The buzzword is digital and the result can be dynamite; the question is how do you use the former to generate the latter? The answer is: using traditional customer-oriented marketing in a new-fashioned way!

In line with various white papers on the subject, the key to driving engagement with your supporters and service users is to create a more personalised experience on and offline. In this digital age where the internet is the first port of call for information, Bright One is looking at the internet’s role in building charities’ brand experiences.

The ‘Social Graph’ uses personal information that people put online and looks at how they relate to their social connections. This commonly uses the social networks that you are probably on: Facebook; Twitter; perhaps LinkedIn – as well as scoping the rest of the internet. It gives you the ability to target markets via both their own online social activity (such as Likes) and that of their social connections. Take Facebook for instance: there are fans or ‘Likers’ of a brand, and their friends. The latter is a whole new target group for your brand – ready set with accessible contact details.

The ‘Social Graph’ potentially allows you to reach a larger number of people. It also allows you to use your markets’ online information to target them with personalised messages, which are statistically far more effective than generic messages. The British Heart Foundation is just one charity including this approach in their strategy; is it time for you to take notice of the tangible results that social media can generate too…?

We’re delighted to announce the launch of BrightWorks, a microvolunteering app from Bright One.

Bright One has achieved great success in the past two years, all through the passion and determination of its volunteers (as we have no paid staff). But teams of volunteers can only achieve so much, and demand overwhelmingly outstrips supply when it comes to supporting the amount of charities that approach us on a daily basis for support.

This is where BrightWorks, a microvolunteering app that allows projects to be broken down into smaller tasks and completed online, will help us to scale the amount of support we can give.

BrightWorks is a microvolunteering app that allows nonprofits to get tasks completed for free online by a global volunteer community. It is an effective, simple-to-use and easy-to-get-started micro volunteering platform.

For charities and non-profits, BrightWorks is a way for nonprofits to outsource a range of tasks from a range of disciplines, including PR, Marketing, Social Media, Design, Multimedia, Copywriting and more. By outsourcing projects and tasks, non-profits are freed to concentrate on core activity elsewhere and greatly increase their capacity.

For volunteers, BrightWorks allows them  to work freely on causes that they are passionate about from wherever they are and whatever time is convenient, with tasks geared towards their specific skill set Volunteers can benefit by learning new skills as they complete projects, create stronger networks through working collaboratively on tasks with other volunteers, and give back to the community by supporting nonprofits in their valuable work.

The idea at the heart of BrightWorks that it will be a self organising, ‘peopled’ service, breaking down projects to ensure that many hands make light work, in a visually appealing format so that volunteers feel comfortable in working in the environment. We envision that the app will act as a conductor, allowing volunteers to work moving freely on causes that they’re passionate about from wherever they are and whatever time best suits.

We are currently in the ‘beta’ phase in the site’s development. so the project is still being fine tuned and we’re looking to iterate quickly. We think it’s vital to get real feedback from users on what is a new approach for us, so please email us with any comments you have.

And of course there’s much more to follow, so make sure to sign up to our email newsletter, subscribe to the blog, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

These bi-monthly socials will be a relaxed and informal way for the Bright One community to meet on a regular basis and get to know each other a bit better. After all, we’ve got a fantastic group of volunteers working on some amazing campaigns, so it will be a great way to make contacts, share knowledge and have a good time too.

The first meet up is taking place on Wednesday 23rd February from 6:30pm onwards at:

The Crown and Two Chairmen
31-32 Dean Street
Soho, London
W1D 3SB

Google Map
Nearest Tube: Tottenham Court Road / Oxford Circus

Feel free to come along if you’re not currently a volunteer but want to find out what we’re up to, or simply to show your support and meet the rest of the Bright One team.

We’ve got an area reserved upstairs, so see you on Wednesday 23rd Feb from 6:30pm – it would be great to see you there, so register your place!

We’re delighted to announce that Bright One has received the Outstanding Impact Award for our Impress conference, which was awarded as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Just 131 out of over 700 Global Entrepreneurship Week event organisers have qualified for this digital accolade, so it’s a fantastic recognition for those involved in making the event happen. You can see what people had to say about Impress in our previous blog post on the event.

We’ll be running the event again in 2011, but in the meantime find out more about Impress or take a look at the other awards that Bright One has won.

The Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign is our flagship fundraiser that will raise US$1 million for the Women’s Aid Organisation of Malaysia & the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in the US.

How? By unveiling, pixel by pixel, an exclusive mystery collage of celebrity male role model portraits. As each pixel is removed, more of the picture will be unveiled. With pixels costing only US$1 each and the smallest donation amount set at US$5, everyone can take part!

Between November 25 and December 9, you can get a head start on the campaign through Pledge for Pixels. Simply log in to the Pledge for Pixelspage and enter the number of pixels you pledge to buy once the campaign launches.

Your name and country will appear on the Honour Roll of Pixel Pledges and then on our list of donors once you fulfill your pledge!

The full campaign launches December 10, so this is your chance to get in there and make a difference now!

It would be wonderful if you could forward this email request to your family members, friends and relevant mailing lists to help us drum up even more support!

Thanks a lot for your support. It’s time to end violence against women. Together.

The inaugural Impress London, the event for the next generation of PR professionals, took place last week on Thursday 11 November 2010.

The Edelman UK offices played host to around 70 media and comms students looking for an insight into the industry, top tips on how to get their career in PR going, and to network with others interested in media and comms. Unicorn Jobs sponsored the lunch, complete with cupcakes for an afternoon pick me up.

Below are the photos from the day, but you can view them all on the Bright One Flickr photostream.

All in all it was a fantastic day and the feedback that we here at Bright One have received has been fantastic. Here are a few of the write ups we’ve seen so far:

• Behind The Spin: Bright One seeks to Impress
• Offer and Acceptance: To Tweet or not to Tweet?
• Stefan Stern: Where have all the customers gone?

And below is a selection of quotes from those who attended, giving you the insiders impression of the first Impress London event:

“Thanks so much for a brilliant event! There was a real buzz, great people, interesting and engaging speakers – it was fantastic! I think it was really useful whether an early career starter or just graduated.It’s inspired me to start tweeting, and given loads of ideas for work plus the volunteer fundraising stuff I do.”
– Kate Siddiqui

“Just a quick note to thank you for organising yesterday’s event – everyone I spoke to was very impressed by both the organisation and the content. Big plus for me was the wide range of expert speakers”
– Ross Chater

“It was really amazing. I learnt so much in a short space of time. The key speakers were amazing and honest which is good and they made us feel that we could contact them for help later. Also the food and welcome was good. It was done very well and really professional. It gave a real insight into the world of PR so now I know what I need to do in order to get where I want to be.”
– Karina Callam

“As a whole, the entire event was absolutely excellent from start to finish. I do really mean that. I think Bright One did a really good job of getting hold of quality speakers who were really passionate about what they spoke about and who are really clued up in their field of interest. Thank you for the event, it was by far the best career advice session I have attended, and believe me, I have been to many!”
– Avneet Chana

“I thought the range of speakers and topics were really interesting. It was nice to hear about something other than ‘which sector to choose’ or ‘in-house v agency’. The social media stuff was really relevant and up to date and I found Sarah’s talk really helpful.”
– Rhian McNulty

“Thank you so much for organising Impress London! It was really lovely opportunity to meet and understand the industry, and of course meet with some lovely people. I do hope that you keep putting together more of these events.”
– Melanie Fernandes

“I just wanted to say that I thought it was brilliant, it couldn’t have been better organised or more informative. I have learnt so much and I am really grateful, so thank you!”
– Bryony Cook

“I would like to thank you for organising such a great event related to PR and giving students like us an opportunity to know and learn about PR in details.I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.It was lovely listening to you and all the Guest Speakers, sharing the key components of PR and their relevant experiences in this field. I really look forward to such wonderful events in the future.”
– Anant Shrivastava

“I was very impressed by the organisation of the event and personally I was fascinated by all the speakers especially with Ali Gee… The fact that it was held in Edelman offices it was very inspiring as well. Keep up the good work, Bright One!”
– Leia-Foteini Loannidi

A big thank you for organising the Impress event. I thought it was great and everyone I talked to seemed to have enjoyed themselves so congratulations! In terms of feedback it is very positive. I thought the speakers were all great. I liked the fact that they were all fairly different from different backgrounds etc which gave the discussions added variation. And the mix of speakers, panel discussions, and break-out session kept everyone interested all day. I’ve been to a couple of events like this where there has been much more “talking-straight-at-you” and I don’t think that works as well so the set up of Impress was a great way of doing it.”
– Tove Nordstrom

