For small charities, every single penny and moment of time counts. Digital work is essential, but tough. It’s time consuming, technical and extremely important. For many small to medium sized charities, managing digital activity means squeezing it in whenever there’s time, and frantically Googling the technical stuff they don’t understand in the hope that we might get a basic grasp of something other people have spent years learning how to do. That’s why we at Platypus Digital created Control R, the world’s first free online training course in digital marketing skills developed solely for non-profits. Here’s why you should sign up. You’ll learn all the basics of everything Ok, we can’t teach you absolutely everything, because even we don’t know it all. But we can teach you the basics of Google Analytics, Facebook advertising, Google Adwords, email campaigns, search engine optimisation and a whole host more. You’ll learn how to set campaigns up correctly, how to monitor them properly, how to optimise them effectively, and how to tie everything together into one amazing, synchronised strategy that achieves your objectives. It’s bitesized If you’re anything like us, 9 to 5 training days just aren’t for you. All too often, we’ve forgotten half the stuff we were taught in the morning by the end of the day. The Control R series is split into really easy to digest sessions that last no longer than 40 mins each. You get emailed a session once a week so you won’t get overwhelmed. You’ll complete the course in seven weeks.  We specialise in charity comms The entire Control R training series was developed on behalf of charities. That means no lengthy sections about ecommerce or branding that don’t apply to you. Platypus Digital specialises in digital marketing for charities, which means we know exactly what you need to achieve, how tightly you have to budget, and how much pressure you’re under to make every penny count. If you work in charity digital comms, you’ll struggle to find a training course that can teach you as much about talking specifically to donors, volunteers and fundraisers as this one will. Thousands of charity comms staff are already benefitting Our Control R series has helped over 1,100 participants so far, and in a variety of roles from Trustees to Coordinators. 75% of them rated the training as a 4 out of 5 when asked how actionable it was against their everyday work, which mean this really is a course that can help everyone. Control R was developed for the 99.9% of charities who will never benefit from an ice bucket challenge or a no-makeup selfie, but we count some really notable names amongst our students, and 100% of our trainees said they would recommend Control R to their charity colleagues. We’re thrilled that the series is helping lots of charity employees, because most of us are working to make the world a better place. By helping you deliver stirling campaigns, we’re helping your beneficiaries, and that’s what Platypus Digital is all about. How do I sign up? You can sign up for the Control R series here We’ll send you a video a week, but you can watch them whenever you like. At the end of our seven week course, you’ll have a much better understanding of charity digital marketing, and how everything ties in together to form complementary campaign activity. See you online!    

Good stories are personal. Great stories make your supporters feel like they are a part of them. If your supporters can interact with your story in real-time–by making a donation or volunteering–it means you are giving them an avenue to get invested in your cause. That kind of storytelling is uniquely useful for nonprofits. Your efforts as an organization directly help the people in your stories and involve your donors and volunteers. So how do you tell personal, interactive stories? The ways you communicate with your audience is just as important as the story itself. Choosing your storytelling medium Traditionally, email, social media, etc. are all good ways to get your story out to your supporters. It’s efficient, letting you reach a ton of people at once. And it works, convincing a lot of them to make a donation to your cause. But ask them about the gift a week later, and most would have already forgotten all about it. It’s evident in the numbers–The average nonprofit receives a repeat donation from less than half their yearly donors*. A significant amount of supporters stop giving because they don’t remember donating and because of minimal or non-existent communication on the part of the nonprofit.   Today’s donors crave and are more likely to remember authentic, personal interactions with the organizations that they support.  Doing that means reaching out to people as individuals, and a channel like text messaging is excellent at that.  Text messaging in the UK Smartphone ownership is only set to grow in the UK, with a predicted 92% ownership by 2023. With the texting being so ubiquitous, it makes sense for charities to use texting as one of their primary modes of communication with supporters. Another factor to consider is what donors really want from your communications.  According to the 2014 UK Giving Report, 68% of respondents agreed that charities proving their impact was most likely to be valued by supporters. You probably want to show your supporters the successes you have had in your campaigns. The challenge is showing the impact in a way that reaches people. Supporters aren’t going to visit your website unless they have a reason to, and the standard email open rate is not very impressive. Communicating the impact your organization makes towards your campaigns needs to be done in a way that is direct and likely to be seen.  