The South West Group is a network of comms professionals working in UK charities and not-for-profit organisations in the South West of England and Wales.
At this event 52 Lives, Cowshed and UWE Bristol discussed what channels and tools they’re using for campaigns, what’s working and not working so well, how they’re measuring and evaluating success and their top tips to take away.
Presentations
Cowshed was set up in 2014 by Vicki Spencer-Francis to use her 20 years of experience in PR and marketing to create campaigns that drive positive change. They work solely with clients that pass their ‘doing good things for good people’ test. Drawing on their hands on experience of managing campaign digital channels for organisations like Public Health Wales, Sport Relief 2016, Red Nose Day 2015, Abergavenny Food Festival and National Trust Wales, they discussed the range of digital channels and tools available and top tips for getting the most out of them, along with how to measure and evaluate impact.
Vicki Spencer-Francis, managing director, Cowshed
Kate Mann, associate director, Cowshed
52 Lives is a charity that aims to help change someone’s life, somewhere in the world, every week of the year with the help of almost 100,000 kind strangers and 52 celebrities who support the charity. As well as giving people tangible help, the philosophy behind 52 Lives is very much about spreading kindness and changing mindsets. 52 Lives started life as a Facebook page for Jaime’s friends and family. Jaime shared the story of how she used digital channels to expand its reach and how they engaged a large number of loyal supporters. She also shared the lessons learned from the rapid social media success the charity experienced after an appearance on ITV’s Surprise Surprise.
Jaime Thurston, founder and CEO of 52 Lives
Article: Fundraising using social media – lessons from 52 Lives by Richard Hudson
The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) is one of the largest higher education providers in the country with more than 25,000 students and 3,000 staff. As well as delivering degree programmes as diverse as animation, midwifery, engineering and law, the university is also a centre of world-class research that’s making a positive impact right across the world. As manager of UWE Bristol’s central social media channels, Richard discussed the challenges faced in balancing the needs and expectations of a varied and disparate audience and how digital channels are utilised to achieve this. He gave an insight into how the university uses different social media platforms to achieve different campaign objectives as well as how limited budgets are made to go a long way.
Richard Tatnall, social media editor, UWE Bristol
About the South West Group
Meeting three times a year in Bristol, each event focuses on a different comms topic with presentations, group discussions and networking. These events are a great opportunity to meet your peers, compare notes on workplace practices and share successes, ideas, challenges and inspiration. The group is designed to encourage networking and peer-to-peer support, sharing issues in a ‘safe’ and relaxed environment.
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