Social networking for charities

Reported this Christmas for the first time over 10% of people online were visiting social networking websites in the week ending 27th December.

The largest of these, Facebook, accounted for 1 out of every 22 visitors on the web during Christmas week.

And given that Facebook have announced that their membership rose 50m to 150m in just 4 months (that's 150m active users, almost half of which visit the website every day), why aren't more charities using these websites? Even small charities who don't have their own website can use social networking sites to promote themselves; in fact they should be more active than those who do have their own sites.

Research released by Johnathon Waddington states that only 5% of charities think they are doing as much as they can to fundraise online. 48% of charities say they do not have an online fundraising plan at all.

Everyclick provides a fundraising widget and a 'donate now' button for users and charities to download and add to their pages on these sites - have a look (examples):

Widget
Donate now button

Twitter is the latest networking tool - it's very simple to use, and very much the 'in' thing. So get tweeting if you want to be seen.

Forums are also useful, as long as they have plenty of members. Post to forums on the subject of your charity eg. pet forums for animal charities, mum's forums for children's charities, local forums for charities which work in the local community etc. to find people who have a keen interest in the things you are trying to help.

For a small charity with no website, you can use your charity information page on Everyclick to tell fundraisers more about your charity, upload more details, add an image to the homepage so that all your fundraisers will see, add regular news items to your charity's page and even sell eGifts through the website. Everyclick allows fundraisers to set up fundraising pages in support of your charity and to make donations (including the ability to Gift Aid it) through the site. Over 200,000 charities are already on the site; if your charity is registered in the UK and not already there when you search, you can add it.

Another useful blog post: Beth's Blog



Source: givinginadigitalworld
givinginadigitalworld

Online fundraising potential of social networking sites

A couple of years ago, the term 'social networking site' would have drawn blank looks from all but the technologically savviest of us. Now, websites such as Facebook and MySpace have a global currency to rival brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike.

Initially frequented by teenagers and university students, the sites are increasingly popular among people of all ages. Recently, the average age of users of Facebook was found to be 32.

The publicity potential is huge. Most celebrities have spotted an excellent avenue for self-promotion. According to a recent study by JupiterResearch, 33 per cent of European online advertisers plan to launch their own profiles on social networking sites in the next year.

And charities, quite rightly, want a piece of the pie.

Many have already got in on the act. There are countless unofficial groups dedicated to charities on Facebook but the organisations are now taking the initiative and creating their own online ventures.

Oxfam has a new online charity shop which hopes to raise £2m a year. Currently over 50,000 donated items are available, along with goods such as Fairtrade chocolate and coffee, jewellery and other gifts.

Everyclick provides an online fundraising platform where users can donate to or be sponsored for any UK charity. Everyclick is also a search engine which donates 50% of its advertising revenue to charities, chosen by the user as they search the web.

Charity blogging has also seen big growth. Oxfam has its own blog on MySpace, while visitors to Second Life, Actionaid's networking site, can tour WWF's virtual conservation island.

The Royal British Legion has taken advantage of the power of social networking and has created a virtual poppy for Facebook users. Although the poppy badge does not directly earn the charity any money, they hope it will spur people on to make a donation.

Google has also developed an application programming interface called Opensocial, which will enable the creation of Facebook-like applications, including charity badges, on any social networking site. Everyclick provides its users with a 'widget' which can be added to any website, through which people can search and donate directly to the charity chosen by the user.

Brand Control

But where there are benefits there are risks.

Networking sites can also be used to quickly spread misinformation and negative publicity, and there is always the chance people will bypass institutions altogether and locate beneficiaries themselves, recently noted in the Guardian.

Nate Elliott, senior analyst at JupiterResearch, issues the following words of warning: "As it stands, most European advertisers are jumping on the engagement marketing bandwagon without truly understanding which tactics represent the most appropriate and effective use of their marketing resources."

Will it work?

Research suggests a more personalised approach is effective at converting awareness to giving. A recent survey by Harris Interactive revealed that 61 per cent of people gave to charities because a personal connection asked them to make a contribution.

And there is an element too, however subconscious or subdued, of wanting to flaunt your goodness, as well as ask people to share in it, which should give charities hope.