A channel that has a high chance of being read, like texting lets you do that and make your communications personal at the same time. Using text messages to tell and promote stories Messaging, whether it is through SMS, Whatsapp, or even Facebook Messenger, lets you have conversations with your supporters in real-time, without having to meet face-to-face. That means being able to provide updates on the people you are helping and answer questions as your supporters ask them. Of course, it’s not possible to reply to every text in person. You could automate texts to go out based on keywords in the messages you receive and jump in whenever you need to. Storytelling in the form of a text conversation Having conversations about your charity’s missions and goals can be made more personal and persuasive through peer-to-peer texting. With a messaging software, a single volunteer can have around one thousand conversations every hour.  For example, an initial text message could introduce them to your latest campaign and ask them if they would like to know more instead of asking them for a donation up front. If they respond positively, you can send a link to your donation page. After a successful donation, thank them through the same conversation. One thing to note about storytelling through text messages is that the story is in the form of a conversation. For it to be most effective, you need to keep them updated on how your mission is progressing, and how their support is helping your cause. Keep your supporters up-to-date and invested with your cause through follow up texts. Your next text could tell them about the funds raised from the last campaign: Your final update should let them know about how their funds were used and tell the stories of those who were positively impacted by your campaign. Your supporters will appreciate your transparency and willingness to keep them looped in. An invested and informed supporter is more likely to make further donations or volunteer for your cause. How else can you use texting? An alternative to peer-to-peer texting is to use text messages strictly as a way to link to your blog and website. This can be a broadcast message to all your supporters, telling them they can learn more about your campaign by following the link. There can be many other ways to use texting to engage your supporters. You can send reminders to campaigners and supporters to attend upcoming events and rallies (with their corresponding venue/timing details). Depending upon the volunteer’s role, you can also send texts reminding them of their respective duties on upcoming campaigns. It is evident that telling a charity’s stories in a way that can bring in donors and keep them engaged needs nonprofits to rethink donor communications. Channels like texting let supporters talk to you directly and make them feel like they truly are an important part of your cause. Augustus Franklin is the founder and CEO of CallHub, a California-based Voice and SMS service company bridging the communication gap for political campaigns and advocacy groups. When he is not working, he is either making toys with his kids or training for a marathon. *2018 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report  

One of the Crowdfund Wales Programme’s newest members, Cardiff and Vale Scouts, has used a blended approach to their fundraising to raise much needed cash. Area Commissioner Julian Jordan approached Localgiving as he was keen to start to raise money online but realised that for the first appeal, the sum would be high as it was focussed on a refurbishment of the toilets on the Jubilee Camp Site. The grand total that the group is hoping to raise is £20,000 which they thought would be difficult through online fundraising alone. What was important from the outset however was that all the money raised was in one place and that the ask was specific and set across a limited period of time not only to create a sense of urgency but also so that the fundraiser did not become too onerous a task to monitor and manage. By using a blended approach and adding off-line donations, it is easy to monitor the progress of a campaign and to make it completely transparent for the public. The text on appeals can be changed throughout so you can update on the appeal page how close you are to your target and change images if you wish. The toilets on the Jubilee campsite are not adequate for today’s hygiene standards and with the introduction of additional Covid-19 safety measures; they would not have been fit for purpose for the number of scouts that will use the site. Julian and his colleagues decided to create a short video make this appeal eye-catching and to demonstrate the need. Recognising the importance of starting an appeal with cash in the pot, Julian quickly decided that this was going to have to be a mixture of on and off-line donations. The Scouts had already received a grant which would go some way towards the refurbishment, so they were able to launch the appeal with a £10,000 donated offline. Psychologically, when potential donors click on the link to an appeal, they are far more likely to give to a cause where they can see other donations have been made. Also, £10,000 does not seem so daunting for anyone who sees a high total wonders what impact their small donation would have. Julian also applied for a Magic Little Grant from Localgiving for CCTV for the site which he was successful in obtaining. On the Crowdfund Wales Programme, once a group has reached £1750, they can unlock their match funding grant of £250 and the Scouts were able to do this quickly due to dedicated time set aside at the start of the appeal for promotion. In fact, Julian not only did Julian post his progress on social media frequently but he also sent the link via a newsletter and ensured there was coverage in the local press – this all helped to give the appeal the boost it needed. The Scouts are making excellent progress and only need to raise a further £2,283 in the next 44 days to reach their £20,000 target. To read more about appeal and to donate, click here.  

