Strong website video: Beyond Shelter

This week we’d like to highlight a website video that we think works simply and effectively. One of our Facebook Fans sent this in and we agree with her, it’s a very good example.

The site is for a non-profit, Beyond Shelter. Their goal is to combat chronic poverty, welfare dependence and homelessness. What an appropriate organization to feature on this Thanksgiving weekend.

Beyond Shelter has a no-frills website. There’s no flash animation, proprietary tools or subtle design. Reflecting what seems to be the agency’s practical, urgent mission, it uses primary colors, easy navigation and poignant photographs. 

There is only one video. It’s positioned for maximum attention front-and-center on the homepage, sandwiched between two black and white photos of kids and parents. The video thumbnail - not the first image of the video - is a captivating shot of a man and boy, arms wrapped around each other, laughing. It begs for you to click “play.”

Although long by web-standards, the video takes its time to unfold starting with shots of homeless people on the street taken from the safety of a traveling car. These are conventional images of homelessness - we’ve all been there and usually choose to not-see or turn away.

But this is not a conventional video. We begin to hear the voices of homeless men and women expressing the discomfort of their lives.  They appear on camera and offer their names and ages, how they came to be homeless - “emancipated from the foster system,” where they stayed - “we rode the trains all night,” and the sensory experiences of life on the street - “your socks stick to your feet.”

You cannot not-see or turn away. These are not anonymous outcasts; they’re real human beings with pride and feelings who speak openly about their experiences of hunger, fatigue, loss and fear. The rich details of their testimonies pull us in to a world few of us can imagine.

Using a couple of brief titles, the video quickly establishes its focus on homeless persons raising kids on the street. A particular mission of Beyond Shelter, this focus narrows down the general trials of homelessness – overwhelming by their very nature – to a smaller, less well-documented set of issues. We see homelessness from a different perspective.  

Halfway through, the video shifts to an informational presentation describing Beyond Shelter, its programs and goals. If this section had started the video, you would probably have turned it off.  But because you’ve met a group of engaging parents and kids and because they’ve made you care about them, you have a reason to learn about the organization that has stepped in to help them. You understand not only that Beyond Shelter makes a difference to the world in general, they’ve made a difference to these particular men, women and kids whom you’ve met and whose stories you’ve heard. Without this engaging video, Beyond Shelter would be one more of the worthy but anonymous non-profits seeking donations.

Send us your faves and your not-so-faves. Tell us what works/doesn't work for you.

Related blog: Too Many Shoes in the Closet and Viral Video: More Than a Flash in the Pan