How to apply the techniques of big campaigns to small charities

Madeleine Sugden and Damien Clarkson

Third Communications Digital Communications and Social Media Convention (#nfpsm) - 13 June 2011

Big charities / small charities

• Big charities have the budget, staff, brand, awareness, celebrities and supporters.

• But as a small charity you are able to be more responsive, adventurous and creative.

• Here’s how to employ some of the techniques used by large organisations to make your digital campaigns even more successful.

• Will be showing lots of examples of recent charity campaigns.

Size doesn’t matter

• Size of organisation and budget needn't restrict what you are able to do.

• Your campaign may not raise the millions of the big charities or appear on billboards in Piccadilly Circus. But you can be creative with your message and what you want to achieve.

• If you get your message right, you'll strike a chord with your supporters and hopefully recruit some new ones.

Step 1 – your message

• Get the message right - make it memorable / mean something / something people can engage with.

• Think about your audience.• Listen as well as talk.

Greenpeace – Mattel campaign

• Ken dumps Barbie for her involvement in the destruction of the rainforest.

• Slick and entertaining video of Ken.• Ken (@ken_talks) and @Barbie argue on Twitter.• Running total of number of emails sent to Mattel

displayed on homepage.

http://bit.ly/kenbarb

WWF – The Panda Made Me Do It

• Supporters sharing what they have done in support of WWF.

• Comments on website, ‘Likes’ on Facebook.• Easy to join in. Nice opportunity to share what

you’ve done.

http://bit.ly/wwfeg

Time to Change - pledge

• Coalition of mental health charities campaign to end mental health discrimination.

• 15,578 people have signed the pledge.• Mix of personal images, stories and personalised text.

Celebrities are included too. • Strong way of showing how many people think this is

important.

http://bit.ly/Time2

These big charity campaigns • Use fun to communicate a strong message.• Are in-tune with their audience.• Use slick design and clever writing.• Make it easy to take actions, take part or make

a donation.

Small charities can do it too...

Chance UK – Big Influence

• Asked people to share a story about someone who influenced them.

• 150 people contributed, 2000 views. Exceeded expectations.

• Raised awareness of the organisation, increase in traffic and reputation.

• Campaign will run again in 2011.

http://www.biginfluence.co.uk

Craftivist Collective – Don’t Blow It

• Sew a message onto a hankie and send it to your MP. Short video on YouTube showing you how.

• Very low budget.• Makes you want to get involved.

http://bit.ly/dblowit

Step 2 – plan your channels

• Plan how you will use your social media channels (Facebook / Twitter / blog).

• Make your campaign prominent on your website. Show how people can join in.

• Use the right channels for your message and your audience.

• Don’t forget email / print.

RNIB - I’d Miss

• People sharing the children’s book they’d miss if they couldn’t read a print book.

• Video and comments channelled through Facebook and Twitter.

http://on.fb.me/rnibMiss

CarersUK – use of Flickr

• Each image tells a story. Two sentences underneath each picture bring it to life. Beautifully simple way of getting a message across.

• Different from the images they upload to Facebook which are of events.

http://bit.ly/carersF

These big charity campaigns • Have thought planned which channels to use

for their message and audience.• Are not trying to do the same thing everywhere.• But do cross-promote.

Small charities can do it too...

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

• Very clear about what each channels is used for.

http://bit.ly/LLRsocmed

Make a Wish Foundation UK

• Video of the World’s Biggest Pass the Parcel on Facebook, part of their 25th anniversary.

• Twitter account gives facts, asks and links to website / Facebook. Uses #wish25 to monitor what people are saying.

• Website lists the different ways to get involved.

http://bit.ly/25wish

Step 3 – plan your asks

• Make the process of giving easy. • Write text which is persuasive.• Be creative.• Use the power of a crowd – show how many

people have given and how much.• Give options so people can decide how

involved to get.

RSPB – become a member

• Testimonials from four people ‘like me’ – why they’ve become a member.

• Options to give £3, £5, £7 per month and what this can achieve.

• Statement of how much of the money they raise is spent on conservation.

• Join now – call to action.http://bit.ly/rspb1

Crisis – Investors Programme

• Look at the difference my £1 makes. Not just helping people like Danny but by preventing other costs to society.

• Really clear, engaging, persuasive content.

investors.crisis.org.uk

Oxfam – Unwrapped

• Lead the trend for ‘gift’ fundraising. Innovative mid-2000s. Still going strong and replicated across many charities.

http://bit.ly/OxGoat

These big charity campaigns • Have clear asks. “Give this much and this is what

we can do.”• Use testimonials – “people who think like me are

giving, so I should too.”• Find new ways of asking.• Strong call to action - join now / invest now / add

to basket.Small charities can do it too...

I CAN – adopt a word

• Innovate fundraising ask by children’s communication charity I CAN.

