In its latest endeavor, YouTube is helping to channel good deeds and create an online community of activists inspired by videos from nonprofit organizations posted to the video-sharing site. YouTube Next Cause is a new program aimed at supporting and educating nonprofits in methods for promoting their mission and engaging the community through effective video postings. Selected organizations will participate at a one-day conference in San Francisco on April 2 and will receive training and one-on-one consulting that will allow them to increase their YouTube presence and engage their followers in important issues. According to YouTube’s blog, the social media site has always been a virtual location for nonprofits to raise awareness on their mission. However, now “with 4 billion views a day, we want to make sure nonprofits have the tools they need to reach the global audience on YouTube and turn video views into donations, volunteerism and awareness.” With YouTube’s popularity and increasing global presence, nonprofits have a new opportunity to harness the power of activism by reaching groups of people previously inaccessible and garnering a large base of support. YouTube Next Cause helps to ensure that organizations use all of the available YouTube resources in order to drive action among large numbers of people.

Applications for YouTube Next Cause are due Monday, February 27, 2012 at 11:59 pm PT. The selected participants will be announced on Monday, March 5. Organizations must be a part of the YouTube Nonprofit Program to apply. Apply here.