Digital can be a lonely old job.
More often than not, the main digital person at a charity is in a small team. Or the only ‘digital’ person in the whole place.
That means they lack folk with deep experience in their trade to lean on and draw inspiration from. So they have to look outside the organisation for that.
Here are six sources that have been educational, inspiring and a kick up the arse all at once for me.
1. NFP Tweetup
I credit this event with transforming my career. I owe an incredible amount to the people I met, the things I learned and the confidence that NFP Tweetup gave me.
The idea is simple – bring not-for-profit folk together, put on a few drinks and nibbles and share knowledge on the campaigns you’ve worked on.
Every big charity you can think of has presented their digital campaigns at NFP Tweetup. Anyone can ask questions and everyone gets to meet new faces in the breaks.
Of course, the best bit is always the pub afterwards, where the ideas (and more) really flow.
2. Digital Charities
Digital Charities is a group of folk delivering great digital work at London-based charities.
The group gets together in person every month and structures their meetings around various themes. They’re lively, expert and awesome.
If you can’t make the meetings, apply to join the Slack group. It’s a super fun and mobile way of getting involved.
3. Digitalbecca.com
Becca is the digital product manager for Breast Cancer Care. And boy does she know her digital onions.
Becca goes to events, takes detailed notes and shares her knowledge over at digitalbecca.com.
She might be just one person, but the Guides and Resources section of her website is a veritable goldmine of cool platforms and guides.
4. Startup podcast
Not strictly speaking a resource, but Startup is an excellent podcast.
It details the journey of Alex Blumberg as his business, Gimlet Media, the podcast network that produces the podcast (meta, right?). It’s funny, moving and extremely well done.
Launching and maintaining the digital function of a charity can feel like running a startup at times. So you’ll find this useful.
5. Econsultancy blog
Econsultancy are the kings of digital online.
Their blog attracts guest bloggers from all over the world. They blog on everything from Facebook’s F8 updates mark shift from screens to experiences to Five things Western brands should know about China’s digital landscape.
The level of digital knowledge is high. You’ll learn more than you ever thought there was to know.
6. CharityComms mentoring
CharityComms mentoring sets you up in a one-to-one relationship with someone working in another organisation you can really lean on and learn from.
They offer different options depending on what you need – mentoring, coaching and one-off coffees. I’ve been a mentor on this scheme, and can definitely recommend it from that side.
There really is nothing like a face-to-face relationship to inspire and motivate you. Everyone at and involved with CharityComms is super lovely, so you’ll enjoy it a lot too.
Where do you get your inspiration from? Leave some links in the comments.
