShelter, AI now automates this process, freeing up time for more innovative work, and removing the learning curve for new employees who once had to learn the typical tagging process.
“What our technology has done is, we’ve been able to take out the human element — which is the single biggest pain point of needing to tag and move this content around,” said Andrew Fingerman, PhotoShelter’s CEO. “And that is where we’re seeing a lot of next-generation difference-making in the market.”
Real-time + repetition = ROI.
These days, speed is essential for making an impact on social media. Countless organizations, sports teams and leading brands have told us about their workflows, sharing that with the right setup, they’re able to move assets from the camera to their social media feeds, websites, sponsors and key influencers in under 60 seconds.
PhotoShelter AI makes this a simple and repeatable process.
Plus, reaching your audience time and time again will hammer home the messages that are most important to you and your brand. Create quality content once, and leverage our AI tools to maximize the ROI of your library and tell your story again and again.
“We’ve reached a unique point in time where companies that regularly leverage AI are now prompted to take a solid stance on the future of our industries as they relate to this new technology,” said Kathy Carter, PhotoShelter’s CTO. Learn more about PhotoShelter’s AI solutions and our dedicated AI Ethics Board.
How can your university’s communications team optimize your visual content? Here are five tips that will help you get more from every photo and video in your visual media library.
Share Content Fast on Social Media
Don’t wait to publish photos or videos until after an event is over. Share them in the moment, while your audience is paying attention.
How Brigham Young University Does It
“Our goal is to beat the cell phone images on social media,” says Nate Edwards, Manager of Photography on BYU’s Photo Team.
Not only does metadata power fast search, but the added context can help you make better use of the photos, whether you’re sharing them immediately or archiving them for the future.
How Bates College Does It
The team at Bates College uses the IPTC Description/Caption field to capture context that could turn into an Instagram caption, newsletter copy or information for a blog post. Check out how this photo looks on the back end of their visual media library, complete with Description/Caption, who took the photo, where and when it was taken.
Now, see how the metadata informs the caption when the photo appears on the school’s Instagram.
Metadata also helps you reduce the risk of incorrectly crediting an image. If your university sources content from a number of photographers and videographers, you need to preserve that information and track your usage rights. Metadata helps you keep track, since it always travels with the image. Bonus tip: Use a metadata policy to keep everyone on your team on the same page.
Make Your University’s Content More Accessible
Your school’s photography can meet a wide range of demands for people across the university. You might use one photo shoot to sell tickets to your spring musical on the website, share highlights on social media, and commemorate the performance in the alumni magazine well after the curtain falls.
These different uses are most likely handled by people in a number of different departments, so you need to make your content easily accessible. Store all of your content in one cloud-based library, then grant access to everyone who needs to use that content. Here are two ways to do that:
A centralized platform like PhotoShelter that can house all of your content in one place
A single-sign-on (SSO) that allows multiple users to access photos with a single username and password.
How University of Miami Does It
The University of Miami Athletics department has a visual media library of more than half a million images. The team uses PhotoShelter to make all of that content available to people across the university so a photo like this:
… could live on in email blasts, next year’s baseball posters, sales collateral, and perhaps new prints to hang up in the locker room.
Repurpose Content
When you invest in creating content, you should use it in as many ways as you can to get the highest return on your investment. (Plus, your students and alumni will love a good #TBT).
Following the steps above will help to repurpose your content. Adding metadata to your visual assets will help when searching for files, allowing you to find them quickly when you need to use them again and again. Plus, you must have an easily accessible library – a go-to place for finding content.
Now, as Sanders continues his coaching legacy in Colorado and makes headlines in the world of college football, Jackson State has a repository of memorable moments to share from their archive. Easy access to these press-worthy moments makes repurposing content a simple task for the marketing and communications teams.
Repurposing content helps you get more from your investment in photos and videos, but more importantly, it allows you to highlight important moments in your school’s history.
Sell Photos
Selling your photos is a fantastic way to generate revenue from work you’re already doing. The same photos that are catching the eyes of your followers on social media and on your website could also make a meaningful graduation gift or framed photo.
Whether you’re selling sports imagery, snapshots from festivals or arts events, or landscape shots of your campus, populating an image bank with all of your best photos will provide an added service for your students, alumni, and greater college community.
Historically, the ROI of your content has been driven by your ability to put all your content into one central place.
In a perfect world, all of that content would be tagged to perfection. Everyone in your organization would be able to find what they need when they need it.
However, this is not reality. 40% of the 5 billion assets housed on PhotoShelter are not being tagged. That means it would take more than 200 days for people to tag all of the assets uploaded to PhotoShelter each month.
How Digital Content Search Works Today Isn’t Working
We talk to marketing professionals every day about the hurdles they face maximizing the value and the return on investment of their content. These were the biggest challenges we heard about:
Difficulty finding the right image if you didn’t use really specific tags when you uploaded the file
Spending countless hours searching for that perfect image – often coming up empty
Lower ROI on older assets only using the ones that are the most easily accessible, or even worse, wasting money duplicating assets that already exist
Manually plugging in metadata, keywords, and captions just to be able to find and use your images
Additional training required for new employees, external vendors, etc. to know how to search your tags
A Better Way to Search For Digital Assets
Our mission is to make your own content more valuable to you. That’s why we built AI Visual Search. A new feature that is transforming how creative professionals find and make the most out of their content.
AI Visual Search allows you to search your entire library of assets for things that would be relevant in your search results based on visual descriptions, making it easier and faster to find what you need.
The Benefits of AI Visual Search for Content Management
Now AI is doing the hard work for us with extreme specificity whenever you need it. That’s the beauty of machine learning. It has eliminated an extremely time-consuming and human, error-prone task. With AI Visual Search you can:
Find your files easier. Language and image recognition provides you with intelligent matches.
Increase the ROI of every asset. Search your entire library, regardless of how your content is tagged.
Be more productive. Find assets in less time and spend more time on higher ROI work.
Onboard faster and easier. New employees won’t need to learn a complex tagging system to find files.
AI Auto-Tagging vs. AI Visual Search
AI Auto-Tagging and AI Visual Search are two useful tools every creative professional should have to improve their content workflow. However, they aren’t the same thing and are ideal for different use cases:
AI Tagging
AI Visual Search
What it does
Automatically creates metadata tags for objects, specific people, or brands.
Allows you to search for images based on visual descriptions.
Athlete dunking a basketball, three players high fiving, a player scoring a goal
Search terms
Exact match
Exact match and similar matches
Start Using AI Visual Search Today
If you’re a company with a 5 or 10 year history, that could mean hundreds or thousands of photos.
For example, if you want to put together an annual report and pull pictures of staff enjoying themselves at an event or brainstorming at an off-site over the course of the year, how will you find those images today? How long would that process take you?
If you’re not able to find the photos you want, those moments are impossible to recreate, and without them, you may not create the impact you want in the final product.
