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Welcome to the show
Tim Beynon: Hello and welcome to the Charity Show, the podcast
for charity insiders by charity insiders. Please rate, follow or subscribe to
us on your usual podcast platform. And here's what's coming up in episode
twelve.
Piers Townley: I think this is quite the shocking statistic. If
you believe we're a nation of pet lovers that are leading animal rescue
Charity, cats protection. It's found that in the first seven months of this
year alone, abandoned cat cases of sort of 30%.
Adeela Warley: And I think since Elon Musk took over, Twitter and
turned it into x, there have been rising concerns about the lack of investment
in content moderation, how the algorithms are working to promote the worst
aspects of humanity, about safeguarding the users on your platform and tackling
misinformation. And Elon Musk's personal posts on the platform, have really
driven some very, very divisive things, and not just in the online space, but
with quite devastating real world, consequences.
Tim Beynon: Organiser Michelle Oldfield rallied her community to
take part in a photo shoot for the cheeky 2025 calendar. the months feature
more than 30 people and capture the stunning beauty of the veil of Belvoir, the
stunning beauty of other aspects as well, I imagine, and has so far raised 2000
pounds for breast cancer now and prostate Cancer UK.
Piers Townley: If my fundraising team suggests such a thing like
that, then I will definitely be politely declining that one.
Tim Beynon: What month would you choose, mister M?
Piers Townley: September. Also. Never going to happen. No. Never
going to happen.
Welcome to Ep.12
Tim Beynon: Hello and welcome to episode twelve of the Charity
show with me, Tim Beynon head of marketing engagement at the Fire Fighters
Charity.
Piers Townley: And me Piers Townley PR manager at the Brain
Tumour Charity.
Tim Beynon: So what's been going on, Piers? What's your last
fortnight look like?
Piers Townley: It's actually been a weird kind of forward
planning moment, for the Charity. We're actually looking now to March 2025. But
March is the Brain Tumour Charity is kind of hero awareness month. It's
officially known as the Brain Tumour awareness month, so it's BTAM for short.
And during that we have our twilight war, which is a bit of a kind of a hero
campaign, a fundraiser awareness for us. Everyone in the community comes
together, we do it ten k and a five k, walk around the location. And since
COVID we've had to scale back and just focus on being in London. But this will
be the third year that we're in London. So the twilight walkers, we've been
building all the materials, all the comms, all the, engagement and the
segmentation over on our email journeys. And that's just launched today,
actually. So the two weeks before this or actually more than two weeks before
this, all the teams have been building up. And as a comms team, as a pr team,
we're kind of on the periphery at the moment. We will start stepping up our
involvement. Yeah. Busy, but also that kind of. Okay. We're looking now six
months in advance and other things beyond Christmas, which is kind of a
disjointed, but it's just the way all charities work, isn't it? I guess so.
You've been the same.
Tim Beynon: Yeah. It's funny you talk about twilight, twilight
walk. I can't help but think of the do gooders show, which we, Garrett was on a
couple of weeks back, and obviously the, the tiki torch walk that went terribly
wrong. But, yeah, yours is not going to go wrong. You're not going to have the
police chase you and all that kind of stuff.
Piers Townley: There's no tiki torches. There won't be more
warning. Hordes of tiki wielding supporters.
Tim Beynon: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Same for us, really. Here at
the firefighter strategy, there's lots going on as ever and forward planning
again. And Christmas seems to be forefront of everyone's mind at the moment. So
we're talking about all the things we've got coming up for Christmas and then
looking ahead to January as well. And it's funny how you got to really start
thinking about those January deadlines and getting things to the printers in
time because things close down over Christmas and so on and so forth. So
everything becomes a little bit kind of, geez, you've got to think about, take
that Christmas break into account and think ahead. So I'm still in denial that
it's happening at all. I'm so massively unprepared for it. Personally, I
haven't even thought about it. I do know people. I don't know, where you sit,
on this issue, Piers. People who've done their shopping and wrapped it and
stuff already. That's alien to me completely. Shopping is something that
happens in December, not in, not in October.
Piers Townley: As unnamed member of my family was boasting how
they bought some of their Christmas stuff last year in the sales and they're
very, very pleased with themselves that it's like I'm like I'm literally just
waiting until I get through to the weekend at the moment, let alone in six
weeks time.
Tim Beynon: Whenever that Amazon Prime Day is, just blitz it on
that one day. Get everything sent. That's, the, that's the mission. So I must
ask you, though, before we get onto charity related stuff, as someone who has a
young dog like I do, I'm really, really struggling to stop my dog from digging
up the garden. This puppy, almost six months, is basically turned our garden
into, like, the som. It's insane, the amount of digging. Do you have any tips?
Any tips to stop a dog from digging up your garden?
Piers Townley: No is the answer. But you get so much unsolicited
advice. I think it's probably like having kids. It's like having pets.
Everyone's got a solution, everyone's got an idea.
00:05:00
Piers Townley: Do they work? I don't know. It's just trial and
error, right?
