Our first webinar, “The internet and fundraising: threat or opportunity”, was broadcast on Tuesday (watch a recording here). During the webinar we received over 50 audience questions – and only had time to answer a few of them.

So I asked our panel of expert speakers – Jon Brooks, Managing Director of The Big Give; Howard Lake, founder of Fundraising.co.uk; and Jonathan Waddingham, Charity Champion at Justgiving – to jot down some answers to the questions we didn’t get around to addressing. These are their answers. All the questions were submitted anonymously.
 

Is there a danger that Web 2.0 will be seen as a ‘magic bullet’ for fundraisers, whereas in a few years charity social-networks will be gathering dust?

Jonathan: Yes there’s a danger, but there’s also a danger that they will be totally mainstream and you’ll have missed out. If you want to see the latest major research on social media adoption, check out this presentation.

Trying to predict the future of where the web will go is usually an ill-fated exercise, but there are so many trends on collaboration, integration and syndication coming together at the moment (Facebook applications, LinkedIn applications, MySpace applications, Salesforce applications) – and a lot of people are predicting the future of the internet will be the cloud.

Howard: Yes, but replace 'Web 2.0' with 'telephone', 'mobile phone', 'DRTV' or 'Internet' and you'll find every new medium/technology can be hyped for fundraising. Realistically, they all work well for different charities in different ways. In the end, you'll probably use some of them alongside each other. None will dominate because our supporters use such a wide range of channels.

Jon: I would recommend evaluating charity social networks as you would any other supplier. Ask tough questions and find out what each site can do for you. What are the benefits of being on the site, and what are the costs of not?
 

Is it worth signing up to MySpace as well as Facebook?

Howard: Possibly. Look into the user statistics of each here and here, and see if one is more appropriate than the other.
 

How frequently would you recommend updating charity pages on social-media sites?

  Jon: The key is to provide an area on social networks for your supporters to meet, learn and discuss. Rather than setting a schedule for updating Facebook pages, you should try to join donor-to-donor conversations and answer any questions about your charity quickly and openly.

I definitely recommend signing up for free email updates. All social networks offer these alerts (sometimes called "RSS"), which means you can manage new questions/comments without having to search through several websites every day.

Howard: Try automating the process by including an RSS feed from your press release section on your website, or your charity's blog(s), or charity's photo stream on Flickr etc. That will keep it up busy with minimal input on your part.

Why not encourage interested/relevant staff/volunteers to update it e.g. the press officer (if you don't have a RSS feed for your press releases)? Try not to be the sole gatekeeper. If it's a successful social media page then it should be being updated by your supporters too e.g. with questions, comments, forum posts etc (on Facebook, for example).

I would prioritise responding to those contributions rather than focusing on updating the presence with your charity's info: get the conversations going, make the supporters feel that you are available to them and value their input.

Jonathan: When you have new stuff to say! Or even if your charity doesn’t have anything specific to announce, you could share relevant news stories or videos or photos.
 

If we create a fan-page on Facebook, will they support us with free advertising?

Jon: Your fans will do the advertising for you! If you have interesting stories on your page, they will share it with their friends, who share it with their friends...and so on.
 

What do you think of widgets as a marketing/fundraising tool?

Jon: A good widget should make it easy for your supporters to market/fundraise for you. If you have five employees and can get 20 supporters promoting your charity on their websites, you are certainly going to reach more people. As with all new media, you must test and measure so you can evaluate the success of the widget.

Jonathan: They are a great way to spread a message. For example, the JG widget has been incredibly successful – read more here.
It’s a way of taking your (fundraising) message/content to a wider audience – many people may see your website, but if the content on it can be shown in a widget, and many other sites show that widget, your readership has the potential to increase exponentially.
 

Where can I find accessibility requirements for websites?

Jonathan: According to one of our designers and accessibility guru, the best place is here.
 

Is it possible to register as a UK charity on Facebook? US causes can do this, but UK ones apparently can’t

Howard: No, Project Agape, the people behind the Causes application, still haven't launched a UK version. It's in the pipeline but no date yet. That doesn't stop your charity using Facebook of course.
 

Did Wood Green Animal Shelter make any money following the webcam scheme?

Howard: I don't know. The case study was reported in the Guardian. The Shelter had already hit its target to fund Dodger's operation in the original email appeal to 200 staff and supporters.
 

What about Manx charities? They can’t register on Justgiving, and don’t get Gift Aid. What can they do?

Jonathan: Good question – try and use fundraising widgets like chip-in, or payment processors like PayPal. You can still use Facebook and all other social networks, but I’m not aware of an online fundraising platform out there that caters specifically for Manx charities.
 

 

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