With AI Visual Search, you can find those images instantly and publish faster – without having to compromise on your vision or on the quality of the final product.
If America’s college and university back-to-school campaigns were given honorary distinctions based on creativity, Utah Valley University‘s impressive 2021 marketing campaign would graduate summa cum laude, no doubt. The green-themed captivating marketing campaign left a lasting impression on not only students, faculty members, and alumni, but visitors statewide and beyond.
In a live webinar session, Utah Valley University’s Director of Photography, August Miller, and Jenna Heaton, Senior Graphic Designer shared the key ingredients that made UVU’s back-to-school campaign a resounding success. From whimsical designs to innovative digital strategies, UVU’s campaign combined a school-spirit-themed color scheme, real students and faculty as the models, and a unique team vision to produce a visual story that left viewers spellbound.
It doesn’t matter what industry you work in—consumer brands, tech startups, or higher education, UVU’s innovative 2021 back-to-school marketing campaign will inspire you to think outside the box and unleash your own brand storytelling magic.
Utah Valley University’s creative team wanted to make sure the school’s commitment to inclusivity and student empowerment was a powerful anchor for the visuals and key messaging in this campaign. One of the ways they did this was by strategically placing vibrant signs around their picturesque campus, proclaiming a powerful message that UVU is ‘#APlaceForYou’. This campaign not only captured the attention of students, faculty, and visitors alike, but it also encapsulated the essence of UVU’s welcoming atmosphere and dedication to fostering a sense of belonging for all.
UVU’s decision to utilize the hashtag #APlaceForYou was not only creative in the alliteration when said in concert with the school’s shortened acronym. The simple yet impactful message encapsulates their unwavering commitment to providing a safe and accepting space for everyone on campus. By incorporating the hashtag, UVU skillfully leveraged the power of social media and encouraged students to share their experiences. The campaign sparked conversations about inclusivity that resonated with both current and prospective students who longed to be a part of a university community that valued their uniqueness.
What sets UVU’s approach apart is their ability to turn a simple marketing campaign into a powerful statement. By prominently displaying the signs across campus, UVU created a visually striking environment that embodied their values. The vibrant colors and modern design of the signs added an extra touch of creativity, further emphasizing UVU’s commitment to innovative thinking and forward progress. The campaign effectively conveyed the message that regardless of one’s background, ethnicity, or identity, UVU is a place where everyone is celebrated and can thrive.
Want to learn more about how PhotoShelter can streamline your workflow in Education?
University creatives and higher education marketers… this one’s for you! It doesn’t matter where you work on campus—whether it’s admissions, student life, or athletics, visual storytelling is essential for driving meaningful interaction with staff, alumni, current students, and prospective students.
When your school doesn’t have a long term visual storytelling strategy, content marketing becomes reactive.
To develop a proactive, innovative creative content marketing strategy, we encourage you to develop an editorial calendar that supports both annual campus initiatives and daily news highlights, like a commencement keynote speaker announcement.
For example, environmental sustainability might be a campus-wide campaign initiative which could easily become overwhelming between the research, creative deliverable production, rounds of feedback and collaboration.
A simplified editorial calendar simply lists out the marketing or communications initiatives or campaigns your organization should be focused on promoting on a given day, week, month, or quarter. Whereas a more advanced editorial calendar can help map out the collaborative, interdepartmental initiatives or campaigns subtasks and specific deliverables.
Here’s how to build an editorial calendar that works for your school—let’s go!
Evergreen Content
An editorial calendar serves as a guiding tool that shapes and streamlines your school’s visual storytelling goals. To truly optimize your content strategy, it’s crucial to embrace the power of evergreen content. Evergreen means everlasting, so evergreen content should always remain relevant and valuable regardless of the year or current trends. This type of content creates a sustainable source of audience engagement and a remarkable return-on-investment (ROI).
By strategically incorporating evergreen content into your school’s editorial calendar, you can establish a solid foundation that cultivates lasting connections, maximizes your resources, and strikes a balance between timely updates and timeless storytelling.
While timely news updates are essential for keeping your audience informed, evergreen content adds a layer of depth and consistency to your content strategy. Find the content that works for your school and your community, and add it to your editorial calendar at a regular cadence.
Retelling the Story
Reimagining your stories and capturing the attention of your target audience requires a touch of creativity. It’s time to debunk the myth that your message has already reached its intended destination—it’s like a hidden gem waiting to be discovered.
In today’s content-saturated world, people are drowning in an ocean of information.our posts can get lost in the digital abyss due to complex social media algorithms, but fear not! Breathing new life into your most successful visual content by repurposing what already works is one of the best ways to ensure maximum ROI of your creative assets.
Don’t be shy to change up copy, switch out an image, and hit that “publish” button again and again to make sure your brand content makes an impression on and impacts your audience.t.
As technology tools continue to evolve, higher education teams must optimize the workflow tools that enable campus-wide content marketing and communications teams to do their best work. .
For example, if your school’s ‘About Us’ page features only static images, you might be in need of a visual storytelling refresh! Incorporating contemporary elements like drone footage, embedded TikTok posts from student ambassadors, and sharing authentic student experiences through audio clips add nuance and texture to a school’s narrative. Explore different angles, like the point of view of your institution’s alumni, the multigenerational families that have attended, or even the history of the land your school was founded on..
By adding new visual elements to old stories, or simply updating website text to reflect the inclusive language of the time, your institution’s history can become a living, breathing entity that captivates your audience’s imagination and showcases your school community’s collective persona.
Case Study: Yale Admissions Videos 2001, 2010, 2021
In the ever-evolving landscape of admissions videos, institutions like Yale have recognized the need to adapt and engage their diverse audience, which includes parents and prospective students. Let’s take a look at the evolution of Yale’s admissions videos over the years, starting with a glimpse into their approach in 2001.
The 2001 video followed a traditional formula, featuring a cast of characters representing diverse ethnicities in various campus settings. While it highlighted the Yale name and showcased the architectural beauty, it lacked the distinctiveness that set it apart from other admissions videos.
Fast forward nearly a decade later, and Yale took a bold and innovative step with a student-produced video that captured the attention of prospective students. This video, released around the same time as the popular TV show “Glee,” embraced a quirky approach centered around a prospective student asking a tour guide why he chose Yale.
Leveraging the power of song and dance as a narrative device, the video became a sensation, going viral with nearly 2 million views. It was a groundbreaking departure from the norm and remains the most popular video ever produced by Yale.
Real-Time Storytelling
It’s crazy to think that most of us have a high-definition, broadcast studio in our pocket. Satellite dishes on television vans have given way to iPhones with apps like Instagram, Twitter and TikTok that allow us to reach millions of people in real time.
