Digital round-up – April 2020

Highlights this month: covid content, covid comms, covid language battles, covid fundraising, covid-driven digital services, covid burnout.

Well, March was intense. April was the same, but different. Now we are in May, it feels like a good time to review and reflect on the month just gone. This round-up, like most of the comms this month, is 98% coronavirus. Here are some gems you might have missed. Stay safe everyone.

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Content and digital fundraising

At the start of the pandemic in March, comms was focussed around hand washing and protecting vulnerable groups. As we moved into April, fundraising appeals, digital fundraising and lockdown coping strategy content emerged. It has been really inspiring to see so many creative campaigns turned round so quickly and made from home.

• “During the lockdown, mothers in the UK are providing at least 50% more childcare as well as spending around 10% to 30% more time than fathers home schooling their children” – Observer article. The Fawcett Society’s #MakeWomenVisible campaign says that the crisis is having a devastating impact on women and girls and is making nine demands.
• Charity So White report on the impact of covid19 on BAME communities. It establishes five key principles to guide the charity sector’s response.
• The NHS is reporting a big drop in cancer referrals. CEOs of big cancer charities recorded a shared message – #HelpUsHelpYou and some charities shared their symptoms comms (see Pancreatic Cancer UK and Bowel Cancer UK).
• Kindness will keep us together – moving advert from British Red Cross.
• Citizens Advice shared insights into how their advisors are giving #AdviceAtHome.
• Virtual fundraising ideas from Mind.
• There are lots of quizzes. See these from Mayhew, Compton Care, Marie Curie and Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Quizzy – Sooty hosts a quiz for RNIB.
• Age UK are asking supporters to overdress.
• Some great reactive comms from Royal Academy and Wellcome Collection in response to Trump’s thoughts about bleach.
• Doncaster Council are great at using Twitter threads. Here they tell the parable of Back to the Future to teach us lessons about staying safe through a pandemic.
• April Fools from National Trust – how they are helping squirrels to find their nuts.
• Do hashtags and petitions actually work? Nice explainer from Greenpeace UK.
• #NoHookUps during a pandemic say Terence Higgins Trust (“That means w**king has never been more important. So go on – do it for yourself to help protect others). Take the Pleasure Pledge and get your kicks elsewhere.
• Sometimes we just need a hug – WWF.
• Choose your own adventure style thread from RNIB raising awareness of how hard it is for blind and partially sighted people to shop and observe social distancing.
• Domestic abuse isn’t always physical – Refuge
• Worried about your mortgage explainer from Shelter.
• FAQs thread about foodbanks – The Trussell Trust. See also stats on foodbank use in the first two weeks of the pandemic.
• Life under lockdown in a Syrian refugee camp – Oxfam.
• The National Emergency Trust has been showcasing some of the charities it has supported, like Made in Hackney.
• Not a charity, but Hassan Akkad who spoke at Being the Story, is sharing beautiful photos on Twitter of colleagues at the hospital where he is working as a cleaner. This is Sandra.

Most charities have built covid information hubs on their websites, very quickly writing lots of new content to meet the needs of their audience. These hubs are generally prominently linked from homepages and in some cases appear as a new item on top-level navigation. Here’s a selection:

• Full Fact
• NSPCC
• Rethink
• Scope

Comms

• Why we shouldn’t use war metaphors to talk about healthcare – Ruth Hannan for RSA. See also The horror of coronavirus is all too real. Don’t turn it into an imaginary war – Marina Hyde and The case against waging ‘war’ on the coronavirus – Yasmeen Serhan.
• Talking about coronavirus and poverty: a guide to framing your messages – JRF.
• Framing homelessness during coronavirus (PDF) – Crisis.
• More covid framing resources from Frameworks Institute.
• Why the #ClapForMeNow video is unhelpful – a thread by Dr Ameen Kamlana.
• What putting a human face on ‘Stay home, stay safe, protect the NHS’ actually looks like – Dan Slee.
• Engagement strategies for charities: top takeaways from the Charity Comms conference. Are you suffering (or causing) infobesity – digital clutter and information overload. See also: Hearing from the sector: audience engagement during and beyond the pandemic by Sarah Fitzgerald.
• Impact of COVID-19 on charity communications – Media Trust and Charity Comms survey results from 219 responses.
• Helping senior colleagues to get started on social media – timely advice from Alasdair Dick.
• What to do with completed research project webpages – advice for research charities from Richard Berks.
• Carers UK won film of the year at the Charity Film Awards. The CFA awards ceremony was streamed online and brilliantly presented by the CFA team.
• Has your charity made its own Zoom background? This UK Fundraising article explains how. Charities – how to make a Zoom background for your supporters. Missing the tube? Check out these backgrounds from TfL. And these from Fundraising Everywhere. And these gems from BBC empty TV show sets.

Digital – strategy, design, culture

• One in three charities has cancelled services due to lack of digital skills or tech – Zoe Amar shares initial results of the Charity Digital Skills Survey. The survey is open until 15 May.
• The top ten digital challenges facing the charity sector – Catalyst.
• How charities are making their services digital in light of Covid19 – Kirsty Marrins for Lightful. Includes lots of examples including NSPCC, The Ramblers and The Bike Project.
• 5 ways coronavirus will change the charity sector – Zoe Amar for Charity Digital.
• How should service design react to COVID-19? NHS Digital.
• Ten content design tips any charity can use to make online services work better – Joe Roberson.
• Fast-track content design for coronavirus – Stephanie Coulshed of Scope.
• Versus Arthritis launches UK’s first condition-specific coronavirus chatbot – Civil Society.
• Citizens Online launched a digital exclusion GP surgery map.
• Citizens Advice have been releasing data from their website showing key topics of concern and how this is changing during the crisis. Might be useful to look at if you are creating your own content or signposting information.
• Interactive Covid-19 data for charities and funders – NPC.
• Top tips about digital advertising during this time from Matt Collins.
• 12 tips on social media advertising for charities during COVID-19 – Matt Howarth.
• The Young Trustees Movement launch their new digital hub in style.
• Monthly accessibility tip: A 10-step guide to make your social media content more accessible – National Lottery Community Fund – Scotland.

It has been really worrying to see the rise of so much inaccessible information during this time from official sources, businesses and some charities. The accessibility of official information provided by No10, DHSC, PHE and even the NHS has been especially poor at a time when it matters most. This was covered on Channel 4 News.

It has been particularly noticeable that so many organic and promoted tweets used images or gifs of text to share statements and complicated information. These generally appear with no alt text or link to an html version of the information, or text version in a thread. The information is therefore inaccessible to anyone who can’t view images. There have also been lots of videos without subtitles and without voice overs.

Clearly this has been a pressured time to release information as quickly as possible. But accessibility matters.

• RNIB asked Number 10 for leadership on accessible coronavirus information.
• @covidaccessinfo was set up to challenge bad practice.
• Press briefings are also broadcast without sign language interpreters. Now lack of sign language interpreters leads to legal case against government – BBC.

Fundraising

• £7m was raised during the #TwoPointSixChallenge (London Marathon) weekend. People did so many exhausting and creative challenges. Here’s a round-up from UK Fundraising – 26 examples of 2.6 Challenge fundraising events. (My 7yo wrote a Roald Dahl quiz – download and donate £2 to play – thanks!)
• £70m raised during the week of the #BigNightIn.
• Captain Tom raised over £32m for NHS Charities. Just Giving shared a list of fundraisers inspired by him. (See also #WalkWithTom – raising money for ‘the NHS’)
• Inspiring virtual charity fundraiser ideas – Charity Comms.
• What charities can learn from the lockdown laps coronacoaster – Richard Sved shares lessons for fundraisers.
• How has the virus affected the nation’s mood? – useful insights from gov.uk. How might this affect your fundraising?
• 5 ways the coronavirus is changing the legacy market and what this means for charities – Rob Cope for IoF.
• You are not alone – how The Samaritans adapted their fundraising and set up a dedicated support service for NHS workers within 10 days. Interview with Sonya Trivedy.
• Webinar on digital fundraising for small charities – Matt Howarth for Lloyds Bank Foundation.
• Richard Sved is a master of conference live-tweeting. This month he has covered Alice Ferris’ Writing a fundraising strategy session and #IWITOT.
• Brevio – new website matching charities with grants.
• There still a chance to book for the Fundraising Everywhere Virtual Conference – 11-15 May.

People and organisations

We’ve all had to rapidly adjust to this new way of working. It has been tough. Not least because of the technological learning curve and the loss of face-to-face contact, but also because we are all dealing with big additional mental loads as we come to terms with the situation we are living and working in. The home schooling, the loneliness, the worries about food and health and the future and our loved ones. There’s lots to deal with.

