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 fundraisers?

Use your Facebook page to tell your friends about your fundraising and ask them to sponsor you. Share photos and videos of your preparation and event. Find us on Facebook for the latest fundraising news and event details.

You’ll find links across Virgin Money Giving to quickly and easily share your fundraising page on Facebook. For example, you’ll see a Facebook panel when you finish setting up your fundraising page, or sign into your account.

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 also add links and images to your tweets.

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 you for this.

How can Twitter help fundraisers?

Twitter is a quick and easy way to contact your friends and let them know about your fundraising. It’s a good idea to ask people to sponsor you with a personal message like an email, but Twitter is a great way to send out updates and reminders.

You’ll find links across Virgin Money Giving to quickly and easily share your fundraising page on Twitter. For example, you’ll see a Twitter panel when you finish setting up your fundraising page, or sign into your account.

You can also add your Twitter feed to your Virgin Money Giving page so your updates will appear without having to edit your whole page.

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 fundraisers?

Photos will get people interested in your fundraising and they may be more likely to sponsor you when they see how much effort you’ve put in.

If you’re entering an event where you need to prepare, keep a photo diary of your progress. If you’re doing a daredevil challenge like skydiving, photos are an easy way to prove you didn’t chicken out and you may find you receive more sponsorship after the event!

Read our guide to adding pictures to your page.

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 fundraisers?

Use YouTube to keep a video diary of your fundraising or make a film telling people why they should sponsor you. It’s a fun way to promote your fundraising and keep people interested in what you’re doing.

Read our guide to adding videos to 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 fundraisers?

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 people who have simply been inspired by your fundraising.

You’ll find a ‘Share this page’ link at the bottom of your Virgin Money Giving page – just click the button to start bookmarking.

What are blogs?

A blog is like an online diary or scrapbook where you can post your news and views on a topic and add links, photos and videos. Other people can read your blog and then leave comments and messages about your posts.

Virgin Money Giving has its own blog where we post our latest updates and often promote fundraisers with a story to share. Visit our blog here.

How can blogging help fundraisers?

‘Blogging’ can help keep people interested in your fundraising. You can chart your training or event preparation, and donations to date.

You can also add info about your charity and link through to your Virgin Money Giving page where people can sponsor you. If they know you’re nearing your fundraising target, they might even be inspired to sponsor you twice!

Read our guide to setting up a blog and adding it to your page.