Charities And Social Media – The Return Of Twestival
Last year when Twitter was very much a new kid on the block a group of passionate people saw it’s rise as a great way to create a charity event called Twestival that spread all over the world and helped to raise money for charity. The time has come for the 2nd installment of Twestival and this year the main recipient of the funds raised by this great event will be the charity Concern who are based here in Dublin. We decided to have a chat with them and see how social media is changing their business model and how they hope to leverage social media around Twestival this year…
CEO Tom Arnold On Twestival
“An estimated 72 million children worldwide are not enrolled in school. Concern is committed to reaching those left behind and giving them access to learning and the chance to break out of the cycle of poverty,†said Chief Executive of Concern Worldwide, Tom Arnold. “Twestival Global is revolutionising the way concerned citizens all over the world connect to the poorest among us. We are thrilled to have been chosen, and we’re rolling up our sleeves to make the most of this opportunity.â€
How long have Concern been embracing social media?
Concern embraced Bebo, MySpace and Facebook as soon as they were launched. We started using it to help share photos and maintain friendships among the groups that had gone on the Concern treks to Nepal. Acticity was mostly event-based such as Treks, Challenges and Concern Fast. Each of the regional offices did their own thing. The presences we have now on these sites is very different from the ones we started with. A lot has changed since then. Likewise, with YouTube, Flickr and more recently Twitter. Each was experimented with initially, and then we grouped our activities together and started using them in a better way. Our activity now includes Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr and of course Twitter.
Do we raise funds through social media?
We are not alone in finding it hard to measure the financial benefits of social media. We certainly have evidence that people have read our blogs, watched our videos and then donated. Everyone understands the importance of social media in terms of brand and supporter engagement. However, as social media becomes more central to our communications there will likely be more pressure to justify the investment through financial outputs.
During Haiti Concern was able to utilise social media to get the message out immediately that Concern was on the ground, knew Haiti and was working to deliver emergency aid straight away. We had staff blogging and tweeting from Haiti alongside regular video updates. This combined with blog updates in the office and regaular updates on all Concern’s social networking sites meant we were able to show the impact donations were having. Social media was able to give depth, immediacy and reach to support the Haiti appeal email, the online marketing campaign and ofcourse all the offline activity. The fact that in the initial week 70% of donations came in online was evidence of impact of social media.
How is Concern involved in Twestival?
Twestival which takes place on the 25th March uses the power of Twitter to spread the word about a cause and rally people to meet physically to raise money for a cause. Hence Twestival’s tagline Tweet. Meet. Give. Concern is delighted to be selected to be this year’s Twestival Global partner. On the 25th March events will be taking place in cities all over the world to raise money and raise awareness about this years important cause of education.
All of the local events around the world are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations will go direct to Concerns education projects. 100% of the money raised will be spent on Concern’s work bringing education to the poorest children in the poorest countries. Concern’s education programs have a particular emphasis on reaching out of school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict or children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Keep up to date with whats happening by following Concern on Twitter @concern. The Dublin event takes place in Odeon Bar on Harcourt Street this Thursday 25th March from 6.30pm.Or check out Twestival to find your nearest event.
