Marketing is probably the single most abused and misused word in the charity lexicon (I'll exclude the term 'voluntary' for now). Let's see we have direct marketing - sending people large numbers of appeals that donors never told you they wanted. We have Head of Marketing - this particular title could be a fundraising role, a branding role, a communications role or a services role.

The irony is that charities (or if we are being politically correct then I should say VCO, as in voluntary and community organisation, a term usually reserved for organisations which are neither voluntary nor based in communities) really do need marketing in the true sense of the word.

Marketing in the sense that I understand is about working out what supporters or stakeholders really really want and then working out how you can give it to them. Too many charities decide what they think stakeholders should want and then proceed to blast it at them. This applies whether it is about the number of mailings supporters should receive, the type of press release journalists want to cover, or the pages and pages of riveting stories in the average newsletter members must want to read.

Ironically marketing is needed in charity services more than in most other areas, because good marketing can make sure that clients and beneficiaries get what they really need as a route to transforming their lives.

We may abuse the word marketing, but the real tragedy is when we abuse or ignore the enormously powerful process of marketing itself.

Joe Saxton is chair and founder of CharityComms. In his day job Joe is driver of ideas and co-founder of specialist research consultancy nfpSynergy

Whenever we work with a charity to develop an online strategy or redesign their website, we always explore sites relevant to their audiences and you can guarantee that the BBC website will be in that list. Indeed when Baigent celebrated its 10th anniversary as a digital agency last year, we held a poll of staff and clients as to their top 10 great websites and sure enough the BBC website topped the list!

So why is the BBC website so often in people's top ten? Well one big factor is that an awful lot of us use the site every month - a staggering 17 million regular users in the UK and 30 million outside the UK! When I ask people what they like about the site, often people can't put their finger on it - they just like it and for many people that is the sign of a well designed website.

Whilst it's tempting to look at the £153 million a year budget and dismiss the site as in a different league from our own, I believe there are many areas we can take inspiration from as charities and for starters I'd like to suggest the following three:

The power of brands
A big element to the success of the BBC website is that we are already familiar with their brands. Those millions of pounds spent on Idents between programmes means that we know the BBC do news, sport, have eight TV channels and twelve national radio channels. That means despite typical pages on the BBC website having up to 100 links to click on, we know our way around the site intuitively because we already know the brands.

This same concept can be applied to our own websites. Does your website reflect your brand? Do you think about the different ways your audience sees and interacts with your organisation? If you think what the equivalent of your TV and Radio channels would be, it might take you in a very different direction with your website.

Integrated communications across different media
I love the fact that the BBC joins together its different media. If I watch television or listen to the radio, chances are I can then go to the website or use my mobile and find the same information there and hence choose the medium which suits me best. This is a major achievement for an organisation the size of the BBC!

Now clearly it would be unrealistic for most charities to provide the same degree of choice to their audiences. However the technology is often easier than you think and in my experience, it is the strategy behind your charity which limits the choices you give your audiences. As the BBC shows, the benefits of the integrated approach are huge and if you look at what some charities are now doing (for example Word Live from Scripture Union) then you will see that charities can make this work.

The importance of good headlines
My last point concerns headlines. If you look at the BBC homepage and news pages, you will see that each story has a maximum of six words in the headline, yet in those six words, you know exactly what that page is about. That's not easy to do!

Contrast this with many charity websites where words abound and yet it's still not clear what the page is about! Good copy writing skills are always top of my list for web editors!

So next time you visit the BBC website, why not take a moment to think what it is you like or dislike about it and what can inspire you to communicate in new and exciting ways through your website.

Jim Raymond is Commercial Director of Baigent Ltd, a digital agency specialising in websites, online fundraising and online strategies for charities.

Over the past 3 years e-campaigning has really taken off. We've seen a huge increase in the number of groups using to the Internet to effectively mobilise supporters, and a huge increase in the number of people engaging in issues online. So what's it all about?

One of the big driver's has been a real shift in the thinking about the benefits of e-campaigning. While the primary reason groups should e-campaign is the potential to change policy, there is also a growing acceptance that e-campaigning can help to recruit new supporters, define or re-define a group's brand, increase public profile, and raise money. And why not? If you're all about changing policy, you should also leverage the other benefits of e-campaigning at the same time. Just don't lose sight of the primary objective!

E-campaigns can convey a sense of outrage and urgency. By giving all of your supporters the opportunity to take action you will strengthen the relationship you have with them as well opening up opportunities to bring new people on board. Get your supporters to feel like they are part of your organisation rather than just campaigners - or donors - and it's more likely that they will stay with you.

Recent US benchmarking statistics (taken from NTEN's 2008 eNonprofit Benchmarks study) tell us that 14% of campaigners are likely to donate and 8% of donors are willing to campaign.

But there is a risk...

The one thing you shouldn't do is 'e-campaign because you can'! Like any other area of communications, you need start with good strategy and good planning. What's the point of investing resource in recruiting new supporters if you don't have an ongoing plan to keep them engaged? Will the campaign you're running really be helped by online activity? Is the structure of your online campaign 'ask' aligned with the objective - e.g. if you are trying a specific tactic to grow your list have you picked the 'right' issue?

Bottom line.... e-campaigning can deliver huge benefits across your organisation, but start with strategy and involve all of the decision-makers that can help 'join up' your online campaigning.

