Hi Everyone

This post is about the future and maybe how to rescue some fundraising that would have happened (still could) from cancelled mass participation events like The Great North Run and the so many local marathons that may not happen this year

I'll come to the 101 Tweets in a moment, but would say now that a number are all about making video. Its something our Sector just doesn't do enough of, and a fair number of the videos made don't do as much as they could to create engagement, to fundraise, to really help a charity

My premise with the hashtags - #insteadof #nextyeartogether #my2020contibution (if these aren't any good please put some of your own in the comments!) - is that if you have supporters who were going to take part in say the Great North Run, why not (can you - is it possible to) ask them to keep up their training then to undertake a challenge sometime this summer, something that they find themselves, with the help of their local community? Could this 'adventure' become a personal video that their friends can respond to (and donate for)?

As an example, I live in Stratford-upon-Avon and we have an annual Full and Half Marathon on local (mainly country) part closed roads. Its cancelled this year so the runners won''t be supporting their favourite charities and the entry fees percentage which went as donations to the Marshall's choice of charity - that won't happen

But, there is a wide shared space (an old railway track used by people on foot and on bikes) which runs nearly 10 miles out into the countryside, or canal footpaths (which go 25 miles to Birmingham), nearby are three country parks, and a huge reservoir with a footpath all the way round it. Any runner could map a 13 or 26 mile route and spend a Summer or Autumn day completing their 'challenge' and with a bit of help (more below) still be able to help you 

I'll cover some more about an alternative 'challenge' in a moment. On this Twitter account you'll find 101 Tweets. They are all about the future, your future, what you can look at over the next 12 months to be stronger, to have different sources of income, to be as engaged as possible within the communities you work in

If you can follow this Twitter account (it would be great if you can!), you'll get to see these 101 Tweets (and more to come) and you soon see that they come in groups (Twitter 'threads'). There will be retweets and responses to as many comments or ideas as I can manage

All the links shared are to free advice, some of it very very authoritative. A lot of it comes from the Commercial World but it is as valid for your charity as it is for the small business you pass by every day. There are some key areas where we can do better and as an illustration here are three:

Research in what is called B2B (Business to Business -- in our sector this could be organisations considering a charity who could provide a service or (soon) Grant givers looking at who to give to) reckoned that that three year ago ) 20% of the time before a 'buyer' made their very first contact with a 'seller' (eg your charity) they would visit web sites and look at online recommendations

By the end of last year (2019), this figure was very close to 80%. This is before they (the buyer) makes ANY approach to 'the seller', any direct contact. It means that if 'the sale' goes through, the 'sellers' web site etc has done an awful lot of work in convincing 'the buyer' that they are worth considering. Poor web sites mean never being considered

In the B2C world (you buying something as a consumer), how much online research do you do before you add something to your Amazon basket? Do you read the feedback from other customers? Research says that 80-90% of us do look at what other people say, and/or message friends

Maybe the Public Sector and Grant makers don't (yet) do that much web and digital research, or in the detail that happens in the commercial world, but if you approach any company for support, what are the chances that they apply the same principles as they do when they find other suppliers? Does being a charity make us completely different to others?

No 2 - Email

If you don''t work out your ROI very often (Return on Investment - part of the Impact 'family'), the stats say that for every £1 you spend (actual funds and time/effort) you can get £30+ back - if you do email as well as it can be done

This compares with figures of £5-7 for things like social media

No 3 - Video

More research reckons that by 2022 80% of all the content on Social Media will be video (I'm not sure that a combination of words, pictures and video won't be the most successful way of getting the best engagement)

But videos need to be different for each Social Media Channel - in length, format, storyline etc

This might sound like far too much work but there are some amazing free sources of the best advice to help make this happen and for it be affordable, even be of very low cost

We just have to start making video to get better at it!
 

Going back to the idea of a personal challenge to replace being part of a mass participation event, if a countryside run includes some stops for selfies at beautiful points on the  journey, that Instagram post will be replicated by others

Local running and rambling clubs could be a perfect way to find out about possible routes - and to get your charity in front of new people

Wearing a GoPro and you have lots of film that can be edited down for the 5 minute feature that will make their supporters give as they would have if it had been September and at The Great North Run, Why not suggest that (where possible) a friend could cycle with them and take more video? Can you find people who will volunteer to turn all the video and pictures into something for Youtube  - you can set a specific Editorial Policy that the video editors will work to?

Its a bit of work but make one or two videos that people like and you will inspire others

@in12monthstime is no replacement for having your individual problems responded to here on Charity Connect. This is the perfect place to find yourself lots of support and expertise.

Its a way I hope of getting lots of ideas out to people who support Charities and Communities so that they can look at what to plan for in the future. Yes the virus has decimated funding but there are other things to consider, and other income possibilities. We don''t do everything brilliantly and we do need to look for all the opportunities we can be part of.

Hope someone makes some 'challenge' videos!