“The conference was great, thank you for allowing us to take part in it. Very much enjoyed the social media talks, very interesting and insightful.”
– Jahanara Begum

“Thank you for organising such a nice day and for inviting people! I would say that everything was great, because you’ve formed a very interesting programme, with different people involved, and that was exactly what I was looking for – I wanted to hear about different parts of PR.”
– Ekaterina Malakhova

“Really enjoyed it and made some good people. I thought it was slickly run with some good speakers.”
– Hugo Mintz

“I can’t thank you more for Impress London. That was my first time to meet PR professionals in London and it was absolutely inspiring. It was really a good idea to have an afterward party for us to meet and talk to more people. Thank you again for what you have been doing and best wishes for the Bright One team.”
– Qian Yue

“It was a brilliant chance to meet many of the people I have been interacting with on Twitter and also meet other people working within PR who enjoy their jobs just as much as I hope to! It ran smoothly and I wasn’t bored at any point during the day. Enough time was spent on the separate topics and the fact we were always given chance to ask questions was brilliant. The topics covered were excellent, up to date and relevant.”
– Carli Ann Smith

“Thank you for organising such a great event related to PR and giving students like us an opportunity to know and learn about PR in details.I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.It was lovely listening to you and all the Guest Speakers, sharing the key components of PR and their relevant experiences in this field.”
– Anant Shrivastava

There’s still plenty of things we need to improve on, but we felt that this first event was of value to all that attended, so we’ll be looking at running similar events in the future.

Did you attend Impress London? Let us know of any other feedback you had in the comments below!

Bright One, the volunteer-run communications agency for the third sector, celebrates its second year anniversary through a partnership with the PRCA, the professional body that represents UK PR consultancies and in-house communications teams, and marks it with two remarkable results.

Firstly, Bright One is delighted to announce its partnership with the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), the UK PR consultants’ trade body. As well as joining the PRCA, Bright One will be given a voice by becoming closely involved with the PRCA’s not-for-profit working sectoral group.

The two organisations will work closely together to help raise awareness of the opportunities and need for PROs to volunteer their skills to the third sector and have its volunteering opportunities promoted to other PRCA’s members. This partnership is another step in making Bright One the pre-eminent volunteering organisation for the PR industry.

“We’re delighted to have Bright One on board as a member of the PRCA and look forward to working in partnership. Bright One is an initiative we’re keen to support, as not only does it help charities with their communications needs, but also helps develop the next generation of PR professionals – the future of our industry. They couldn’t get off to a better start than by volunteering with Bright One.”

Francis Ingham, chief executive of the PRCA

Secondly, following its successful first year, Bright One has measured the social impact of the work carried out by its volunteers during its second year. The impact has been quantified by calculating the amount of resource that charities have been able to access as a result of Bright One’s services. Its volunteers have collectively dedicated a whopping 2,700 hours of PR and communications support to helping small charities with their PR and communications efforts. This equals over £300,000 worth of consultancy services. Year on year, Bright One has donated an extra 1,200 hours of work organised through the agency, and generated a 54% increase in economic value.* Bright One’s volunteer’s have created this impact for clients such as Amnesty International, Centrepoint and the Social Enterprise Coalition.

“We are thrilled with how our second year of life has gone.” Ben Matthews, Founder of Bright One, said. “We’ve turned in a fantastic contribution to the third sector’s communications needs, thanks to a growing number of committed and competent volunteers. Charities often cannot afford to invest much in PR, and we are proud to have provided a huge amount of consultancy services, at the same time giving professionals in our industry the chance to volunteer and broaden their skills.”

“It seems fitting that our growth should be marked by the partnership with the PRCA; we are delighted and proud to become members of our professional trade body and to be recognised for our role in both the PR and the volunteering sectors.”

“We are stepping into our third year with continued enthusiasm, and we already have a number of high profile initiatives underway for the near future. We are hoping to continue to attract high-calibre of the volunteers who put themselves forward, and who deserve respect and recognition for their hard work. Without them we could not be where we are today.”

