Instagram for Nonprofits: Powerful Images in the Palm of Your Hand

How many of you played with Instagram over the holiday break?  I did and I *love* it.

• I love how simple it is to use
• I love how good it makes my photos look
• I love how easy it is to share images across networks (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr)
• I love "reading" my feed of stories told through images each day
  

The Instagram community has grown quickly.  On December 22nd, the New York Times blog, Bits, reported that Instagram passed 1 million users in two months.  As of right now, Instagram is only available for iPhones. Once it's available for Android, I think it will be a fabulous storytelling tool for nonprofits.

NPR is already sharing photos with Instagram that range from a Hubble telescope image, to Haitian children playing in front of latrines, to a close-up of Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's husband holding her hand.

Nonprofits could use Instagram to share photos:

• from the field
• from an event, march or fundraiser
• as they build, or create something (e.g. a home, an urban garden, a mural)
• of natural places they want to preserve
• of and by the people they serve
• of and by volunteers, or donors
• of animals that need to be adopted
• of a "day in the life" of their staff, or constituents
• as a teaser to a longer story, or a video on their website

Unfortunately, I think folks are inundated with words these day (even when they are packaged in only 140 characters!), which is why it is a perfect time to reach them with a stream of powerful images that they hold in the palm of their hand.

Update: The January 27th Mashable post, Instagram Introduces Hastags for Users and Brands, talks about how NPR and Charity:Water will be using hastags: "Charity: Water is asking users to share images of water in their life using #charitywater, and NPR is on the lookout for photos that capture the ideas of #love and #hate."

Update: The June 8th instagr.am post, Nonprofits on Instagram, lists a few more.

This post is a submission for the January Net2ThinkTank.
Image: Photo taken in Oakland's Redwood Regional Park made to look extra awesome with Instagram.

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