Immediate release:
Issued by The Wheel
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN PUTS
IRISH CHARITIES IN THE LIMELIGHT
“81 videos submitted during first two weeks of Better Together! Campaign”
4 November - A national campaign to promote community involvement and volunteering has attracted 81 video submissions from Irish charities in just over two weeks. The videos were submitted to www.bettertogether.ie by a wide range of community and voluntary groups from across the country.
The Better Together! campaign enables community and voluntary groups to connect with the public through “video storytelling”. The public can view the videos at www.bettertogether.ie, connect with charities, clubs and associations in their area and show their support by volunteering, donating or voting for their favourite cause.
“Online video and social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook are allowing charities to reach out to the public on a scale that would previously have been unimaginable,” said Deirdre Garvey of The Wheel, a national umbrella group that represents 820 community and voluntary groups.
The Wheel developed the Better Together! campaign in partnership with EBS Building Society. Ms Garvey added that although there is as of yet no reliable data on social media use among Irish charities, research in the US and UK shows that charities are using social media more than businesses and academia. A study conducted by Forbes in August, found that 97 percent of US charities are using social media to engage with supporters.
The power of social media was recently illustrated by UNICEF Ireland’s personalised online video campaign, which featured several Irish public figures. The video was initially emailed directly to their 12,000 online donors, and it has since gone viral on the Web. It is hoped that up to 1 million will view the video.
Speaking today Aidan Power, Head of Marketing at EBS Building Society, said: “I’m delighted with the success of the campaign so far. The videos online are of a very high quality and will make for interesting judging. Social Media has proven to be an invaluable way of showcasing the great volunteering work going on across the country. I hope people continue to enter the competition and vote for their favourites.”
The public can vote for their favourite charity videos at www.bettertogether.ie (until 15th November). Three cash prizes of €3,000 will be awarded to the three organisation’s with the most votes.
ENDS/
For further information please contact:
Gert Ackermann, The Wheel, 01-454 8727/086-1769287
OR/
Suzanne Sullivan, Q4PR
Gert Ackermann
Publicist & Communications Consultant
M: 086 1769287
Note to Editors:
Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel is available for interview. Please call Gert Ackermann on 086 176 9287, or email gert@wheel.ie.
The following organisations are partners of the Better Together! Campaign: Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Barretstown, Business in the Community, Clann Credo, Cope Galway, the Disability Federation of Ireland, Dóchas, Focus Ireland, ICTR, Irish Hospice Foundation, Irish Rural Link, ISPCA, ISPCC, Macra Na Feirme, Mental Health Ireland, National Youth Council of Ireland, The Alzheimer Society, The Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups and Volunteer Centres Ireland.
The campaign is brought to you by EBS, and is supported by Intel, Today FM and The Irish Examiner.
The Wheel is the national support and representative body for community, voluntary and charitable organisations. It provides a wide range of information and support services, advice and training to individuals and organisations involved in community and voluntary activity. It is also a representative organisation promoting both members’ and the wider sector’s shared interests: www.wheel.ie
