Regional CVSs and Covid-19

Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash

Councils for Voluntary Service

“A Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) is a type of charity in England. CVSs are “the place at which local voluntary and community organisations speak to each other”. They offer a wide variety of services and support for local organisations, for example training, or advice on funding”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Voluntary_Service

Each CVS in the various parts of the West Midlands has a link to information about the local response to the Covid19 pandemic.

Updates


Some of these pages are updated on a regular basis. Please check back regularly.

CVS on Twitter


Each CVS’s Twitter feed should give you their latest information.

Something missing?


Please let us know if we have missed an area or organisation by emailing me at paulineroche.news@gmail.com 

PlaceAgencyCOVID19 info Twitter
Birmingham Birmingham Voluntary Service Council https://www.bvsc.org/C19SupportBrum https://twitter.com/BVSC
Bromsgrove & RedditchBromsgrove and Redditch Network https://barn.org.uk/covid-19/https://twitter.com/BARNNetwork
Coventry Voluntary Action Coventry http://www.vacoventry.org.uk/https://twitter.com/VACoventry
DudleyDudley Council for Voluntary Service http://dudleycvsreview.org/covid-19-community-action-and-support/https://twitter.com/DudleyCVS
Herefordshire Community First (Herefordshire & Worcestershire)https://www.comfirst.org.uk/community_firstrsquos_response_to_coronavirushttps://twitter.com/comfirst
Malvern Hills Community Action Malvern & District https://www.communityaction.org.uk/stay-connected-help-line/https://twitter.com/CommunityActio1
Sandwell Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations https://www.scvo.info/covid-19/https://twitter.com/SCVOSandwell
Shropshire Shropshire Rural Community Council https://www.shropshire-rcc.org.uk/news/coronavirus-update/?hid=#-anchorhttps://twitter.com/Shropshire_RCC
Solihull Colebridge Trust & Enterprisehttps://colebridge.org/covid-19/latest-notice/https://twitter.com/colebridgetrust
Staffordshire Support Staffordshire (includes Cannock Chase, Lichfield and Tamworth) https://www.supportstaffordshire.org.uk/covid-19-supporthttps://twitter.com/supportstaffs
Stoke on TrentVoluntary Action Stoke On Trent (VAST) https://corona19.vast.org.uk/https://twitter.com/VASTstaffs
Stratford-on-Avon Voluntary Action Stratford-on-Avon District https://www.vasa.org.uk/corvid-19-update-27th-march/https://twitter.com/vasaorg
Telford & WrekinTelford & Wrekin CVShttps://www.telfordandwrekincvs.org.uk/update-covid-19-coronavirushttps://twitter.com/TelfordVolServe
Walsall One Walsallhttps://onewalsall.org/https://twitter.com/One_Walsall
Warwick & Warwickshire & SolihullWarwickshire Community and Voluntary Action https://www.wcava.org.uk/covid-19https://twitter.com/wcavaorg
Worcester & WorcestershireCommunity First (Herefordshire & Worcestershire) https://www.comfirst.org.uk/community_firstrsquos_response_to_coronavirus https://twitter.com/comfirst 
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council http://www.wolverhamptonvsc.org.uk/covid19/https://twitter.com/WolvesVSC

How do you review your digital footprint?

post revised and updated Mar 2018

TWEAKING SOME PRACTICES: IT’S NOT ALL OR NOTHING

Having discussed wider and strategic issues in the previous two articles in this series (Smart Cities: smarter VCSE and Digital governance) we thought it necessary in this article to provide some practical guidance for organisations about how to incorporate such activities into their operational activities.

MODIFICATIONS

This is a process of making modifications and not necessarily making wholesale changes within your organisations or practice.

All organisations use some form of IT and therefore have an existing digital footprint (“one’s unique set of traceable digital activities, actions, contributions and communications that are manifested on the Internet or on digital devices” – Wikipedia).

Organisations use technology to monitor activity and therefore have access to specific and bespoke data.

WEBSITES

Websites are commonplace for most organisations and provide an excellent shop window for services and activities but do we make the best use of them, including to meet and collaborate with others?

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

As a sector we are now hearing a great deal about digital transformation – there are individuals and organisations that would advise us as to how to maximise our digital presence and data footprint but, unless organisations understand and own their own journey, they will not get the full benefit of the activity.

This article therefore provides some guidance as to how to review your activity

DO YOU KNOW WHAT DATA YOU KEEP?

Do you believe that you could improve how you manage your digital footprint?