Real-time storytelling is largely unfiltered and “authentic.” It informs and engages. It satisfies FOMO (fear of missing out). It often replaces traditional storytelling and provides your audience with access to behind-the-scenes moments they might never see broadcasted. Sports are an obvious real-time storytelling opportunity, but so are art performances, student rallies, commencement speeches, and even live streamed lectures. Real-time storytelling isn’t just about streaming content in the moment. It also includes capturing and sharing exclusive, live content as events unfold, and quickly transmitting photos directly to social media (FTP for the win!).
Case Study: UCLA Quidditch Team
For UCLA, this popular video deviated from the expected focus on traditional Division I sports teams. Instead, it showcased their Quidditch team – yes, the fictional sport from Harry Potter. Surprisingly, Quidditch has become a nationwide club sport, and UCLA found a compelling way to highlight a quirkier side of the extracurricular experience, captivating their audience’s imagination.
This video demonstrates the importance of embracing creativity and finding unique ways to engage prospective students and parents in the admissions process. By breaking free from conventional approaches and tapping into pop culture or showcasing unexpected aspects of campus life, institutions have successfully captured the attention of their audience, leaving a lasting impression and setting themselves apart in the competitive world of college admissions.
Your Turn: Tips for Developing An Editorial Calendar!
Here are some pro tips to help you get started with developing your school’s editorial calendar:
Your first step is to build a calendar of key school community events and milestones that happen every year like homecoming, graduation, or alumni reunions. These should be your Evergreen Content tentpoles. By strategically building content plans around these annual events, you can build anticipation and create engaging, timely content that resonates with your audience’s sense of school pride and tradition. Plus, by building the campaign once, you can update the look and feel of graphics year-over-year to retell the same story in a better way!
Create fun teaser content to generate excitement and anticipation around major initiatives or campaigns you have planned. This could involve releasing short videos, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, or intriguing teasers that offer a glimpse into the upcoming content. Teasers not only build anticipation but also serve as a powerful tool for generating buzz and ensuring that your larger content receives maximum engagement and impact.
Don’t limit your storytelling to a single iteration. Explore different perspectives, angles, or formats that can breathe new life into existing stories. For example, you could retell a founding story from the perspective of a current student, highlight the impact of a long-standing program through alumni testimonials, or transform a written article into an engaging video. By reimagining and retelling stories in fresh and captivating ways, you can reach new audiences and maintain a sense of excitement and relevance around familiar narratives.
Embrace the power of real-time storytelling and share live campus news updates as they unfold. This could involve setting up live streaming broadcasts of sports matches, performances, guest lectures, or even sharing social media updates during campus events. By creating an efficient, streamlined workflow to help your entire campus document and share real-time content with ease, you can create a sense of urgency (the good kind of FOMO!), foster audience engagement, and showcase the dynamism of your school’s activities.
Elevate your school’s visual storytelling by implementing the valuable evergreen tips and insights from our guide! Take your content strategy to new heights and captivate your audience with compelling visuals and engaging narratives.
When you think of hostels, what comes to mind? If, like many people, you’ve stayed in one of them in your student days, you probably have memories of cold bunk beds, communal showers and noisy students. But things have come a long way since those days, and they now offer all different types of amenities and services to make the experience more comfortable and memorable. Many more people are now choosing to stay in hostels instead of budget hotels or holiday accommodations like Airbnb.
So what’s the reason behind this shift? In addition to more investment going into the hostels market, organisations like YHA (Youth Hostels Associations, England and Wales) in the UK are helping to change the perception of hostel accommodation. The leading social enterprise has been at the forefront of the movement to make travel accessible to all, especially young people.
YHA’s Digital Media Executive, Jack Mellors, spoke with us at The PhotoShelter Summit, where he explained their work; to break previous preconceptions around hostelling, and how they use impactful visual storytelling to promote their mission.
Jack said: “We’re also a charity. So the charity side of it is ingrained into everything we do. And the main thing that we try and do within the charity is to provide people (especially young people of limited means) access to the outdoors and to nature, because we believe that everybody should be able to experience the outdoors and nature.”
Telling YHA’s Story Through Video
In his role at the YHA, Jack wears many hats. In addition to being responsible for YHA’s digital marketing strategy, Jack is their in-house photographer, videographer, and digital asset management expert. Talk about a Jack-of-all-trades!
YHA captures the power of a moment through video
He explained that being able to tell YHA’s story authentically through video is a crucial part of YHA’s digital marketing strategy, and it all comes down to capturing the power of a moment. This could be anything, like the moment a child goes outdoors, into nature, or into one of their hostels for the very first time. It could be the first time that a group of students who have been subsidised are able to spend time together in nature learning and building themselves up as people.
To be able to get these moments to come through as part of the greater story, Jack follows four key components:
People: When creating videos, it’s all about capturing the moment of people experiencing nature and how YHA helps. Some of the people that YHA works with, children in particular, have never ventured very far from their homes or experienced certain outdoor activities. YHA had recently added a new hostel venue to their network, Chester Trafford Hall, and they invited a group of subsidised school children to spend a day at the venue and explore the surrounding countryside. Being able to capture that moment of joy of the children enjoying the experience from start to finish created a story that is authentic and resonates with YHA’s audiences.
Place: With Chester Trafford Hall being a new addition to the YHA network, Jack explained that it was crucial to promote the venue as part of the video portion of the larger story, and how it fit into YHA’s mission of making travel accessible to all. He said: “It was really important to capture this because we want to show the reasons why this was a great addition to our network.”
Purpose: The purpose of the video defines the style of it. In the case of the video for their Chester Trafford Hall venue, the purpose was to really promote and sell it as an affordable destination for everyone, especially young people, to stay and have fun with the group activities available. To get insights into why people should visit and stay at the venue, YHA spoke to the kids specifically and got their views on the day, capturing their genuine reactions on camera!
Plot: Having established the previous three components, the plot comes together as a result. Jack explained that asking questions to the group like ‘How have you found the day?’ ‘What’s been your favourite part?’ ‘What are you going to take home to tell your parents?’ Then adding insightful information and some perspectives from the teachers at school helps build the video. It’s people’s opinions about the place they stay at that will help tell the complete story.
Watch the clip below where Jack explains the thinking behind these four different storytelling components:
How Social Media is Changing the Way You Tell Your Story
Some key elements that YHA considers as part of their storytelling strategy are how the stories will be promoted and shared with audiences, and how they’re formatted. With content marketing and social media changing at a rapid pace, Jack explained that as an organisation they’ve also had to change and adapt to new digital marketing trends, especially on social media.
Video is taking over all social media platforms, with Instagram using Reels, TikTok being a video-only platform, and YouTube pushing Shorts. YHA is experimenting with two types of video formats: long-form and short-form.
Long-form content is used for videos like the one described above to promote the Chester Trafford Hall venue. Whereas short-form videos are ideal for a younger audience, which is the new type of audience YHA is trying to reach. However, these types of videos are more challenging to create, as you’re trying to cram a story into 15 to 60 seconds.
Jack said: “We are a youth charity so one of the things that we need to understand is how we cater to those new audiences.”