There was a flood of ‘top tips for working at home’ type-articles at the start. And now, there are more about recognising that wall-to-wall Zoom calls and WFH (especially when your home isn’t set up for this) is very draining. If you are finding it hard, or your team’s motivation is draining, this is normal. Here are some articles which it might be worth sharing internally. You are doing great. It’s ok to have off-days. Working life is likely to be like this for a while.

• 3 tips to avoid WFH burnout – Harvard Business Review.
• New and changing patterns for digital working – Ben Holliday discusses the move from working remotely during a pandemic to digital working.
• The reason Zoom calls drain your energy – BBC.
• Leading your team and communicating through a crisis – Matthew Sherrington for IoF.
• Charity Comms’ wellbeing guide for comms professionals.
• Sound familiar? Fundraising right now from the fundraising frontline – Agents for Good

The current situation has lots of implications for long-term outputs. Organisational strategies have been parked and business as usual pivoted. It’s a challenging time for senior leaders and trustees.

• What should charity trustees be thinking about? NPC
• YHA – what does it mean to be a charity in the decisions that we make? Anita Kerwin-Nye. “From repurposing our hostels to support the most vulnerable in communities, to creating scrubs in YHA green from recycled bed linen”, here’s how the YHA responded.
• How Hospice UK have responded including by running weekly Zoom calls of 300 colleagues across the country. CEO Tracey Bleakley explains in this short video post.
• Virtual Relay: Live panel debate on how charities are adapting to the impact of COVID-19 – Raw.
• The CEO decathlon I didn’t foresee – Menai Owen-Jones for ACEVO.
• The value of extreme crisis planning. How Tesco’s ‘doomsday exercise’ helped it cope with the coronavirus – The Guardian.

Sector

• Lords leap to charities’ aid – DSC report on the House of Lords debate on charities (30 April).
• 9 out of 10 BAME micro and small organisations is set to close if the crisis continues beyond 3 months following the lockdown – report from The Ubele Initiative.
• Medical research charities are facing a significant loss in funding. AMRC have a detailed information hub about the impact. See also Cancer Research UK cuts research funding by £44m, which could set it back ‘for years’ – Civil Society.
• The #NeverMoreNeeded campaign followed on from #EveryDayCounts.
• The Chancellor finally announced some support for the sector. Here are some of the responses – thread by David Ainsworth, NCVO statement. It was disappointing to read the number of ‘what about CEO salaries’ statements under Sky News’ Beth Rigby announcement.
• Karl Wilding of NCVO gave evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on 31 March.

And finally….

I am missing train trips and walks in open countryside. I have been sharing some virtual walks and adventures including Cornwall, a sleeper train to Spain (and back) plus the lavender fields of Kent.

If you want to transport yourself to other places at a deeper level, take a look at Radio Lento podcasts. Get some headphones and listen to 30-minute soundscapes of woods, rivers and birds. Perfect for meditation, some quiet before sleep or just switching off during the day. Subscribe via your podcast provider or get updates via @RadioLento.

• Lots to explore in the BBC’s Museum from home page.
• 1.9m views for this 3year-old sheep handler.
• How to recreate old family photos – this made me cry.
• ‘Useful’ makeup tutorial.
• Boy reads Owl Babies to baby owls.

Your recommendations

What did you read, watch or launch? Please share in the comments.

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. I can help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection.

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Did you miss the last round-up? Catch up with more good reads from a time before lockdown.

Coronavirus comms for charities

Updated: 6 April (new: Charity So White report, write your own coronavirus style guide, how to communicate with furloughed staff).

Since I wrote this post on 3 March, everything has moved on. Coronavirus is dominating world news and the way we live and work has completely changed. I have been adding new useful resources as well as removing ones which are no longer relevant. I have kept the examples of charity comms for reference.

Whatever your size of organisation or purpose, you will be meeting to plan how you’ll respond internally and externally. There is lots of noise and misinformation about the spread of the virus with rumours and blame escalating. What are you doing to reassure your beneficiaries and keep your staff safe?

Here are some useful links and good reads to help you manage your own charity’s response.

Writing about Covid19 for beneficiaries

Information about the virus is changing all the time. Keep an eye on official advice which is being updated on a daily basis and share / incorporate it into your comms:

• NHS advice about coronavirus including an online symptom checker.
• Go to Gov.uk for updates on the government response.
• The Department of Health and Social Care have been sharing updates and advice such as short social media comms about good hygiene and this WhatsApp message to share with family and friends – “be a handwashing champion”.
• Government have issued advice for residential care, care homes and supported living.
• Confused about whether to use capital letters or when to abbreviate? The NHS styleguide now has a coronavirus entry.

Full Fact are working hard to fact-check lots of the information circulating. Are there any misleading memes or discussions circulating related to your audience or cause? It’s worth checking FF’s website to see.

Knowing what and when to communicate about coronavirus depends on what type of organisation you are.

If you are a health charity, one working with older people or one with public-access buildings, you may be sharing updates, especially if you are getting lots of helpline calls or forum discussions about risk. As there is so much misinformation circulating, this is your chance to be the go-to authority on the subject for people with specific needs and spreading good advice.

Dan Slee says that “we have all become public health communicators whether we like it or not”. In his post (The basics of communicating the coronavirus), he shares lots of useful tips about making sure your information is factual and shareable. And also notes that your comms need to go where the people are as rumour and misinformation circulate (see Enlist a team to play whack-a-mole with online rumour and How covid is playing out in Facebook groups).

Examples

Here are some examples of information charities have created for the people they represent:

• Charities representing people with underlying health conditions listed in the Government’s latest advice quickly responded by updating their information. This Twitter Moment includes examples from Asthma UK, Diabetes UK, Bloodwise and others.
• Older people are one of the at-risk groups. Age UK have been sharing updates via social media and have a prominent link on their homepage to their Age UK advice page.
• 19 cancer charities shared information under the One Cancer Voice group.
• Hospitals and care homes are issuing guidance about visiting. Hospice UK have shared links to statements from 13+ hospices across the country. (They also took part in a video call of 200 hospices to share plans and best practice – love this!)
• Information is available in alternative formats. Sign Health have produced a video using British Sign Language and subtitles to share information with deaf people. Mencap and Down Syndrome Ireland have produced easy-read guides.
• Doctors of the World have translated information into 21 languages. The Government have produced information about self-isolation and social distancing in Arabic, French, Mandarin, Cantanese, Polish and Welsh.
• Mental Health Foundation shared information about looking after your mental health during an outbreak and Mind wrote about coronavirus and your wellbeing, focussing on planning ahead for self-isolation.
• Young Minds produced information for young people as have Young Scot.
• Family Lives have advice for families in self-isolation.
• Self-isolation tips from Campaign to End Loneliness.
• Cruse have written a whole new section about dealing with bereavement and grief at this time.
• Amnesty International UK created a gif to raise awareness about the spread of hate and racism connected with the virus.
• Citizens Advice shared information about loss of earnings and statutory sick pay including for parents and self-employed people.
• Housing and homelessness – advice from Generation Rent and from Shelter.
• PDSA addressed questions from pet owners about the impact of the virus on animals and their owners.
• Good Things Foundation released information about accessing digital healthcare – to support people who may have to do this for the first time due to the virus. Using the internet to get ready for coronavirus.

Comms tips

Think accessibility – not everyone can read the text on an image. If you are sharing images with text on via social media, include a link to a web page where the same information can be read and/or repeat the text in your post. I have seen so many covid statements which are just images of text with no link (and probably no alt text). See more from @CovidAccessInfo (new account set up on 19/3).

Make information easy to find. Pin your tweets. Use hashtags (#covid19UK / #coronavirus etc). Clearly layout information so it is easy to read. Add the story to your homepage.

Only ever link to one page which you are keeping up to date. As the situation develops you don’t want people to be seeing old advice. They may be seeing old posts or looking at old emails but at least you’ll know they can click through for current information. Avoid PDFs for the same reason.

Clearly indicate information you have added or changed. You might do this at the top of your web page or by highlighting what has been added. See this example from Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Even if you don’t have infomation you have produced yourself, at this stage it is probably a good idea to have a page about coronavirus on your website which links to the key sources of information and something about the services you offer if there are changes to them. A quick random search found lots of charity websites showing no covid results in their searches.

Don’t include information about the current number of cases or deaths. This instantly dates your information and shows that it is not up-to-date.

As the situation develops, you may need to use more effective and urgent ways to communicate your messages. Plan ahead now. Are you able to use video or audio or other methods to respond to a crisis comms situation? Might you need to devote your entire homepage to the story? Can you send out mass emails to your stakeholders? Are your crisis comms processes up-to-date? See this thread from Gemma Pettman sharing crisis comms planning tips.

Check your scheduled messages. For example, do you have messages scheduled which are promoting events which are likely to be cancelled? Be aware that the situation could change over the coming days / weeks.