Have you:
• Discussed with your board how technology might help with your work?
• Identified staff processes and progress?
• Identified any time constraints?

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Does your digital footprint tell your story, celebrate your successes, and promote the numbers (people, events, networks, outcomes) you achieve, the issues you address, the impact you make?
How do you market or promote your organisation?

Do you use leaflets, networking, blog, social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter), your website?

DIGITAL BY DESIGN

• What data do you keep about your activities, your users, your funding sources, other?
• How do you present your data? In annual reports, in funding applications, in other publications?

EXPLORING YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE

We have divided an organisational digital presence into two distinct categories: fixed and fluid.

FIXED

Fixed digital includes websites and other IT processes. While the organisation has input into such activity, such resources can be inflexible, often purchased and maintained externally, used to promote and record organisational activity.

Web presence (fixed): What does it say about you, what information do you share, who is/are your target audience(s)? Develop a digital presence that tells your story, using narrative and data to represent impact and outcomes that are being achieved, and not just the information that represents how you fulfil contract obligations. What does your website say about your organisation?

FLUID

Social Media (fluid/flexible): Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp.

What does your use of social media say about your organisation? With social media, often controlled and administered in-house, you have more flexibility over your digital presence and can use this media to portray more intimate insights into the organisation.
Who manages your Facebook page, LinkedIn organisation page, Twitter account, website content? You, your staff and board can decide what stories get told using as many or as few of these platforms as make sense for your organisation – go where your users are.
Do you measure the impact of your marketing? Blogpost reads, e-bulletin circulation, Facebook followers, leaflet distribution, LinkedIn connections, Twitter followers and re-tweets, website use – create a baseline using analytics, and monitor changes so you can stay in the loop.

PEER TO PEER LEARNING

You can interact with peers from your sector in this area at various events and meetup groups. Peer to peer learning with other non-profits about using technology to achieve outcomes is a great way to learn and practice new ideas in a safe and supportive environment.

EVENTS

BarCamp Non Profits unconference brings together people from tech and digital with people from non-profits (charity, academic, government, arts and culture, etc) to exchange ideas and learning, in London

Net Squared Midlands: tech for social good is a West Midlands-based tech for good group, part of Net Squared a global network, with regular free events for people interested in using web or mobile technology for social good. “NetSquared brings together nonprofits and activists, tech leaders and funders, and everyone who’s interested in using technology for social change”.

NFP tweetup – informal evenings of thought-provoking sessions, sharing and discussion focused on how not-for-profit organisations can make the best use digital media and technology, in London

Tech for Good Near You – online real time searchable map of tech for good events in the UK and Ireland

VCSSCamp (Voluntary and Community Sector Support) is an unconference for people from VCS local infrastructure organisations to meet and talk about the ways they use digital tools and technology in their work; annually in Birmingham, other places by arrangement with the organisers

MANAGING DATA

Data management tools (some are open source software) allow you to have more control over data about your organisation, your area and your issues.

Your organisation could make use of free online tools to find, manage and visualise data such as:

and

This is a process of making modifications and not necessarily making wholesale changes within your organisations or practice.

TIMELINE AND ACTIVITY

Engaging in the above activity may look like a great deal of commitment – it isn’t.

We would estimate a maximum commitment of 20-30 minutes per day. Make it a part of your weekly timetable and activities and develop an organisational ‘cultural’ commitment to increasing your digital and data literacy.

It is more about doing things differently, adjusting how you work, making more efficient use of IT and digital.

WHAT NEXT?

If you or your organisation wants some strategic help to take any of these ideas forward, please contact us for a discussion about how we might help you progress.

READING

OTHER ARTICLES IN SERIES:

Smart Cities: smarter VCSE

Digital governance

Make yourself easier to find on LinkedIn

I’ve been using LinkedIn, and advising people on how to use it, for 10 years.

I use it to find phone numbers or email addresses, to check out business contacts I’ve just met or I’m about to meet, to search for topics I’m researching, to check my dashboard and/or to post comments and content (including cross-posting content to my Twitter account).

In my opinion as a business advisor, if you have a LinkedIn profile,  you should customise your LinkedIn public profile URL so your profile looks more professional, and so it can be found more easily by people with whom you want to connect.

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CUSTOMISE YOUR LINKEDIN PUBLIC PROFILE URL

  • As in the example below of my LinkedIn profile, go to your LinkedIn profile by clicking on your profile photo on the top right of the menu bar on the Home page and choose ‘View profile’.

