Supporting Technology

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Do you use social networking and new media tools?Whether the funding for your organisation comes from a grant giving trust, through delivery of contracts or though trading those that hold the purse strings will want to know that you are best placed to deliver the work. Demonstrating this is not always straight forward; obtaining feedback from users can be time consuming and is not guaranteed to produce the conclusive evidence that you require. There are various forms of new media that can become extremely useful tools when trying to generate feedback and demonstrate your worth. It can also provide another medium for providing your services. This self help guide explains how different kinds of media can be used to promote, provide and feedback on your services. TwitterTwitter is a fantastic way of getting information out to the sector quickly and effectively. It also provides an excellent source of information for voluntary sector groups. To “follow” Community First click here. Bulk EmailingCommunity First send a fortnightly e-bulletin which we use to provide information on funding, events, news and jobs from the sector. The bulletin is very popular and well received and we can evidence this back to our funders using new media reporting. To sign up for our bulletin click here. We also provide a service which involves creating and sending these bulletins on behalf of other organisations. We also provide a detailed report feeding back information about the bulletin and how well it was received. This includes how many people opened it, who opened it and what links they used whilst reading it. If this is a service you would like to hear more about please click this link.BloggingAnother way to keep you finger on the voluntary sector pulse is via a series of interesting, informative and often amusing blogs which can be found all over the web, Below is a selection of our favourites. Blogs are a great way of providing examples of the work you do which helps provide practical examples of why users would want your services. They are a really good way of providing case studies of your work and explaining what you do by example of how you have helps a group or individual. The Guardian Joe Public BlogControversial article about chuggersCharity BlogFacebookHas your organisation considered using Facebook to market your services or to gain feedback from your customers? Here is a video tutorial explaining why Facebook can be used and why it has become the fastest growing marketing tool of all time.  Some of our faverout Facebook pages.VinvolvedLove WorcestershireHerefordshire Fairtrade Have you fed back to us about our service? getwithit are constantly trying to develop our services to meet the needs of our service users. As the needs of our customers change so to will what we offer and how we provide it.Please tell us whether or not you have found this information useful and tell us how this could be improved. Please email mattl@comfirst.org.uk with feedback as to how this would be more useful to you and your organisation.