Five tweets for fundraisers amid coronavirus lockdown
Howard Lake | 2 May 2020 | Blogs
Twitter is packed with advice and support for fundraisers at any time, but especially so now during the coronavirus lockdown.
We’ve been spoilt for choice for our occasional round-up of five tweets plucked from the stream of useful fundraising content and ideas.
1. Simple is good
Sometimes the familiar daily routine can be calming for all of us, even if it is someone else’s routine. If you run a farm and need to let the animals out of the barn every morning then this could be your time to shine and share.
Caenhill Countryside Centre has been sharing its rush hour on social channels since before the coronavirus lockdown, with its familiar characters such as Cuthbert the Goose, but its popularity continues to grow while our own metaphorical barn doors remain shut.
Caenhill is an essential follow in these crazy sad days. Today breakfast is enlivened by a duck with sharing issues and Smudge gets stuck on top of a fence. Look out for the glorious sunrise. https://t.co/XIZFY2fEmX
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— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) April 9, 2020
2. We’ve been here before
We’ve covered lessons for fundraisers today from past financial crises and disasters, but here’s another example of a charity choosing to reimagine rather than cancel physical fundraising events due to the declaration of war in 1939. No chance of digital virtual alternatives in those days, but that didn’t stop The Children’s Society.
Just love this from @childrensociety archive.
In 1939, several fundraising events were cancelled due to outbreak of WWII which meant £5,000 of lost income (equiv to around £330,000 today). To help, supporters were asked to organise and attend imaginary bazaars! #archive #charity pic.twitter.com/8ld9p6QYiC— Hannah (@HannahEastCRM) April 29, 2020
3. Supporting each other
Charities are looking to their supporters at this time, but supporters and the public are certainly looking to their favourite charities too. For information, services and simple encouragement that they are doing all they can to continue their work.
Many charities have spent the past 40 days of lockdown talking (picking up the phone) to some of their supporters, not necessarily asking for support, but letting them know what the charity is doing in the circumstances, and listening to their ideas and concerns.
There’s a good chance that this approach will be remembered and appreciated.
Love this message in @friends_earth pack – not just asking for support, but showing that charities can support donors too.
@SupporterExpSIG pic.twitter.com/VJt2wdzeck
— Daniel Fluskey (@danielfluskey) May 2, 2020
4. Public is ‘sceptical but supportive’ of charities
Dr Beth Breeze and Professor John Mohan’s latest research confirms that the public as a whole does not understand the charity sector yet it continues to support it by giving. And this is not a new phenomenon – they track it back to the 1940s at least.
A new study by Dr Beth Breeze (@UKCPhilanthropy) @UniKentCfP @SSPSSR and Professor John Mohan of @unibirmingham highlights that the public lacks an understanding of the #charity sector, despite equally long-standing high levels of giving. #philanthropyhttps://t.co/pyrbdM0YmT
— University of Kent (@UniKent) April 29, 2020
5. Carry on fundraising
Not the never-made film in the British comedy series, but simple advice, if you needed it.
“I think the very best advice I can give everyone out there is to keep on asking. It absolutely needs to be relevant to the moment and authentic, and you need to tell your donors when things are hard.” #fundraising #philanthropy https://t.co/9EN1nPS2s6
— Susie Hills (@HillsSusie) April 30, 2020
Main image: B is for bird bones PC by CaZaTo Ma on Flickr.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.