  • Click on ‘Edit public profile & URL’ on the right side of the page

 

 

 

  • Navigate to the ‘Edit URL’ section on top right and click on the pencil icon by your current URL e.g. www.linkedin.com/in/paulineroche

 

 

 

  • Customise your URL by overwriting what’s there, including deleting the numbers which LinkedIn automatically adds when you sign up e.g. yourname.

Hint: If your name has already been taken by another LinkedIn member, use a middle name or initial to personalise yours.

Note: Your LinkedIn custom URL must contain 5-30 letters or numbers. LinkedIn does not allow you to use spaces, symbols, or special characters.

  • Save your new public profile URL by clicking on the SAVE button.

Note: You can change your URL up to 5 times within 6 months, but changing it may make it more difficult for people to find you.

NEXT STEPS

  • Add your customised LinkedIn URL to your email signature, and any other places where it might be useful e.g. on your business card and/or on your website.

  • If you like, let me know what you think of this tip, and if you have any other questions about LinkedIn.

 

 

Tech for good at a bad time

So it snows, and you have to cancel the seasonal market for which you’ve been preparing for the last few weeks, or even months. There are so many disappointed people – you, the organiser, your staff, your stallholders, their potential customers.

You and your staff have allocated time and resources, stallholders have prepared and/or refreshed products and services, customers were expecting to see and probably buy something new.

A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE?

Before completely abandoning the market, maybe there’s a viable alternative to cancelling it. Stallholders will have prepared­­ products and services for sale, and many of them will have been planning to offer customers some special offers or discounts.

What about creating and organising an online virtual market on your website, or other shared platform, offering at least some of the above?

A ‘VIRTUAL’ MARKET

This ‘virtual’ market could start whenever the actual market was due to start, and run up to whenever the season ends. You could use posts in your social media channels and have a catchy unique hashtag, which both stallholders and customers can re-use and cross-post.

Stallholders could submit some copy/video about their products/services for you to use (reasonable quality video can now be done on a smartphone) – they can make whatever they were planning to have had/sold/displayed at the actual market look as good as they can make it.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS

What are the potential benefits that could happen with a ‘virtual’ market? You and staff could get to use the allocated time and resources in a slightly different and creative way, stallholders could still show off their products and services, and customers, maybe even more than would have turned up in person, could still see and possibly buy something, and they might also recommend the market to their contacts – bonus marketing!

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

We know that not every organisation is set up for adapting to a situation like this. We know that not every organisation can yet take payment online or over the phone. We also know many smaller organisations don’t have a website, Facebook page or other online presence. These cases illustrate what we, for some time, in our business RnR Organisation, have been saying needs to be happening in our sector.

Non profits, voluntary sector organisations and social enterprises need to be using available technology, possibly in ways they haven’t tried before. A lack of digital skills and no organisational culture to use technology in our organisations and businesses can obviously be overcome, but, in this case, having an online presence where they can display, promote and sell their wares will have given your stallholders a proven competitive advantage over those who didn’t have one.

We want to encourage organisers to consider running virtual events online when opportunities like this arise, possibly having it as a Plan B when they start planning any future markets or similar events.

NEED SOME PRACTICAL HELP?

We hope this post also encourages those in our sector without an online presence to think about why that is, and how they can plan to address that.

We’re here if you want to talk to us about practical ways of doing something about it.

How not to run an event

Rows of chairs in a large auditorium

I’ve attended several hundred events and organised loads too.

Here’s a few tips about how not to do it:

Don’t create a hashtag for the event 

If someone in your audience starts one for you when they ask if you have one and you say “no, but feel free to create one”, don’t tell anyone else at the event that one has been started and what it is

Ensure that all your speakers are male, and white

Don’t arrange for wifi to be available – after all, everyone has 4G on their smartphones and they want to pay to use it up at your event

If there is a microphone, don’t pass it around the audience when they are introducing themselves until half-way through the event,

If someone then says they don’t need it because they’re loud enough, don’t worry about anyone who uses hearing aids and can hear better when people use a microphone

 

 

 

9 things you need to know about Hacks

Participants from Brum City Drive 2017 Hack, which we ran at Impact Hub Birmingham 

  1. What is a hack/hackathon?

Hackathons, or to use the more well-known abbreviation, ‘Hacks’, are a fairly new concept to most people in the UK third sector.

Originating in the software development industry, hacks are events where people from different backgrounds and sectors choose to get together with others, or are encouraged to come together, to work intensively in teams to develop solutions to problems. One goal has been to make useful software which has the possibility of being commercialised.