Start planning ahead. We are now moving from the crisis planning stage into a more widespread experience of the virus. This means that your comms needs to be less about explaining the virus and how to respond to the changes we are all making. The next comms stage is describing our ‘new normal’ of operating and communicating about ill or dying colleagues, volunteers and stakeholders. See Coronavirus comms – planning ahead.

New: Think about your language. How you talk about the virus and its impact on your beneficiaries and organisation will change. Write and share a mini styleguide to include standard phrases which you use, as well as ones to avoid. This post about how language changes through a crisis and how to frame your comms is useful. 8 tips for framing covid19 – Ella Saltmarshe.

Running your organisation

Internally you will be looking at the impact of a wider spread of the virus and what this might mean for how you operate.

Here’s some of the current advice:

• NCVO have detailed advice and will keep their page live.
• NCVO’s new post shares what they are doing to support charities and volunteers through coronavirus.
• Guidance from The Charity Commission.
• Tips for leadership through challenging times – ACEVO.
• Coronavirus and governance: What charity trustees need to think about by Dan Francis of NCVO. And What can Chairs do? from Association of Chairs.
• Zurich have produced a risk assessment guide – Organisational Resilience: Guidance on Pandemic Planning.
• Small Charities Coalition shared a special bulletin using some of Zurich’s questions, to help small charities consider their response.
• Museums Galleries Scotland have shared information for their members about staff / volunteer anxiety and hygiene at heritage sites.
• LGA have a resource for councils.
• BOND have a page for NGOs.
• DHSC have created a live dashboard of cases by UK region.
• Coronavirus: advice for employers and employees – acas. Simple steps to help protect the health and safety of staff.
• COVID-19: guidance for employers and businesses – gov.uk advice about how to prevent the spread of the virus at work and what to do if someone has a suspected case.

New: Charity So White have written a position paper sharing the ways coronavirus can impact BAME communities disproportionately. It calls on charities to consider that in their response and includes five key principles to guide them.

It’s useful to see other organisations’ internal plans if you need to write one yourself. Some have shared theirs publicly:

• See this from FutureGov.
• Chloe Stables has examples of what charities are doing to prepare and respond in this thread.
• This short post from Russell Findlay shares his organisation’s own planning process.

Reassuring staff and volunteers that you are prepared is key. Internal comms must play a vital role. What internal comms systems do you use? Do they work to reach everyone? There is some good advice in this post by Rachel Miller of All Things IC.

New: Rachel has also written this. How to communicate with furloughed colleagues.

What about your events or meetings? Many have been cancelled / postponed or changed to online. Here’s how Bond announced the cancellation of their annual conference.

Digital service delivery

What does the situation mean for the services you run and the support people in your community might need? What might you need to do more of or change?

For example, can you move face-to-face services , online? What different services could you offer to expand to support people through a scary and challenging time? Are you able to run digital events or make fun content to entertain?

• Open source guide to digital service delivery for charities, created by Third Sector Lab and SCVO. Includes examples and best practice.
• SCVO have also produced a guide to new service delivery models (as part of their Covid19 resource hub).
• See also Charity Digital Code and CAST’s 10 digital design principles.
• Free access to Slack.
• Getting started with video conferencing – The Catalyst have shared three guides (to Zoom, Google Hangouts and Skype Video).

Community response

Here are some examples of community and charity-run services:

• British Red Cross have a link from their homepage about the different ways they are helping with coronavirus.
• St John Ambulance have a pinned tweet saying they are ready to respond.
• Homeless Link have shared advice for people working in the homelessness sector.
• The Cares Family have suspended face-to-face activity and will find new ways to offer support.
• Give Blood are asking people to continue donating as usual. As are the Trussell Trust.
• Community Action Response launched to encourage everyone to support their communities, particularly vulnerable and isolated people during the crisis. Here’s a thread explaining the five-step process by Eden Project Communities.
• Keep an eye on the VCS Emergencies Partnership.
• New: National Emergencies Trust launch their coronavirus appeal.
• Mutual Aid UK are developing resources for local support groups.
• Communities are rallying round – see Kind Bury.

If you are a community volunteering charity, how are you keeping volunteers in touch with how they might be needed? And reassuring them about measures you’ll be taking to protect them?

Virtual working

More people are switching to virtual working as a way to reduce risk. It can be a real shift for an organisation if you are not used to working like this. Here are some useful links:

• How to help staff adjust to remote working – Zoe Amar.
• How to work remotely in a time of coronavirus – The Catalyst.
• A useful post from Beth Kanter about how to facilitate effective virtual meetings.
• How to run a virtual away day – Olly Benson.
• How to run a virtual online conference – Fundraising Everywhere.
• The ultimate guide to working from home, by freelancers who know – Freelance Heroes.
• Thread of tips about working from home by Jon Arnold based on the experience of Tiny Tickers who operate remotely.

Fundraising

Fundraising is being hit hard.

The London Marathon has been postponed until October (announcement 5pm Friday 13th March). Read this thread by Russell Benson with great tips and alternative options for events fundraisers if you haven’t already. Here are a few examples from charities responding to the news in case you want some ideas.

• The Institute of Fundraising – advice for fundraisers.
• Peter Lewis of IoF – how fundraisers are responding and possible impacts (13 March). Detailed post looking at specific areas of fundraising including events, community fundraising and charity shops.
• Tobin Aldrich – A proper crisis. “But what we really need to do is to plan. How are we going to have the maximum impact in supporting our beneficiaries throughout the crisis and after it. And how are we going to fund it.”
• New: Pandemic fundraising: what to expect and how to succeed in the months ahead – Better Fundraising.
• UK Fundraising have curated a list of funding sources.
• CFG – coronavirus and your charity’s finances.
• Good Finance have created a resource hub for social enterprises and charities.
• The Fundraising Regulator have advice about fundraising events: “All charities should now be thinking about what they will do if their fundraising event needs to be cancelled or postponed.”
• Many funders such as London Funders are adapting the terms for the charities they support. LF say “we want to offer reassurance that we stand with the sector during this time”. See also Esmee Fairbairn and Corra Foundation. This thread by Max Rutherford had lots more examples.
• Howard Lake of UK Fundraising wrote advice for fundraisers about the challenges ahead and how to be prepared.
• Matt Haworth has made his Digital Fundraising Book (PDF) available free of charge and delivered a webinar you can watch – digital fundraising in a hurry.
• Shelter had to cancel their flagship Vertical Rush event but have encouraged participants to do the event their own way – now as a #VirtualRush!
• Bowel Cancer UK include advice for fundraisers in their FAQ update.
• Uncovering the secrets of virtual events – Just Giving.
• Voluntary sector leaders collectively wrote a letter to the Chancellor to act to address the financial impact of coronavirus on the sector.

Sarah Goddard is building a collection of resources for the fundraising sector including template appeal letters for hospices and smaller arts organisation from Mark Phillips.

Charities are launching appeals:

• This from Kemp Hospice was released very early on.
• Asthma UK have added a donation ask at the end of their information page.
• Age UK Camden have put out an appeal to help them to support ‘an increasing number of anxious older people who are reaching out to us for help’.
• FareShare – Help us get food to vulnerable people. Donate online or ‘text MEAL 10 to 70480 to give £10’.
• New: JustGiving have shared some of the campaigns on their site.

Other good reads / useful links

• Joe Freeman looks at how social platforms are signposting to trusted sources of information in his Week Notes 35.
• NHS takes action against coronavirus fake news online – 10 March.
• Don’t spread misinformation. Use the SIFT technique. The simplest way to spot coronavirus misinformation on social media – Will Oremus.
• BBC article of 5 coronavirus graphics
• ‘Urgent advice’ needed to protect rough sleepers amid coronavirus outbreak – HuffPost UK.
• WHO joins TikTok to fight coronavirus misinformation – engadget.
• Coronavirus: charities rally to help older people in self-isolation – Guardian.
• Why we should care: Common questions and answers about covid-19 – Dave Troy.
• I’m seeing lots of threads on Twitter of people with existing health conditions talking about self-isolation. This Channel 4 News clip shares one story.
• Coronavirus why you must act now – Tomas Peuyo shares data about the spread of the virus. Scary but important post.
• Data protection and coronavirus: what you need to know – guidance from ICO.
• Twitter release a #handwashing emoji.

Archive:

• Many health charities shared information as the news spread. Look at examples from Asthma UK, Sue Ryder, Diabetes UK, Cystic Fibrosis Trusts, Sickle Cell Society, Crohn’s and Colitis UK, Eczema Society, MS Society, British Liver Trust and more gathered in this Twitter Moment from early March.
• Download resources from Public Health England – includes posters, leaflets and guides.
• 16 March: new advice was added for people who should take stringent social distancing measures.