Precious Sithole (CEO, Social Practice ENT) With 2018 having been marred in part by scandals, it is safe to conclude that now more than ever, all charities small and large must consider having a code of ethics in place. At Social Practice ENT, we work with charities to promote socially responsible practices that ultimately help improve the sector. In this guide, we share our 3 top tips to successfully integrate ethics into your fundraising strategy in 2019. 1: Start at organisational level A good fundraising strategy flows from the overall organisational strategy. Likewise, before focusing on ethics at a functional (fundraising) level, it’s worth first considering your charity’s ethical position at organisational level. Ask yourself, what are the charity’s core values and principles? What are the core values and principles of the trustees and chief executive, as individuals? Is there congruence — do the values of the individuals align with those of the charity? Having this information to hand will be useful when it comes to resolving ethical issues and assessing suitability of relationships with new funding partners and individuals. This ultimately helps to ensure that you put your core values at the heart of everything you do. If you do not have a code of ethics for your charity, there is a wealth of resources available online to guide you, including ACEVO’s report titled ‘leading with values’ and NCVO’s newly published set of ethical principles for voluntary organisations. 2: Consider the intersection of regulatory compliance and ethics Now that you have your charity’s values and principles established, you can focus on your fundraising strategy. Firstly, consider familiarising yourself with the Code of Fundraising Practice issued by the Institute of Fundraising (IoF) — and make an honest commitment to adhere to it. Remember, ethical decisionmaking is not just simply complying with regulatory guidance; rather, it is more about making a conscious decision to uphold high standards and ‘live your values’. Adhering to the code will help to ensure that your fundraising activities are legal, open, honest and respectful. Additionally, hold third parties that you enter into partnership agreements with to the same high standards that you hold yourselves. After all, it’s very easy for external partnerships to bring the name of your charity into disrepute. 3. Ensure a monitoring mechanism is in place The final step in any planning process is to monitor and review progress. Consider placing an ethical fundraising policy on your website, somewhere it can be easily accessed by interested parties Include a complaints handling procedure, to ensure that any issues noted by the public can easily be brought to your attention. Also consider setting a date within 12 months, to review the ethical components of your strategy at board level. For charities with resource constraints, monitoring and reviewing ethical procedures may be at the bottom of the priority list. However, it pays to be ethical — as a good ethical working environment: increases employee morale; reduces the risk of reputational damage as a result of scandals arising; and increases employee willingness to report issues of misconduct to senior management.   

As an organisation who work on abortion rights, which is still considered controversial in Northern Ireland, we were delighted when Isobel Anderson approached us to collaborate on a music video project. Isobel wrote a song in 2015, “4284_ / I'm A Life” using the words of one woman’s journey to England to access an abortion she should have been able to get here. We felt that suddenly this gave us an opportunity to speak to people who may not normally engage with political posts on social media or may not be aware of what the situation is still in Northern Ireland. Isobel has worked closely with Alliance for Choice since September last year and has high hopes for the music video, she explains, “I had wanted to write about the abuse of reproductive rights in Northern Ireland since I had moved to Belfast in 2009, but I found it difficult to know exactly how without misrepresenting people’s lived experience of the issue. Then, more and more people started sharing their stories online, and when I read Janet’s incredibly moving account, the song came together” Having had a number of successful appeals on Localgiving already, we knew it would be a great place to host our music video appeal. If we can raise our £5K target by 2nd March, we will launch the video live at a Queer Feminist Activist-run space in Belfast, with live music from local acts. We saw the power of stories with the referendum campaign in the Republic of Ireland, so we know how much more people can empathise when they can picture themselves in someone else’s shoes. Alliance for Choice have worked on a variety of education projects over the years and witnessed the incredible power of creating a space where people feel comfortable talking about their experiences of abortion, sex education, pregnancy and all of those stigmas. Reaching our target means we can make many more of these workshops and events happen. We are so proud of the video and so delighted that the song is so beautiful. Janet, whose incredible words are used for the song told us when she watched the video; “I cried. The opening line had me catch my breath, and the next thing I knew I