  1. Why have a hack?

“Starting in the mid to late 2000s, hackathons became significantly more widespread, and began to be increasingly viewed by companies and venture capitalists as a way to quickly develop new software technologies, and to locate new areas for innovation and funding … Hackathons aimed at improvements to city local services are increasing, with one of the London Councils (Hackney) creating a number of successful local solutions on a 2 Day Hackney-thon. There have also been a number of hackathons devoted to improving education…” – from Hackathon, Wikipedia

  1. Our involvement in hacks

Pauline Roche and Ted Ryan of RnR Organisation have been participating as voluntary sector subject matter experts in hacks and similar exploratory events like design sprints, unconferences and data dives for the past several years, in Birmingham and elsewhere in the UK.

“We find that working on challenging issues in teams with a combination of people with technical skills, people who are knowledgeable about the issue, researchers etc, brings a different and new dynamic to approaching and identifying possible solutions to the kind of social issues with which we in the sector are familiar. You can read more about the kind of events in which we’ve taken part in this area in this blogpost”

  1. Differences between hacks and more traditional events

The main differences between hacks and other issue-based events are its length, the opportunity to meet other participants before the main event, lack of agenda, lack of keynotes, lack of fixed mealtimes, giving/getting feedback.

Unlike more traditional conferences and similar events, Hacks are usually held over 24-48 hours, sometimes even going on for a week, and they assume active participation by all attendees. The main event is often preceded by a get together where potential attendees spend a few hours meeting each other with a view to finding out what knowledge, skills and interests they each have which could contribute to a diverse team at a hack.

At the hack itself there are no keynote speakers; instead, people ‘pitch’ the issue they want to work on and then other attendees decide, having heard the pitches, which of those teams they want to join. There are no fixed meal breaks so the creative flow isn’t interrupted – instead, refreshments are made available during the hack so people can take breaks when they feel the need. However, opportunities are provided during the event, not just at the end, for teams to check-in/feedback to the whole event,  sometimes verbally, sometimes using graphics, and respond to questions and comments on their progress.

  1. Things to bring to a hack

  • Wifi-enabled devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones) as well as extension cables and memory sticks

  • Your experience

  • An open mind

  • Design thinking and other information research skills

  • Creativity

  1. Participating remotely

Through the use of social media and other collaborative technology, you can be part of a hack even if you’re not physically in the room.

Most hacks have a hashtag e.g. #HackMentalHealth, and people elsewhere in the country (or the world) can join in the event remotely, using the hashtag to ask questions, make comments, share documents etc as well as responding to people tweeting from the hack.

  1. Typical hack schedule

  • Night before hack (or a few days before): Pre-meeting of potential participants. Attending the pre-meeting doesn’t mean you have to come to the hack – it’s a chance to see what it’s about, meet people, share ideas.

  • Start of event: Participants arrive at venue and register, introductions, pitches, teams form, hacking begins

  • Mid-event: Check-in/Feedback session

  • End of event: Teams present/demonstrate their work/findings

  1. After the hack

There may be follow-up events, more hacks and opportunities for hack participants to keep working on the issues.

Many people go to hacks on a regular basis, sharing their skills and knowledge with others. One place where developers find out about upcoming hacks is here

  1. Want to get involved with hacks in the voluntary sector?

We’re planning to do more hacks in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, particularly with smaller organisations in the West Midlands.

We’re collating a list of interested parties – get in touch with us if you’d like to be part of one, whether you’re in the sector as a chief officer/worker/volunteer/trustee, or in other sectors as a developer, designer, data analyst, researcher, subject expert, entrepreneur, academic or student and we’ll keep you up to date with developments.

All events will be announced via our monthly newsletter Digital WM News.

More reading and a podcast

Hack weekends: 5 tips on keeping the momentum going, (Sept 2012)

Because not all the smart people work for you… (Dec 2012)

Not a coder? How to do well at hackathons (Oct 2013)

Charity Hack brings tech innovation to Scotland’s third sector (Sept 2015)

‘Sheffugees’ hack helps asylum-seekers and refugees (Feb 2016)

How to survive a hackday (Mar 2016)

Planning Your Own Tech Event [podcast](Aug 2017)

Blog: Wider Engagement and Fresh Ideas Needed in Your City? A City Data Hack is a Great Place Start (May 2018)

Tech Talks And Tips From YouTube: Jan 2017: Wakelet

The 2nd largest Search Engine in the world, YouTube processes more than 3 billion searches a month. 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute.

