Just how useful are Smartphone apps (we already know they're huge fun!)
Howard Lake | 31 March 2010 | Blogs
Just exactly how useful are smartphone apps (applications) to people at work? According to social media experts at Mashable, there are now over 100,000 apps on the iTunes store. Whilst there are other platforms, iPhone is still the dominant player offering apps for seemingly everything our modern lives demand.
There are huge numbers of apps to entertain and educate but there is also an increasing number designed to support us in our working lives. Has the popularity of this technology really bridged the gap between work and social lives in a way that Microsoft Word can only dream about?
To find an answer I’ve been researching examples of apps designed specifically to support charity fundraising along with general management and communications apps for both charities and businesses. So far I’ve discovered numerous options for:
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– image editing
– document sharing and management
– accounting
– currency conversion
– time management
– emailing
– business travel
– keeping up to date with business or sector news etc.
There are also some great examples of charities using apps to deliver their services and raise awareness such as
BullyingUK’s highly-rated app which offers advice on countering bullying. I have found some clever approaches to using apps for fundraising like Comic Relief’s over-arching programme with iPhone store itself and the hugely talented 11 year old lad who is donating a proportion of sales from the painting app he designed and launched to a children’s hospital in LA (very clever).
But I haven’t seen many examples of apps to actually help fundraisers fundraise or to help communicators communicate, marketers market and so on. Therefore I’m left wondering whether there is either a gap that these services have still to meet or whether we just don’t perceive smartphone apps as a very direct working tool.
To this end, I’m conducting some simple primary research and would be grateful for your thoughts. If you could spare three minutes to complete a quick survey, I’d be grateful and will share the findings in a future blog for all.
Kevin is the Founder of bottom Line Ideas and a volunteer speaker for Make-A-Wish Foundation
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.