Tim Beynon: I want to hear from all this. I want to hear from all
those Charity, animal Charity people out there. What are their tips for
stopping a dog from digging up the garden? Because it's driving us insane.
Piers Townley: Back to your dog's hand. Give us a shout. What can
you do? How can you help?
Tim Beynon: Absolutely.
Shining a spotlight on the ethics of social media
This week, though, we're shining a spotlight on the ethics of
social media. and it's fantastic to have our guest, Adila Worley, CEO of the
fantastic Charity comms, on the show a little bit later, working in comms biz,
and it's part of our daily lives. Of course, social media can't escape it. But
how do you personally feel about it? You know, work aside, how do you feel
about the whole social media thing?
Piers Townley: It's tricky, isn't it? Because I think, I mean,
I'm of the agent. I think you are, Tim, as well. Where we weren't digital
natives when it comes to social media, we've had to learn at speed in our roles
and our various careers, and now it sits at forefront of, I think, of what we
do as a comms team. I mean, we have a brilliant social media team, a lot
younger than me, a brilliant social media team with the Brain Tumour Charity,
and they're all over the channels that we use. But it's interesting to find
which social media works with different segments of our supporters. So our
Facebook, for example, our Facebook groups, they're closed. And they're still a
really big part of what we do as our comms and our outreach towards our
supporters. Our social media team are doing things on Insta and TikTok that I
think is just largely witchcraft. So for me, it's been a really interesting and
essential part of what we do as comms. Part of my role is to look after our
celebrities. I do a lot of direct messaging with them that could be over one
insta. It could even still be on x. so, yes, I'm happy to learn. I'm happy to
use it as part of my armoury.
Tim Beynon: Yeah, I think. I agree. I think we're at risk of
standing like grumpy old men here, I think, because we're of a certain age
where there's a whole generation, after us who are much more au fait with
social media than we are. But, yeah, so I feel increasingly out of touch with
it, I must admit. and the scene, the stuff which my kids watch and the stuff
that they engage with on social media, it's way out there. I am quite impressed
by some of the high production values of some of the stuff that gets churned
out. It's quite impressive to see the amount of stuff that is produced and also
the quality of stuff that's produced and how easy it is to create really high
quality content. I think that's really fascinating, really interesting. But no,
I am definitely out of touch.
Piers Townley: It's also interesting to me. Is it? People say,
oh, yeah, we do social media, or I do social media, and that is like you do
social media, but actually, when you get into it, it's a highly specialised and
increasingly so. It's not just about churning out content, it's what we've had
to do it with, the Charity show, it's the scheduling, it's the timing, it's the
analytics, the metrics behind it, it's the trend spotting and responding to
that.
Tim Beynon: Yeah, it's interesting to see how that will evolve.
Wonder what influence AI will have on social as well. It has been fascinating
to see the amount of content and AI generated, content that's been churned out
in America at the moment as a result of the us election. And also, the other
thing that kind of scares me a bit about social media is how the algorithms
work. Again, this is wishcraft, in terms of fact, that you could be looking at
something on to buy on Amazon, and all of a sudden you jump on Twitter or
Facebook, whatever, and you're being shown ads and content relating to the
thing you were looking at on a completely separate platform. That kind of stuff
really sort of blows my mind in terms of how that works. And then it worries me
as a parent in terms of the amount of doom scrolling that kids are never to be
do when they're on social and the kind of things that they're being shown and
they're being seen again, those algorithms are just chucking stuff at them that
they might not, that the big computers in the sky think that they want to see,
but it might not be appropriate at, all. So that really terrifies me.
Piers Townley: It's an emerging thing, isn't it? And the
generation they're dealing with now, are, ah, the canaries in the mine really,
to see what happens with it.
This week's third sector news
Tim Beynon: Right then, let's take a look at some third sector
news. What jumps out at you on your social feed this week, piers?
Piers Townley: So on the back of the news we featured about dogs
and animal charities in a very recent episode of the show, is to do with the
increasing number of older dogs being given up and the charities having to
respond to this. This time, for me, more animals. But it's all about cats now.
I'm a reluctant adult person. I had to bow to the pressure from my kids over
the years. But I think this is quite the shocking statistic, if you believe
we're a nation of pet lovers, that a leading animal rescue Charity, cats
protection, it's found that in the first seven months of this year alone,
abandoned cat cases have sort of 30%. Last year they said they helped around
184,000 moggies, which is about 500 a day. So really, the demand for these
charities, these animal charities has gone through the roof and they've cited
in their reports the pandemic lockdown boom for cats and dog ownership is hit
bust, they say. So the cat protection has said that, increasing vet bills, cost
of living, prioritising household budgets, all of this has fed into this
crisis, as they've called it. And a great piece of research they've done, which
is a bit of genius in the title as well.
00:10:00
Piers Townley: It's called cats and their stats. And this piece
of research found that one in three cat owners feel greatly impacted, is the
quote, by current financial climate, 18%, which is a lot of people are, cutting
back on vital vet services such as vaccinations. This has drawn the RSPCA into
the problem as well. And they're urging people to adopt rather than buying a
pet, saying that research centres are, quote, drowning in animals. And of
course, the RSPCA and our, connections on that Charity will feature in upcoming
episodes of the show. But it starts figures all around, whether you're a cat or
adult person.