And finally...

Several years ago, e-campaigning was an after-thought for many organisations. It's all change now. One of the big drivers of investment in this area is the ability of the campaigns teams to get buy-in from other areas within their organisations. Build a good plan to bring marketing, media, web, and policy teams on board. Then keep them on board and make sure that they are integrated in your e-campaigning strategy and tactics.

And welcome to the exciting world of e-campaigning!

jonathan@advocacyonline.net

Jonathan Purchase is Head of Client Services and Support at Advocacy Online, a leading provider of e-campaigning technology and services.

E-newsletters are a fantastic and cost effective way for third sector organisations to communicate what they do. But I feel it's an application that's both underused and often misused. They are a great opportunity to shout about your achievements and keep stakeholders informed and engaged. They are also an ideal way to speak to a large number of people in a short amount of time. But in an age of email information overload how do you avoid people pressing the delete button before reading?

As someone who writes a regular e-newsletter, but is also a recipient of over 30 different newsletters from various third sector organisations, I have been doing my own exercise in what makes me read them. Here are my personal tips:

Sign up to other organisation's e-newsletters. What are they writing about? What are they trying to get across and how are they doing that? Think about the style and tone - is it personal or corporate? What is the approach and how relevant is the content? Think about whether the e-newsletter is helping the organisation get its message across? As a reader does it inspire you to keep reading? Have you learnt anything new from reading it?

Have you signed up to your own organisation's e-newsletter? What do you think of the content? Do you think it's communicating with the reader effectively?

Content is critical. If you don't think you've enough news for a monthly newsletter it's better to wait than send out information for the sake of it. Do plan what you want to say. Ask colleagues to provide content ideas to give a broader voice. Think about when you've got enough content and save stories for future newsletters.

Who is your target audience - supporters, donors, stakeholders, trustees, or all of the above? In the not-too-distant future we will be communicating with different audiences in a more direct, targeted and personalised approach. They will decide how they want to receive your information and in what format. E-newsletters will be an important part of this mix. Getting it right will be crucial.

Keep it fresh and regular. It's important to think about when you send out your e-newsletter and how often. A monthly or bi-monthly update is an achievable target. Anything more than that could be information overload and not sustainable. If there's a major new story then decide whether it's worth sending a special e-news update.

Think about the time of day and day of the week it goes out. In the last few months I've been getting a lot of e-newsletters after 5.00pm on a Friday and even arriving at the weekend. I know all the hard work that would've gone into these newsletters but I'd be surprised if there is a high opening rate at these times. You should also consider holidays. School holidays might mean a high proportion of your target audience never see that e-newsletter.

And finallly...think about what to write in the subject area: What you write in the subject area can make a huge difference to your e-newsletter. This is one of the hardest things to do (and the thing I personally leave until the end). A phrase that teases the reader could at least get them to open your e-newsletter.

Happy Writing!

Jude Habib is the Founder/Director of sounddelivery - a social media training and production company

One of the most common topics of conversation on the askCHARITY Messageboard is celebrity management- how to find celebrity contact details, how to get and keep celebrity support...and so on.

As last month's CharityComms seminar was packed full of advice about celebrity management - I thought I'd share some of the speakers' top tips with blog readers.

1. Choose your celebrity carefully
Niall Cowley, Managing Director of Bright Young Things, explained: "Don't believe that anyone will do, just because they're famous. Find out who your beneficiaries relate to and make sure they have media currency...A good way to do this is to use the Red Pages." It's also much more meaningful to find a celebrity who identifies with your cause and has a real interest in what you're doing.

2. Ask your contacts for their celebrity contacts
Simon Carter, Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications at The Scout Association, said: "Ask all of your contacts, including your board and CEO, for their celebrity contacts...you'll be surprised how many turn up." Once The Scout Association got the support of celebrity Peter Duncan, they asked him for his celebrity contacts and also to help them "charm the big hitters."

3. Read celebrity biographies
The Scout Association was lucky to find a fantastic quote about the Scouts in Billy Connolly's biography. "We had had no luck with Billy's agent and then we found the quote and we were then able to use it," Carter said. Even if you aren't lucky enough to find a direct quote about your organisation you can still use celebrity biographies to find out what particular causes they identify with.

4. Think about your 'ask' and try to find ways of making it easy for celebrities to work with you
In some cases you might just want to ask for a signed autograph or quote, other times you may need more. The key to success is having a clear idea of what it is you want them to do and what they will achieve for you. Beatbullying wanted to get footage of a wide variety of celebrities, but rather than hire a video crew they gave celebrities their own video recorders to capture footage. They also accepted footage from celebs recorded on their mobile phones - this was convenient for them and also added to the genuine feel of the clips.

5. Be realistic about what you expect from your celebrity
"Peter Duncan has a life away from The Scout Association" Carter explained. "Don't ask for too much and try to find activities which your celebrity will find interesting."

6. The story must be able to stand alone without the celebrity
Cowley explained: "Celebrities amplify your story...they help you to make a bigger noise... but they alone do not make a story."

7. Spend time briefing your celebrity and give them real experiences which they can talk about to the media
Spending time briefing your celebrity and involving them in your projects allows them to be both prepared and able to talk about genuine experiences to the media.

To view presentations from the 30th July CharityComms seminar click here
Emma Wickenden, CharityComms Coordinator