When creating short-form videos, it’s all about making those first few seconds really count by finding something that will draw people in. One of the ways YHA tries to do this is by showcasing a beautiful landscape – either using an aerial drone shot, or views of the valleys, or the coastline – something that’s eye-catching to encourage people to want to stay or find out more. They also use interviews of people talking about their experiences, highlighting a specific part that’s really fun and interesting.
Here’s a great example of a short-form video from YHA’s YouTube Shorts playlist, where the children talk about their experiences staying at Chester Trafford Hall.
If you’re considering creating short-form videos as part of your content strategy, Jack shared these tips with us:
Add eye-catching content at the start, the first few seconds count
Play with loops
Consider a Shorts specific channel like YouTube
Adapt previous content/repurpose
Create a backlog of content
Link to long-form content
Consider your new audience
Don’t alienate your existing audience
It’s clear that the hostel industry has transformed in the last few years and that visual content, especially video, is a key driver for changing perceptions around hostel accommodation. We’re excited to see how the industry will continue to evolve and how visual storytelling and DAM will support it in the coming years to help make travel accessible (and intriguing!) to all.
If you’d like to learn more about how to incorporate a DAM as part of your visual storytelling strategy and streamline your creative workflow, we’d love to hear from you!
As spring’s warm weather invites us outside to enjoy nature’s new blooms, infinite new possibilities awaken around and within us. Waking up to warmer mornings reminds us that soaking up the summer sun on the weekends simply isn’t enough. Everyone deserves a vacation, including you!
There are so many beautiful cultures around the world to experience and witness, so where does your wanderlust take you first? A secluded, tropical island? A desert safari? A cool, mountainous countryside? A bustling metro city?
As you begin to plan for your dream vacation, besides picking a date, setting a budget, and choosing a companion (if you’re not going solo ✌️,) how and where does your travel research begin?
For us, breathtakingly beautiful images featuring a sprawling, natural landscape, animals in their natural habitat, and videos that show visitors having the time of their lives make us want to click ‘Book Trip’ ASAP!
Destination Marketing Organizations (or DMOs) are state-recognized non-profit agencies—and they all share the same mission: to grow the economic development of their respective cities, towns, and communities by attracting tourists and promoting the culture and experiences that make their locations unique.
Though nothing quite matches the awe-inspiring feeling of experiencing a new place like traveling somewhere for the first time, DMOs are some of the biggest and most innovative enthusiasts of using visual content to fill in the gaps.
Ready to plan for the best road trip of your life? Let’s GO!
Check out the list below to see how 10 domestic destinations use captivating content to remind visitors that their dreams of traveling can become a reality.
First stop? Spokane, Washington
Let’s start on the West Coast (as some say, the best coast!)
As the most Northern West state in America, Washington State is one of the best places to visit if you want to experience the varying terrain, weather, food, nature, and cultures of the Pacific Northwest. Spokane was originally inhabited by the Spokane people, the Native American tribe the city is named after, which means ‘children of the sun.’
Visit Spokane, the local DMO responsible for attracting visitors and promoting tourism to the city, beautifully balances sharing digital content that informs locals and visitors of the impact of the city’s economic development on the native peoples while also highlighting the PNW’s ecological wonders and new safe spaces.
The Visit Spokane website puts key city landmarks like Riverfront Park and Spokane Falls front and center. And, to make it easy on visitors who want an itinerary of must-visit spots to follow—they curate lists of seasonal activities and activities accessible for specific travel groups, like families. Browse Visit Spokane’s PhotoShelter Library to see the full range of landscapes, spaces, and activities you can explore when visiting
Fun facts to know about the city of Spokane, Washington:
While the city of Bend, Oregon might not be on your radar, once you check out Visit Bend’s website and social feeds, you’ll definitely add it to your Travel Bucket List!
How does the Visit Bend team use visual content to feed a traveler’s appetite for getting to know a city before they visit?
Justin Keyes Bundy, Visit Bend’s Digital Content Manager wrote and told us:
“We strive to amplify the experiences of those exploring Bend, Oregon daily. By using PhotoShelter, our local content contributors can submit their assets to our digital team at a moment’s notice. This workflow has led to more diverse, creative, and engaging content across our various publishing channels. At the end of the day, we all want to easily share and celebrate the wonderful outdoor recreational activities the area has to offer.”
Follow Visit Bend on Twitter and Facebook to see the city through a local’s eyes, and check out the Reels on their Instagram account to see all the coastal fronts and mountain peaks you can explore!
When most people think of traveling to Nevada, they envision a wild weekend in Las Vegas or a breezy getaway in Reno or Lake Tahoe. As the capital of Nevada since 1864, Carson City’s rich history and vast natural landscapes are two of the main city features that the Visit Carson City team focuses on highlighting in their website and digital content.
The Visit Carson City website homepage features a captivating video montage that showcases the region’s beautiful coastal views, vintage railway trains, and sensational eateries. If you love exploring your surroundings on foot or by bike, you can use Carson City’s trail system map to plan excursions. (Plus, check out the free interactive pass they created so visitors on a tight budget can explore more!) Fun fact: You can even visit the inventor of the Ferris Wheel’s home in Carson City!
How has using a digital asset management platform like PhotoShelter impacted this creative storytelling team?
“PhotoShelter has been essential for our team—not only for keeping our assets organized, but it’s also helped us get assets out quickly to partners to showcase Carson City as a beautiful place to visit.”
Lydia Beck, Visit Carson City’s Marketing and Public Relations Manager
P.S. Carson City just hosted the first-ever Mark Twain Days Festival, honoring the literary hero who spent time in and loved Nevada. Lydia said they didn’t have any new assets created to promote it ahead of time because it was their first time hosting and producing this event.
Instead, Lydia said that they were able to “search for photos in our old PhotoShelter galleries that matched the current event promotion needs, instead of spending time and money we didn’t have to create new assets. It was really helpful and saved us a lot of time because it was super easy to search for relevant assets using metadata and keywords.” Check out this beautifully produced Instagram reel to see how they used archived video assets to create a promotional video before the event!
Follow Visit Carson City on Twitter and Facebook, and check out their Instagram Reels to explore the city’s mountain peaks, city streets, and Trailways! We’re excited to see how the Visit Carson City team continues to innovatively use visual storytelling to promote their special city—and we can’t wait to visit Carson City soon!
Going to California? Please be sure to Visit Big Bear!
Picture this: You’re watching dawn break over the San Bernardino Mountains and the rock of tiny waves lapping against the lakeside dock underneath you shakes you out of a vacation daydream. With a map in one hand and warm tea in the other, you think: “What a life! What should I explore today?”
Big Bear, California is a small inland California city that sits along the shore of a manmade lake and right between the San Bernardino National Forest. The city’s high elevation and ideal year round weather conditions make it a perfect destination for travelers that want to experience the thrill of a snowsport getaway and for those who want to stroll and explore the leisurely lakeside community.
