Comments on: April LBM with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:30:30 +0000

Charities need to work the Internet – blogs, e-mail, web and social networking sites – to reach and maintain contact with new generations of donors, both in this country and around the world.

The Internet enables charities to convey their message to people who would otherwise never be aware of it, and to organise them into effective pressure groups.

Used sensibly it provides a cost-effective method of reaching new people and maintaining and strengthening contact, a straightforward and direct link that is also fun, motivating both staff and supporters.

By: amethyst

amethyst — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:58:31 +0000

…because in their own individual, unique and particular way blogs (and other online communities) reach the parts that other (mainstream) publications don’t. They have an implicit trust for speaking from the heart – with sincerity and often with no holds barred. Their impact may be quiet(er) but they have a significant, effective impact and appeal to their loyal readership and following. Perfect for conveying an important message, real thoughts in a meaningful way.

By: Meaghan Fitzgerald

Meaghan Fitzgerald — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:29:44 +0000

One of the most unique features of online communication and social media is the ability for a message or story to change in its telling as it is passed from one person to the next. Blogs add commentary, Twitter quips give context, social bookmarking sites influence though tagging. A message that experiences all of this change as it passes through individuals has a different sort of power and meaning than a marketing message that is static, as in an advertisement on TV or in the paper – or even online.

Charities can’t afford to miss out on the opportunity for their own message to become personalised by others again and again as it passes through the many online communication tools. It is often the power of personal experience and the individual reasons for aiding a charity that carry more weight than any message the charity itself could create and social online communications allow others to enhance a basic message with their own stories.

By: derry

derry — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:55:29 +0000

I think a well-known quote by the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead can be applied to both charities and to online groups such as bloggers. It reads:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

It is a given that charities engage with any community that can further their cause. There can be no other way. Online communications represent a means to acheiving that goal in communities on the internet, such that they are.

By: Cristiano Betta

Cristiano Betta — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:28:18 +0000

Online communication facilitates any charity to bring their cause beyond the few and into the hands and minds of the many. Technologies like blogs, forums, twitter, and social networking apps make it possible for any charity to go beyond the grass roots stage reaching the long tail of like minded people world wide. To stay truth to their cause, charities do not just have the right to open online communication and campaigning, but also the duty to do so to its members.