The Prince's Trust is rebranded as The King's Trust
Tim, something that jolt out at me this week. What about you?
Tim Beynon: News that I spotted this week, I think, something
that really, really stood out for me, because I love a bit of brand branding,
and obviously we've talked a lot about brand on the show before, but this is a
royal rebrand, so this is rebrand on a whole other level. So it's a great
story. So this is a story about rebranding. Everyone's probably aware of this
already, but the prince's trust is rebranded as the king's trust for obvious
reasons. and you know, this is a big deal, logo change, name change and
everything that goes with it. But the man who's done it, James Somerville OBE,
did, it on a pro bono basis, because he himself, was a former beneficiary of
the prince's trust. I think that's just a really nice story. So this chapter,
James Somerville OBE, and he's very famous in the design world. I'll just read
you a little bit of his background here. So he is one of more than 1.3 million
people who have been supported by the now Kings Trust, around the world today.
He co founded his first design agency, Attic, with the support and a grant from
the trust in the UK in 1986 when he was a 19 year old street artist in
Huddersfield. Since then, he's gone on to achieve amazing, success. he's become
one of the UK's most respected or his firm has become one of the UK's most
respected design firms. Bought out by a, japanese company in 2007, he went on
to become vice president of global design at Coca Cola. You don't get bigger
than that, really, in terms of design jobs. And he now lives, in, Atlanta,
Georgia, and is a patron of the trust as well. And he's given back by
rebranding them as the king's trust. and that's an amazing story, for them, I
just think a really nice story all round, and a great bit of branding. So the
prince's trust is now the king's trust. So that was something that jumped out
to me.
Invisible chips
And the other one, the other story, that's a cracker for two
reasons. Firstly, the story, the title of the story, invisible chips, that's a
great story. Caught my eyes straight away. And it's basically, a restaurant in
Amesbury. Portions are giving away portions, or actually rather not giving
away. Customers are buying portions of invisible chips in, order to raise
money, for a hospitality action, a Charity, that looks after the hospitality
sector. So diners, choosing to buy invisible chips for two pounds, to the
catering industry Charity, which supports anyone working in the hotels and
catering industry in their time of need. And the other reason this jumped out
to me, this story is the chief operating officer, is a guy called Adam Charity.
What awesome name, but brilliant name. So two reasons, yeah, brilliant, Adam.
Charity doing fantastic Charity work. So well done, Adam. You're living up to
your name there. Awesome work. So, yeah, there you go, two cracking stories
this week.
Piers Townley: I expect someone to come up with invisible mushy
peas next. Let's crack on with the Friday night dinner. Being invisible and
charitable, I'd give to.
Tim Beynon: Charity and take actual mushy peas. Love mushy peas.
The problem with X
Two years ago, Elon Musk bought Twitter for a staggering $44
billion, soon thereafter dropping its familiar bluebird logo and rebranding it
as x. Since then, though, the platform has been undergoing a transformation.
80% of its workforce has been cut, content moderation rules have been relaxed,
new features have been introduced and charges applied. The result, according to
many commentators and critics, is that x has today become a hotbed for
misinformation and hate, with an increase in engagement with extreme content
mirrored by, a decrease in engagement with fact checkers and less biassed
media. So where does all this leave charities today? A strong social media
presence is vital to most charities comms plans. It's something we're all very
familiar with, allowing them to engage directly with their beneficiaries and
supporters. But our charities now facing an ethical dilemma when it comes to X.
Adila Warley, CEO of Charity Comms, thinks they are. And the membership
organisation for Charity Communications professionals has consequently scaled
back its activity on X as a result. Others, meanwhile, like Akivo, have
withdrawn from X completely, stating that it no longer aligns to their
organisational values. Is this a turning point for charities in terms of their
use of social media? What are the implications for comms teams, and does this
now open the door for new emerging social media technologies? We sat down with
a dealer recently to find out.
Welcome - Adeela Warley, Chief Executive, Charity Comms
Adida, great to see you. Thank you for joining us here on the
Charity show. It's lovely
00:15:00
to welcome you onto the show. As comms guys, ourselves, piers and
myself, we're very familiar with Charity comms and big fans of all that you do,
so it's fantastic to welcome you onto the show today.
Adeela Warley: Thank you very much for having me.
Tim Beynon: No, absolute pleasure. And I suppose that's one of
the reasons why we were really fascinated, because we are comms guys ourselves,
about charityCom's decision to kind of scale back your activity on X. It's
something that seems to be in the news quite a lot recently. But tell us a bit
about, why you decided to scale back, and why now?
Adeela Warley: So, like most charities, we monitor our social
media channels regularly. That's a job that's never done right. And this
analysis informs our wider social, media strategy. And after some really
thought provoking discussions with the team, with our trustees, we decided to
scale back activity on X. And we were on a journey like many other
organisations and we'd already started to think about a new social media
strategy and to try and align it with our organisational ambitions. And so we
were reviewing also our channel insights, how were our channels performing? And
the changes on X have given us more momentum, I suppose, to make that decision
and to scale back and actually invest our resources in a more dynamic approach
to social media. So we're going to keep monitoring X, for ourselves, and for
the sector, and we'll continue to support our community who are struggling with
some of these choices themselves.