In fact, throughout the years, Big Bear has been a hot spot and host to Hollywood celebrities, famous film productions, and an annual Oktoberfest festival. The city also hosted the first Winter X games in 1997 and has since gained popularity with professional athletes as a training destination.
Their website homepage features sensational seasonal imagery to draw visitors in, and right now they’re featuring gorgeous mountain blooms you’d see if you were hiking around Big Bear.
According to a recently published Forbes.com article, travel experts say that Phoenix, Arizona is one of the best places to visit in the United States in 2023. If you want to know why you should visit, just head to their website homepage to see a stunning video montage of the incredible cultural experiences available to you.
To invite visitors to explore the city through their website first, Visit Phoenix also curates lists of seasonal activities, accommodation and restaurant deals, and local events. The website also features the city’s mission statement which acknowledges the native people who originally inhabited the land, and how the modern locals honor and celebrate their tribal traditions
It reads: “The story of Phoenix’s innovation began with the Hohokam people, who created canals through the Sonoran Desert that fed a civilization for over a thousand years. Today, this spirit inspires ideas that shape our future. An unbreakable brightness and vitality have brought an entire city to heights others never dreamed possible.
Phoenix’s culture impresses upon the locals and visitors beyond the boundaries of the city’s limits. If you want to see what lies beyond the city limits at a glance, look no further than the Visit Phoenix website and you’ll scroll down to see a beautifully designed map that highlights must-visit landmarks and cultural centers. Sports fans can also get their fix by checking out an NBA game. Go Phoenix Suns! NBA season!
How does Visit Phoenix like using PhotoShelter to speed up the content marketing team’s workflow? Kim Goins, Visit Phoenix’s Marketing Projects Manager said, “We love working with the PhotoShelter product and I’ve been singing its praises to other DMOs!”
Although Conde Nast Traveler listed Park City, Utah as one of 2023’s top domestic destinations to visit, we think Salt Lake City (or SLC as the locals call it,) should also be on your travel bucket list. Situated just 30 miles Southeast of Park City, Salt Lake City was originally founded and inhabited by the Ute Indians, then the Mormons, and now, according to a 2022 Realtor.com report, Salt Lake City has become a popular destination with tech startup companies, young professionals, and new retirees who are all looking to plant roots in an affordable, walkable city.
The first settlers and locals today still believe the lake is inhabited by a monster!
The Great Salt Lake is actually 3 to 10 times saltier than the ocean, and you can actually float (and eat the salt) in the Great Salt Lake! One of Morton Salt’s biggest plants is near SLC.
This popular Utah valley is known for The Greatest Snow on Earth, but the region is pleasant to visit during any season, making it popular with outdoor enthusiasts. That’s why the Visit Salt Lake City team mainly focuses its content on highlighting the natural beauty of the valley and the people who bring the community to life.
The city’s religious history also attracts thousands of faith-based visitors every day of the year. But interestingly enough, SLC is known to be one of the Gayest Cities in America! Can’t believe it? It’s true–and after reading this relatable statement, we know safe spaces and experiences are within reach in SLC.
The Visit SLC website reads: “We get it. When most people think of Salt Lake, a progressive queer scene probably isn’t the first… or second… or, um, even third thing that comes to mind. But almost any LGBTQ visitor who’s been here before, and nearly every LGBTQ local who calls the city home, will tell you, it’s an inclusive urban destination with tons of super gay stuff going on. In fact, Advocate magazine listed us as one of the Ten Queerest Cities in America. (Even gayer than L.A.!)”
If you’re into snow sports, Jackson Hole, Wyoming is probably already on your Travel Bucket List. If you’re not, it might not be—but Visit Jackson Hole’s digital content highlights a few reasons why it should be.
The mountain town of Jackson Hole sits between two mountain ranges and borders the state of Idaho, so the wintery terrain creates a thriving ecosystem for mountain animals (and ski bums!) to thrive in. In addition to sharing content that highlights nature’s beauty, Visit Jackson Hole’s content team also shares content that teaches sustainable lifestyle and traveling practices to visitors to ensure Jackson Hole Stays Wild, a motto they promote on the website’s homepage.
Not a skier or snowboarder? No worries! There are plenty of other ways to explore the city and Visit Jackson Hole’s website makes it easy to see all the options in one place. Click ‘ACTIVITIES’–the first navigation menu item on their website homepage. Once you’re there, you can filter by activities by appropriateness for certain age groups, the date range of your visit, or by the season you hope to travel in!
Also, it’s one of the richest counties in the United States (thanks to an influx of celebrities who have moved there due to beneficial tax policies,) but right now their website features a $400 flight promotion. Is a good deal enough to entice you to book without knowing more about a destination? Take the chance and do it now!
It’s not a city, it’s a state! It’s MI-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I!
Mississippi is a special southern state. From the very first moment you visit their website, you’ll feel the warm welcome of belonging. As you scroll and watch a 30-second video showing a young family exploring the great outdoors, the music-filled nightlife, and the cultural centers of the state, a designed text graphic lays over the video and reads: ‘Let’s Wander.’
This soft reminder to any person on a journey simply confirms that not all who wander, are lost, and as you keep scrolling, the next statement reads: “Mississippi is a state for all those who are wanderers at heart.” Honey, I’m home! ✈️
The Visit Mississippi marketing team invests heavily in developing narrative-based visual stories because the people and organizations that invest in communities better are the folks visitors really should meet. Watch the Wanderers Welcome YouTube Series to see how they created short, but impactful promotional videos to showcase landmarks, culturally important spaces, and the people that make the state of Mississippi the rich place it is.
Katie Hunter, Visit Myrtle Beach’s Content Manager wrote, “The VMB team uses PhotoShelter to share and collaborate with other teams and creators so that the best photo assets can be used to tell the story of The Beach. PhotoShelter makes it easy for us all to share large files, download images for our own projects, and upload new files from our team of content creators.”
What type of images does the Visit Myrtle Beach marketing team choose and use to tell and sell the story of Myrtle Beach? Let’s take a look!
The waterfront awaits your arrival in Myrtle Beach!
A mouthwatering bowl of comfort: Jambalaya Stew at the Sea Captain’s House in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina!
Cheers, to the best adventures being with friends!
Myrtle Beach is known to travelers for two things, mainly: Beaches and golf. With over 90 courses to tee up at, Myrtle Beach is a golfer’s paradise! The 60-mile-long beach known as The Grand Strand (click the link to watch a YouTube video showing the 60-mile stretch in under 60 seconds,) also offers visitors of all abilities tons of recreational options besides sunbathing. And the wide variety of bustling nightlife and restaurant options will satisfy all the good-time travelers!
This little slice of North Carolina is nicknamed ‘The Southern Part of Heaven.’ After finding out that 1950s writer, William Meade Prince coined the phrase in his memoir about growing up there, it all makes sense. Some other interesting facts about Chapel Hill: Since 1996, Chapel Hill’s fire engines have been painted blue. It’s home to America’s oldest public university, and the first planetarium that was built in the south—The Morehead Planetarium.
