nfptweetup

Have you entered the Technology4Good Awards yet? Is your charity using technology to make the world a better place? Here’s a little reminder why you should get your entries in soon…

NFPtweetup is one of those wonderful organic, network-y things that many of us take for granted because we’ve got the internet. It’s a perfect example of how a bunch of strangers with a lot of useful stuff to share can find themselves in the same room at the same time – and can then share what they learn with people across the planet through the power of a humble Tweet.

Given the mix of people it typically attracts it seems likely that many of us in the NFPtweetup network may have become immune to the way that the internet has created a powerful and highly sophisticated opportunity to learn from one another. Just try and imagine how this sort of informal sort of event would have happened before email, before mobiles, before Twitter. How could Rachel and the others have possibly corralled such an impossibly good-looking bunch of do-gooders before Eventbrite, before websites, before Skype? Every few months the physical get-together re-ignites and re-energises a hugely diverse network which is just as alive and vibrant when we’re far apart.

The Technology4Good Awards exists to shine a light on how amazing these sorts of activities are. No matter how much we may all feel that there is so much more to learn, we all need a chance to look at what we’ve got and celebrate the amazing things that computers, the internet and other technologies are enabling us to do to make the world a better place.

Despite it’s name, T4G is not a techie event. It’s about people, communities, organisations and the work that so many people do to empower, support and connect with people in need. It’s for charities, businesses, public bodies, individuals, entrepreneurs, fundraisers, coder, volunteers and everyone else who is wants a chance to show off what they’re doing.

Late year’s awards – the first – attracted over 250 entries, which shows how many people feel they have something to show off. Winners included a charity that puts games machines into children’s hospices, a charity that enables people to donate pennies when paying by credit card and a volunteer who helped hundreds of people get online for the first time.

Whether you’re using the web, mobile, or any other digital tools this is a chance to show how are you are using technology to make the world a better place.

Entries close at midnight on Friday 18 May, so there’s not long to find out more and get your entry submitted.

Mark Walker,

AbilityNet

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We want to say thank you to everyone who came to NFPtweetup 12 and for making it such an enjoyable event. We feel lucky that not only did we have a brilliant turn out of people, but that those people asked some really insightful questions that helped to steer some fascinating breakout sessions. We’re excited that around 1200 #NFPtweetup tweets were sent on the night; lots of questions, comments and love!

Thanks also to Amnesty International UK for agreeing to host the event again and being really helpful throughout the whole thing and thanks to JustGiving and Facebook for sponsoring, making the event possible.

As is tradition, below are a few of our favourite tweets:

Not that this was an exhaustive list of our favourites. We wanted to embed our Storify of the event into this post but it was too crammed full of lovely and interesting tweets for this short blog. I wouldn’t hope for us to be able to fit even a summary of the all of the great tweets that were sent into one little blog post anyway.

We really do hope that you can all join us for cake, party hats (and maybe a few third sector digital presentations) on our third birthday event on November 24th. Watch this space for more information or tweet us any ideas you have for hosts or presenters for future events.

Lucy J

P.S. If you haven’t had a chance to fill in our short survey, please do so we can use everyone’s feedback to make the next event even better!

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Thanks to everyone who attended last week’s NFPtweetup – I’m still buzzing from all the ideas which seemed to flow all evening. Thanks again to Amnesty UK who made it possible to have so many people attend – we’re delighted (and a little bit giddy) to announce we had another record turnout of 128 people!

In the spirit of all things NFPtweetup, here are some of favourite tweets from the evening:

If you haven’t had a chance to fill in our short survey, please do so we can use everyone’s feedback to make the next event even better!

Our next event is likely to be on 14th September but we’re hoping to get together for some NFPtweetup drinks in July so watch this space.

See you soon,

Teri

P.s. Just to clarify the definition of an NFPtweetup hangover is ‘overwhelmingly tired yet joyful following event organisation’ – and nothing to do with the trip to the pub afterwards!

