The Charity Social Media Toolkit

BY ZOE AMAR & DAVID EVANS

INTRODUCTION

THE CHARITY SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLKIT - A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA

WHY WE WROTE THIS GUIDE

Social media is evolving by the week and for charities it can be hard to keep up with the dazzling new platforms while remaining effective. The good news is that there are some fundamental elements to success that are unlikely to change such as understanding your audience, setting your goals and defining your strategy. There are many guides to digital and social media. From Dummies guides to video tutorials, it’s all out there. With the Charity Social Media Toolkit, we wanted to provide a grounding not just in fundamentals and tactics but also to share inspirational case studies from across the not for profit sector - without mentioning the Ice Bucket Challenge...

WHY WE WROTE THIS GUIDE

We wrote this guide for everyone, from all-hands-on-deck small charity workers to experienced digital managers in need of inspiration. Most of all, we want you to finish reading this guide bursting with ideas, strategies and tactics for your organisation. Keep your eye out for the Health Social Media Toolkit from Skills for Health coming soon.

FOREWORD

FOREWORD FROM NCVO

NCVO (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) are champions of the voluntary sector, offering help at all levels from getting into volunteering to guidance on organising your charity's board. We are proud to have a forward to the Charity Social Media Toolkit from Megan Griffith Gray - Head of Digital and Communications at NCVO.

CHAPTER 1

YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY

Snapchat or Instagram? Should you use Periscope? Social Media is evolving rapidly and it can be confusing for charities to know where to focus their limited resources. The good news is that despite technological innovation, the fundamentals of strategy development remain the same. In this chapter, Zoe Amar demonstrates how setting the foundations can help you avoid distractions and get the right results for your charity.

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CHAPTER 2

PUTTING SOCIAL INTO ACTION

You've written your social media strategy, so how do you put it into action? In this chapter, you'll find out how to plan your content day to day while balancing the need to respond to your audience. To help you craft the right content, you'll also find tips on how to use storytelling techniques and imagery to boost your social media impact. This chapter features contributions from Kirsty Marrins and Madeleine Sugden.

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CHAPTER 3

HOW TO GROW YOUR SOCIAL NETWORK

Once you have your strategy and content plan in place, your audience may start to grow, but how do you ensure you're connecting with the right people? This chapter provides tips on how to connect with charity bloggers, how to reach out to stakeholders and how to manage online communities. The chapter features contributions from Zoe Amar, Lizzie Carter (Clic Sargent) and Kirsty Marrins.

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CHAPTER 4

HOW TO CAMPAIGN & FUNDRAISE WITH SOCIAL

For many charities, raising awareness of campaigns and fundraising will be key goals associated with social media. In this chapter, you'll find a wonderful case study which demonstrates how any charity can raise awareness with a social media campaign. You'll also find advice and tips on how to maximise fundraising through social media activities. This chapter features contributions from Sam Smethers (Fawcett Society) and Ross McCulloch (Third Sector Lab/ Be Good Be Social.

CHAPTER 5

SOCIAL MEDIA STYLE & CONSISTENCY

This chapter explains why It's vital that all contributors to a charity's social feed are clear on their charity's voice - whether this is the tone of tweets, the choice of content or the imagery used. In this chapter, you'll also discover how internal digital champions can help create this consistency and how getting all this right can help you when a crisis hits. This chapter features contributions from Sarah Fitzgerald, Zoe Amar and Cheri Percy (Breast Cancer Care)

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CHAPTER 6

SOCIAL ANALYTICS & ADVERTISING

More than any other channel, social media lends itself to a test and learn approach, so you need to ensure you are measuring the right things to check progress. In this chapter, you'll learn what to measure and how to measure it. You will also learn how paid-for social media advertising is essential to extend reach. This chapter features contributions from Bertie Bosredon and Donna Moore (SearchStar)

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CHAPTER 7

EMPLOYEE SOCIAL MEDIA ADVOCACY

In this chapter, you'll learn how Joseph Rowntree Foundation encouraged all employees to get behind campaigns. This has an amplifying effect on the charity's presence online as well as helping to dissolve organisations boundaries. This chapter is written by Lisa Jeffery from Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

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CHAPTER 8

THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NON PROFITS

In this Chapter, Beth Kanter shares her insights into the future of social media for charities. Generation Z, a digital savvy generation of young people will be setting the agenda going forward. Beth provides some top tips on how to reach out to this audience and prepare your organisations for the future.