Their website’s homepage features a sliding carousel of images and simple one-word questions overlaid on top–that any visitor probably would emphatically answer, ‘YES!’ to like: ‘Thirsty? Hungry? Art-lover?’ And the mouth-watering images that accompany them feature southern barbecue plates, beer flights, local talent, botanical gardens, public parks, lively sporting arenas, and artwork—the main city attractions any new traveler wouldn’t want to miss.
Beyond the quaint reputation Chapel Hill is known for, how does the Visit Chapel Hill marketing team use visual storytelling to attract visitors?
“PhotoShelter has been a tremendous asset for sharing photos and video with our marketing agency of record and other stakeholders in our industry. Our photos are available to them at their convenience which frees up time for our team to think more creatively.”
Tina Fuller, Visit Chapel Hill’s Website and Social Media Coordinator
As Zach Kitschke, CMO of Canva recently said, “This is the era of the visual economy. Thriving in it requires organizations and their employees to think and work differently.”
By splashing captivating video montages and stunning landscape images across their websites and social feeds, these domestic Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) flood our minds with stories that show us that planning a quick escape can be within our reach!
Use this map we made for you to visualize what a road trip to all of the places in this list would look like!
Want to learn more about how travel marketers create award-winning visual stories that entice more visitors to visit their destinations every year?
March has always been a month of transition for me. The most obvious is the change of seasons from Winter to Spring. The days get longer, and the sunshine gets warmer. Green shoots begin to push through the soil. Winter’s dark clothes start to show signs of color and life. Al fresco dining becomes a real possibility. I start to get my fishing tackle ready for the upcoming season. And while March may not be everyone’s favorite month, for me, this transition is one I genuinely enjoy.
Transition and transformation share the same root – and if you are a marketer, Digital Transformation is a very hot topic. Every brand, team, and organization is looking for innovative ways to make creative magic happen, with digital leading the way. Creating deeper engagement with more reach and measurable results is the challenge we’re all facing.
At PhotoShelter, we set a high goal for our Digital Asset Management (DAM) software – to “Transform the Way Creative People Work.” And as we enter March, we’re bringing you a month of creative inspiration to do just that. We call it #DAMMonth, and our fifth annual installment is designed to help you thrive!
Our weekly series will focus on four key themes – “Get Smart” (DAM basics and innovation), “Workflow Wonders” (how to revolutionize your creative process), “DAM Around the World” (how DAM is empowering global brands), and Trendsetters (inspiration from cutting-edge creatives). You will see this content flow across our digital channels over the coming month so we can help make your “Digital Transformation” a reality!
We’re excited to bring you the #DAMMonth content experience and wanted to share a few key points that set the stage for what we see happening in the creative marketplace.
Creative Marketers Share the Same Struggles.
Delivering innovative, visual storytelling while managing an increasing volume of media assets and driving to do it faster than ever is a consistent challenge. Jeff Bezos built Amazon around the answers to an important question few ask, “what’s not going to change in the next ten years?” The challenges marketers face with managing complex media libraries and creating more efficient workflows will be here for many years to come. The good news is that there are a lot of tools, techniques, and technologies to help alleviate this challenge (hint, connect with us to find out how!)
“Doing More with Less” is Not a Negative. It’s Reality!
We’re all doing more with less and stretching dollars/resources more than ever. Every budget has gone through a massive re-think over the past three years, often with ruthless efficiency. But quality investments always make it past the hard decisions, especially when they save time, drive efficiency, and, ultimately, strong ROI. And when those investments do make it into “the plan,” those of us who manage budgets make sure they deliver! It’s an exercise in addition by reduction. With less to work with (CFO asks, “maybe we don’t need this?”), we find a way to be more efficient and creative – and deliver outsized results. That’s how creative people roll.
The “Experience Economy” is a Real Thing.
People love “things,” but what they love more are their memories. As we’ve come out of the critical phase of the pandemic and are out in the real world again, live events, sports, concerts, conferences, entertainment, and networking have come back in full force. Great brands, teams, and organizations figure out how to make the experience a three-part journey – before, during, and after. And the best way to do that is with visuals, the “assets” people remember, hold on to, and share more than any other media. If you connect your vision with the experience in a way that the fan/consumer can make their own, they will engage and amplify in ways that create true, lasting value for your brand.
Sports is the Creative Laboratory for Marketing.
Nearly every trend we consider “marketing today” has been piloted in the sports area. Influencer Marketing, Brand Collaborations, UGC, Artificial Intelligence, Community, Philanthropy, Collectibles, Analytics, Monetization, Podcasts, Brand Ambassadors – if you know them now (and are looking at deploying any of these for your brand), it has already permeated the sports marketplace. Keeping your eyes open to what’s happening in the sports world is a great way to get inspired and bring those tactics into your brand strategy.
Innovation Can Happen No Matter the Size of Your Organization.
Related to the point above, there are no rules in marketing. We have witnessed small non-profit organizations blow our minds with their creativity and impact, small colleges take storytelling to new heights (and bring tears to the eye), upstart brands jump past an incumbent through sheer force of creativity, and small teams delivering impact that’s 10X a bigger team because they committed to breaking the rules and making magic happen. It’s demanding but gratifying. Isn’t that why we got into marketing in the first place?
Come follow me over on LinkedIn if you have any insights you want to share, like to connect, or to have a conversation about your Digital Transformation needs.
Follow along throughout this month as the team at PhotoShelter shares a handful of excellent resources, free guides, tips from industry experts, live programs and more to help you along the way. Happy #DAMMonth!
Here at PhotoShelter, we have the privilege of working with over 2,000 incredible brands that lead by example when it comes to producing and publishing authentic and innovative visual stories.
We’re grateful to work with and learn from innovative creative teams across a variety of industries, but in the giving spirit, we want to take a moment to give special recognition to the nonprofit marketing and development teams that drive support for cause-based altruistic nonprofit organizations.
They tell powerful stories to motivate their generous donors to contribute all year long—but during the holiday season, their focus and efforts are elevated. These creatives know how to make an impact, even with small teams and tight budgets. Their work moves us, and it makes the world a better place.
Beyond Giving Tuesday, we hope you connect with one or many of the organizations listed below.
🌐 Across all campaigns that GivingTuesday coordinates around the world, 84% of donors indicated that GivingTuesday has inspired them to be more giving in their communities
Read on to learn how 20 wonderful nonprofits and the unsung heroes who power their visual storytelling strategies create impactful content and generate support for their causes.
20 Nonprofits That Inspire Us
Special Olympics
The team at Special Olympics has a knack for sharing photos and videos that make you feel.
Sydnye White, Special Olympics’ Director of Content and Storytelling, and her team of creative contributors are experts at capturing decisive moments. Whether it’s a moment of quiet connection or a roaring triumph, they portray the resilience of athletes with intellectual disabilities beautifully and honestly.