We spent some time at the beginning of this Net Squared Midlands meetup talking about how we search YouTube using filters etc, and then co-organiser Pauline shared some short ‘How to’ clips she had curated from YouTube.

We also had time for a lightning talk about Code Club from Tim Wilson

The full Wakelet of the event is here: Tech Talks And Tips From YouTube: Net Squared Midlands

UKDigiStrategy consultation 2016: Response from Net Squared Midlands

It’s a very open call for ideas, although there are four suggested themes.

Introduction

A group from the public sector and voluntary sector with an interest in digital transformation and digital growth in the charitable sector discussed this at our Net Squared Midlands: Tech for good event in Birmingham in January 2016 and responded with the bullet points below:

1)         Unlocking digital growth

Every business and every charity can benefit from using digital technology, but for many of the smaller charities and micro community groups that we work with there are huge leaps needed to make digital transformation happen.

  • Corporate Social Responsibly – could larger businesses provide digital employee volunteering and mentoring services, brokered through the national network of well established local Volunteer Centres and Councils for Voluntary Service?

  • See volunteer centres https://www.ncvo.org.uk/ncvo-volunteering/find-a-volunteer-centre

2)         Transforming government

Whilst many staff in charities may be comfortable with using their smart phone to go on-line or conduct on-line transactions, the organisations they work for often aren’t at the same level, or don’t have the same infrastructure to make access to government services easy. Many charity websites are not responsive or mobile friendly and others are out of date, poorly designed or non-existent.

Simple transactions Government procurement is seen as being very bureaucratic and a barrier that small charities often with limited digital skills and capacity struggle to engage with. There is a need for more information sharing and awareness raising of what the third sector can (and can’t do) digitally as part of a strategic relationship with government.

  • Simpler commissioning models are needed, maybe with a group of third sector organisations collaborating on contract submission to “Government As A Platform”. ”; info sharing with public sector – lack of knowledge;

  • See the model working in Mansfield http://www.tea-m.org.uk/

3)         Transforming everyday life

Relevant activities that promote digital inclusion should be available at the point of need for individuals who use the services of charities, (e.g. Rough sleepers, single parents etc). Taking time out of running a small community group to assist a user undertake “computer classes” is not sufficient and can be off putting when the environment used is a school or classroom which may have unpleasant memories.

Help citizens to understand what their devices can actually do.

Will e-learning and MOOCs ever really catch on in the third sector?

  • Unlike public or health sectors where training is compulsory and e-learning has been found to be a very cost effective way to deliver this information, no such requirement exists for many tasks in voluntary organisation.

  • See Run A Club platform for skills development & administration of small community sports groups Run a Club packages

For some people leading chaotic personal lives there is a need for “pre basic digital skills”, mentors who can explain the reasons why being a part of the digital society is important. Vitally they also need to mentor and ensure that those farthest from being digitally active retain their connection, remember their e-mail address or government portal passwords.

4)         Building the foundations

Of the 160,045 voluntary organisations in England, 83.1% are small or micro organisations with less than £100,000 income per year. It is these organisations that are most at risk of being left behind digitally and which this strategy needs to accommodate.

The digital framework and basic digital skills developed by Go On UK [now doteveryone] goes part way to helping organisations, but needs to cover the strategic digital transformation issues an organisation has to consider in order to build strong foundations.

Organisations prioritise service delivery over technology, which for a small charity is often the best use of limited resources and capacity, but basic ‘good practice’ cannot be ignored. Digital Fundamentals which must be embedded in the way organisations work, employ staff with digital skills and recruit volunteers to help their cause include:

  • Demystifying ‘the cloud’ and the efficiency saving that this form of working can bring to an organisation, its staff and trustee boards.

  • Being more aware of the many social media tools that help a charity raise its game, increase fundraising and promote its message to a wider audience.

  • Charities need to be directly aware of the National Cyber Security Programme as many don’t adequately protect their data files, use paper based filing systems or fail to back-up databases and don’t use anti-virus and other basic tools which could keep their digital assets safe.

  • Access to impartial advice about the best digital tools and products, not those linked to a particular supplier or solution e.g. http://www.connectingcare.org.uk

  • See Charity IT Association – https://www.charityitassociation.org.uk/about for Tech Surgeries and a Virtual IT Director for small charities who don’t have the resources to employ their own.