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Up next in our series of guests blogs is Paul de Gregorio who found Amnesty International’s presentation on its social media campaign for Burma particularly thought provoking:

I’m a massive advocate of NFPtweetup and can’t thank Rachel enough for suggesting that I come along to NFPtweetup 8 last September. I’m not a social media expert by any stretch, but I’m a fundraiser obsessed about the power and potential of new technologies to connect people with causes.

What I really like about NFPtweetup is the sense of community that builds up around the event. I blogged about it last year “The deal is that if you go with a friendly, co-operative and sharing attitude you can leave with lots of new ideas, a lot of inspiration and some new friends (real actual ones to supplement your online ones!).” And still feel the same about the event today.

I was really looking forward February’s event as Amnesty were due to talk about their Burma campaign, however events in Egypt in January took over so the focus of the Amnesty presentation in February was their social media activity around that issue.  So I was really pleased to Amnesty’s Burma campaign on the agenda for Wednesday night’s event.

The campaign was a really simple one to explain to the public.

Providing radios to the Burmese people would give them access to independent media not controlled by the state and show the strength of international solidarity for the protection of their human rights. That’s it.

And radios are cheap. Really cheap. £12.50 would buy a radio that would help a family or community learn more about their rights.

Run in two phases and supported across a huge range of marketing channels including paid search, Facebook advertising, outdoor, Amnesty’s blogs and social media presence, the campaign was a runaway success:

• The initial target of 4,000 radios was smashed with 14,000 being purchased and distributed.
• 82% of donations came via social media.
• Over 2,000 people took an extra campaigning action after donating.

What I particularly loved about the campaign was the use of SMS as a method for supporters to buy their radio.

This campaign was perfect for SMS response. You see the ask, make the emotional or rational connection, reach for your phone and get involved. Simple.

What was great was the way Amnesty communicated with donors after their SMS donation. Obviously the downside to SMS response is that all you have is a supporter’s phone number, you don’t know their name! But in a way this is perfect, because it enabled the Amnesty in-house call centre (staffed by volunteers) to call donors, thank them for their donation and expand on the work of Amnesty. I didn’t ask the question on Wednesday, but I imagine these people were asked to join Amnesty and I’m sure it was a great success.

It’s a great example of how fusing campaigning and fundraising together can really work across multiple channels with social media at the core.  The idea was simple, it was conceived by Amnesty staff who connected what was needed on the ground with a clear and compelling creative approach. And it was brilliantly executed.

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Kevin Baughen attended this year’s event and wants to explain why what he learnt at the NFPtweetup, wasn’t quite what he expected.

Actually, this title is a bit misleading in that social media is such a dynamic area that there is nearly always something new to learn from pioneering types and organisations who are prepared to invest a little time (and occasionally funds) into trying something unproven.

That said, amongst the excellent presentations and conversations at last night’s 11^th event, there were still a few surprises for me that I thought I’d share:

1. Some charity organisations were at the vanguard of the social media movement and actually using social media tools and approaches to engage with their staff and supporters before it was coined social media.  Adrian Cockle’s session showing just some of the ways that WWF are using these tools highlighted a couple of examples of early adopter behaviour not always credited to the charity sector.
2. There was actually very little content about Twitter specifically!  This might sound daft for a meeting that’s labelled a tweetup and it certainly isn’t a criticism.  It’s just very clear that Twitter is only one tool which needs to be integrated with others to generate maximum benefit from our social media efforts.
3. People think QR codes will work just because they are cool and funky.  Ashley Clarke of beautiful world shared a cracking example of London Underground advertising which used these tools, no doubt placed because of the tech-savvy and cosmopolitan nature of commuters.  But, escalators move too quickly for anyone to get a good scan/photo on their phones and, wait for it… there’s seldom enough signal underground for phones to open the associated web pages!  Doh! Shouldn’t fitness for purpose be the only test we use to judge whether a social media tool is viable or not?
4. Amnesty UK’s Digital Editor Sam Strudwick shared an outcome that on the face of it seems blatantly obvious but should probably have occurred to more of us sooner.  Donors engaged through social media channels might prefer their money to go towards something tangible and of direct, linked benefit, rather than an overarching project.