If you haven’t seen their life-changing work, on November 29 you can see it featured in a new documentary airing on Paramount+ called “As Far As They Run.”
To give back to their 2022 holiday season supporters, Special Olympics is also gifting anyone who donates $65 or more with a unique, gorgeous ornament.
Thank you, Special Olympics, for inspiring us with your diverse, impactful, inclusive storytelling about athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The Bowery Mission
The Bowery Mission has been fighting homelessness, hunger, and poverty in New York City since the 1870s, so naturally, their 150-year-old media archive is at the heart of their extraordinary storytelling efforts.
During our November 2022 Inside Look webinar, we spoke to The Bowery Mission’s Director of Brand Marketing and Communications, Brian Ourien, about the organization’s ever-evolving, yet timeless visual storytelling strategy—which is driven by the mission to serve, and often speaks for itself.
To show their gratitude every day, they constantly feature their volunteers in social media content on Twitter and Instagram—giving a face to the everyday people who serve. and to the local community in need.
Watch the celebratory Instagram video narrated by Gayle King below to learn more about the organization’s faith-based past, humble present, and hopeful future.
Thank you to The Bowery Mission for bringing hope to New Yorkers in need for more than 150 years. With the help of New York neighbors like us, we can’t wait to see what you do in the next century! Support The Bowery Mission however you can.
Water Mission
Whether they’re responding to a humanitarian crisis or a natural disaster, the team at Water Mission changes lives every day by providing communities with safe and easy access to water.
Everyone needs drinking water to survive, but this organization knows how to utilize the power of storytelling to inspire donors to see how others are living without that basic necessity.
Every visual demonstrates the impact a donor can make, and all of their messaging imbues a tone of gratitude. Even the Water Mission Instagram feed is full of joy and authenticity.
We’re grateful to the teams at Water Mission for bringing awareness to the critical need for safe water worldwide and for providing necessary relief to people around the world!
Between raising rescued sea turtles, two-toed sloths, and Macaroni the puffling, the humans who work at the National Aquarium have a lot of opportunities to turn moments with almost any animal species into riveting content.
Most of the content they share is fun and undeniably cute with an undertone of education, but sometimes they have to shine a serious light on what people can do to reduce harm in bodies of water. It’s with these special creatures’ lives in mind that the National Aquarium team crafts stories that help drive support to restore, save, and protect these beautiful aquatic creatures and their habitats.
Thank you to the National Aquarium for leading conservation efforts, educating your audience and providing a window into our underwater world!
The team at Food for the Hungry does an incredible job of using imagery to demonstrate donor impact and generate critical support for communities in need.
Whether they’re fundraising to help nations suffering from a crisis or educating global citizens on how to make a difference in remote parts of the world, Food for the Hungry’s content can quite literally save a life.
What difference can one person, or even one church, make in the fight against extreme poverty and malnutrition?
Natalia explains how her sponsor changed everything for her, her family, and her entire community: https://t.co/zX2q2WX9yp
The Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust is a UK-based nonprofit that leads sailing trips to help young people rebuild their confidence and independence after cancer.
As pediatric cancer can sometimes be an invisible battle for child patients and their caregivers, engaging supporters and potential donors through firsthand documentary-style content is the Trust’s go-to visual storytelling strategy on social media.
To mark #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth@mustoclothing have created this wonderful video to show how we inspire young people living through and beyond cancer to believe in a brighter future & will be matching all donations made to the Trust in-store this month #CCAM💙Watch here⬇️ https://t.co/wPfZj1rfu0
Thank you to the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust for helping young people impacted by cancer in the UK find hope and magic before, during, and after recovery! ️
If your Instagram feed is full of home and travel content from brands like Lonely Planet and Apartment Therapy, you need to make sure you’re following Landmark Trust.
If you’re looking to see purpose-driven marketing in action, look no further than New York Cares. The New York-based volunteer network loves publicly celebrating community relief efforts big and small.
They put their volunteers in the spotlight, giving supporters a behind-the-scenes look at their community service work. This kind of content helps recruit new volunteers—showing anyone that is interested in becoming a volunteer what the experience would be like. They also document the power of vulnerability—sharing intimate perspectives from community members being served.
Highlighting the compassionate, reciprocal relationships between volunteers and the communities they support normalizes helping others as a community care practice.
It’s this message that they deliver through their content consistently, with kindness, and that’s something we wish we could ‘double tap’ ❤️ a million times.
Thank you to New York Cares for inspiring people to make a difference in their community!
The attitude of gratitude is that warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you give. (Actually, it’s the chemical ‘Oxytocin’ releasing that feel-good feeling, but I digress.)
You know, that heightened sense of appreciation that washes over you, like mulled spices over cider, as soon as the holiday season commences? Yeah, that one.
If you’re suffering from mental health-related issues or symptoms, it can be hard to access and receive support, so to help young folks find and keep perspective all year long, The Jed Foundation, promotes gratitude journaling to help maintain a healthy, grounding practice of reflection.
The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit that was founded in 1998 by two parents impacted by their son’s suicide. They provide mental health education and critical support resources to teens and young adults, schools and universities, and parents and educators, so everyone has the knowledge, language, and understanding to help in times of need.
Most of the organization’s content is centered around ‘building resiliency and life skills, promoting social connectedness, and encouraging help-seeking and help-giving behaviors.’ So, to help spread their resources and message far and wide, their storytelling team partners with popular organizations like MTV and influencers like Billie Eilish to create award-winning content like JED Voices and campaigns like Seize the Awkward.
Through transformative storytelling, they aim to share intimate, vulnerable, and powerful stories of resilience and recovery to help young folks ‘reduce shame, prejudice, and secrecy,’ around how we feel—and ultimately, to not feel alone.
The Jed Foundation reminds us that we were all once lost, and with support, we can find ourselves again.
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is the first-of-its-kind—and only nationwide nonprofit development and restoration project aimed at restoring trails and railways across America to make divided lands more connected and livable, and inter-city and state transportation more accessible.
Since 1986, a dedicated consortium of trailblazers (literally-no pun in sight!) has been running the country’s largest trails organization—advocating for trail protection, development, and historical preservation, and doing environmental and societal research to showcase the incredible impact that trails have on transforming communities.
If you're thankful for the 40,000+ miles of multiuse trails and #TrailMoments spent 👟🚲🛴♿🌲 this year, please consider supporting our work to build a nation connected by trails.
From publishing cultural preservation stories that inspire fashion designers to use traditional textiles, to restoring and rescuing endangered historical sites, Global Heritage Fund’s Instagram feed is a fascinating window into how cultural, environmental, and historical preservation efforts can have an incredible ripple effect. To diversify their fundraising tactics, they’ve recently partnered with artists to create custom-made NFTs.