The question of withdrawing from X completely
Tim Beynon: Sure. And when you were having those discussions, you
were talking about what steps to take was the prospect of withdrawing from X
completely on the table. Was that something that you discussed?
Adeela Warley: Yeah, yes it was. but we decided that it was
actually important to, for now, to still put some time into being on that
channel. Many of our members are still there and we have a role in seeing what
they're up to, helping to be their champion, spreading messages about their
campaigns and their asks. But it's also a place where we track what's going on
in the sector. It's the place for breaking news. So those things are still
quite important to us and so that's why we haven't chosen to completely leave
the platform for now. I mean this is a really, really live issue for so many
organisations and I think that's what's prompted you maybe to ask to have a
chat about it because we've seen certainly in the sector price lots of
charities adopting a whole spectrum of positions. and that's right, because I
really feel that there isn't one solution that fits all that. That definitely
isn't the approach. And it's interesting, I think over the summer when there
was so much unrest in the country, many charities took to their social media
channels and they did so in order to really champion the communities that were
being targeted by hate to communicate really powerful counter narratives. and I
was really struck by the fundraising that went on. I think I'm sure you'll
remember that Citizens Advice office in Sunderland was vandalised and there was
a fundraising effort on social media to help repair the damage. So I think all
of that shows just how social media continues to be a part of most charities
toolkit. And I think communicators at the moment are really on the front line.
They're being asked to advise their CEO's, their trustees, also staff and
volunteers in their organisation about what they should do. And because of
that, we wanted to support them. And we held a recent social media event which
created a safe place to reflect and to share their thought processes of what
was going on for them. And we found some really, we discovered some really,
important take home messages and I'll talk to you a bit about those now. So the
first thing was that charities, I said that there's no one size fits all, and
that's because charities need to start with their mission. What do they exist
to achieve? Who do they need to reach and engage to drive the change that
they're there to achieve? So keep the mission in mind, also to be really data
driven, because I know from talking to people that it's all too easy to be
caught in the middle, in a crossfire of different people's opinions and
assumptions or their personal values that they bring to work and to their jobs.
So really, drawing on the analytics, what your performance KPI's are showing
you is really important and to think about your organisational strategy. As
I've said, the other thing was
00:20:00
Adeela Warley: very much about ways of working. so it was about
making space in your organisation and time for really open and honest
discussion. because it isn't a yes no answer, it really is nuanced. And so
creating the space to do that was really important. And we know that social
media managers, they're kind of having to, they're on that, always on, culture.
And so just please support those teams and be kind and understand that they've
got an awful lot on their plate. And I think from our learning, we found that
with a really clear definition of both what your charity's voice is and a
definition of what each channel does for you, you can be confident, I think,
that you can bring your audiences together for connection and to take action
with you in the spaces that work best for you. So I think that's what we were
learning, really, from listening to our community.
Piers Townley: That's fascinating stuff, Adila. I think this is
the first time the spotlight has had to go onto a channel as well, isn't it?
We're all fairly new to this. We're all learning at speed. It's the first time
that for a variety of reasons, X has come under scrutiny and, teams and
charities are having to, like, you know, decide whether they want to use it. I
mean, as the Brain Tumour Charity. We're finding several of our, high profile
celebrities, for example, they're just withdrawing themselves off. So that led
us to then talk to our teams and get our teams together and say, well, what
should we do with X and how should we do it? And again, it's a constant
monitoring of it. But I know that other charities are actually leaving the
platform altogether. The likes of Race Equality foundation and Colchester and
Ipswich hospitals Charity. Are you surprised that charities are withdrawing
from Exxon? Do you think this will gain momentum in the future?
Adeela Warley: I'm not surprised, because we've walked that
journey as well. So, no, not surprised. I think people are rightly calling for
greater accountability from social media companies, by better moderation and
responsibility from the owners themselves. And I think since Elon Musk took
over, Twitter and turned it into x, there have been rising concerns about the
lack of investment in content moderation, how the algorithms are working to
promote the worst aspects of humanity, about safeguarding the users on your
platform and tackling misinformation. And Elon Musk's personal posts on the
platform have really driven some very, very divisive things, and not just in
the online space, but with quite devastating real world, consequences. One
point that our community have made really boldly to us is that, X is not
Twitter, that the platform has fundamentally declined and many of their
supporters are voting with their feet as well. But what I would say is, I
think, the glass half full in me is saying that these issues have helped to
create a space for innovation to thrive and that, the disruption in the tech
marketplace is creating new platforms, ah, that are emerging. And, this is
giving audiences more options and a possibility of something else. And I think
while none of us can, we've not got a crystal ball, we can't predict what will
happen with social media. I think that I take heart that people power can help
reclaim social media for the better. It can be a space where people come
together to make, positive change in the world, so people can still influence
the future of social media.