Examples of warmer comms from week 2/3 of the outbreak:

• Oxfam made a lovely hand washing video.
• LGBT Foundation also shared an alternative mantra to wash your hands to.
• Shakespeare Theatre Company in America shared lines from Macbeth.
• Monster Supplies – the shop from Ministry of Stories – promoted their tins of escalating panic product.
• Make your own office handwashing poster using Wash Your Lyrics.

Have you read anything else useful I should add here? Or seen examples? Let me know. I’ll add more useful links here as I find them.

Thanks to Charity Digital who published a version of this post on 10 March.

Digital advent calendars – 2019

Here are some highlights from this year’s crop of digital advent calendars shared by charities, museums and other not-for-profits.

Fun and competitions

Ruby the Reindeer is visiting a familiar place behind each door of The Family Holiday Association’s website calendar. Your challenge is to name the places and rearrange the first letters of the answers into the title of a well-known song, in order to enter the competition.

Follow, like or share Deki’s advent tweets to be in with a chance of winning a mystery box of goodies! “Each box is filled with surprises and items that celebrate the vibrancy of the communities in Togo and what Deki means to our partners and staff.”

Stories

Bletchley Park are sharing photos of actual doors from their site and telling the stories from each of them. Check out their Instagram for stories from Hut 1 and the garage so far.

#iwill are posting stories which celebrate the difference young people are making across the UK. Check out the #iwill advent calendar.

Sharing learning

A wealth of information and learning from Fundraising Everywhere’s fab calendar shared in one handy thread. So far we have had Dana Kohava Segal on behaviour economics and Howard Lake on giant cheque pictures in press releases.

CIPR Not-for-Profit are also sharing learning through their calendar. They are promoting great resources and showcasing Christmas campaigns from the sector.

Fundraising

The National Literacy Trust are sharing details of a book recommendation each day. They asked top authors which book they would give as a gift to a child this Christmas. The tweet includes a text donation number to support their #GiftofReading campaign.

Cats Protection are sharing stories of cats in their care, with links to different ways you can sponsor a cat or support their work.

Others

• For the 12 days of Christmas, Dogs Trust are sharing 12 naughty and nice realities of owning a dog.
• See Christmas Differently through RNIB’s festive advent calendar.
• Hope Pastures have decorated stable doors and behind each is a pony with a story.
• The National Library of Scotland are running a advent calendar with an 80s theme. Rubiks Cubes, Tetris and Jackie magazine have featured so far. #AdventOf80s.
• Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire are encouraging donations to their charity shop through their reverse advent calendar. Day 4’s challenge is to find something red.
• CRUK in Scotland are using a 12 Days of Christmas countdown to celebrate highlights from the year.
• Terence Higgins Trust are running a #12DaysofHIV to share some highlights from their year.
• People are sharing the stories of the charities behind each door of the Advent of Change paper calendar.
• Orkney Library are re-posting their best tweets of the year. Follow #OrkneyLibraryAdvent19 for some gems.

Seen any others? Let me know.

Join in

It’s not too late to join in. Last year many organisations ran 12 days of Christmas reveals in the dead-zone after Christmas. What a nice way to share positive stories from 2019 or calls to action for 2020.

See digital advent calendars – tips and examples.

Digital round-up – September 2019

Highlights this month: a lesson in crisis comms from RNLI, climate change comms, diversity in the sector, guide to wellbeing.

It’s overwhelming to try and keep up at the moment. Aside from UK and world news, this is a busy time of year for awareness days and campaign launches. Here’s a small snapshot of some of the best charity content and reads from this month and some from August too.

How to use this round-up: Pick and choose links to read, or open in new tabs for later. Or bookmark this post. Even better, subscribe and get future round-ups direct to your inbox.

Content

Big campaigns

• Alzheimer’s Research UK launched a new video starring Samuel L Jackson as part of their #ShareTheOrange campaign. It’s all over social and has been viewed over a million times on Twitter. No mention of it on their homepage now World Alzheimer’s Month has finished though. The campaign has now been running for five years. ARUK also shared a behind the scenes film from the shoot.
• Clic Sargent shared this video about the cost of travel to treatment, as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
• Peter Andre shared his experience of bullying at school as part of The Diana Award’s #Back2School campaign. More stories on the Back2School website.
• This one-minute film from Royal British Legion has powerful copywriting – They Still Go.
• The We Are Undefeatable campaign has been telling inspiring stories all month since it launched.
• Did you join in with Oxfam’s #SecondHandSeptember? They created some nice graphics and explainer content. Take the pledge.
• Guide Dogs shared this video of Ainsley Harriot to promote their My Guide Service.
• Dogs Trust shared this video (with very upsetting content) to mark 15 years of their Freedom Project, removing a barrier for families escaping from domestic abuse.

Creative content

• ‘Choose your own adventure’-type Twitter thread from Trussell Trust to raise awareness about Universal Credit and drive signups to their #5WeeksTooLong campaign.
• Twitter game from The Tower of London – can you escape The Tower?
• Time to Change shared a Moment of what people want you to know about suicide, for #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. They have also been sharing illustrations of what it is like to have mental health problems. This showing physical symptoms is very powerful.
• I like these short videos from Dogs Trust sharing fun games to play with your dog.
• Emergency services around the world got their kit out as part of the #TetrisChallenge. See examples from Tower RNLI, St John Ambulance and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
• 8.1k views for this London Fashion Week video from London Fire Brigade.

Reactive content

• A few charities live-tweeted along with the documentary about Jade Goody. This thread by Cancer Research UK did well.
• Word on the Curb did their own version of chicken box comms to tackle knife crime.
• Have you seen people changing their profile image to colourful stripes (eg Help Refugees)? Take a look at the #ShowYourStripes campaign.
• Some charities used #WorldPhotographyDay to share images from their work.
• Cakes rated by Macmillan.
• Reactive Error 404 messages from political parties (as discovered by Will Cardy).

Celebrity endorsement of the month: The Hoff visits RNLI Penarth.

Did your organisation do anything to join in with the #GlobalClimateStrike either by joining a strike or sharing messages of solidarity or making statement about your own organisation’s commitment to addressing climate change? On a day where there was a global focus on the issues, it was good to see some (mostly environmental charities) pulling out all the stops. It was disappointing to see so many others saying nothing. Here are some examples of charities who joined in with the #GlobalClimateStrike.

Comms

It can be stressful and relentless being on the comms frontline. Your work is key to building and protecting your organisation’s reputation and impact, while also battling internal pressures. This month, Charity Comms launched A wellbeing guide for comms professionals authored by Kirsty Marrins with contributions from others sharing case studies and tips. It aims to help build resilience and look after mental health. Do have a read if you haven’t seen it already.

This month, RNLI faced a backlash then a rush of support, following a story profiling their overseas work. Their messaging on Twitter was an example of patience and warmth. The volume of incoming comments was relentless through the week. They responded by writing personal messages to thousands of people. Their initial tweet has been liked 44.8k times.

I wrote a short thread through the first day as the situation developed including tweets of support from other charities. Dan Slee blogged with more examples and UK Fundraising showed some of the ways people challenged the press story.

What was striking about RNLI’s response was that they took ownership of the situation and proudly communicated their values and mission. For example they changed the image on their homepage (see above) and shared beautiful images from their overseas projects on social media. They also did lots to connect with new and established supporters (see this tweet from Shappi Khorsandi, a thank you email and a thank you video from Dave at Poole Lifeboat Centre).

Would you be ready to respond to a crisis comms situation?

Also this month:

• Here’s a lesson in how to communicate a rebrand! Great blog post by Vicky Browning of ACEVO. We want to change the world but how?
• Other rebrands this month from National Children’s Bureau and The Vitiligo Society.
• Beyond the font – How to use your brand refresh for fundraising; simple tips from the British Heart Foundation – CharityNikki.
• Is your charity’s brand future-proof? – nfpSynergy.
• “We are no longer in need of financial donations” – The Red Box Project starts winding down its operations.
• A message to your #5YearOldSelfie – insights from the successful campaign from Shirin Zaid of Young Minds. Here’s the #5YearOldSelfie launch tweet.
• Thread from Aimee Vance about the danger of seeing social media as a quick fix solution.
• Update from The Brain Tumour Charity about the success of their campaign to raise awareness in teenagers – Our Snapchat symptom campaign success continues.
• Afternoon Tea with Breast Cancer Care – campaign insights from Torchbox.
• Great thread of ideas from Richard Berks about sharing research insights internally. Could also be used as part of any buy-in process or internal roadshow.
• How charities can reach new audiences by live-tweeting TV shows – five different ways to join in, also by Richard Berks.
• Do you follow Joseph Freeman’s weekly updates?
• How to create a social media approval process for your charity – Lightful.
• Facebook tips for small and medium charities – webinar from CAF.
• Content is not king – is content marketing just filler asks Andrew O’Keeffe.
• Here’s what’s wrong with Content Marketing World (and what’s right for your content strategy) – wise words from Kristina Halvorson.
• Understanding 10 types of fake news – really useful post from Social Simulator.