These statistics are a concern:

There are some worrying statistics from the 2015 Lloyds Bank UK Business Digital Index  [updated annually]which tracks digital adoption among small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) and charities:

·         58% of charities lack basic digital skills (23% of SMEs), up from 55% last year

·         28% of charities think that they’re doing all they can online

·         Over 50% of charities do not believe that having a website would help increase their funding and nearly 70% say the same about social media

·         55% of charities think that the knowledge level at board level is lacking.

·         One-quarter (25%) of all organisations surveyed (SMEs and charities) believe digital is ‘irrelevant’ to them.[i]

And this list of technical equipment and events is exactly what is needed by many smaller organisations:

A national charitable funder ran a pilot programme recently which was to help charities use technology to create change in the lives of certain groups in society. There were a number of things which the funder said this programme would not cover and these were:

·         Upgrading of internal IT systems

·         Large-scale capital costs

·         Updating of websites and routine social media campaigns

·         Exploration events or hack days

·         Staff or volunteer training

·         Capacity-building to make an organisation more ‘digital ready’

As an organisation which believes in the need for the digital transformation of civic society, we think this is a handy list of work which does need to be funded by some funder(s) and we aim to identify and seek dialogue with funders who will fund these areas.[ii]

Summary

In summary it is vital to see increased opportunities for face to face networking with other Digital Leaders in the charity sector where exchange of information is possible and all share a common understanding. We have found it possible to gain knowledge of how to build a strong digital foundation by learning from one another in familiar surroundings and from people they trust in similar situations to them.

©         Pauline Roche & Paul Webster – January 2016

[i] http://www.rnrorganisation.co.uk/blogs/smart-cities-smarter-vcse/
[ii] Do.

Why the VCS should use Twitter more

 

Keep Calm and Tweet sloganI’m constantly encouraging VCS CEOs, Trustees and others working in the sector to use social media, particularly LinkedIn and Twitter, and here are 10 interesting things I tweeted about in the week just gone,which I hope helps to show why I think they should:

  • Aug 27: I passed on info about a project focused on researching the impact of openness in education to an academic colleague  in Ireland (someone I met on Twitter and now see in real life)

  • Aug 27: I mentioned that I had become one of 121 Net Squared local organisers around the world, along with my pal Paul Webster

  • Aug 27: I mentioned I’m running a social media workshop at a Disability & Mental Health Jobs Fair Sept 11

  • Aug 28: I asked if email spam is getting worse for everyone working everywhere as spammers take advantage of fewer and busier staff? Is it a security risk?

  • Aug 28: I asked a travel blogger friend who works in a foodbank what she thought about a story saying 10.5% of working parents in England skip meals to pay rent

  • Aug 28: I mentioned an upcoming conference call for women in the not for profit tech Sept 25 to a new CVS contact in Cumbria

  • Aug 28: I passed on a link on a beginners guide on how to make infographics

  • Aug 29: I said that The Digital Roadmap which helps libraries identify new technologies to implement could help the VCS too

  • Aug 30: I recommended a Model funders site to the regional funders network

  • Aug 30: I passed on a link about how to articulate a CRM Strategy

I also tweeted some greetings to friends so I did do some of the more ‘social’ side of social media but in the main, I tweeted about things which I think might improve our experiences of working in the VCS.

Maybe VCS colleagues pick up this sort of info elsewhere, maybe they think it’s not relevant to their work, maybe they’re already overloaded with information – I’d love to hear from some of you in response to this post and start a dialogue about it.

The power of using your LinkedIn contacts – how to search them

Post updated Dec 7th 2017

 

I was once asked if I knew anyone who had connections with a hospice – at first I thought I didn’t, but then I decided to leverage (see  my 2013 blog about this) my LinkedIn contacts.

Anyone on LinkedIn can do it – here’s the route: enter ‘Hospice’ in search box at top left of page, choose ‘Hospice in People’ then filter your search e.g. you might just want a list of your ‘1st connections’ who know about hospices.

By doing this (using the filters on the right hand side of the page), I discovered I knew 9 people amongst my ‘1st connections’ who had a connection to a hospice – if I included my ‘2nd connections’, I found out that I know 1,251! I could then narrow the list further by using the ‘Location’, ‘Current Company’ and/or ‘Industry’ filters.

For me, it was enough to be able to choose from amongst my ‘1st connections’ but I was glad to know that I had further options, should I not have had any choice amongst them.

I was an early adopter of LinkedIn and I’m delighted that it’s standing the test of time – if you have any other questions about how you could use this great social media platform to help your business or community group, and you think we could help you, please get in touch.