Amnesty’s campaign to encourage people to buy radios rather than donate money during their Break the Silence campaign in Burma last year, delivered much better than expected fundraising results.  In many cases, the ‘donations’ doubled from expected levels and were generated from new audiences that hadn’t been involved with the charity previously.

And the biggest non-surprise?

Integration is key to success.  I’m so glad to have heard this countless times throughout all the sessions and the breakouts.  No tool (including web, social media, PR etc) stands alone and all the successes we heard about from pretty much every organisation relied on the integration of social media with other marketing and communications tools.  This also means integration across teams and departments – yes that means considering fundraising and campaigning objectives at the same time…

It ain’t rocket science and reinforces what many of us in the sector have been saying very loudly for a while… there are no prizes for using social media well; we win by using social media AND other activities to deliver what we always needed to deliver.

Here’s to the next event and even more shared learning, updates and surprises.

Image by Carol Garbiano via sxc.hu

Kevin is a founder for bottom line ideas,  a company that links organisational strategy to realistic marketing, communications and fundraising strategies.

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Esther Freeman enjoyed taking digital seriously with colleagues at the NFPtweetup. Here she explains why she thinks it’s a good idea to consider social networking in your marketing efforts.

Last week I was having dinner with my brother and he asked me whether I’d seen any good films lately. I mentioned that I had really enjoyed The Social Network.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“It’s written by the same guy who did The West Wing,” I replied.

He sneered. “But it’s about Facebook!”

I wanted to shake him and shout: “WHICH IS AT THE HEART OF THE ONE OF THE BIGGEST  COMMUNICATIONS REVOLUTION WE’VE EVER KNOWN.”

To be honest his response isn’t that unusual. One of my clients asked me once: “Why would we want to do social networking? Isn’t it just about what celebrities had for breakfast?”. Non communications colleagues can also be very fearful of social media, especially those working with vulnerable children. Words like ‘privacy’, ‘cyber stalking’ and ‘online grooming’ get thrown around at any mention of developing a social media presence.

What’s interesting about hearing from larger charities at the NFPtweetup is that they seem to have buy in right from the top. The fact that the Chief Executive of WWF can ask if a digital campaign is “quite absurd enough”, or that the directors at Amnesty International trust their digital comms team to tweet even in life and death situations.

I have taken an organisation through the implementation of social media; travelled along a very rocky road with distrustful, sometimes hostile senior managers; and then come out the other end. I’m pleased to say this organisation has turned a corner and is starting to do some really innovative work with online tools.

I learnt a lot from the experience so I thought it worth sharing a few points on how to engage non communications colleagues, and the techno-adverse, into social media.

1. Remember, the people who tend to be most hostile are often those who are most fearful: they don’t understand it; they feel the world is progressing too fast around them; they’ve heard too many scare stories in the media.
2. Don’t tackle the naysayers as a group – they will work each other up into a frenzy. Work on your Chief Executive first. Once the Chief Executive is on board it will be easier to get the others.
3. Acknowledge their fears and discuss policies and strategies for managing those. But don’t dwell on it too long. Talk extensively about the positives, giving solid examples of where social media has proven outcomes. The NFPtweetups provide rich pickings for this.
4. Press on them the importance of social media in today’s society – the Obama election campaign; Bin Laden’s death; Japanese tsunami warnings. These are significant historical events that prove social media is not a flash-in-the-pan.
5. Finally ask, can you afford not to be on social media? When the Department for Education said it was freezing all communications grants, one of my clients was only able to hold on to most of theirs because they negotiated a deal with the Department to run the campaign on a digital platform (obviously a lot less expensive than a national advertising or traditional media campaign). If that charity hadn’t had a social media presence they may have just lost that money.

