Going Digital - online communications advice for non-profits

– Mar 26, 2012

Posted by
James Topham

The success and subsequent backlash that recently engulfed the Kony 2012 video campaign, highlighted both the potential and the dangers of digital communications in the era of the social web. Many of us in the non-profit space have been examining that case study and wondering how it will effect our approach to communications in the coming months. At the same time, others who were considering launching a social strategy will be wondering whether the risks don't out-weigh the advantages.

Over the last two years, War Child has been conducting a project focused on social media use by non-profits. The project was funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). As part of the process, we spoke to and with small non-profit groups across the country. It became apparent that many organizations (ourselves included) would benefit from some expert advice on how best to take advantage of the social web and how to avoid the pitfalls. And so we asked some of the brightest minds in digital communications to contribute to a series of videos. We will be posting one a day for the next five days, followed by the full length version. If you work at a non-profit, are a communications student or have ever thought about going to a digital conference but balked at the cost, we hope you will find them useful. Please let us know what you think in the comments below and let your non-profit friends know that there is free advice available here!