Tim Beynon: I think that's your point there. Around owners is a
really interesting one, because these aren't, necessarily organisations that,
are managed by a big board of directors or a big board of, trustees, making
sure the decisions are, made, in a certain way. This is an organisation, next
is an audition that can be fundamentally impacted by one man's tweets,
whatever, I don't know if they're called tweets anymore, whatever. They're
called one man's posts from one day to the next. And that's, as you say, that's
exactly what we're seeing. but at the same time, divisive content and
misinformation is not something that's unique to x, is it? Something does span
platforms as a whole. So why do you think, is it, do you think, do you. We
believe actually that it is because of those outside influences. Things like,
Musk buying Twitter, and then also things like Musk aligning himself, and where
he stands in the US election, for example, helping to generate some of that
content. And therefore, x is beginning to stand in isolation to the others in
terms of the amount and volume of this kind of divisive content.
Adeela Warley: I agree, I totally agree with what you said. I
think that is the reason that's driving this in particular around that
platform. But we know that all social medias have
00:25:00
Adeela Warley: their downside, and that's why there's been a
really positive move to bring in the, online safety bill, now an act, and we
will see how that really does influence the regulation of, the platforms
themselves. And the tech giants, now, the owners of those platforms in hm
truth, are becoming more powerful, powerful than traditional editors of
newspapers. So we do need to have individual responsibility as well as policies
that govern the platforms themselves.
New social media channel checklist for charities
Tim Beynon: And you mentioned earlier on, as well, about the
importance of protecting those social media teams. And there's people whose job
it is, it's not an easy job to monitor what goes on across the multiple
platforms that most charities are on these days. What would your advice be? Or
how does Charity comms, how can Charity comms support Charity? To help those
teams, to help those individuals, to do that on a day to day basis.
Adeela Warley: So we provide, a lot of, information and
resources, whether that's best practise guides or templates, or the latest
thinking through blogs. And all of that can be had on our, social media hub. So
that's a brilliant place for people to start out. But we've recognised that
this whole issue has, the charities need more support. And so we're creating a
new social media channel checklist, and, we're going to be releasing that
really soon, in the next couple of days. And what that's going to do is it's
going to provide a structured way for charities to have that conversation. The
questions they need to ask, the challenges that they need to make internally so
they can go through the checklist. And, that will help them to tailor, their
own social media decisions and strategy in the longer term. So I'd really
encourage people to have a look at that. We've had a wonderful expert working
with, us on it and I think it's going to be a really helpful resource, not just
for our members, for the sector more widely.
Tim Beynon: I think that sounds fascinating. I think it'd be
really interesting to see how teams can use that. I think some of the
challenges facing comes to teams and social media teams is how they then
potentially have those conversations with their senior leadership teams, just
because they're seeing it much more out of the cold face on a day to day basis.
Senior leadership team will be one step removed, perhaps so helping teams have
those conversations with their senior leaders will be really important.
Piers Townley: And Adeela, charity comms mentions in the
statement that they're, excuse me, ploughing their energies into wider social
media strategy in new and exciting ways. Can you expand a little bit on this?
And what are the things that be taking into account as part of this project,
this ongoing project?
Adeela Warley: We have a really small comms team at Charity
comms. Believe it or not, we're a tiny but mighty team. And so, like many small
teams, we have to make strategic choices about where we invest our skills and
our energy. and we're thinking a lot about how we can innovate, and this
includes with our content and where that content is best placed to reach and
inspire and engage our audience. And we found that LinkedIn has been a growing
platform, for us and we want to invest more time here to actually build
conversations and communities. And we feel that this just absolutely makes
sense for us. So that's the shift that we're making at the moment.
Piers Townley: Excellent. That's interesting. We had this
conversation offline, Tim and I, when, we launch the podcast and ongoing, when
we're monitoring our, social media presence and working out, where do we place
our efforts, it's a challenge and it's really interesting to then to keep on,
to keep 1ft in front of the other when you are, looking at all these different.
Tim Beynon: Channels, just to interject. I'd agree completely
that LinkedIn seems to be the place where, as a sector, we're having those
conversations. So it seems to be the place where that kind of safe space, if
you'd like for us to have, for the sector as a whole, to have.
Adeela Warley: Those kind of conversations, dare I say it,
podcasts. We're on a podcast, and that is a brilliant place for really,
thoughtful, conversation out of the kind of reactive space, but a place for
reflection and exchange of ideas. And I saw a wonderful, roundup by, Madeleine
Sugden, who's in our community as well. Freelancer of all the podcasts are out
there. So, yeah, yay, podcasts.
Piers Townley: We'll take that. Onwards and upwards.
Testing new emerging platforms
Where do you stand on emerging platforms such as the likes of
Blue sky and some further ones that are going to be in there in the future?
Adeela Warley: We are watching with great interest blue sky. Many
of our members are already there and, we've been asked whether we're going to
join. And again, it's a question of resource, isn't it? We will really keep
monitoring it and if it looks like it's going to offer the sector and us a
place, then we'll be there. But I think it's test and learn at the moment.