Esther Freeman runs Ms Wanda’s Wisdom, a social enterprise that provides PR and social media support to charities, not-for-profits and ethical brands.

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In anticipation of tomorrow’s NFPtweetup event, we hear from Ade Cockle from WWF-UK with a preview of his session titled ‘Tweeting and Roaring’:

Towards the end of last year I started preparing a presentation for colleagues from around the lovely, messy network of global WWF offices on what we’d been up to in social media.

After a bit of scribbling obvious things down, I realised we’d been doing social a lot longer than the term’s been in common use. Back in 2007 we launched our footprint calculator with a built-in community for users to share their tips, successes and frustrations. These days I wouldn’t dream of building that kind of tool from scratch, but it was pretty sophisticated – it’s got threaded conversations, diaries, friends, groups, avatars with your ecological footprint badged on top of them and shared team goals and progress graphs. It’s even got a profanity filter. Testing that was one of the more surreal days in my time at WWF.

We had a great success later on in 2007 when Poke managed to persuade us that building a MASSIVE paper boat and plane to bring attention to the climate change bill was a great idea. While they made for a great media stunt, the online activity was almost textbook blogger outreach – a sprinkling of behind-the-scenes access, copy written for humans, not journalists and a handful of celebrities on camera.

On Wednesday I’m going to be talking about those two projects in a bit more depth, and comparing them with a couple of more recent projects – one obvious, one a bit less so, and giving you a few insights into how we’re addressing some of the bigger questions around social media within the organisation.

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In the last of our series of guest posts, Felicity McLean tells us why NFPtweetup makes her happy and shares five key points to take away from last week’s event.

I love a good collaboration, be it a strategic partnership, a skill sharing session or just a group of girls on a Sunday afternoon, there’s something about coming together that makes my heart tingle.

This is exactly the feeling I get at the NFPtweetup – a sense of real camaraderie, skill sharing in a time of restricted resources and an excitement surrounding a burgeoning communications strategy.  Social media has taken off, but it’s gaining speed and recognition from the 100+ sector leaders driving change at the NFPtweetups.

After presentations from keynote speakers, discussion on recent trends in social media (applicable on varying levels to those of varying expertise – again a great aspect of the NFPtweetup collaboration) conversation kept boomeranging back to one point: brand integrity, and the risk or resource that social media brings to this.

I took away 5 brilliant bits of advice from Rachel Beer’s breakout session:

Risk it with user generated content: Should we be giving free reign of our charity website to our service users? This comes down to the question of who we regard to be the ‘expert’, how much we try to protect our brand: Voice, messaging and level of support.  Fiona McLaren’s campaign work surrounding recent activity in Egypt is a fantastic example of value adding UGC: create a Twitter hash-tag surrounding the event and either feed in user content directly from this or compile a shortlist of brilliant, clever and interesting content from your hash-tag as a blog post.  The latter allows you to pick and choose the best bits of input and information and allows editorial control over platform decorated with user generated content.  Brilliant value adding stuff, for free!

Personalise your Twitter avatars: Should we be using the charity logo or a personal photo? A logo encourages credential and standing, but photos offer a personal voice.  It’s a question of restriction on your brand and voice, and many charities opt to use a personal photo with a charity branded Twibbon.

Use Co-Tweet: This is a tool working specifically for charities (or other organizations) with multiple tweeters at one account.  Co-Tweet enables users to attach initials after each tweet, adding a personal touch (or someone to blame!) and dispelling anonymity.

Create a caricature for your social media voice: Archie the Goat for Oxfam is a social media phenomenon – funny, value adding for the reader and seemingly unrelated to Oxfam.  Yes, it appeals to a wider audience but is it a wasted opportunity for direct marketing and fundraising?

