Live rankings and performance data for 244+ for-impact YouTube channels across Washington DC Metro.Updated weekly
How Washington DC nonprofit YouTube channels compare to national nonprofit and industry benchmarks — and where the biggest opportunities for growth are hiding.
The typical Washington DC nonprofit has 1.8K subscribers, well above the 1.0K national median for small nonprofits.
The typical Washington DC channel gets 508 views per video, close to the 400 national median.
Washington DC's typical 1.31% engagement trails the 2.5% national median. Adding CTAs, responding to comments, and posting Shorts can boost this significantly.
The typical Washington DC nonprofit uploads 5 videos per 90 days vs. 4 nationally. 181 of 244 channels are active — solid consistency.
With a median of just 1.8K subscribers, most Washington DC nonprofits have small audiences — but that's typical for local organizations. The average (34.6K) is higher because a few large channels pull it up. Even reaching 1K subscribers puts a channel in the top quartile locally.
We use medians because a few large channels (avg: 34.6K subs) skew the average 19× higher than the median (1.8K). The median represents what the typical Washington DC nonprofit actually looks like — and what you should benchmark against.
Washington DC channels are relatively active, but engagement rates lag national benchmarks. Focus on Shorts, community engagement, and YouTube SEO to close the gap.
Where most channels fall — the majority have under 5K subscribers
Data-backed priorities ranked by potential impact — where Washington DC nonprofits should focus to close the gap with national benchmarks
Washington DC's 1.31% median engagement is below the 5.4% national average for small channels. Quick wins: add a CTA in the first 30 seconds, pin a comment with a question, and respond to every comment within 1 hour to boost algorithmic ranking.
The median Washington DC channel gets 508 views/video vs. 2,000 nationally for similar-sized channels. Optimize titles for search (use keywords your audience Googles), create custom thumbnails with faces and text, and use 8-12 relevant tags per video.
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Channels selected by AI for exceptional content quality and impact

How do polls work when no one answers the phone?
37.6K subscribers
Pew Research Center's avg views/video of 94,036 against just 37,600 subscribers yields a 250% view-to-sub ratio — exceptional organic reach driven largely by search and social discovery. The top video 'How do polls work when no one answers the phone?' has 1.78M views (19x the channel average), suggesting strong breakout potential when content hits a timely public question. However, caption coverage at only 26% is a significant accessibility gap for a research institution, and avg comments/video of 0 indicates minimal community engagement despite high view counts.

How to upcycle your spaceship parts | Headline Science
87.3K subscribers
ACS punches well above its subscriber weight with a 4.5% engagement rate — nearly double the nonprofit benchmark ceiling of 2% — and 17 uploads in the last 90 days at a healthy 5.7/month cadence. The best recent video 'How to upcycle your spaceship parts' hit 164,464 views, 12x the channel average of 13,724, signaling strong breakout potential when titles lean into curiosity-driven hooks. Caption coverage at 86% reflects genuine accessibility investment across a 1,284-video library.

Jonathan Roumie tours 21 Martyrs Church with Coptic Orphans
4.0K subscribers
Coptic Orphans punches well above its weight with a 192.5% views-to-subscriber ratio and a remarkable 9.35% engagement rate — far above the nonprofit benchmark of 0.5–2%. The Jonathan Roumie church tour video at 256,880 views (33.5x the channel average) is a clear viral outlier, but the follow-up 'A Special Surprise for Jonathan Roumie' at 23,202 views in the last 90 days shows the channel can sustain momentum around compelling figures and mission-aligned storytelling. With 10 uploads in 90 days and consistent focus on martyrdom, orphan stories, and Egyptian community impact, this channel d…
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How Washington DC nonprofits structure their YouTube content — from long-form storytelling to quick Shorts
Best avg views per video
Channels sparking the most conversation — ranked by average comments per video
Contenido en Español
Original Spanish-language videos from nonprofits — a critical gap in markets with large Hispanic populations

The Humane League · 50 Spanish videos

Immap Inc · 21 Spanish videos

Paintcare Inc · 16 Spanish videos
6%
of tracked channels have any Spanish content
15
channels with Spanish videos out of 244 tracked
0
channels with Spanish as primary language
🌐 Bilingual · 50 Spanish videos · 5.7K subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 21 Spanish videos · 569 subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 16 Spanish videos · 328 subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 13 Spanish videos · 15.2K subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 9 Spanish videos · 243 subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 7 Spanish videos · 57 subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 6 Spanish videos · 93 subs
en español
🌐 Bilingual · 3 Spanish videos · 23 subs
en español
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Distribution and trends across all tracked channels
Bubble size = total views · Log scale on subscribers · Outliers top-left = high engagement, small audience
About RiseWorks: We produce monthly video, photo, and series content for nonprofits on a flat subscription. The Benchmark is how we give back to the sector.
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Data sourced from the YouTube Data API. Last updated 4/15/2026. Rankings reflect publicly available channel statistics.