Digital – strategy, design, culture

• Don’t Feed The Trolls – new report and advice.
• Listen to this Radio 4 programme about digital skills and the social divide created by the digital world. Dr Josie Barnard explores reasons why 22% of the population are being left behind. Digital Future: the new underclass.
• Lessons from the Charity Digital Code of Practice – Principle 4: Strategy – Zoe Amar for Charity Digital News.
• 7 cultures that digital needs to survive – Platypus Digital.
• 6 big questions charity digital leaders need to ask – Ross McCulloch for Charity Digital News.
• The Digital Practice work-stream’s first output: de-fragmenting digital maturity – The Catalyst.
• The best UK charities at digital service delivery – Charity Digital News.
• Five UK charities making the most of digital communications in 2019 – Charity Digital News.
• Monthly accessibility tip: Designing for accessibility – part 1 and designing for accessibility – part 2, useful tips about web design both from GOSS.
• How Virtual Reality is helping bridge the communication divide for people with autism – Charity Digital News.
• How charities can gather images ethically? – Rachel Erskine for Great Charity Speakers.
• Joe Freeman blogged: ‘I’m so bored of hearing about digital‘ on Charity Connect.
• Amazing work from suicide prevention organisations who have managed to influence so many digital platforms to automatically share content about prevention in response to keyword searches. This tweet from Ben Bowdler-Thomas shares some screenshots from Twitter, Facebook etc.

Fundraising

• Age UK partner with Cadbury in #DonateYourWords. 30p from every special Dairy Milk bar will be donated to Age UK.
• Paddington’s Postcards – subscription scheme from Unicef UK.
• 5 fundraising campaigns built on social media – Lightful.
• How reward and recognition schemes can motivate your fundraisers – JustGiving blog.
• Remember a Charity Week was 10 years old this year. Here are some examples of how charities joined in on social media. Legacy fundraising on social media.
• Time for action! Why we have to invest in sustainable legacy fundraising – 101 Fundraising. “Build inspiring legacy fundraising communication creating connection and trust. Do not get lost in technical or legal advice at the expense of inspiration.”
• How St Mungo’s used Pinterest to reach potential legators at the right time – Civil Society. Hayley Creasey shares their journey into online marketing for legacy fundraising.
• TOP 10 list of design mistakes I see in direct response over and over again – John Lepp for Agents of Good.
• The Blurt Foundation smashed their £35k crowdfunding target. Their long-read plea to help save Blurt was a great example in transparent and authentic comms. They did the same in a Twitter thread.
• Putting the story straight about Olive Cooke. Radio 4 programme Olive the Poppy Seller.
• Have you seen the IoF’s public perceptions of the fundraising profession report?
• New website and manifesto from #NonGraduatesWelcome.
• Donation boxes in museums – guide from Association of Independent Museums.
• The Tudor Trust mapped their grants against the UK areas of deprivation. [See the latest figures – English indices of deprivation 2019.]
• Get ready for #GivingTuesday (3 December) with these PDF toolkit guides.
• And don’t forget to say thank you on #YouMadeItHappen day next week – 11 October.

People and organisations

There has been lots shared this month about representation in the sector. Here’s a selection of useful reads and resources

• It’s time for us to recognise the barriers that BAME people face in the charity sector – Sushi Juggapah for Charity Digital News.
• HuffPost – charity workers share shocking incidents of racism.
• 70 per cent of CEOs at largest 100 charities are men – Civil Society
• #CharitySoWhite launched on Twitter.
• Practical steps towards a more diverse team – great post by Krislyn Tan for JustGiving.
• Inclusive recruitment toolkit – Snook.
• Salary and Organisational Culture Report – new report from Charity Comms based on 668 survey responses. Includes data about pay, diversity, career paths and attitudes towards comms staff. The report links to useful guides and includes a list of actions for staff, leaders and recruiters.

Also this month:

• Recruitment tips: from a candidate who’s been there – really useful insights for recruiters from Lara Burns.
• JRF’s new start for new starters — a user’s perspective – Hannah McCulloch. How does your induction process measure up?
• 5 excuses for not having young trustees – OSCR.
• Planning for tomorrow’s workforce – report from NCVO.
• Speaking up: How to manage introverts in your team – Matt Chittock for Charity Comms.
• Radio 4 programme about managing volunteers.
• NCVO launched the Trusted Charity Essentials Tool, a new online diagnostic toolkit for small charities to judge how well they are working and how to improve.
• Why our organisation is closing for an entire week – Simon Blake on MHFA England’s August shutdown.
• Did you see this year’s Independent’s Happy List 2019 which was released in August? And this response by Kirsty Marrins for The Independent – Here’s to all the small charities you’ve never heard of.

And finally….

Well done for getting to the end! Here’s some fun stuff.

• 2mins44sec video of Sandi Toksvig giving hugs on QI.
• Bored at your desk? Take a 10 second trip on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
• Or watch a Viennetta being made.
• Want a random page from 80s pop mag Smash Hits to pop up on your timeline?
• Joyful Soviet soldiers dancing to MC Hammer.
• Naughty goats have to wear pool noodles. Who knew?

Your recommendations and feedback

What did you read, watch or launch this month? Please share your recommendations in the comments.

Could you also tell me if these round-ups are useful. It takes quite a long time to put them together. How do you use the round-ups? Please share any feedback. Thanks!

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. I can help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection.

——

Did you miss July’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!

Digital round-up – November 2018

Highlights this month: #YouMadeItHappen, #GivingTuesday, Christmas campaigns, Charity Digital Code launched.

November is always a rich time for content with Giving Tuesday and Christmas appeals. This month it was also the first ever #YouMadeItHappen day. It was great to see so many large and small charities joining in by thanking their supporters and sharing detail of the impact they had made.

How to use this round-up: Pick and choose links to read, or open in new tabs for later. Or bookmark this post. Or, even better, subscribe and get future round-ups direct to your inbox.

Content

Christmas campaigns:

• Dogs Trust’s A Dog is for Life Not For Christmas video.
• Heart-warming video from Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
• RSPCA’s #KindnessAtChristmas video made in-house.
• Rethink partners with Virgin Trains in #ItsAWonderfulLine. Have you seen this in a station near you?
• Christmas isn’t cancelled in hospice Compton Care’s campaign. Get the tissues for this one.

Need more Christmas? See UK Fundraising’s collection of Christmas ads and my top 5 charity digital advent calendars.

Giving Tuesday:

• Reason Digital hosted an epic Twitter takeover representing nine different charities. People told their stories in a marathon effort.
• Nice thank you video from Marie Curie.
• Tiny Tickers’ appeal aimed to raise £750 to pay for one new pulse oximetry machine and ended up raising enough to pay for four. Tiny Tickers’ CEO Jon Arnold took over their Twitter account for an hour and later said that his fingers hurt at the end.
• There were a number of GT campaigns which focused on everyday acts of kindness. Lovely examples in this @ZurichVolSec Moment.
• More #GivingTuesday examples in this post from Lightful. And Blackbaud reports new #GivingTuesday record.

Also this month:

• Love Age UK’s #FridayFeeling tweets.
• This year the local government annual tweetathon, #OurDay generated 33k tweets and had a social reach of 26 million.
• There were some nice messages around for Black Friday as #BuyNothingDay, like this one from Herts Wildlife Trust.
• Access to Justice expert Philippa Budgen gathered examples of the crumbling court system as a follow-up to the coverage she secured in The Times.
• Dogs Trust marked the sudden death of their CEO with a thread about some of his achievements. It was also lovely to see so many other organisations responding to the news with their condolences.
• Another google search inspired piece of content from the Blurt Foundation. Can depression….?
• #SmallTalkSavesLives – new video from Samaritans.
• Can you lip read? asks Action on Hearing Loss. They also shared tips for navigating social situations when you have hearing loss.
• CRUK asks will you stand shoulder to shoulder with the NHS against cancer?
• The National Trust welcomed December with the sound of a robin.

Did you join in with #YouMadeItHappen day? The hashtag reached 5.4m people. Here are some highlights of YMIH 2018.

Twitter takeover of the month: Scope for International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Comms

• Kick-ass campaigning from Mind in this thread about Universal Credit and Esther McVey with 401k views and 5.5k likes. Here are the responses from The Trussell Trust and Gingerbread who were also mentioned.
• My charity is better for being open about failure writes Street League’s Matt Stevenson-Dodd.
• Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care shared merger news. Supporters received letters through the post on the same day the news was publicly announced.
• What’s wrong with young men? How awareness of charities changes for different demographics – new research about brand awareness from nfpSynergy.

