Diabetes UK embraces social media with Challenge fundraising website (11/09/2009)
Diabetes UK today launches www.diabeteschallenge.org.uk, a groundbreaking fundraising website that taps into the social networking phenomenon and harnesses the reach and networking capabilities of sites such as Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. The launch coincides with Diabetes UK's 75th anniversary.
Created by digital agency Chameleon Net, Diabetes Challenge is a fun and interactive site that enables anybody to challenge themselves or someone else to raise funds for Diabetes UK by taking on a given challenge. It is geared to attracting fundraisers from beyond the charity's traditional supporter base.
Smarter fundraising through Challenges
Using the Challenge website, people can lay down a challenge of their choice – to a person of their choice, including friends and family members. Challenges can be anything from climbing Mount Everest to bathing in baked beans or making a colleague a cuppa everyday for a week – anything goes!
Celebrity challenges will also feature on the site, the first being presenter Dominic Littlewood who is taking on a jungle expedition in Thailand which he hopes will pull in £2,750.
Visitors to Diabetes Challenge can access progress updates on all live challenges such as who's challenging who, what they're doing, who's donating and how much has been raised so far.
The site also provides a focal point for people taking part in marathons, fun runs, overseas challenges and other events on behalf of Diabetes UK. These fundraisers can direct donors to their profiles at Diabetes Challenge, where contributions are commission-free, compared to those charged by intermediary fundraising sites.
Strong focus on social
Challenge has social networking at its heart - users can share content and their progress via their social media networking thanks to connections with Twitter and Flickr.
Users will also benefit from Facebook integration via the new Facebook Connect API. This means they can post updates direct to Facebook, such as new challenges and donation notifications.
Says Amanda Neylon, Digital Media Manager at Diabetes UK, “Diabetes Challenge is an exciting and innovative use of social media. Its objectives are to attract new supporters through the challenge concept while giving existing fundraisers a tool to make supporting us easier, more effective, and more fun. Chameleon Net, with its expertise in web development and social media, has proven a great choice as the creators of Diabetes Challenge.”
Embracing tech innovation
Not only is the charity breaking new ground in its use of social media, but behind the scenes Diabetes UK is innovating too by connecting the site to its supporter systems in real time using web services. This allows for valuable data such as registration details and donation records to be passed along and stored so that Diabetes UK can better understand its supporters and tailor future communication.
Dan Martin, Marketing Director at Chameleon Net, said, “It's essential that charities embrace technology developments in order to get smarter about fundraising, understand their supporters better, and give people ownership over how they engage with their chosen charity. The Challenge website is an exciting step forward that uses the latest social tools like the Facebook Connect API and seamless back-end integration. It's a great example of Diabetes UK and Chameleon Net's commitment to online innovation.”
About Diabetes UK
Diabetes UK is the leading charity for people in the UK with diabetes. There are currently 2.5 million people in the UK with diabetes and it is estimated that up to half a million more have the condition but are not aware of it. The charity aims to spend more than £8 million on medical research in 2009. The Diabetes UK Careline (0845 120 2960) offers information and support on any aspect of managing diabetes. The line is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm and operates a translation service.
More information about Diabetes UK can be found at www.diabetes.org.uk.
For further information contact:
Dan Martin (danm@chameleonnet.co.uk)
Chameleon Net
020 7332 6360
Sarah Milsom (sarah.milsom@diabetes.org.uk)
Diabetes UK
Tel: 020 7424 1165
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