Prizes

Grand Prize: $5,000, one year of Vimeo Pro, and a $2,500 donation to the small business you highlight

Second Place: $2,500 + one year of Vimeo Pro

Third Place: $1,000 + one year of Vimeo Pro

Dates to know

March 23: Submissions open

May 7, 11:59 pm EST: Submissions close

May 15: Winners announced

We’re partnering with Vimeo to pay it forward in times where supporting small businesses has never been more important. Let’s show our support to the entrepreneurs, makers, restaurateurs, and small business owners that have always been there for us—give them some extra love by entering the Pay It Forward Challenge.

Use Vimeo Create to put together a video that promotes a small business—a locally owned restaurant, an independent shop, or even your own side hustle—and create a story on Vocal where you tell readers what makes the brand, or your brand, so special. Get creative and encourage others to learn more about the small business you choose to promote. #VocalCreators, show us what you’ve #MadeWithVimeo.

Entering is simple

1. Sign up for Vimeo Pro (first 30 days free) if you don't already have access to a Vimeo Pro account.
2. Visit Vimeo Create.
3. Select "New Video" to get started; choose from any of the templates or simply start from scratch.
4. Once you’re happy with your video, save it and make it public.
5. Go to Vocal and create a new story.
6. Use the link to your Create video as your featured video, or embed in the body of your story by clicking the + icon and choosing "Embed."
7. Tell us about the amazing small business you’re highlighting.
8. Submit your story and enter it to the “Pay It Forward” Challenge.

For more details, find the Challenge Tips section below.

About this Challenge

With all that’s going on in the world, it's a confusing and scary time to be a small business—and the perfect time for the rest of us to give back. Let’s come together for all of the hardworking small business owners, makers, restaurateurs, and entrepreneurs that deserve some love.

Use Vimeo Create to create a video that shows support for a small business, a local independent restaurant, or online seller you feel deserves a boost. Or, if you're an entrepreneur yourself, take the opportunity to introduce your own small business or moneymaking project! Either way, the asset you put together using Create should help promote the brand or business, and should highlight the thing that makes the product, brand, or service unique.

Your story should include the video you make using Create, and additionally should tell readers what makes the shop or brand so special, why they deserve our support, and what’s the best way we can support them right now. Encourage readers to buy a gift card, place an online order, share on social, or even sign up for an email list to support the business while times may be uncertain.

Once you’ve shared your story and asset on Vocal, take the video to social to extend your support there. Share it on social media tagging the brand and letting them know you’re supporting them—or even get in touch and send them the video you’ve created so they can share it on their own socials, too.

Challenge Tips

1. Choose a brand or business you think deserves some support. It could be a local small business or shop, an online seller, or an independent restaurant or coffee shop. Please avoid spotlighting large corporations or companies for this Challenge—right now, it’s important to give some love to the little guys!
2. Sign up for a Vimeo Pro free trial if you’re not a Vimeo Pro member already. You can do that here.
3. Explore Vimeo’s new Create tool, which helps you make quick and easy high-impact social videos with stock footage, templates, and built-in features. Create a short video using Vimeo Create to promote the small business. Then, when you’re happy with the video you’ve created, save it. Ensure the settings are set to “Public to anyone,” and copy the link to the video. The link to this video will be what you include in your Vocal story.
4. Create a new draft on Vocal. Include the video you created, hosted on Vimeo, as either the featured video in your story, or embedded within the body of your story.
5. Create the rest of your Vocal story highlighting the small business. Include what makes them so special, and most importantly, how readers can support them right now during our current situation—encourage readers to buy gift cards, donate, or even just follow them on social media. Every little piece will help.
6. Once your story is complete and you’ve included your Vimeo Create video, submit it. Be sure to select “Submit to a Challenge” and choose “Pay It Forward” before you complete the submission.
7. Bonus: Once your story has been submitted, your support shouldn’t end there! Preference will be given to creators that take their support off-platform; share the video on your social media, signal-boost the brand by tagging them, and be sure to bring our attention to it by tagging @vocal_creators, @vimeocreate, and using the hashtag #MadeWithVimeo.

Judges

• Ian Durkin, Lead Curator at Vimeo
• Jeffrey Bowers, Senior Curator at Vimeo
• Ina Pira, Curator at Vimeo

Requirements

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the Challenge up until May 7, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration.

Entries that do not include a Vimeo Create video will not be eligible for the Challenge.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.

Read the Official Rules for more information.