Piers Townley: Yeah, I think you can feel that, can't you? In
other charities and other comms teams that we talk to or interact with, they're
all keeping an eye on, what is emerging and where is the best use of,
00:30:00
Piers Townley: as you say, often limited resources and smaller
teams?
Adeela Warley: Yeah, I mean, two, these are small teams there,
slightly larger charities, but we've had presentations and talks with RSPB and
the National Trust and they have been experimenting. So RSPB have been using
TikTok really effectively and they found that that has brought them more of the
Gen Z generation. and the National Trust have been experimenting with threads
as a place not for campaigning, not for push broadcast communications, but for
engagement and fun, not to talk about scones. As you can imagine, they're
really good examples of how charities are testing and learning and exploring
the ecosystem of social media options available to them, but for good strategic
reasons.
Piers Townley: Now we're seeing some of that at the Brain dream
of Charity. The last six months has seen us, not me personally, a social media
team. For me, it's largely witchcraft, but they've been exploring TikTok as
well and we found a great deal of engagement, as you say, with, the younger
audience to spread our campaigning, spread our work. But I can see it in the
comm scene when I'm sitting next, I'm doing social media team. Is that very
much that test and learn? It's like treading, just seeing what happens and then
reporting back and obviously then reporting back to the wider Charity as a
whole, especially SLTs and CEO's,
Adeela Warley: Internal comms is such an important part of the
piece.
Tim Beynon: I've been enjoying the TikTok trends for the Gen Z,
write the scripts for charities and, full of the kind of language that my kids
talk and nothing to do. Just talking about blue sky, though. Do you think that
possibly this might be the time for emerging smaller tech companies to get a
bigger slice of the pie, as it were? Because is there perhaps a bit of a fear
or a scepticism about the motives behind the tech giants, the xs and the metas
of this world?
Adeela Warley: Yeah, definitely. And, you know, when you look
back at when Twitter started, I think that was more of the ethos, wasn't it? It
was much more progressive and community minded and it's obviously, things do
change. So I think you've definitely got something there.
Other challenges charities are facing with social media
Tim Beynon: and just looking at the social media landscape in
sort of broader terms, what are some of, sort of, some of the other challenges
you're perhaps seeing or that you're, aware of in the Charity conference is
helping charities with at the moment? Is there things like perhaps an over
dependence on social media as a comms tool? Is the balance right amongst
charity comms team in terms of how much weight they put on social media? What
are some of those other sort of challenges you're seeing on?
Adeela Warley: Well, we've touched on one already, actually,
which is about leadership. So the, Charity Digital skills report this year
highlighted the need for trustees and senior teams to enrich their
understanding of how digital works, because that is absolutely crucial in
underpinning reputation management, managing risk for your organisation and
also supporting your social media teams, understanding the challenges they face
and the choices that they're having to make. So I think that is a recurring theme
that we hear from art, from professional comms people. The second is being time
poor. This is just such a beating drum at the moment that teams are incredibly
stretched. and, you know, monitoring social media and testing and learning.
Both things we've just talked about, they take time. And so I think
permissioning teams to have that time and space to go to events, to do
training, and, do networking, that time is well invested. It will really repay
you if you invest in it. So those were two themes that I think, are broader
digital social media than social media trends.
Tim Beynon: Do you think as well, that for some charities that
social media can perhaps paint a bit of a misleading picture in regards to some
engagement and support? I think the old chestnut likes do not necessarily lead
to donations. I can and ask charities, perhaps putting too much, emphasis on
social at the expense, maybe some of the more traditional media, some direct
mail, or obviously that's much more expensive, but there's sort of more
traditional forms of comms.
Adeela Warley: I think charities have always had to have a really
diverse portfolio of tools and tactics, both online and offline. And one of the
things from a comms professional perspective that Covid taught us is that we
have to have the ability to rapidly, rapidly flex and we had to flex away from
real world activity to online activity. And that pendulum is swinging back and
you only have to look at things like challenge events. They're really on the
up. So I think that flexibility, to respond to the external environment as well
as
00:35:00
Adeela Warley: to technology sits at the heart of really
effective communications. We definitely need to move away from vanity metrics,
as you mentioned. And I think that the only way to do that is to have complete
clarity about which channels you're using and why, which audiences you need to
talk to and what you want them to do with you, and then be able to monitor the
impact, of those channels in delivering those things for you. And so it's about
setting measurable and meaningful KPI's, and ones that you can not just track,
but you can actually use to change what you're doing. So they're actionable,
tracking measures and I'll mention Charity comms's digital benchmark. So this
is a tool that is run by us for a tech company, called Uprise up. And what it does
is it allows charities to monitor, all their digital performance, KPI's, but
not only their own performance, but to look at how they're doing within the
sector. So, yeah, that's a really good tool, for helping charities to, you
know, understand what's going on and make good choices.
Piers Townley: So great scientists and methods and tools that the
chad skills in the wider world at the moment, obviously, we'd agree real when
the podcast comes out entering the election.