Tweet people like people: I have always been a firm believer in communication from a personal level, not a professional level.  Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook do not warrant formal sign offs or corporate jargon, it will only alienate the reader and others reading your stream.  This is why I say Tweet people like people.  Listen, advise, engage.

I come away from each and every NFPtweetup inspired and bursting with ideas, and I don’t doubt the next one will be any different.

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We had a record turnout of 124 people at the NFPtweetup last week! Thanks to Amnesty International UK for making this happen by donating such a fantastic venue for the evening.

As resident NFPtweetup live tweeter (alongside Rebekah Hah), I’ll attempt to sum up the evening in 140 characters:

Biggest yet, interesting, satellite vans, informative (as ever), clicktivism not slacktivism, new faces & new ideas, fun, freebies, beer!

Here are some of my favourite tweets from the evening, or see #NFPtweetup 10 tweet doc for your favourite:

And finally, smile it’s NFPtweetup 10:

Already looking forward to the next event in May (we think this will be either the 25th or 26th, for those of you who want to save the date – we’ll announce ASAP).  Hopefully see you then!

Teri

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Following Howard Lake’s guest post yesterday, NFPtweetup newcomer Becky Coleman shares her experience:

I’m a relative newcomer to the world of social media; at easyfundraising we started using Facebook and Twitter to communicate with and about our members and causes just over a year ago. It’s been a steep and incredibly rewarding learning curve but I’m aware of the vast potential to do even more.

So being a bit of a newbie and keen to know more, I jumped at the chance to venture down to the big smoke and pick the brains of the terrifically talented social people who organise and attend the #NFPtweetup.

I first heard about the #NFPtweetup last year from Graham Richards and was lucky enough to get a ticket to the first event of 2011, being held at Amnesty International’s HQ in Shoreditch. I had a few specific aims in mind:

1. Get there without getting lost

Didn’t get off to a great start with this one but fortune smiled on me and the first person I asked for directions turned out to be the lovely Lucy from tweetup organisers, beautiful world, who kindly escorted me to Amnesty International – and without laughing at my poor map reading skills either.

2. Make some new friends – and meet some old ones

This turned out much better than aim number one. Within minutes of arriving, I met Janet Stollery of Calvert Trust – a meeting I know I found incredibly useful and I hope she did too.

A brief glance at the name stickers we all wore allowed me to put more faces to names and I was pleased to meet my long-standing ‘virtual’ friend Howard Lake of UK Fundraising in the flesh. I’m happy to report he is every bit as nice in real life!

I was also pleased to make the acquaintance of @ycharity, @chasecare, @thenspcc to name just a few.

3. Learn

The evening was split into two speakers, Jonathan Waddingham from Just Giving and Fiona Mclaren from Amnesty International UK, plus three break-out groups for further discussion and finally a panel debate.

Jon’s talk focussed on donation apps and how fundraisers can make best use of them, while Fiona showed us how Amnesty engaged their supporters to play a part in the Egyptian Crisis.

Both speakers were fantastic and for me I think the most interesting fact of the evening came from Fiona – during the Egyptian Crisis, for the first time, Amnesty recorded more referrals to its site from social media platforms than anywhere else.

I was torn between the three break- out groups and would happily have attended all of them but plumped for Rachel Beer discussing developments in the social world – which ended up ranging from the new updates to Facebook to how choosing an engaging Twitter avatar is not as easy as it seems!

Lastly the panel debate – the main focus was whether fundraising via social platforms could be classed as ‘slacktivism’, the general consensus being ‘no – any action taken by a fundraiser or supporter is valid and useful in its right’.

4. Be inspired

Well the event certainly succeeded on this point too. It was hugely enjoyable as well as being massively stimulating and I’ve taken so many ideas away with me that will enable us to help our causes do and raise more.

Throughout the evening, live streaming of tweets tagged #NFPtweetup kept the discussion lively but this one from Chance UK really stood out for me. Well said.

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