• £15 to adopt a word. 4673 adopted so far. Lots to choose from!

adoptaword.com

Thames Reach – homeless text

• Small charities can receive text donations thanks to providers such as JustGiving.

• ThamesReach set up a separate Twitter feed to promote their text fundraising and successes.

• Simple and low ask - £2 text donation.• Shown on posters around London.

twitter.com/homelesstext

Charity Checkout

• Make the process of giving easy. Small charities not previously able to collect direct debits online.

• Use Charity Checkout’s site to collect and manage your direct debits.

www.charitycheckout.co.uk

BuzzBnk – power of the crowd

• Each project has a target and timescale.• Inviting someone to make something happen as

a group is powerful. Collectively we can achieve change.

buzzbnk.org

BuzzBnk – give time

• It’s not just about money. What else can people give?

• Understand that people may only have small amounts of time.

• Give the ‘slacktivists’ something to do.

buzzbnk.org

BeatBullying – CyberMentors widget• People can download this widget to show their

support.

Step 4 – involve your supporters

• Say thank you. • Make it easy for them to do other things.• Celebrate the things they do.

BHF – petition thanks

• Thank you email received after signing the petition.

• Includes an email, recipient can send to friends encouraging them to support too.

• Could have added more actions. People are likely to do something else once they have contributed.

Save the Children - thanks

• ‘Who is helping us right now’ – list of names on homepage and how they are helping. Sounds urgent / immediate. Changes every day.

• List of how you can help - underneath.• Public thanks saying we value your support. Makes

other people want to contribute. Second list makes it easy for them to join in too.

savethechildren.org.uk

These big charity campaigns • Sent out an immediate thank you after signing

the petition.• Have given an additional action – keep

supporters warm.• Say thank you publicly.

Small charities can do it too...

MND Scotland - thanks

• Lovely blog post celebrating that their twibbon campaign raised £1000 in a week.

• Tone of voice makes you feel connected to the author - can feel their excitement and heartfelt thanks for every contribution. It’s happening now.

• Will generate further donations.

http://bit.ly/mndtwib

Pink Glove Dance

• YouTube video made by the staff of a hospital in US to raise awareness of breast cancer.

• Viewed 13m times.• Promote and celebrate content generated by other

people. Just because it doesn’t have your logo on doesn’t mean it can’t work for you.

http://bit.ly/PkGlove

Step 5 – make some noise

• Get your campaign talked about / linked to.• Think about how you can create new noise

around existing case studies / stories.• Watch out for other conversations you can

join with.• Collaborate for greater noise. • Use Twitter #hashtags.

Missing People - twitter campaign

• Tweeted about missing people as part of International Missing People’s Day.

• Aimed to increase their followers from 1400 to 3000. Hit 7181. Retweeted by 27 celebrities. Tweets seen by up to 10m people.

• Used their old material in an innovative way.

Digital Campaign of the week - http://bit.ly/MgPple

Hardest Hit coalition

• Coalitions such as this one of disability organisations marching against cuts in DLA allow smaller organisations to get heard.

hardesthit.org.uk

Our War BBC3 - #ourwar

• TV documentary using real footage of soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

• Twitter #ourwar hashtag shown on screen at the start of the show.

• Trending worldwide. 60 tweets a minute even 30mins after the show. All positive.

• No Forces charities joining in. Missed opportunity to join the conversation.

Step 6 – measure effectiveness

• Analyse effectiveness at the end - what worked, what didn't, what could you do better next time?

• Measure mentions, Likes, RTs and views as well as donations and signups.

• Tell people about your successes.

Measure your tweets

• Count and analyse the number of retweets, mentions and direct messages you get via twitter.

• This will help you understand who your supporters are and what type of messages influence them.

• Sites such as klout.com and mentionmapp are useful for deeper analysis.

Reason Digital – Living Streets campaign• This shows the analysis done by the agency who

ran the Walk to Work campaign for Living Streets.• They measure traffic, participation in the gaming

element of the campaign and the number of photographs submitted.

Full case study: http://bit.ly/LvgSts1

Living Streets

• And this is how the charity communicated the success of the campaign.

• Different overview, appropriate for the audience.• Look what you all achieved (we and you).

Improvements 2010 campaign. Fun and interesting stats.

http://bit.ly/LvgSts2

Water Aid - #wateraid24 campaign

• Write-up of their 24hour tweetathon showcasing organisation’s work around the world.

• Featured some of the tweets, including ones with photos. People who missed the campaign can still get involved.

http://bit.ly/Water24

Conclusions

1. Think about your message2. Plan your channels3. Plan your asks4. Involve your supporters5. Make some noise6. Measure effectiveness

Just do it… Good Luck!

Get in touch…

KnowHow NonProfitwww.knowhownonprofit.org

@knowhownonprof@madlinsudn@damienclarkson