was crying. They were complex tears, of surprise, tinged with sadness & then of joy. When I shared my story 4 years ago, I had no idea of the impact it would have, I am deeply honoured to hear some of my words in Isobel's song and I hope it had a profound effect on people as it did me. All of the people in the video have been involved one way or another, some people have travelled for abortion care, some people have helped others access it in Northern Ireland, others have been campaigning on the issue since the 1970s, there’s a whole range of activists and abortion seekers present in the video. To watch the teaser please go here: https://youtu.be/VFgHLjxWhiI To donate to the campaign please visit: https://localgiving.org/imalife For further information about Alliance for Choice please visit http://www.alliance4choice.com/ For further information about Isobel Anderson please visit http://www.isobelanderson.com/about     Emma Campbell is Co-Chair of Alliance for Choice, mother of Luca (nearly 2!) and a practising photographic artist. Alliance for Choice won the Liberty Long Walk to Freedom award with London Irish Abortion Rights Campaign and the FPA in 2017 and the Political Studies Association Campaign of the Year Award of 2018 for our work aiding the Repeal referendum in Ireland and the continuing work in NI      

It is a known fact that the UK has seen a spike in youth violence, particularly knife crime, over the last couple of years. Sadly, the news has become all too familiar: another grinning picture of a lost kid, another grieving parent’s pleas for the violence to end, another youth worker discussing the impact of local government cuts, another politician with a soundbite playing to his or her agenda. Most of us, read these ‘by-numbers’ articles, feel a pang of sadness, anger or guilt – and then move on with our lives, much as we do when we hear about a famine or war in the global south. Sometimes however the reality of the situation is driven home a little harder. Last year a 16 year old was shot-dead one road from my house in Tulse Hill in South London. On this occasion it was impossible to ignore the deafening-silence of the neighbours and friends stood behind the police tape. Then, just a matter of days ago, my friend’s son, who is 15, was threatened at knife-point and interrogated about whether he had any gang affiliation. This happened just yards from his house - in broad day-light. My friend’s voice trembled as she told me that, what made this so hard was that this had happened in the very place that both she and her son had been brought up – the place they call home. Nowhere felt safe anymore. Like thousands of young people in London and across the UK, my friend’s son is now approaching adulthood in a state of fear and faces stark questions around how to remain safe in this environment. Of course, there is not single cause or single solution. The government, police and schools undoubtedly have huge roles to play, particularly when it comes to addressing the underling socio-economic issues at play. However, in many cases it is the people living and working in the affected communities who have the best understanding of the dynamics on the ground and therefore the best solutions for tackling these issues at the local level. At Localgiving we work with grassroots organisations across the UK who work tirelessly, to tackle youth and gang violence and its multiple causes. Many of these groups have been set up by people who have first-hand experience of these issues, some by parents of victims and some by former gang members themselves. These groups are embedded in their communities and are therefore, not only acutely aware of the specific dynamics of the situation in their area, but also find it far easier to gain access to, and the trust of those they aim to help. This is a particularly important factor, given that many of the communities most adversely affected by the uptick in youth violence have also experienced a break-down in trust with police and local authorities. The type and level of support offered by these grassroots groups varies considerably. Many services are tailored to the specific needs of the young people they work with and communities they work in. Some groups provide peer-to-peer support, some provide safe spaces for healing, some help secure safe, stable housing and provide their young people with training and education opportunities. One thing they all offer however is hope. Hope that there is a way out of the current cycle of violence and evidence of the tangible difference that people can make in their own communities – even when faced with the most painful and seemingly intractable social problems. Below are some of the amazing groups on Localgiving who work to tackle youth violence and its causes.  Jags Foundation (Croyden, London) Real Action (Kensington, London) St. Matthews Project (Lambeth, London) Aik Saath - Together As One (Slough) The New Cross Gate Trust – “carrying knives costs lives” campaign (London) Safe (Oxford) Newark Youth London (Newark London) Prospex (Islington, London) Copenhagen Youth Project (Islington, London) Lambeth Action for Youth (Lambeth, London) C2C Social Action (Northampton) Fitzrovia Youth In Action (Camden, London) Fast Project (Battersea, London) Sports4Health CIC (London) The Reasons Why Foundation (London) The Jan Trust (Haringay, London)