Dealing with misinformation
So misinformation is going to be the buzzword, and it has been
for a long, long time. We recently had Saskia Konenberg, from NCBO, came on the
show and she said that charities should, quote, verify information, train their
teams, deal with misinformation quickly and report misleading or fake contact,
efficiently. So is this issue about training or retraining social teams to be
more aware of misinformation out there?
Adeela Warley: Well, really great advice from Saskia, who happens
to be a trustee at charity comms. So definitely follow that advice. And I do
think that training and the ability to be responsive is very much part of the
answer here. But I think it's also really important to be aware of the best
practise and insights when it comes to how you deal with misinformation. So we
work quite regularly with frameworks UK. and they have got, they've talked a
lot to our communities about the dangers of myth busting. It can backfire
things that you're actually trying to get rid of. By talking and leading your
communications on those facts and figures, you can actually reinforce them and
embed even more. So, do take a look at frameworks UK. They've got some
fantastic guidelines about the top, top tips of how to if you are going to do
myth busting, how to avoid the traps. And then the other thing I'd say is we
have a social media policy template which is really, really helpful and I think
the Charity commission have been happy to promote it as well to the sector. and
just bookmark our social media to help, because that's where you can get the
latest news and opinions, on coping with all of these challenges.
Piers Townley: Because I think especially, say if you were a new
member to a Charity and a new member to a social team, it would be, seems quite
daunting, wouldn't it? You have this skillset in terms of you're able to do
social content and, you know, all the analytics and stuff. But actually then to
be the voice of a charity on a social media platform must be quite a terrifying
experience. Perhaps, you know, when you're first getting into it. So a good
signpost there as well. Definitely want to fan the flames, all the
misinformation. That's why, as you say, with the myth busting, it can backfire,
can't it?
Adeela Warley: It can backfire and I think, you know, it can be a
lonely job. So my message is just don't try and go it alone. Reach out and use
people like charity comms and connect with your peers because they can share
their experiences and you can learn from each other. That's what it can be
about.
Piers Townley: Yeah, that's a good bit of advice because
obviously our social team for our charities sit very close to the PR team. So
the comms, so we get it. There's a lot of internal work that they have to do to
then justify and explain what they do to SLT or to trustees or to extended
teams. So yeah, there's a bit of a minefield I think, at times for them it is.
Adeela Warley: And I think. So we support not just external
communications teams, but internal communications communications team is one of
the strongest special interest group that we have and we see the charities
where internal comms works really closely alongside external comms team, that
is the key to success. I'll tell you. A charity that does it so brilliantly is
the RNLI. they just are so aligned and internal comms teams, they set the tone
for the internal culture and they can make sure that
00:40:00
Adeela Warley: all those internal stakeholders, your volunteers,
your staff, your donors, all of those people are on the same page. Not just
that they're on the inside track, that they know what you're going to say
almost before you said it.
Charity Comms Inspiring Communicator Awards
Piers Townley: Moving away from that minefield then for a moment,
Adila, we'd like to ask you about the, charity comms inspiring communicator
awards. Tell us a little bit more about them because I think the deadline is
just closed by the time the show goes out. But what am I there about?
Adeela Warley: So, it's one of the happiest times of my year. I
absolutely love the inspiring communicators awards. And really this is about
celebrating, those whose services to charity communications really go above and
beyond and it highlights people who particularly demonstrate spirit and insight
and skill, and above all are, ah, able to inspire others to get involved. So
yeah, the nominations are open until the 21 October. so yeah, that's what we're
doing with the Charity comms awards this year.
Tim Beynon: It's exciting stuff and as I remember rightly from
look at the website, Vicky Beavers, who was on the show, a few episodes back
from the sleep Charity, I think she won your strategic leader of the year
awards last year. The incredible work she does with the sneak charity, she is
fantastic. And I believe she's on the judging panel this time around as well.
Tell us a little bit about the panel. Who's going to be judging the winners?
Adeela Warley: Well, we have lots of categories, so we have quite
a few judges, so I don't think you'll want me to read them all off. But what I
will tell you is that we've got the panel is made up of nine of last year's
winners from those categories and then six of Charity comms own trusted. So
that's the judging panel.
Tim Beynon: Fantastic. And Wednesday, where are the awards
themselves?
Adeela Warley: Well, we are again, we're innovating. So we will
be doing an online screening event using LinkedIn and that is going to be on
the 4 December from eleven till 1215. And there'll be more information about
that on our website. And this year we're really keen to tell the stories,
behind the scenes of why our, winners have won in their category, what skills,
what lessons they can share with the sector. so we're really delighted to be
investing more in that backstage storytelling.
Piers Townley: Stories are key. Aren't they always?
Adeela Warley: Yes.
Piers Townley: Well, thank you so much Adida, for joining us and
you've given us so much future thought on so many things, not let alone, you
know, just x as a platform and all the very best for the awards. We'll be
watching and hopefully speaking to some of the US in due course. But thank you
so much for your time.
Adeela Warley: Thank you so much Tim and piers. I've really
enjoyed it.