* This number is obtained by multiplying the number of volunteers by the number of hours they donate per week by number of weeks the account has been active with Bright One. This is then multiplied GBP 115, an average flat hourly fee a commercial agency would charge a client for a PR executive’s work. This is a conservative estimate as it uses an indicative fee for a volunteer’s contribution.

Finding relevant people to follow on Twitter can seem like a daunting process. There are millions of people on Twitter, so how do you find the right ones to follow? Below is a list of useful tools to help you find people to follow.

1. The Twitter Search Engine
The Twitter search engine (search.twitter.com) is a powerful tool. Type in any general search term that is related to your company, nonprofit, or interests, and you can see a live feed of everyone who is tweeting on that topic. It may take some patience to weed through all the spammy, irrelevant mentions of the keyword, but you might be able to find some interesting people through the Twitter Search Engine.

2. Other Twitter Accounts
Looking at who other people are following is also an easy step in following relevant people on Twitter. Many Twitter accounts have “lists” that sort accounts in categories, which can be useful for browsing.

It might be best to start off with an influential person or website in your industry. For example, if I were a nonprofit, I would probably look at a Twitter profile like Idealist (@Idealist) and see who they are following and who they are talking about and do the same with those people and so on.

3. Online Twitter Directories
There are many new websites popping up now that serve as directories for Twitter accounts and groups. Here are some you may find useful:

1. WeFollow – WeFollow is probably the best, and is easy to use. Simply sign in with your Twitter account, add yourself to the directory, and see who else has added themselves in that directory. You can also see who the biggest “influencers” are in that category and who has the most followers
2. Twibes – Similarly, Twibes acts as a directory for Twitter accounts
3. Mr. Tweet – A service that recommends users you should follow
4. Twellow – Another comprehensive directory for Twitter accounts

4. “Find People” Function on Twitter
If you click “Find People” at the top of your Twitter page, you can click on “Browse Interests” and select the relevant category to see accounts that are recommended by Twitter.

Twitter now also has a function on some user profiles which presents recommended accounts to follow on the sidebar.

What’s even more exciting for us is that the Social Enterprise Mark is also a client, as we helped launch the Mark in February 2010 and have been working with them to develop their online presence and engage with social entrepreneurs through social media.

The Social Enterprise Mark is the brand for social enterprises, businesses that have a socially driven mission. Social enterprises are working to make a difference across the UK and beyond, but not enough people know what they are or how they work. The Social Enterprise Mark aims to raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.

You can find out more by watching the video below:

Ben Matthews, Founder of Bright One, said: “Bright One is absolutely committed to supporting charities, social enterprise and other third sector organisations in their communications activities, allowing them to raise awareness and much needed funds for their causes. We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which shows that we have created a sustainable organisation that makes a real impact to both volunteers and charities.”

Lucy Findlay champion from the Social Enterprise Mark Company, added: “We are delighted to award the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark to Bright One. Social enterprises come in all shapes and forms so it’s great to see a vital voluntary organisation understanding the importance of being part of the wider social enterprise brand.”

You can find out more about the Social Enterprise Mark at www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk.

Here at Bright One, we’re delighted to announce the launch of CharityComms 2020, a unique and intriguing snapshot of the most significant communications trends of the coming decade.

Participants were invited to write down the five trends they see as the most significant in the coming decade. These points are accompanied by an image that reflects their vision, giving a very personal view of what each contributor thinks lies ahead.

Charities represented in the initiative include Amnesty International, Macmillan Cancer Support, UNICEF, Friends of the Earth, The Scout Association, and many more. There’s also a host of influential thinkers in the charity comms space who have contributed, including Jonathan Waddingham at JustGiving, Rachel Beer at beautiful world, Steve Bridger and Amy Sample Ward.

Bright One has been working on the initiative in partnership with CharityComms, the professional body for charity communicators.

Ben Matthews, founder of Bright One said: “The combined vision of so many influential thinkers in the charity sector has produced a unique insight into the future of communications. We hope CharityComms 2020 will provide ideas and inspiration to enable charities to tackle the challenges of the coming decade with confidence.”

And you can take part!

You’re invited to add your own five trends and an accompanying image to the presentation by sending us an email and we’ll update as further submissions are received.

We hope you enjoy CharityComms 2020 and find it useful in helping to tackle the challenges of the coming decade. We’d love to hear what you think, so please leave your comments below.

What are your five trends you see affecting charity communications in the next 10 years?