Media Trust, a function of the Community Voices program at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), was organised to provide charities and volunteer organisations across the UK with resources, training, and assistance with communications and the distribution and broadcast of their current events news.

New Grant Program

Their new £250,000 grant program aims to inspire, engage and support disadvantaged and isolated communities to get their voices heard through digital media, and promises to be a boon to the many wonderful efforts of a wide variety of social enterprises.

The initiative offers grants from £1,500 to £61,000 for such assistance to programs based in England.

Two-Phased Approach

The two-phased approach begins with grants offered during the next few weeks ending 28 February 2010, and continues toward the end of this year with a second phase of funding. A total of 27 grants will be offered as of this writing.

At the launch of the program, Media Trust Marketing and Communications Services Director Gavin Sheppard said:
We are extremely excited to begin the process of allocating grants to communities where a fully interactive and inclusive digital project could have a real impact on the lives of individuals and on the wider communities in which they live.

Enhancement of Communications in the 3rd Sector

Funding will advance Media Trust’s vision that everyone should have a voice and the opportunity to be heard, and their mission to work with media organisations and charities to enhance their communications and enable communities to find their voice and make it heard. CAF, Community Voices and Media Trust can all be found at Facebook and Twitter.

This post was written by valued twitterbuddy Nathalie Allard of Raspberry Frog.

 The information provided in this blog illustrates my opinions and experiences, it does not constitute advice and I do not accept responsibility for any actions taken or refrained from as a result of reading this post.

If 2009 had one defining moment it was Social Media moving from buzzword into the mainstream conscious, with everyone from celebrities to politicians embracing the power of social content and conversation to drive actions.

Big brands were of course at the forfront often driven by a desire to have a first mover advantage in the press or reacting to some PR disaster that overtook their traditional PR and Marketing teams.

For my mind the big winners of 2009 were not the politicians or the big brands but charities small and large right across the world who were able to get awareness of their campaigns or services in front of a whole new Social Audience people who love to talk about and share the work of good causes with their own audiences.

Social Media has create an explosion of good will, from Pro-bono services to fundraising all driven by the open lines of communication created by sites like Facebook and Twitter.

The Social Dynamic Duo

There’s no denying that Facebook and Twitter have become the must use Social Age tools and should form the core part of any Social Strategy, together they create a powerful team and can feed each other and reach into different demographics creating unique social interactions.

Ask and you shall receive

In the Social Age asking for help is more than acceptable it’s expected, got a cool new project and need an expert to give you some advice? Ask your Social Supporters on Facebook and Twitter if they can’t help,they will usually pass the message along or flag it to their community if they can’t help personaly.

This dosen’t stop at just pro-bono services but also fundraising if you have positions to fill on events, ask your Social Networks to help fill the spaces.

In the social age the conversation is king.

The organisations that find the most value and worth from Social Media not to mention create the most powerful social actions are the ones that talk, and not necessarily about just their own cause.

Go off topic from time to time, talk about the weather or TV events that have captured the public imagination, shows like Doctor Who or sporting events (Olympics, World Cup) that cut across the usual demographic divides are a great way to build relationships with existing supporters and bring in entirely new supporters to your cause.

Team up with other organisations on Twitter and Facebook that have broad or similar goals to your own, cross promote each others social messages to encourage supporters to cross the divide.

Don’t look at others orgs as competition instead look on them as a way to build even more relevant networks and share in Social Success.

2010 is the year for your Charity / Non-profit to embrace Social Media and become part of the age of Social conversation, make a start today and setup a Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter Profile

With thanks to valued twitterbuddy and BullyingUK ambassador, John Carnell of TechnicaVita for allowing me to reproduce this post.

The information provided in this blog illustrates my opinions and experiences, it does not constitute advice and I do not accept responsibility for any actions taken or refrained from as a result of reading this post.