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- Spread the word using social media
Spread the word using social media
Social media offers both charities and fundraisers a great way to promote their cause and the work or fundraising they’re doing. Not only is it quick and easy to use, it can get your message out to a large audience of potential sponsors.
To help you get the most out of social media, we’ve put together some quick guides to some of the more popular websites.
What is Facebook?
Facebook lets you share messages, photos, videos and music with friends. Every member of Facebook has their own profile page which they can customise, and it’s an easy way to keep in touch with friends all over the world.
How can Facebook help charities?
Set up a Facebook page to tell people about your charity - you can add your charity’s logo, contact details, photos and videos.
Fundraisers and donors will be able to link up to your charity’s page so you’ll have another way to keep in touch. Your fundraisers’ friends will hear about your charity through Facebook too which will help raise public awareness of your cause.
What is Twitter?
Twitter lets you send out text updates online. These messages are called 'tweets' and can be up to 140 characters long. You can add links and images to your tweets if you like.
Twitter is free to use and you can send as many tweets as you like. You can choose to receive tweets through your phone too, but please note your mobile phone provider might charge.
How can Twitter help charities?
Use Twitter to make quick announcements to your fundraisers and donors (e.g. let them know when you're ready to accept entries for your latest fundraising event).
Twitter can also help improve communications between your colleagues. Send staff-only tweets to keep everyone in the loop.
Picasa
What is Picasa?
Picasa is an online photograph album where you can store and share your pictures. You can categorise and label your photos, and because they’re online you’ve always got a back-up copy.
How can Picasa help charities?
Make a Picasa album for each of your charity’s events and ask fundraisers to add their pictures too.
Photos will get people interested in your cause – use them to show how lives have been changed with your charity’s support.
Help people find your page
What is bookmarking?
‘Bookmarking’ is when you set up a link to a webpage you visit regularly so you can go straight there, rather than typing out the address or searching for it every time.
Social bookmarking websites (e.g. delicious.com, digg.com, stumbleupon.com) let you share your favourite pages with others.
How can social bookmarking help charities?
By adding your Virgin Money Giving page to social bookmarking websites you could increase the number of people who see your page - lots of people use bookmarking sites to search the internet or just browse them for fun.
This could mean more awareness and donations for your charity, or sponsorship from strangers who are inspired by your charity's story.
You’ll find a ‘share this page’ link at the bottom of your Virgin Money Giving page – just click it to start bookmarking.
YouTube
What is YouTube?
YouTube is a video sharing website with short clips on nearly every topic you could think of. Anyone can go to YouTube to watch videos, but by registering you get your own ‘channel’ and can add videos too.
How can YouTube help charities?
Add videos about your charity, the work you do and the good causes you support. As a registered charity you can also join YouTube’s non-profit programme and receive even more perks, like more chances to customise your YouTube channel. Read our charity advertising grants page to find out more.
Blogs
What are blogs?
A blog is like an online diary or scrapbook where you can post photos, videos, words and links on your chosen topic. Other people can leave comments and messages about your blog posts.
How can blogs help charities?
A blog is a great way to interact with your fundraisers and donors because they can leave comments and get involved. It’s also an ideal place to make public announcements about your events and post thank you messages to your supporters after an event has finished.
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