New media to boost Compton Hospice fund-raising

COMPTON Hospice is hoping to take its fund-raising message to new levels by tapping into a digital audience,thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

The hospice now has its own page on Facebook, where supporters can find out about the latest events and leave their own comments, and is also leaving regular ‘tweets’ on twitter, again, spreading the word about events and news.

The hospice enjoyed success when it recently uploaded its own DVD on YouTube, and had hundreds of viewers watch the moving film which showed staff, patients and families discussing what Compton means to them.

Compton is now hoping to record more of its events for people to view this way in the future.

Michelle Price, events fund-raiser, said social networking is such a fast-growing and efficient way of keeping supporters up to date, as well as winning over new friends.

“Posting a message on our Facebook group allows us to reach so many people instantaneously, which is fantastic news for an organisation like ours,” said Michelle.

“The popularity of such sites means we can reach a wider audience, and particularly younger people, who we have struggled to appeal to in the past.

“We were thrilled with the success of our DVD on YouTube, and the comments we received from people, many saying they had never realised just what we did at the hospice – which is exactly why we made the film in the first place.

“Social networking also allows people to communicate with us, directly and quickly, which is another exciting aspect of it – we will be able to receive comments about our posts, and events, and gauge immediately what things are working, to help plan future fundraisers.”