Piers Townley: In each episode of the Charity show we want to
celebrate our sector superstars, those incredible people working, volunteering
and fundraising across our sector. And you can nominate your deserving
colleagues, volunteers or fundraisers, just email us
and@thecharityshowpodmail.com or get in touch through the links in the show
notes. You can even send us a voice message that we can play out in the next
episode. Who's your superstar this week, Ted?
Cheeky charity calendar for 2025
Tim Beynon: Okay, my superstar this week is a lady called
Michelle Oldfield. and this is a story about a calendar and it's not, it's not
something new. We've all heard of these kind of charity calendars in the past,
but this is a, ah, community sports group which is posed for a Charity calendar
that captures the beauty of an area but with a playful twist. And I bet you can
probably guess what the playful twist is. Cricketers, net boarders and cyclists
across the Vale of Belvoir in the East Midlands all feature in this calendar
girls style. Belvoir unveiled nude calendar for 2025. Organiser Michelle
Oldfield from Crockwell Bishop, which itself is a fantastic place name. Love
that. In Nottinghamshire, said she wanted to raise awareness after being
treated for breast cancer and she rallied her community to take part in a photo
shoot for the cheeky 2025 calendar. The months feature more than 30 people and
capture the stunning beauty of the veil of Belvoir and the stunning beauty of
other aspects as well, I imagine. and has so far raised 2000 pounds for breast
cancer now and prostate Cancer UK. So well done Michelle. I think that's a
great job. Yeah, amazing. keep an eye out for that calendar. What about you
Piers, who's your superstar?
Piers Townley: I just think if my fundraising team suggests such
a thing like that, I will definitely be politely declining that one. What month
would you choose, mister September also. Never going to happen. No, never going
to happen.
Snow dog sculptures to raise money for Derbyshire hospice
I'm not sure why I've gravitated to animal news and stories, this
podcast, but one caught my eye isn't a person as such, but a collection, and
it's a collection of dogs. And I love the impact the snowman stories have
around this time of year, around Christmas time of year, and the impact those
stories had when my kids were growing up around Christmas. And inspired by them
are the snow dog sculptures, which is fundraising for the Blythe house hospice.
The Blythe house hospice mouthful there in Derbyshire.
00:45:00
And it's going to feature twelve large snow dog sculptures from
artists across the UK, and they're going to be on display around the town of
Buxton and they're going to be auctioned off in December. Each one's going to
have a reserved price of 1500 pounds, but some of the designs and some of the
art on them are just absolutely beautiful and obviously based on that lovely,
lovely story around that time of year. And Sophie Wheeldon, the senior
community fundraiser of Blythe House Hospice, said, I think they are absolutely
incredible. They're so unique and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for us
as a hospice and for Buxton as a town to get something like this. It is
beautiful to see them here in all their glory, and they look brilliant, Tim.
And they're inspired from such a christmasy, wonderful story and to support the
simply incredible work the hospice do in the area. And indeed, you know, a big
shout out to all the hospices around the UK and all they do for so many people.
I think in both roles that we have at the charities, we see so much great work
being done by hospices and sometimes they are overlooked. but they are an
incredible function, but everyone should get behind.
Tim Beynon: I think there's a brilliant fundraiser. I've seen
them before. I know in Bristol they had, Wallace and gromit statues, around the
city for a while and they were all auctioned off, raised a huge amount of money
for Charity because they not only, you know, give an artist an opportunity to
show their skill, they also brighten up the local community. They give people
something to visit, to look at and to try and find around the whole of Bristol.
Maybe there was a hunt you could go on around Bristol to find all the Wallace
and grommets, and at the end of the day, they're auctioned off and they raise a
huge amount of money for Charity. So, yeah, more of that I think.
Piers Townley: We know all about, isn't it? wouldn't.
Tim Beynon: Yeah, absolutely.
Coming up
Piers Townley: So that's it for episode twelve. Huge thanks to a
dealer for really giving us something to consider professionally and personally
in terms of whether stay on X War turn to something new. And we've got some
other great guests coming up on the next few episodes, too.
Tim Beynon: Absolutely. We certainly have, huh? Coming up next
time, we're going to be talking about challenge events with Tracy Ann Breeze
and finding out why charities need to be doing more of them. And in November,
we'll also be discussing philanthropy and major donors. And we'll be welcoming
a very special celebrity guest onto the show to talk about his penchant for
extreme challenges. So find out who he is in a few episodes of time.
Piers Townley: Sounds, intriguing. And don't forget, you can be
part of the show, too. Just send us your voice messages. We'll get in touch
through any of the links in the show notes to share your stories and tell us
what you'd like us to cover.
Tim Beynon: Don't forget, we want to know who your superstar
fundraisers, volunteers, or colleagues are, too. So head to the show notes and
share their brilliance with the rest of us.
Piers Townley: And in the meantime, please follow or subscribe to
us on your usual podcast platform and leave us a review, both of which will
help others to find the show.
Tim Beynon: So that's it for this episode. Thank you for
listening. Take care and we'll see you soon.
Adeela Warley: It.
00:47:48
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