Posts Tagged ‘non-profits’

  • Is it time for charities to forget advertising and provide useful services instead?

    By Hannah Wright On 17th November 10

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    hannah

    MYM-sta, a mobile so <div style=buy an essay paper

    cial network from LoveLife” width=”300″ height=”225″ />I recently sat on a panel alongside Scott Burnett of LoveLife, South Africa’s largest HIV initiative for young people. We were there to talk about digital innovation in international youth service programmes, and I found myself in the surprising position of being massively impressed by a WAP site called MYMsta.

    OK, stay with me here… WAP is the ideal way to reach young people in South Africa, where only around 10% of the population has access to the internet, but 75% of young people have a cell phone. What’s more, instant messaging via a mobile-based social network can massively undercut the cost of text messaging, giving it instant appeal for the youth market.

    MYMsta (“Make-Your-Move-sta” – named by the youth so you’re not supposed to get it) is a mobile social network with a difference, seeking to connect the

    youth to their peers, but also to deliver positive health messages to its users. In short, why pay to advertise on other people’s communication channels

    if you can deliver a service yourself, and in doing so win the loyalty of your target audience by saving them money? And what better place to offer sexual health advice on demand than on a mobile phone, where dates are arranged and hearts broken?

    Here in the UK, the popularity of Blyk shows that many young people are prepared to accept advertising messages on their mobile in exchange for a free mobile contract, but while there are a few apps using the “provide useful unrelated service in order to deliver important messages” logic (MacMillan’s find a coffee shop app, for example), I’m not aware of charities embracing the concept in a big way. (If you are, I’d love to hear about it.)

    I’m hugely excited by the prospect of a social network service, which genuinely benefits the target audience, run by a charity whose mission is to help ensure a generation of complete, creative and connected youth who have the tools to stay HIV free. So I’ll be watching their progress with interest, and just a little bit of jealousy.

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  • Non-profits on Twitter

    By Anjali Ramachandran On 17th May 09

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    anjali

    For those not in the know, Twitter is a micro-blogging service that seems to have taken the world, and especially the UK, by storm. In the year from February 2008-2009, it buy generic viagra

    t.com/8301-13577_3-10200161-36.html?part=rss”>grew by 1382% and has been covered extensively by the British press, such as the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Independent and the Times.

    Mashable, a leading blog that covers the latest in technology around the world, recently published a list of non-profits on Twitter. Lon. S. Cohen, Director of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of New York and the author of that particular post, started off with a list of 26 charities who are on Twitter, but that attracted over 70 comments and is well on its way to expansion! Many of these offer volunteering opportunities for young people and if you’re on Twitter and interested in the work of non-profits, it will be well worth your time to follow them.

    Check the list out here.

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    Posted in Volunteering resources