The brilliant Nana Crawford joins us for the final episode of the series to talk about how charities and social enterprises can use TikTok to engage supporters and raise money.

Nana is Social Media Manager at the British Red Cross, one of the first charities to successfully jump on board TikTok. Having initially used it to share first aid advice, they became particularly active on TikTok during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, first by sharing public health messaging, then to raise money for their Covid-19 campaign.

Nana explained that you don’t need loads of time or even a budget to get started on TikTok, and shared five actionable ideas, many of which apply to other social media platforms too. We discussed how to:

1. Start familiarising yourself with TikTok so that you feel comfortable using it
2. Grab attention by jumping on existing TikTok trends, and identify the best trends for your organisation
3. Easily create engaging videos within TikTok (we also discussed the types of video that work particularly well on TikTok)
4. Begin introducing fundraising messaging and campaigns to your followers
5. Involve everyone in your organisation in producing authentic and relaxed content

Thanks so much to Nana for sharing her tips and being such a lively and energetic guest!

This is the final episode of our first series of The Taming of the Shrewd. If you’ve enjoyed it, give us some encouragement for the next series by leaving a five-star review via the Acast app or here on Google. Also, get in touch with any suggestions for future topics and guests for the podcast. Thanks and see you in 2021!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Measuring your return on investment (ROI) in fundraising can help you to evaluate your performance, predict future income and budget more effectively. And if this seems really complicated, it doesn't have to be.

For Episode 6, I interviewed career fundraiser Caroline Danks, who recently published a report gathering return on investment data across the charity sector. Caroline and I discussed what exactly ROI means, and why some people resist measuring it, but why it's so important for good fundraising, budgeting and strategic planning.

Caroline explains to listeners how to:

1. Put in place a system for measuring ROI (including how to categorise income and measure time spent in different areas)
2. Benchmark your performance against others in the sector, and use this as a point of comparison for evaluating performance and predicting future income
3. Use the information in Caroline's report to look for 'missed opportunities', for example legacy fundraising

You can download Caroline's report on fundraising ROI, called The Calm Before The Storm, from LarkOwl's website: https://larkowl.uk/fundraising-benchmarking-2019/

See also this blog where I shared some previous thoughts on fundraising ROI: https://www.limegreenconsulting.co.uk/blog/building-a-business-case-for-investing-in-fundraising

Enjoying our podcast? Please leave us a five-star review (other numbers of stars available at your discretion) via the Acast app or here on Google. We'd also love to hear your suggestions for future topics and guests for the podcast. We have one more episode coming up in November 2020, then we'll be taking a short break before returning with a new series in January/February 2021.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A familiar face for Episode 5 - Gemma Pettman, good friend of Lime Green Consulting and trainer at our regular fundraising strategy and trusts and foundations training courses. Gemma's also an independent accredited PR expert and joined us to discuss an important topic - how should charities and social enterprises communicate when bad news strikes?

Gemma gave us a whistle-stop tour of her approach to crisis comms, including:

1. The different types of crises that typically hit organisations, and how you can work together as a team to create a list of scenarios to prepare for
2. Planning in advance for a crisis - who to communicate with, what to say, how to use social media and the press, and practising your key messages
3. Assessing a live situation - how do you decide when to respond and what to say? how do you avoid making the situation worse? how can you turn some crises into an opportunity?
4. Looking after your people - how to support staff who are on the 'front line' of a crisis, and how to follow up after a crisis passes

We discussed how good crisis comms is crucial for building and maintaining trust with supporters, why organisations are often put off planning in advance, how social media has changed the nature of crisis comms, and how many organisations have successfully turned a crisis into a fundraising opportunity.

If you're interested in learning more, Gemma kindly recommended a few follow-up resources for listeners:

• A best practice guide to crisis communications for charities by Charity Comms: https://www.charitycomms.org.uk/crisis-communications-for-charities
• Madeleine Sugden's blog about how you can deal with a positive ‘crisis’: https://madlinblog.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/crisis-comms-responding-to-a-fundraising-boost/
• Further examples of successful fundraising in response to a crisis: the RNLI after Tory MPs' criticism of its overseas work and the National Trust in response to a fire at its historic Clandon Park site

Thanks to Gemma for her typically cheerful and expert insight. You can find out more about her PR work here: http://www.gemmapettmanpr.co.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.