Last week Hugh Rajodev heard two experts from Google pass on their digital tips to the charity sector. He rounds up the key lessons.

On a sweltering day in North London, Google sent two digital experts to give the gathered voluntary sector representatives some important tips on how to make “the most of the web”.

Here’s what we learnt:

Be targeted

So, you’ve set up your charity’s website. You’ve made yourself a Facebook page, a Twitter account and amassed a compendious collection of email addresses for direct mail. What now?

Tailoring your content to convey your message is a good place to start.

“Content is king when it comes to the web,” said Marie Schwob, YouTube consultant at Google UK.

Churning out content about “anything and everything, even the office dog,” won’t help your organisation attract attention, she says.

In other words: less can be more when it comes to the web, so long as it’s relevant.

Be engaging

Your donors have short attention spans and busy lives. If you want your message to stand out from the crowd make it accessible but also present it in an interesting, unique way.

Ilinka Zaharceva, global project manager at Google UK, pointed to the unbridled success of the Kony 2012 campaign. Whether you loved or hated it, Zaharceva said, it was undeniably successful.

“The makers of the film knew exactly what they wanted to do. They had a set target which was to make the film go viral and they knew that to do that, they had to harness social media and get everyone talking about it. It’s now one of the most watched things on YouTube.”

Be emotive

It is easy for charities to try and put together a campaign or message on social media to try and tug at people’s heartstrings and elicit donations that way. Don’t be afraid to try a little humour though, suggests Zaharceva.

“Comedy clips make up about 90 per cent of the videos that are watched on the internet. Most charities try and tug at people’s heartstrings, but humour can be just as effective at getting people to donate.”

Be always on

Just because your donors aren’t at home or at the office, that doesn’t mean they aren’t online. Mobile internet traffic has surpassed fixed internet traffic in 2015 and if your organisation’s website isn’t mobile compatible, you’re leaving donations on the table.

“Not having a mobile-compatible website isn’t an option anymore,” Zaharceva said. "Don’t miss out on the opportunity to reach out to people because your website isn’t compatible.”

Be relevant

It might sound a bit cynical, but jumping on the back of global trends or world events can be an excellent way of reaching a large audience with your organisation’s message.

Zaharceva and Schwob praised a 2012 Water is Life advert, which used the then-popular social media trend #firstworldproblems, to make an important message about its work. See the video below:

So there you have it: tips on how best charities can utilise the internet from Google, a company that is more or less synonymous with the medium.