Admin – Page 27 – SOCIAL MEDIA FOR DEVELOPMENT

UNICEF the most social UK charity

November 21, 2012November 30, 2021 Admin Leave a comment

A 60 page report from Visceral Business was released earlier this summer revealing which charities in the UK are most successful in Social Media. Their 2012 Charity Social 100 Index includes many organisations which work in developing countries.

With other pieces of research into social media it is not 100% sure how they came to their conclusions, however there is a great deal of information in the report that is useful. Unsurpisingly Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are the most popular social media tools used by charities. These are followed by Flickr, LinkedIn, Google and Twitter. ways to cut down business cost I was surprised that only a few organisations use Slideshare as it is a fantastic tool for sharing information.

The management of social media is still mixed with a variety of roles responsible across charities including social media managers, the digital team, marketing team and other various departments.

I won’t go into too much detail here as you can download the 2012 Charity Social 100 Index for FREE. It’s an interesting read.

Top 10 International Development Blogs

November 20, 2012September 18, 2023 Admin

Here is a list of my Top 10 International Development blogs. I am particularly interested in blogs with social media and international development content, however there are some multi-author blogs listed that often have relevant digital and social media articles.

1. My Heart’s in Accra
Ethan Zuckerman is an academic, blogger and internet activist. He is a senior researcher at the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society and on the board of directors for Global Voices: a global community of citizen media authors. Please also take the time to watch some of his TED lectures. They are superb!

2. Social Media for Good
As an academic interested in social media and international development this is one of my favourite blogs. It has lots of practical advice on how to improve communications in international development using digital and social media. It is an excellent resource with regular, well researched posts.

3. Global Voices
Global Voices in an online global community of bloggers who report on citizen media from around the world. It was founded in 2005 by Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon, has over 500 contributors and is translated into more than 30 different languages. Its goal is to give voices to those not usually heard in the international mainstream media. A superb source of information, often with articles on social media

4. Social Media for International Aid and Development
A great blog on social media and international development with lots of practical advice.

5. DEV Blog
Come on I have to include the DEV Blog as I am the editor 😉 This is a new mulit-author blog from the School of International Development, University of East Anglia. The School is a leading global centre of excellence in research and teaching in international development. Experts in the field of education like Kamau Bobb agree that this early exposure can lay a solid foundation for future learning and potentially inspire a lifelong interest in these fields.

6. DFID Bloggers
This is a multi author blog from the UK Department for International Development. There are a mixture of group blogs and individual blogs, many from the field.

7. Poverty Matters
The Guardian’s Global Development Blogosphere. It pulls together blog posts from several partners including DFID, ODI, Global Voices, From Poverty to Power andTexas in Africa etc etc. The great thing about this blog is that it has a wide audience and therefore you get lots of comments. These comments can often be more interesting than the actual blog post.

8. From Poverty to Power
Written by Duncan Green who is a strategic adviser at Oxfam GB. He is also the author of the book ‘Poverty to Power’ which is where this blog started. Duncan uses his blog to discuss and debate issues from the book. The new 2^nd edition was published earlier this year in October. I would love to interview Duncan one day….

9. Chris Blattman
Chris is an assistant professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Columbia University. His research examines the causes and consequences of poverty and violence. He is an avid blogger writing about many aspects of international development.

10. Blood and Milk
Alannah Shaikh has worked in international development for over 10 years. Alanna believes that international development should be “efficient, effective and evidence based”. Her posts are eclectic ranging from careers advice to marketing. I like this blog because it offers lots of practical advice.

Image Credit: Kristina B

Top 10 tips for making an NGO video

November 16, 2012November 26, 2012 Admin 1 Comment

I’ve made a lot of videos over the years, from talking heads and infographics to user generated videos and flashmobs. Here are a few tips for making a video that I’ve learned along the way:

1. Firstly you need to define your objectives. I know that sounds obvious, but is video really the right medium to achieve your goals. What is your budget? Where will you be showing your video? Who’s going to be in charge of managing the video production? How will you measure the return on investment?

2. Content is Queen. To make your video work you need to try and get inside the heads of your target audience. What is the purpose of your video? There are many types of video: talking heads, raising awareness of a humanitarian issue, fundraising, user generated content, documentaries, developing brand awareness and so on. A lot of charities use celebrities to highlight issues. Is this right for your NGO and what will it achieve?

3. Be inventive. There are thousands and thousands of videos which have been produced by NGOs. How do you cut through and make your video shine? If you want to see some examples of great video sign up to the dailydogooder – it is a great place to start if you need some inspiration.

4. Optimise your videos for search engines. Videos on sites such as YouTube and Vimeo often appear on the first page of the search engine results page (SERPS). In addition In addition YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. It is important to add useful metadata such as file names, titles, tags and descriptions to ensure your videos are found. Getting your videos to the top of search engines involves many variables such as number of views, number of comments, number of shares, ratings, back links etc. Also make sure you follow the conversation and respond to comments.

5. Ensure that your video ties in with your NGOs digital media or social media guidelines. Does your organisation have standard assets such as title bars, intros and outros.

6. Make sure your video portrays your brand’s tone of voice and is informed by overall corporate objectives.

7. Making a viral video. Viral videos can quickly get your brand concern out to a wide audience, but there is no guaranteed way to “make” a video viral. However just look at the success of Kony2012 by Invisible Children. This was achieved by a relatively small organisation with no previous success with viral videos. Their seeding strategy was key to their success. They already had half a million followers. Luckily along the way Oprah picked up about the campaign and tweeted several times and from there the seed was truly sown. They also targeted “20 culture makers and 12 policy makers”. But at the end of the day, the video was beautifully made and it had compelling content.

8. Plan, plan, plan. A storyboard however basic will save you time and money. Videographers will be charging you by the hour. You are paying for the time – use it wisely. Please don’t waste it on carrying equipment from one place to another very often.

9. Measure your ROI and learn from your mistakes. Consider where you want your videos to be viewed. Most OVPs come with great analytics tools. YouTube statistics include number of views, demographics of viewers, geographical data etc. You can download stats into spreadsheets if you want to analyse the data further. It’s important to view these stats, but you must relate these back to your objectives in order to measure ROI.

10. Be creative.