Video is a powerful way to raise awareness and fundraise. YouTube and Vimeo are the two largest video hosting communities; which is better?
YouTube and Vimeo had approximately 150 million and 7 million unique visitors last month, respectively. With the larger number of users, YouTube allows you to tap into a potentially large community of supporters.
As with any technology, there is a learning curve relative to video sharing. Vimeo provides a free video school packed with entertaining video tutorials; they even have a free online acting school. The YouTube schooling isn’t quite as entertaining, but they do provide free e-books titled “YouTube Guide: Playbook for Good” and “YouTube Creator Playbook.”
YouTube has a hard-to-resist nonprofit program which is a great option for those meeting its requirements. They also recently launched a nonprofit support program called YouTube Next Cause Program. Vimeo does not have similar programs.
YouTube’s large audience is a strength but also a weakness; it has no shortage of video clutter and no shortage of stalking critics who at times make abysmal comments. However, you can choose not to allow comments, and if you have time you can weed them. In contrast, a strength of Vimeo is the polished professionalism and respectful behavior of its users.
Another Youtube strength is that there is no limit to how many videos you can upload for free, but if your video goes viral you will likely see advertising on or around it, so it’s not entirely free. There is a 15 minute limit to the length of each YouTube video unless you complete an account verification and maintain a clean copyright track record. Both Vimeo and YouTube have strict copyright policing.
YouTube makes all of its money in advertising, whereas Vimeo monetizes through a combination of ads and fees. Vimeo offers a free package that offers 500MB per week, which is about one hour of video and includes one HD upload. For an affordable fee, you can buy the Vimeo Plus package that provides unlimited HD, 5GB (about ten hours of video) per week and never any advertisements. The Plus package even allows you to easily replace the Vimeo logo with your own logo on the bottom of the video. Vimeo also offers a Pro package for businesses for a reasonable price which includes search engine optimization support plus more.
There’s no definitive answer to which one is better. All in all, it depends on your audience and where you can usually find your supporters. If your support base spends their time on Vimeo, then you should host your videos over there. Otherwise, Youtube would be the recommend route.
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