Search society jobsSearch all jobs How charities and community groups are embracing new media Mike Peake on reality charity Mira Katbamna on payroll giving Jowell to tell how Olympics funds will be repaid Fruits of labour Ageing is no-go area for baby boomers Alison Benjamin: Voluntary sector and the dangers of hype Charity inundated with messages of thanks Social networking is infiltrating traditional communication techniques and changing the way people communicate at an extraordinary pace. Sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo enable us to instantly pass on information, pictures and music, chat to old friends and find new ones with similar views and outlooks. But these forums for discussion are not just for idle social chatter, nor are they simply the latest web fad.
They are becoming increasingly important on a professional level. From large companies to small community groups, organisations and their employees are embracing the instantaneous communication that these networks offer and harnessing this power to their advantage. Helen Beckett, head of communications at Media Trust, says many voluntary groups are showing a great deal of initiative in the way they are approaching new media.
"Charities' use of online communities is becoming more prevalent," she says. These networks are joined and maintained by individuals rather than organisations, which makes them great for raising awareness or fundraising among friends, peers and colleagues. They are informal but extremely powerful.
" Cancer Research UK, Oxfam, Christian Aid and Medecins Sans Frontiers are just a few of the charities currently raising awareness via their supporters on Facebook or MySpace. Smaller charities also use these sites to look for volunteers or to promote their events. But while online networking is low cost, it can be extremely time-consuming to maintain.
If web 1.0 - the first phase of the internet's development - was about charities talking at their supporters and users, then web 2.0 has seen charities developing networks, discussion forums and blogs.
This is not only allowing them to spread messages, but ensuring that their beneficiaries are talking to each other and to them about their ideas and problems or to get support and advice. Of course, this presents clear challenges and charities are realising that they have to let go, particularly of controlling their messages. Charities are having to accept that people may use such forums to express a range of views about them and their work, but that this in turn will make them even more accountable and effective.
Martin Bailie, planning director at ad agency Glue London, told a recent NCVO forum for press and PR officers: "Charities and companies have never been in control of their brands and what people say about them, only now audiences can share their thoughts with the world. This is a wonderful time for organisations to welcome ever more stakeholders in what they do. But they need to be prepared for the more inclusive shift in power.
" Charities' attitudes are not changing simply in relation to these social networking opportunities. Our recently published ICT Hub research and ICT Foresight report have shown that the voluntary sector is taking increasingly positive steps towards information and communications technology use across the board. The research revisited organisations first surveyed in 2004 to see how their attitudes have changed and what opportunities and challenges these changes have created.
Unsurprisingly it confirms the importance of the web, with 82% of respondents claiming that it was "vital" and 14% that it was "fairly important" to their work. This compares with figures of 70% and 23% three years ago. The research also indicates there has been a shift towards understanding ICT at a strategic level.
More organisations now have ICT expertise on their boards or within their senior management and fewer are relying on unpaid advisers. For organisations without this expertise, there is help out there that they can easily access. For example, iT4Communities, part of the ICT Hub, runs a volunteer service for small and medium-sized organisations to introduce skilled professionals to voluntary and community organisations looking for help with IT projects.
"The IT industry boasts individuals with an enormous amount of skill and expertise who recognise the value of contributing their time, talents and resources to charitable causes," says programme director John Davies. "Not only do they provide a valuable service to organisations that would otherwise not have access to such resources, but they can also broaden their experience and give their own careers a boost." It was through iT4C that Dave Rogers became a volunteer for the National Phobics Society.
He redesigned their website and included feedback forms so that visitors' experiences could be used to generate content and allow people to share their experiences. The site also uses chatrooms and bulletin boards and provides sessions with an expert to give advice. Rogers says: "A website is so important because it allows us to operate on a national level from a small base in the north west.
We create a small online community through the use of web 2.0 technologies which ultimately increases our membership, which in turn allows us to fund the services we provide such as our helpline." Only by embracing the challenges that these new social networks present will we make the most of their opportunities.
This may mean losing control, but also becoming even more accountable - something that charities and community groups have always welcomed. Nicola Thompson is head of the ICT Hub, part of ChangeUp, the capacity building and infrastructure framework for the voluntary and community sector, created by the Home Office in June 2004.
News RSS