Don’t forget to book your ticket for the Social Media Exchange in February.

Digital – strategy, design, culture

Following the consultation period, the Charity Digital Code has now officially launched. Do have a look if you haven’t already.

The Small Charities Coalition challenged Zoe Amar to explain it in three post-it notes. And in Charity Digital News she shares 7 things you can do in 30 minutes a day.

The Code advocates digital skills across staff and the board. This helpful infographic produced by Zoe Amar, Ellie Hale, Sally Dyson and Janet Thorne asks Do you need a digital trustee?

Also this month:

• Is your charity ready for digital transformation? 10 examples of non-profits doing it well from Electric Putty.
• Behind the National Trust’s historic digital roadmap – Charity Digital News checks in half way through their 10-year strategy.
• Unlocking success in digital transformations – McKinsey.
• This year’s Social CEOs winners. Hear more about them – How charity leaders are taking digital to the next level.
• The latest UK Business and Charity Digital Index from Lloyds Bank. Now in its fifth year.
• Monthly accessibility tip: check you instagram settings and add alt text. Instagram adds automatic image descriptions to assist visually impaired users – Social Media Today
• Is your charity ready for the fourth industrial revolution? asked Zurich for Charities.
• Ethics in service design. Adding value by adding values by Ben Terrett.
• Have you seen Nesta’s Share Town which explores a local government approach to user needs and service design?
• Good Design is Good Civics – transcript and podcast of the story of Boston Mayor’s Office’s app development.
• Write ups from Charity Comms’ Charity Digital conference from Kirsty Marrins and Eleanor Dean (plus these tweets from Joe Freeman). The slides and Wakelet are on the Charity Comms conference page.
• Charity Comms podcast: engagement wasn’t built in a day.
• Supporter journeys: The nut every charity wants to crack – NSPCC’s Digital Dunk.
• Top 5 tips to maximise your website traffic – DSC.
• 5 tips for getting the most out of your Google Ad Grant account – ACEVO.
• Social Media Analytics: how to measure success – Lightful.
• Check your data – But is it statistically significant?
• Seeing isn’t always believing: a deep dive into Deep Fake. Serious implications for trust in broadcasting.

Fundraising

JustTextGiving to close in March next year. Are you ready? (See also Figure for text donation plummets by £86m and donr announces text giving service.)

• Movember launches contactless fundraising badges – UK Fundraising.
• Big Issue partners with iZettle to bring contactless payments to vendors.
• Interesting insights into legacy fundraising in this Radio 4 programme – Inheritance: Give it up or pass it on?
• League table reveals top 20 charities for legacy considerers – UK Fundraising.
• Have you seen Jes Bailey’s crowdfunding platform decision flowchart?
• The Institute of Fundraising launched its Change Collective. Take the survey by 18 January to help benchmark diversity.

People and organisations

• Change to avert ‘catastrophic decline’ in individual giving, says WaterAid executive – Third Sector. Johnty Gray warns about the dangers of a risk-averse culture and old-fashioned corporate structures on innovation.
• How vInspired went from £50m to bust in less than ten years – Civil Society.
• New sector interactive data hub from SCVO.
• Slides from Charity Comms seminar on diversity and inclusion. Time to act: tackling diversity and inclusion in charity communications.
• Congratulations to the Charity Comms Inspiring Communicator Award winners.

And finally….

• Demolition of a huge chimney in Australia.
• The social psychology of female pedestrians.
• The UX of hotel rooms: 11 anti-patterns by Sharon O’Dea.
• Video of Danny Boyle’s Pages of the Sea.
• Twitter’s John Lewis ad.
• The Lord Flashheart mix from Blackadder. Genius!

Your recommendations

What did you read, watch or launch this month? Please add your links in the comments.

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. I can help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection.

——

Did you miss October’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!

Digital round-up – June

June passed by in a blur of great weather, football fever and lots of great charity reads. Get an ice cream / cool drink and settle back to hook some juicy digital catches!

Warning – this is another bumper crop. Pick and choose links to read, or open in new tabs for later. Or bookmark this post. Even better, subscribe and get future round-ups direct to your inbox. Enjoy!

Content

• Love this short animation from Dogs Trust sharing the headlines from their impact report.
• Fab World Cup content from RightsInfo – comparing human rights data for the teams playing each other. See here Morocco vs Iran.
• There was some powerful content shared for #RefugeeDay. Including this moving video from Children’s Society. And this list of 34,000 refugees who have died trying to get to Europe.
• Have you taken Time to Change’s mental health quiz?
• Public information film from Age UK about being scam aware.
• Engaging animation produced by CBBC’s Newsround with Centrepoint about homelessness in young people.
• Crisis launched their EverybodyIn campaign with a video and interactive comments map.

• Sometimes less is more. Like this 10-word Amnesty International UK tweet in response to Donald Trump. And this response to the announcement about leaving the Human Rights Council.
• This response to other US policies was very moving too. People shared images of their five year old selves imagining what it would have felt like to be separated from their families. Heartbreaking.
• The CoastGuard Team use minifigs to give important safety information. Here’s a 5s video which has had 57.3k views giving a warning about staying safe during Storm Hector.

• So much cuteness from charities to mark Bring Your Dog To Work Day!

Digital

• Find out why Kate Collins, CEO of Teenage Cancer Trust says that Twitter is an essential leadership tool. This is a great article to show to your non-digital CEO.
• And this video from Cambridge CVS on Why should your organisation embrace digital?
• Six small charities doing great thing with digital by Third Edge.
• How can employee advocacy boost brand marketing? eConsultancy. Does your charity encourage staff to be ambassadors on social media?
• The short guide for non-techies running digital projects in charities by John Dunford in Third Sector.
• User experience for small charities – video produced by CRUK with Small Charities Coalition for Small Charity Week.
• 23 quantitative and qualitative user research methods: a comprehensive guide – UserZoom.
• Future trends of the almighty email by Rebecca Brewer on JustGiving. Top tips and examples.
• Webcredible’s guide to designing for Voice and why it is important. And why the future of donations is Voice on UKFundraising. But hey Alexa, what are you doing to my kid’s brain?
• Is your charity ready for the age of automation? Beth Kanter for Lightful.
• Top tips from social media managers on Lightful.
• Have you ever used the Content Scoring Matrix Template from Edo?
• To take the next step on digital, we dropped the word ‘digital’ – how Citizens Advice is going ‘beyond digital’.
• Your monthly reminder about why you should NOT use ‘click here’ / ‘read more’ / ‘more info‘ in your links.
• Find a small charity in your area with Olly Benson’s Small Charity Roulette tool. Genius!

In case you missed it Brathay Trust: a lesson in crisis comms.

Teams and ways of working

• Be a better cross functional team member, with these 5 ways to build your confidence by James Gadsby Peet.
• How to build your digital skills – lots of tips from Louise of NSPCC in the Digital Dunk.
• 5 tips for remote working by Leanne Griffin for the CRUK tech blog. This is a brilliant read!
• 10 things I’ve learnt about being freelance in 4 and a half years – great tips shared for National Freelancers Day by Angelica Malin.
• Looking after social can be a tough job. So should you ask your social media manager if they are ok? by Thea Neal.
• Do you know about the comms2point0 comms job description model. Really useful if you are thinking about the skills you are looking for in a new member of staff.

Mind your language

Suicide has been in the news a lot recently. Here are some guides to writing about it responsibly.

• This quick read guide is based on guidelines produced by Samaritans and Mind.
• Samaritan’s guidelines for talking about suicide.
• This opinion piece in The Pool argued that the reporting following Kate Spade’s death was a masterclass in how not to report suicide.
• Samaritan’s guide to helping someone who is feeling suicidal.

Events

• Catch up with the slides from Charity Comms’ Psychology of Communications conference. See also this post from Kate Brennan-Rhodes ahead of the event – To change behaviour, you need to look beyond the obvious.
• YoYoPresents was an event about digital transformation. Here’s a thread shared by Kirsty Marrins covering the presentation given by Woodland Trust. And a Wakelet (Storify replacement) by Graham Manuel-Jones.
• 5 take aways from the PR Week Crisis Conference.

Fundraising

• Are charity subscription boxes the new trend in regular giving? Kirsty Marrins looks at products offered by Scope, Mind and the Blurt Foundation.
• 4 ways to use digital to retain donors – Matt Collins for JustGiving.
• Plan International UK pilots project to transform child sponsorship communications on UKFundraising.
• Did your charity run any World Cup fundraising? Here is a selection in my World Cup Moment. And others in a UKFundraising round-up.
• How JustGiving crowdfunding went from an idea to £100m in five years by Jonathan Waddinton.

