A social campaign
March 19th, 2009 by dianaIn my own slapdash style I will attempt to open up the discussion about social media and charity campaigning.
Why? Well, not only is it constantly fascinating (no, really) but it was also the SXSW festival last week and some of the stuff I’ve been reading about it got me thinking. In a more stitched on and connected world it makes sense for all facets of society to be represented and in a larger sense they all are.
I won’t really go into that part of the story as I’ve already touched upon that in my own unique and special way, which I’m guessing you all read right? Right.
Anyway, since being online is all about communicating a message to the public, two things are important. The first being clarity and the second being presence. So, really a charity should ideally be everywhere saying something to everyone all the time. Except when The Apprentice is on of course.
This may sounds easier then it looks but I guess there are some who make it seem like a doodle. Take Amnesty International, not only do they have one of the most comprehensive communities on their homepage but they are able to squeeze in thought-provoking and active blogs. They also have strong features and a dedicated community based site called Protect the Human, allowing for supporters to complete actions which contribute directly to their campaign. They show that what can be achieved by an online community is pretty massive.
By opening up the communication with your supporters you will drive home the central message whilst also sharing and gaining ideas. What social media allows for is fluidity and adaptability, by being open, transparent and most importantly sharable.
Internally we have become champions of the power of social media and even hold are very special Social Media Afternoon were we draft in a guest who can share their knowledge and inspire us. We’ve had some great people come in recently, (thanks to Nathalie McDermott from On Road Media!) and luckily I have been able to twist the arm of the very lovely David Wilcox to pop down on 24th April. David will give a concrete and frankly more coherent opinion on campaigning online and it should be a treat.
So to conclude, I really really like social media (obviously) as it such a powerful thing! Not only is it free and massive in scale, but you and me and everyone we know can contribute directly to it which I think goes against most things of the internet’s stature and size: see traditional media
If you agree or even disagree (but why would you?) please join the discussion. And do let me know if you’d like to pop along to MYM Tower for some Social Media Afternoon japes. It’ll be fun, promise.
PS: If you know of any interesting reports about social media and charity campaigning do drop me a line because I really do live for this stuff. Like, totally.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for the kind mention of Amnesty UK here; we’ve been working really hard over the last 3 months to engage with our online supporters in a consistent and sustainable way and I think it’s now starting to really pay off.
We’ve definitely seen an increase in both action taking and in engagement, thanks to us being approachable on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. We’re starting to record this journey on our blog at blog.protectthehuman.com too, which you might be interested in.
I think for campaigning social media opens up a lot of exciting opportunities, for instance it is possible to take a movement back to its grassroots activists and give people the tools to campaign effectively on their own or as part of a wider movement. In future I’d love to see us enabling a lot more horizontal communication and planning around our campaigns and cases. There’s a lot of possibilities waiting to be explored…