Lightful – Helping charities be more digital amid coronavirus

It’s a hard time for all of us both personally and professionally. We are experiencing a range of emotions during uncertain times but we’re still trying to work on projects that we’re passionate about.

Working with charities of all sizes allows us to hear their challenges and find the best ways we can support them in this difficult journey. We genuinely believe that every single one of you working in the charity sector is a hero trying to fit impactful work in a stressful world.

That’s why we are committed to helping you as much as possible in this challenging time.

We are planning many free resources over the next weeks and if you are following us on social (@Lightful) or frequently read our blogs then you will know some of them.

Our CEO and Co-Founder, Vinay Nair, shared his thoughts last week on what’s coming up. Here are more details on what to expect and how you can help us create the content you need right now when adjusting to this new world.

Content Calendar

We have already written several new blogs over the past few weeks:

• Free coronavirus resources for charities (constantly updated)
• Design 101 for the solo social media manager (by Social Misfits Media)
• Free digital tools for charities (+video)
• Seven tips to stay productive while working from home (collaboration with Social Misfits Media)
• Vinay Nair: Helping the charity sector to build resilience through digital

Here are more topics coming up:

• Social media during COVID-19 and how to adjust your strategy
• Tips for managers and remote working
• How to be more digital
• Tips to improve your online meetings
• The rise of micro-volunteering and what it means

Webinar Calendar

Webinars and online check-ins can help you exchange ideas and find inspiration from others.

We have already run these free sessions in March and you can find the recordings by clicking on them:

• Free digital tools for charities
• Digital check-in for anyone working in digital
• Digital check-in with Beth Kanter (tools and tips for coronavirus anxiety and staying productive)

These sessions are coming up next in April:

• Facebook & Instagram for charities (April 15)
• Getting better at online meetings with Beth Kanter (April 16)
• Social media round-up looking forward (April 29)

More will be announced soon!

Building a crowdsourced webinar spreadsheet

We have created a crowdsourced webinar spreadsheet to gather all the free webinars and training happening in the sector.

If you are running a webinar, feel free to request edit access to add it to the list.

#TeamLightful sharing their expertise

This is a collaborative effort on our side and we want to make sure we share everyone’s expertise on the projects they are working on.

• Platform team
• BRIDGE team
• Services team
• HR team
• Innovation team

The idea is to help as much as possible in different areas, from sharing tips on building a wellbeing culture and working on digital transformation projects to managing a remote team as a Scrum Master and making the most of Salesforce.

Upcoming BRIDGE cohort

We should be able to share more details this month about our COVID-19 response cohort for BRIDGE helping charities build resilience through digital.

This is a very exciting way to help charities who need to be more digital so keep an eye on our updates.

Supporting #EveryDayCounts

ACEVO and other membership bodies have launched the #EveryDayCounts campaign to ask the government to provide emergency funding for charities and their vital work in their communities.

It’s a very important campaign that we all need to support on social media. ACEVO are asking charities to use the hashtag when talking about their work and their campaigns to highlight all the different causes that we need to support.

We are happy to see charities using our social media platform to share the important work that they are doing.

(PS. You can also join for free if you need help managing your social content during busy times)

Supporting #GivingTuesdayNow

We are proud supporters of #GivingTuesday for many years now and we are ready to support #GivingTuesdayNow on the 5th of May.

It’s a great opportunity to come together and support each in a global day of generosity.

We will also plan blogs and webinars to help you plan your campaign in a short notice. Keep an eye on the Lightful Platform as we will launch a special StoryBuilder template to help you structure your campaign.

Always committed to #ReclaimSocial

We are still passionate about making social media more positive. It’s harder than ever to find good news but luckily, it’s still out there.

Feel free to follow @ReclaimSocial and share your inspiring stories with us.

Podcast

You can also catch up to relevant #ReclaimSocial podcast episodes:

• Online abuse and digital self-care with Seyi Akiwowo (Glitch)
• Making happiness viral with Mark Williamson (Action for Happiness)
• The rise of #GivingTuesday as a movement of generosity with Asha Curran (Giving Tuesday)
• The power of storytelling with Jude Habib (Sounddelivery)
• Using social media to inspire action with Nicola Gee (WWF UK)

Open for collaboration

We love working with like-minded people in the sector who are passionate about helping charities and nonprofits all over the world.

If you’re interested in working with us to create more free resources for the time being, feel free to contact me.

Share your content ideas with us (form)

What are the topics that you’d like to learn more on? How can we help you right now with more free resources?

If you have any ideas on resources that you haven’t found yet, feel free to fill this form to create the right content for you.

We are also happy to accept guest blog and webinar requests if you have an idea to share!

Working in social media, comms, and marketing means that you need to be able to adjust your plan based on the circumstances. The end goal is to be able to help as much as possible in any way that you can.

I am happy to help as much as possible so if you have any ideas, feel free to message me.