With more wintery weather heading our way, poke your head out from under the duvet for some of the highlights from March 2018. It has been a bumper month (snow, data abuse, more snow, lots of hashtags) so this round-up has lots of gems.
Campaigns
- Bullying UK launched an interactive video – your choices change the story.
- Advice and how to spot the signs of cyberbullying in this video by NSPCC.
- Time to Change shared another video as part of their #InYourCorner series.
- The 50 mums | 50 kids video released on World Down’s Syndrome Day has had 3.4m views.
- 10 things you can do to use water wisely – shared on World Water Day by Eden Rivers Trust in Cumbria. See also this Moment of #WorldWaterDay tweets.
- There was lots of great content for #InternationalWomensDay.
- Love this information for applicants video from Big Lottery Fund Scotland
- Dog’s Trust are raising awareness of dog theft with their Family Pawtrait campaign.
Comms good practice
- This from Jenny Pennington at Shelter is important – How to talk about your beneficiaries well.
- Why you shouldn’t say Thank You by fundraiser Nikki Bell.
- How to solve the wrong problem – Kate Brennan looks at CRUK’s OB_S_TY campaign.
- Complexity bias: why we prefer complicated to simple by Farnam Street.
- Stephen Fry’s message about prostate cancer spurred me on to get checked (HuffPost) or why public information doesn’t work. Here is the video announcement from Stephen in case you didn’t see it.
- If you are looking for an antidote to giant cheque pictures (just say no), take a look at this video from RNIB supporters in Peebles, Scotland or these golden shiny balloons for CLIC Sargent.
- In a recent flurry of #CharityJobs, this one stood out. Rosie Downes of Crisis shared 5 reasons to apply.
- 15 marvellous microcopy examples (and how they improve UX) – eConsultancy
- Is your password in the top 500 list (Information is Beautiful)? Best change it if so!
Also, catch up with the slides from CharityComms’ content strategy conference and read Eleanor Dean’s blog with her key takeaways – Three thoughts on creating better digital content for your charity.
Social media
- 7 ways to prepare for inevitable digital platform changes – how to stay ahead of the game by Ben Matthews on CharityComms.
- Why we are actually loving the new Facebook algorithm – Julia Kirby-Smith of RightsInfo on Charity Comms.
- What does it means for communicators if we #deleteFacebook asks Albert Freeman on Comms2Point0.
- Post Cambridge Analytica, Luke Williams looks at ethics and asks Micro-targeting and Psychographic segmentation – what are we happy with? And this thread by @SaraDannerDuki is a good explainer about the story.
- Making content to fit a trend – the best how-to videos as curated by Magneto Films.
Digital evolution
Have you read the Charity Digital Skills Report? How you does your organisation compare? Do you have a digital strategy? Do your trustees ‘get’ digital?
I went to the DigitalAgenda Impact Awards and heard about lots of brilliant Tech for Good projects. Here’s a blog post from Ross McCulloch about some of the winners (4 examples of digital innovation) and a blog post about the Citizen’s Advice case management system which won an award. Is tech for good on your radar? Are you working on projects or know who is in your space?
- Ten things I wish I’d known 10 years ago – John Slack shares his experience of digital in museums.
- 5 things we learnt from rebranding and rebuilding our website by Anna Chapman of The Bike Project on JustGiving.
- SCVO’s new website – what we’ve learnt so far. The organisation moved from a static content site into a data-driven platform integrated with back office systems and feeding to and from external sources.
- Making public sector websites age-friendly – a useful reminder about accessibility on Digital Leaders.
- A SEO PR primer by Stephen Waddington.
- Tipping Point: Agile procurement is in a precarious position as Waterfall looms large by Dominic Campbell of FutureGov.
- Prototyping – how to learn just how bad your ideas are by Tom Barrett.
- Digital design principles for the UK charity sector by CAST.
Tech trends
- Top tech trends for charities in 2018 by Lisa Hornung at NCVO.
- Why charities need to embrace voice assistants on Macmillan’s digital team blog. Includes examples from Comic Relief, British Red Cross and Arthritis Research UK. See also Breast Cancer Care’s taking care of your breasts tool.
- 5 ways charities are using VR on Charity Digital News. Includes lots of examples. Also read the BBC’s blog on what they are doing with VR.
- 22% of searches start in Google Images, how can you optimise your content? The rise of visual search.
- 10 breakthrough technologies 2018 by MIT.
Charity reads
- Why the local pound matters – How Preston took back control.
- Small change, big difference – Karl Wilding looks at the importance of micro donations.
And finally….
If you are looking for some cheering up, try these:
- chair dancing with this 93 year-old lady
- how to put orphaned kangaroos to bed
- photos taken by people trying to sell their mirrors
- pet-hates in response to Stuart Heritage who doesn’t like pianos in train stations
- find out how many Londoners do the same journey as you
- next time it snows do this with glowsticks or get a gate like this to make a pleasing pattern
- listen to the call of seals in Pembrokeshire, part of this 3D audio BBC radio programme Sounds of Wales
- almost as good as the sound of ice being dropped 90m down a borehole. Weee!
What else?
What were your good reads in March? Please do share.
If you want more, see also:
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?
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Did you miss Jan/Feb’s round-up? Catch up with more good reads!
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