More

• What can we learn about micro acts of aggression? This article on The Conversation is worth reading. Discrimination against fat people is so endemic, most of us don’t even realise it is happening.
• Long thread about the many ways those ads follow you round the internet.
• nfpSynergy report on focus groups quotes about annual reports and accounts. Top tip: include a summary page.

And finally….

• The search is over for the best / worst office stock photo! While you are looking for your stock pictures, keep an eye out for the ‘shocked girl’!
• Scary / amazing data visualisations – all the flights on one day.
• A beatboxing Starling courtesy of BBC’s SpringWatch.
• A skateboarding bird!
• I love this thread about being a good listener by @sacraparental.
• The question you have always wanted answering – what would my favourite horror films look like with Paddington in them?
• Love this film of clips about computers from the BBC archive.

 

Your recommendations

What did you read, watch or launch this month? Please add your links in the comments.

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with digital copywriting, content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. I can help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection.

——

Did you miss May’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!

 

 

 

Digital round-up – May

In the month that we were all swamped in GDPR emails and RNLI and Dog’s Trust were responding to endless negative comments following misreported press stories, there were lots of great reads. Pull up a comfy chair and catch up with some great charity content and digital reads you might have missed from May 2018.

Warning – you may need longer than a tea break to catch up. Pick and choose links to read, or open in new tabs for later. Or bookmark this post. Even better, subscribe and get future round-ups direct to your inbox. Enjoy!

Digital

Useful resources and reads if you are working on digital projects, thinking about future technologies or just getting on with your everyday digital tasks:

• Build the right thing in the right way – 10 design principles to help charities build better digital services by CAST.
• Super useful conversation menu produced by CAST. Use these prompt questions when starting digital projects.
• A guide to agile communication by Giles Turnball.
• Have you seen SCVO’s beta Digital Check-up tool?
• Key findings from the LBG Consumer Digital Index. And the full Consumer Digital Index report 2018.
• 8 free digital tools for small NGOs – useful list from Thomas Worley at BOND.
• CAF’s Future:Good project.
• The highs and lows of social media marketing in 2018 (eConsultancy).
• 6 steps to create a persona that drives your marketing (Social Media Today).

Inspiration from other organisations getting stuck into digital:

• Going digital is bloody difficult by Adam Koszary of MERL.
• Small charities smashing it with digital – Mandy Johnson blogs for JustGiving. Includes 5 top tips and examples.
• Research into the impact of health tracking following chemotherapy and about Anthony Nolan’s My Transplant Tracker app.

New websites / rebanding:

• New website from MS Society.
• New website from Alzheimer’s Society.
• About the rebrand and new website by Canal and River Trust. New Canal and River Trust website too.

Events:

• Becca Peter’s notes from the Charity Comms Engaging Digital conference.
• Doing more with less: tips for busy communicators. Slides from the CharityComms seminar.

Content / comms channels

• Why your content wants to be bad. Love this post by Jack Garfinkel of Scope about the impact of bad processes.
• How the British Red Cross revamped its website from 4000 pages to 400 (eConsultancy).
• How to position your brand as a knowledge centre through content (eConsultancy). Many charity websites are already ‘knowledge centres’ but is your knowledge the type and in the right format for your audience? Are you the go-to for your subject or are your peers or non-charity competitors doing it better?
• How to spot the passive voice in your writing using monkeys. Simples!
• Investing in a content strategy leads to better ROI with video. Video content benchmark report by Raw London on Charity Comms.
• How to write a video brief – tips from video agency Magneto Films.
• Best practice guide to Facebook by Kirsty Marrins for Lightful.
• What I learnt about impact in Oxford by Richard Sved.
• Your monthly reminder to caption your images on social.
• Talking about poverty in the UK – what works? JRF share a 10-step guide based on research by the FrameWorks Institute. See also this thread from a Universal Credit sufferer which got 4k likes and kick-started some #FoodBankChallenge action.
• Crisis also worked with FrameWorks to research attitudes to homelessness. Reframing homelessness in the UK (PDF).

ICYMI – I updated my 2013 post about trustee / staff pages on charity websites with new best practice and examples. How does your site match up?

Fundraising

• Charities have a problem with men according to a CAF report (UK Fundraising). Includes questions and a flatpack fundraising guide to address the issues. Handy!
• The landscape for grantmaking in 2043. Slide share of predictions by Rhodri Davies of CAF.
• Solo fundraising: how to make it work for your charity – Julia Pitman on CharityComms.

Working with people

• A letter to my extroverted boss, from an introvert by executive coach Emma Taggart.
• Measuring wellbeing – free tools for charity use (UK Fundraising).
• Tweets about stress for #MentalHealthAwarenessDay. (And did you see this film of Michael Rosen talking about how drawing helped him following the death of his son?)
• Why is flexible working not mainstream asks Kirsty Marrins.
• Similar questions about trust and good management from Kate Brennan-Rhodes in this thread.
• And this by Madeleine Cassidy on Charity Connect about the mental health of people in the charity sector – The elephant in the room.
• Stop. CollaboRaise and Listen by Lisa Clavering.
• If charities really want to be more diverse, then they need to change by Kirsty Weakley in Civil Society.
• Debunking Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (BPS).
• Results of the ProCopywriters Survey 2018.
• Some brilliantly inspiring people on this year’s Alternative Rich List.

Great content

• What’s the difference between a healthy brain and one with Alzheimer’s? Engaging video from ARUK.
• Marine Conservation Society use a shocking image to prompt petition signings about single use plastic.
• Have we forgotten how to make friends asks the Campaign to End Loneliness.
• Cheeky Question Time tweet from Shelter.
• Live scenes of hay fever at Asthma UK.
• Love the pantone colour matching tweets from National Library of Scotland.
• Refugee Action campaign.
• NCVO’s nifty animation showing highlights from the Almanac.
• There was lots of activity for #ChildrensHospiceWeek. Also for #DyingMatters week (though there was no Moment or news round-up to link to, to show you).
• Instead watch this cute video and song from Dog’s Trust.

Plus there was lots of nice content around for the Royal Wedding, such as this knitted couple from Age UK and this blue blood image from NHS Give Blood.

This Royal Wedding Moment contains lots of fundraising related fun from large and small charities. Great examples of how to join in with a feel-good event.

Strawberry Social even did a comprehensive thread of an A-Z of Royal Wedding tat which should have got more likes than it did.

See also

• Love this visualisation of the T&C’s of different apps.
• Nice buttons and dials from Present and Correct.
• Gammon People (not) by Pulp in a thread.
• Sick of hearing about the floss but not actually sure what it’s all about? This handy guide by TES for teachers so they can keep up with the kids, is for you!
• Scan paintings with a new app at the National Gallery.
• How to build a fly stimulator and annoy little girls.
• 279k likes for this cool interaction between biker and bus driver.

Your recommendations

What did you read, watch or launch this month? Please add your links in the comments.

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with digital copywriting, content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. I can help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection.

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Did you miss April’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!

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Great #IWD2018 content

More than ever today, my timeline is wonderfully filled with messages celebrating brilliant women and highlighting women’s projects and causes.  It is International Women’s Day (#IWD2018) so here’s my pick of the top content around.

Fundraising for women’s charities

Bloody Good Period encouraged us to give a sister a leg-up by donating to their Amazon wishlist.

Richard Herring did his annual ‘Why isn’t there an International Men’s Day?’ response marathon to raise money for Refuge. At one stage during the day, new donations were being every added every ten seconds. The £50k target was hit around lunchtime, and £100,000 by the early evening. The final total is now almost £150k + Gift Aid!

There were lots of fundraising activities on the day. This reproduction of this suffragette poster from 1906 is being sold to support the campaign for a statue of Mary Woolstonecraft.

The Huffington Post ran an article about donating to women’s charities.

Celebrating brilliant women

There are thousands of tweets giving shout-outs to fabulous women. Imandeep Kaur’s thread, showcasing women in her life stood out. Using one tweet per person and a stonking photograph, she explains what the woman has achieved and why they are amazing.

Lots of charities celebrated their women founders and / or the stories of prominent women. For example, see Sue Ryder, The Woodland Trust, Leonard Cheshire, RSPCA, Maggie’s Centres, Battersea Dogs and Cats and British Red Cross.

And there were a number of posts introducing some of the women I admire working in the sector today. See CharityJob’s Sheroes, Kirsty Marrins’ post from last year and Lightful’s 6 phenomenal women leading the way.

Fighting for equality

City, University of London asked why there aren’t more expert women featured on the news with this nifty animation they shared on Twitter sharing research from Professor Lis Howell.

The NY Times admitted that its obituaries have been dominated by white men. They have responded with a series called Overlooked.

UNICEF produced this simple animation calling on a world where every woman and girl feels safe.