🥚T-Minus 10 Minutes🥚
Our first-ever NFT collection drops on OpenSea to support Ukraine 🇺🇦
The James Beard Foundation is a nonprofit for foodies and food lovers who love to give back. Although they have a shiny Rolodex of influential stars in the food world working across their kitchens, catering special dinners, and providing education to young chefs in the making, their main goals are “amplifying new voices, celebrating those leading the way, and supporting those on the path to do so.”
In 2020, JBF ‘launched the Black and Indigenous Fund to provide financial resources for food or beverage businesses that are majority-owned by Black or Indigenous individuals.’ Then, in 2021, they shifted their content and communications strategy to start an honest dialogue within the hospitality and service industry where chefs, foodies, and hungry people alike could reimagine sustainable work conditions and approach foodways in a new way together.
Another one of their collaborative initiatives we’ve loved supporting throughout the pandemic is #SupportChinatowns—a nationwide effort that originated in October 2020. The JBF team has since evolved their #LoveAAPI partnership with Chinese American James Beard award-winning cookbook author, Chinatown activist, and JBF Humanitarian of the Year, Grace Young and is asking YOU to get involved!
Vet Tix is a nonprofit organization that provides event tickets to American Military, Honorably Discharged Veterans and family members of troops killed in action. According to their website, they do this work because attending events “reduces stress, strengthens family bonds, builds life-long memories and encourages service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life.”
Through key partnerships with entertainment brands like LiveNation and generous donations by theaters and performers, Vet Tix is able to give enriching experiences back those who have given everything to this country.
Vet Tix is grateful for our partnership with Live Nation. Live Nation Donates Over 2 Million Tickets Through Their Partnership With Vet Tix – Remaining The Top Ticket Donor To The Military And Veteran Community#memorymaker 🇺🇸https://t.co/tFsEBWAZKV
According to CNN, Hurricane Ian might be Florida’s most costly storm in terms of the extent of property and community devastation it left in its wake. However, thanks to nature-loving localists like the folks who work at The Conservancy of Southwest Florida, we’re able to learn how the hurricane impacted the land, its creatures, and its people.
If you’ve ever visited, vacationed, or received a postcard from someone who’s been to Florida, you know how special the sunshine state is. Supporting the Conservancy of Southwest Florida will help them rebuild the coastlines, natural animal habitats, and community buildings to make this region thrive again.
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)
GLSEN is one of America’s leading nonprofit organizations working to create safe LGBTQIA-inclusive learning environments for children in K 12 grades. At a time when our civil and human rights are being called into question, especially the rights of children, advocating and creating spaces for living authentically is a radical act of care.
By conducting original research and authoring inclusive, developmental resources for educators and school communities, they create evidence-based frameworks of understanding and solutions “to ensure that LGBTQ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment.”
The content they share centers the student perspective and provides the youth and their support systems with useful tools for navigating those hard, but necessary conversations.
Many young people are feeling pain, grief, and anger, and they could use a space to process their feelings and share what they need.
Defenders of Wildlife (or @Defenders on social media,) is America’s leading national conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring at-risk species and their habitats in North America.
Unlike other nature and animal conservation organizations, Defenders is focused on the restoration and preservation of native species—animals and plants included, so they work to transform policies by promoting and advocating for innovative solutions.
Because our nation is vast and wide, and so are the species that inhabit it, Defenders used on-brand storytelling delivered with an urgent tone to drive their 2022 Giving Tuesday campaign.
“The news has been heartbreaking. Gray wolves are still running for their lives in the Northern Rockies. North Atlantic right whales are struggling to survive the threat of deadly ship strikes and entanglements. Today, you can answer their call with your support. You can help protect vulnerable animals from going extinct by having your gift matched 3-for-1!”
The ACLU is the nation’s 100-year-old premier nonprofit organization made up of activist law advocates, policy advisors, community organizers, and citizen supporters who come together to protect human rights of all kinds.
A bit about the history of the ACLU from their website states:
“When a roomful of civil liberties activists — led by Roger Baldwin, Crystal Eastman, and Albert DeSilver — formed the ACLU in 1920, the Supreme Court had yet to uphold a single free speech claim…
The ACLU was founded to ensure the promise of the Bill of Rights and to expand its reach to people historically denied its protections. In our first year, we fought the harassment and deportation of immigrants whose activism put them at odds with the authorities. In 1939, we won in the Supreme Court the right for unions to organize. We stood almost alone in 1942 in denouncing our government’s round-up and internment in concentration camps of more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans. And at times in our history when frightened civilians have been willing to give up some of their freedoms and rights in the name of national security, the ACLU has been the bulwark for liberty.”
From free speech LGBTQIA rights, the ACLU team and their nationwide supporters fight to protect and defend our civil rights, so by telling and sharing real stories of the people impacted by their work, they hope to shine a more human light on traditionally polarizing issues.
November is National Native American Heritage Month, so what better way to educate yourself about and support indigenous communities than by supporting living native artists, right?
The NACF is a US-based nonprofit organization focused on the equitable advancement of cultural knowledge and the power of collaboration through the arts “to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States.”
Naturally, as an arts organization, visual storytelling is key and they make great use of all mediums—images, video, portraits, graphics, and more to share vignettes about the artists and communities they support to draw audiences in.
This year Native Arts and Cultures Foundation is glad to be invited back for @WillametteWeek@GiveGuide – a special program in #Portland for end-of-year giving. The campaign kicks off today and closes on December 31. Stay tuned!
If you haven’t heard of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, your day is probably about to get a lot brighter.
Make-A-Wish started in 1980 when an Arizona community came together to make a little boy with leukemia’s dream come true. For over 40 years they’ve been granting life-changing wishes for children and families in the U.S. and beyond—through affiliate partners, they’re able to make wishes come true for people in 50 countries and 5 continents across the world.
What’s their collective impact? Their website says: “With the help of our donors and more than 43,000 volunteers around the world, Make-A-Wish has collectively granted more than 520,000 wishes worldwide.”
To drive support, they share the stories of the dreamers who make quiet wishes to the universe hoping that something good comes of what they have to endure as patients. The pure joy captured in Make-A-Wish’s content is the ultimate proof of their purpose. With our help, we can not only make them heard, we can make them happen!
To have sight is a gift. Though restorative sight is available today by way of advanced LASIK surgery, the costs can be astronomical for those often struggling with low or no vision.
To date, FHF has restored sight to 2.5 million people worldwide and they are able to do this by training and empowering local doctors, nurses, and health workers in 25 countries; effectively developing a global network that can provide sustainable care.
On social media, they share content that highlights the patients they’ve impacted, as well as the surgeons and health workers that provide this life-changing work. See this beautiful Instagram video example below, highlighting a doctor who celebrates his birthday by providing free surgery:
Thank you to all nonprofit organizations for all you do for the communities you serve—and for inspiring us to practice giving all year long.
Now, it’s your turn! Who, or what cause, moves you? Give a shout out to the nonprofit organizations you love and tag us @psforbrands to share them with us!
