The Charity Place

Another social media and sharing 'how to'

There are some interesting insights into how UNICEF have been using a host of social media and sharing platforms to engage with supporters and prospective supporters here, on Joanne Fritz's blog.

It's a shame there's no measurement of the financial impact of the activity - or information on how they might be considering tracking and analsing this.

Regardless, it will undoubtedly have a positive influence on fundraising, because it's:

• Getting messages out to new audiences, and creating a pool of interested, engaged people - who'll be more likely to become financial supporters as a result
• Offering new ways for existing supporters to engage with UNICEF and providing them with a richer, more meaningful experience.

As time goes on, we'll see more in depth analysis and evidence that this kind of activity is paying off; it is direct, highly personal and trackable, so it's also highly measurable.

For now, just know that your organisation needs to be part of the conversation so you can experiment, find out and learn about how it will work for you - just like UNICEF are doing.

Connecting your supporters directly with your work has never been easier

Yesterday, I posted about how charities need to make the most direct connections possible between their supporters and the work they do.

There just really isn’t any good excuse not to be doing this anymore because there are so many accessible, inexpensive tools at our disposal now.

For a lesson in using social media to do connect people and causes, you couldn’t get a much better example than Mara Triangle, who have integrated content on Facebook, Flickr, and Vimeo, and are microblogging updates reguarly using Twitter.

It’s just about as close as you can get to the Masai Mara, looking at the wildlife yourself, without actually being there in person (although, when you watch some of the video, you sometimes almost forget you’re still just sitting in front of your PC).

Male Lions Fighting from Joseph Kimojino on Vimeo.

News, photos and footage appear in real time, and the team there engage one-to-one on a daily basis with donors and potential donors all over the world in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

I’m totally hooked.

If you’ve spent five or ten minutes looking at what they do, and the amazing wildlife they’re so bravely protecting – against all the odds – I reckon there’s a good chance you’ll have already signed up to a regular gift.  If you haven’t, take a look at their urgent appeal here and consider giving something.

And, before you go, just think – if Mara Triangle can do this with the scant resources they have, what excuse is there really for your organisation not to be doing something similar?

Not how, but what

The fundraising campaigns and propositions that are the most successful, and the charities that have the most positive, beneficial relationships with their supporters, are those that make the most direct connections between their supporters and their work.

That's why I usually try to cut out as much of the other stuff in between - because I know that what really interests donors is the difference their support makes, not all the steps that the charity is going to take along the way to make that happen.  (If you've ever gone to sleep halfway through a letter about 'capacity building', you'll know what I mean.)

So, when you're working on the direction for your next campaign, or the next time you're looking at some fundraising copy, do what I do and adopt this mantra: Not how, but what.

It helps focus my mind on keeping the right balance between how you're going to use the donor's money to make a difference and what that is going to achieve; what positive difference it will make.  (This can also be re-phrased as, 'what's the net effect?', or 'skip to the end'.)

Try it, and teach it to others.  It will make your fundraising more successful.

And remember, every rule has its exceptions.  There are times when a little more of the detail about how you're going to do it actually makes for a really engaging, inspiring, motivating story.  Just always make sure the what doesn't get lost in the detail.

Social networks take word of mouth to a global level

I’m still totally captivated by the enormous possibilities of social media to share ideas and information, and am inspired to post (yet again) on the subject of how people are using them to come together and do good – because I’ve been motivated to give in the last few days via Twitter.

Just look at what Jeremiah Owyang has started through his blog and his Twitter feed, which Oliver Ding then turned into this presentation on Slideshare...

| View | Upload your own

Through the content that Jeremiah and Oliver have generated, people have been driven to charity sites and give a donation, and/ or to pages like this one.

So far, Oliver Ding’s 24 ways to give presentation has received 1,065 views, and has been nominated ‘slideshow of the day’, which has to make a difference to the amount of money raised.  (I don't need to tell you how to make a donation, because everything you need to know is in the slideshow)...

| View | Upload your own

The Pledgebank campaign has 264 people signed up, and  counting (you can sign up by clicking here).

There are at least 30 people who have indicated they’ve given through Jeremiah’s updates on Twitter, and more – no doubt – who have given privately.

I'm sorry to say that I had previously received an approach from two charities - one via Facebook and the other by email - but hadn't yet made a donation.  However, Jeremiah's Twitter message changed that.

Charities, take note...

Is it worth building your own online networks?

You probably had a look at MyActionAid when it was launched by ActionAid last February -- perhaps you've even used it?

It’s a brilliant platform for events and community fundraising -- a bit like an own-branded version of Just Giving -- and you can see how it has the potential to be so much more; a social networking platform for ActionAid to engage with its supporters, for them to engage with each other, to take ActionAid’s messages to their social networks and bring their friends into the fold.

Adding different ways for people to engage aside from fundraising – I'm thinking campaigning in particular – and further integration with other platforms would add value to the experience and make this site a really rich way to engage with ActionAid, its work and its community of supporters.

It’s great to get some insights from their experiences and to find out a little about their future plans, including making widgets available to integrate with supporters on Facebook.

I always want to hear about how this kind of initiative is working, and I’m impressed that they're citing ‘double the giving rate compared to presence on other sites’. That's got to make doing something like this well worth the effort, surely?