It’s worth watching the #FreedomForGirls video produced by Global Goals if you haven’t seen it already.

This interactive timeline of women’s rights and gender equality over the past 100 years from Southbank Centre has been released as part of their WOW festival.

Women’s projects

Great coverage for this Women in Sheds Age UK project in Loughborough.

Some charities you wouldn’t particularly expect to have an story for IWD, used the opportunity to share stories about their work. For example Dog’s Trust shared information about their Freedom Project.

And Crisis shared research about the impact of homelessness on women in a short video.

Inspiring messages

‘Be a role model for the sort of woman you want your children to be’. Wise words in this video from Age UK showing a discussion between Shirley Meredeen and Lynne Ruth Miller.

Grow old disgracefully – I love this from the Campaign to End Loneliness.

What did you spot?

This was just a small fraction of all the tweets, videos, campaigns shared for IWD18. What did you see or produce which particularly stood out? Do share your highlights in the comments.

See also:

• UK Fundraising’s #IWD18 round-up
• Lightful’s Twitter Moment packed with loads of examples
• Mandy Johnson made a Twitter Moment of Richard Herring’s International Men’s Day reply tweets.

Can I help you?

Get in touch if I can help you with digital copywriting, content planning, training or strategy. I work with charities of all shapes and sizes. Can I help give your comms or digital processes a healthcheck and ideas injection?

 

Digital round-up – Jan/Feb 18

In case you missed them, some of the best reads on crisis comms, digital strategy and charity content from last month.

Crisis comms

Charities have been in the headlines ever since the start of the year (Oxfam, President’s Club, Oxfam again, Jo Cox Foundation). There’s lots we can learn from these events in terms of how we need to respond to a crisis and rebuild trust.

• This from Jon Ware about involving the social team in crisis comms is excellent – Is your social media response helping during a crisis?
• And this about what it is like to be inside a major crisis by Outrageous Impact.
• Plus this – after Oxfam, charities are no longer untouchable by Vicky Browning of ACEVO – in which she tackles the public call for charities to be transparent while resenting money spent on admin.

Read, then review your crisis comms plan. Does it include the right people? Have you got clarity about the messages? Do they work across all channels? Have staff done media training? Are there enough people with social media skills to be able to respond to comments? (NB Oxfam put a call-out to staff for help and drafted in 40 colleagues to help with front-line messaging.)

It’s worth noting that it’s not just Oxfam who have been effected by this story. NCVO have been working tirelessly to share safeguarding best practice and represent the sector in media interviews.

Digital skills, design and strategy

• Dr Simon Davey says that charities can no longer be digitally defiant and argues that digital doesn’t have to be difficult.
• Read about the digital journey of Parkinson’s UK.
• The digital team at CRUK’s blog is a good read. Find out about their approach to user centric digital learning and development.
• Test. Test. Test. You are not the user. A useful reminder about the false consensus effect from NN group.
• Macmillan’s Senior Digital Editor, Rebecca Cryan, talks about accessibility audits.
• Seb Baird from Time to Change shared insights from this year’s #TimeToTalk day in which they shared over 40 pieces of unique content across different social channels.
• Benchmark your stats with the new (subscription needed) Charity Comms Digital Benchmark! Based on data from 46 charities.

Content

#WorldCancerDay is a big day for lots of health charities. Macmillan launched this lovely #LittleActsOfKindness video. I really liked the way they displayed the subtitles.

In addition to the usual fundraising and bad poems, there were some harder-hitting Valentine’s Day charity comms. None quite as cringy as the DWP’s festive message though thankfully.

Other charities joined in with #TimeToTalk day. This gentle video from the Mental Health Foundation makes us think about answers to ‘how are you?’

How can you use your archive to connect with topical stories? There were lots of charities marking the 100 years since (some) women got the vote. Age UK told the story of one of its founders Eleanor Rathbone.

I am a sucker for maps and data. These examples of (non-charity) content marketing campaigns using maps could give food for thought. How can you use your data to tell a bigger story?

This blind Twitter user’s plea which has now had 179k likes seems to have done so much more to raise awareness about image accessibility than any charity or Twitter themselves. Have you changed your settings? This guide to getting alt text right is a must-read if you are new to describing images.

Good to see Doncaster Council’s Chief Executive maintaining the gif standards in her comms.

And finally…

• Never swallow a bombardier beetle. Urgh!
• Take a moment to appreciate police dog Max’s hair.

What did I miss?

I spent January doing an interim comms manager role as well as going to BarCampNFP and SMEX18 so might have missed other good stuff. What did you read / watch / produce this month? Please do share.

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Did you miss November 2017’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!

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Digital roundup – October

My top reads for October. Catch up with this bumper month!

October was hashtag-tastic! We had #WorldTeachersDay, #WorldMentalHealthDay (see Third Sector’s series), #WorldOsteoporosisDay, #InternationalDayOfTheGirl, #WorldHomelessnessDay, #WorldSightDay and #WorldPorridgeDay. It was Breast Cancer Awareness month, #HospiceCareWeek,  It was also the month that the #RoundPound went out of use and many of us got our #FirstTenner.

It was also a month of great charity content and useful reads.

Great content

• There were some great nonprofit Halloween tweets this year. There were lots of creative fundraising, campaigning or silly examples. The Met Office spooky forecast and Time to Change’s stigma-free Halloween campaign really stood out.
• Doncaster Council won Twitter with their great use of gifs to illustrate fly-tipping. Do read this thread if you haven’t already. (Plus read Dan Slee’s comments about it.)
• The Salvation Army produced a powerful new animation about modern slavery.
• YWCA Scotland released their list of 30 inspiring women under 30. Each day in November they are sharing their stories. Follow them on Twitter (and via #30under30) or directly at their blog.
• ACEVO are 30. To mark the occasion they are running 30 things to think about during November.
• The brilliant @nhs account celebrated its first birthday. Some of the tweets from the children’s dentist week were particurly grim (like this one of a jar of teeth – don’t look if you are squeamish).
• Breast Cancer Now made personalised gifs (and this cheering one) for Wear it Pink supporters. See Joseph Freeman’s article in UK Fundraising for more information about it.
• St Joseph’s Hospice launched their Impact Report which is told through the eyes of patient Mary.

Useful stuff

• How does your charity deal with social media harassment? Erin Longhurst’s post on JustGiving includes a useful flowchart. See also this about how @GiveBloodNHS responded to a racist comment.
• 3 Google Analytics reports to help drive digital marketing decisions by Fran Swaine on CharityComms.
• How charities can work with tech companies on GdnVoluntary.
• The Guardian’s instagram strategy by Eleni Stefanou
• Sad charity video – does it still work? Magneto Films look at three alternative methods.
• 13 fantastic places to find background music for your video content on BufferSocial.
• 3 reasons why small charities should embrace digital by Felicity Christensen on JustGiving.
• Catch up with slides from CharityComms’s recent Digital Conference.
• How GDS are making accessibility clearer and easier.
• 8 old-school SEO practices that are no longer effective on moz.com.
• Just seven months to go until GDPR. There’s lots to read. Try this 10-step guide from the Institute of Fundraising, this webinar from NCVO, this post from Reason Digital and resources from the ICO who recently launched a helpline for small organisations (0303 123 1113).

Want more? Read JustGiving’s 10 things you should read this month.

Blog posts

• 5 things digital leaders do differently by Zoe Amar.
• Richard Sved wrote a spot-on post about comms for short attention spans using another 80s reference – Waiting for Bono.
• Each of your social media accounts is a hackers dream, how many do you have? asked Paul Newton on comms2point0.
• New for older at AgeUK by Lara Burns.
• If you missed Being the Story, read my blog post about the event – cathartic and powerful storytelling.

Surprising content

• Macmillan celebrated their charity number (261017) day (26 October 2017).
• Pen taxonomy.
• How blood groups work by @GiveBloodNHS.
• Twitter competitions between institutions – cathedrals for #WorldArchitectureDay and museums for #AskACuratorDay.
• I love these selfies taken in a photography studio in Birmingham in 1979.
• And this gif from the Mary Rose Museum.
• And this image for #WorldPastaDay plus the 1957 BBC April Fool of spaghetti harvesting.
• Someone donated an ancient tin of soup to Cardiff Foodbank. And Heinz didn’t really enter in to the spirit of things.
• Louis Theroux recorded a programme name created by the @louistherouxbot.

Coming up

November is sure to be busy too with #TrusteesWeek (13-17 Nov), #OurDay (for local government on 21 Nov) and #GivingTuesday (28 Nov). Plus all the preparations for Christmas fundraising and fun. If you are thinking about seasonal content, read my post about digital advent calendars.

What have you seen?

What did you read or see in October? Do share your highlights.

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Did you miss June’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!