In the context of civil society, campaigns take many guises – they may be fundraising campaigns, awareness-raising campaigns or lobbying campaigns.
The first kind seek to raise money, the second to raise public awareness of an issue, and the third to try to change something. This last is usually referred to as campaigning.
Campaigning is integral to charities’ ability to get their message across and achieve their vision of a better society.
The key Charity Commission publication on this is issue is CC9 - Speaking Out - Guidance on Campaigning and Political Activity by Charities. (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/publications/cc9.asp)
It states: “A charity must be established for a charitable purpose, and as a general principle, charities may undertake campaigning and political activity as a positive way of furthering or supporting their purposes.
Charities have considerable freedom to do so, subject to the law and the terms of their governing documents.
In doing so, charities must be mindful of their independence. Charities, of course, can never engage in any form of party political activity.”
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Microsoft’s search engine Bing has revealed the first five charities that will take over its homepage this week for the launch of its Help Your Britain campaign.
Beatbullying’s digital campaign the Big March 2012 will now take place on 1 March instead of 31 January as was originally planned.
Friends of the Earth has criticised the government’s decision to appeal a High Court ruling which found that the cut to solar panel subsidies was illegal.
All 1,500 Flip Video cameras made available through the Charity Technology Trust’s CTXchange donation programme were snapped up within five hours of the offer being made yesterday.
Malaria No More has launched a new campaign featuring mosquitoes hidden behind seasonal disguises, starting with Mozzy Santa.
Beatbullying is organising a virtual march to call on the United Nations to add bullying to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Homelessness charity Emmaus UK is asking people to send in photos of themselves on their sofa for a new Facebook campaign to encourage people to think about the importance of home.
British Heart Foundation has launched a virtual fish tank, which will be filled with user-generated fish, as part of its Mending Broken Hearts Appeal to raise awareness of the research it is doing.
Citizens Advice has partnered with Google to launch a Good To Know campaign to raise awareness of internet safety.
Oxfam has published a digital edition of its report, Growing a Better Future: Food Justice in a resource-constrained world, for Kindles and other readers, making it the first international non-governmental organisation to publish an eBook.
The British Heart Foundation has created a mobile petition website so that smartphone users can support campaigns from their device.
Médecins Sans Frontières has launched a new campaign highlighting the work of its midwives with a 3D slideshow exhibition in London.
The charity sector is “lagging behind” other sectors such as travel and retail when it comes to embracing new technology, according to Leigh Smyth, the managing director for the digital champion at Race Online 2012.
Beatbullying has launched a £1m TV, print, outdoor and online advertising drive that highlights the plight of almost a million young people in the UK that are currently not in education, employment or training (Neet).
Amnesty International UK will launch an online TV show this Friday which will show a mix of news, short documentaries, satirical comedy and campaign stunts to engage a younger generation of supporters.
Last week’s Institute of Fundraising Technology Conference included a presentation from James Barker of Shelter, who spilled the beans on some of the charity’s work online. Gareth Jones reports.
Fundraising messages on charities’ websites and social networking pages will soon fall under the Advertising Standards Authority expanded remit online, but campaigning messages will be free from such regulation, the ASA’s lawyer has advised.
Beatbullying and Save the Children are among eight charities chosen to feature in this year's annual ‘Project for Awesome’ charity YouTube take-over, which will see the platform overrun with charity and cause-related content for 24 hours.
iHobo, the controversial iPhone app produced by homelessness charity Depaul UK, has received more than 100,000 downloads and earlier this week topped the download chart for free apps.
The Advertising Standards Authority looks set to extend its remit to include communications on websites, and other non-paid-for space online, such as social networks.
Website review - I Can's Adopt a Word campaign
The Adopt a Word site sets out to raise money for the children’s charity I CAN by allowing you to pay £20 to literally adopt a word. Conceptually it’s like buying a piece of the moon – you wonder whose it is to give away in the first place. But that aside I Can aims to support the development of speech, language and communication skills in all children – hence the link to words.
Save the Children received more than 115,000 text messages for its Gaza ceasefire petition over three days in January.
The British Red Cross has gone live with its new CRM system, Ascent CRM for Fundraising version 2.0 from Ciber, after more than a year in the planning.
Greenvoice has capitalised on the social networking phenomenon by using Facebook and Bebo to promote a campaign encouraging communities to say no to excess packaging. Greenvoice.com, a non-profit website enabling like-minded individuals to take action on green issues, joined forces with viral content distributor, The 7th Chamber, to run a viral campaign for two weeks in October.
Diabetes UK has launched its ‘Silent Assassin’ campaign with the opening of a new state-of-the-art building - in a virtual 3D world. The charity chose Second Life, the alternative reality internet world which boasts 15 million residents globally, to raise awareness about the risks and seriousness of diabetes and to promote a healthier lifestyle.
Oxfam is attempting to measure the success of its ‘Be Humankind’ by getting people to send a text message from their mobile phone whenever they encounter anything to do with the campaign brand.
The British Red Cross has become one of the first UK charities to produce an online Alternative Reality Game aimed at young people.
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