Silver Surfers Stole the Show at Westminster on October 23rd

Anyone tempted to label the over-50s as Luddites should have been at Portcullis House on October 23rd, 2008, when Bernard Featherstone of Eccles was awarded 2008 UK Silver Surfer of the Year Award.

Runners-up: Judith Taylor, 80 of St Albans; Les Nicholls, 88 of Liverpool; Simbo Ogunyemi, 66, from SE London and Stuart Hill, 59, from Middlesbrough, were applauded, too.

Men in suits gave speeches of praise from the podium. Most appropriately.

Then Digital Unite gave the awardees mini video-gadgets and the atmosphere changed from right honourable to right entertaining. MPs and Directors and CEOs were offered surfing lessons from their elders and put on the spot with amiably tricky questions.

It's all blogged, so the debate can continue with the kind of energy that this agenda deserves. It's the vital, crucial issue of how we digitally include 8-10million currently excluded over-50s (yes, that's about a sixth of the population who've never emailed, Skyped or blogged and aren't likely to, unless we all do something to help).

Whoever you are – and whichever audience you can reach – please come or send people to our new Silver Surfer of the Year Awards blog and do your bit for the cause of older people online.
We can't do without them – they're too interesting!

Blog address: http://digitalunite.com

Greenpeace let JFK talk about Climate Change on YouTube

Greenpeace has launched a new video on YouTube to co-incide with their latest report “Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable World Energy Outlook?”, produced by the European Renewable Energy Council, which provides a practical blueprint for rapidly cutting energy-related CO2.

The video features JFK arguing that “climate change threatens our very existence. Now is the time for an energy revolution.” Of course, JFK never said it, but the video went through a very good montage and a computer-generated process to achieve this.

The video can be seen at the following address:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8dLHZ6jKFc

More info about the report launch can be find here:http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/energy-revolution-now271008

JFK's Message:

"Will we look into the eyes of our children and confess that we had the opportunity but lacked the courage, that we had the technology but lacked the vision?"

Myspace users raise money for charities with innovative app

by Dan Leahul, Brand Republic

Charity shopping website aGoodCause.com has teamed up with Myspace to create an application that allows users to give money to charity, without having it come out of their own pockets.

The Aid Maker application can be added to any Myspace profile and raises money for charities while users shop online.

By shopping through affiliated aGoodCause.com websites, such as eBay, Amazon or the Apple Store, a proportion of the profit goes directly towards funding a charity, such as Save the Children, the Red Cross of Amnesty International.

Jamie Kantrowitz, senior vice-president of marketing, entertainment and content at Myspace International, said: "Social action on the web is a thriving environment and Myspace is driving this on a global scale.

"We support our users to promote the causes they are passionate about, which is why we've partnered with aGoodCause to give Myspacers a unique opportunity to take action and make a real difference."

The partnership has been launched in seven countries including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

Google gives free adverts to Children's Society for mentoring scheme

By Mathew Little, Third Sector Online

Internet giant Google has agreed to give a 'grant' to the Children's Society in the form of free advertising for one of its programmes.

The charity has secured a Google grant for its National Mentoring Initiative. The deal means a web address for the scheme will appear in 'sponsored links' when searches are made for mentoring or volunteering opportunities. The arrangement will last for three months.

The Children's Society is particularly keen to recruit volunteers to work as mentors in London and hopes to work with 240 young people in the capital over the next year.

Claire Wetton, programme manager for the National Mentoring Initiative, said: "With the support of Google, we hope that many more people will sign up as mentors."

Cancer site brings in Jam

Kate Magee PRWeek

The first social networking website for people with cancer has taken on PR support to raise awareness.

The No Surrender Trust has brought in film PR specialist Jam to help promote its social network which is badged: 'the first social network that nobody wants to find their friends on'.

Jam is targeting doctors and nurses through the NHS publications, parents through parenting sites and health and fitness pages. It will also target national media to raise the site's profile.

The site was set up by 33-year old Jason Boas who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and give less than a year to live. He wanted to set up a site that allowed users to vent their feelings, upload video blogs, meet friends and chat, and offer support, advice and encouragement for those that needed it most. Singer KT Tunstall is a charity trustee.

There is a site called Planet Cancer in the US, but this is the first site of its kind in the UK.

Online spending slows as consumers tighten belts

Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh, Revolution UK

Growth in consumer spending online has slowed due to the worsening economic conditions, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

Growth in online spending during September was only 14.8 per cent - compared to 73.2 per cent year on year growth in September 2007.September was the third consecutive month where growth rates failed to surpass 20 per cent, despite consumers spending £4.8 billion.

Yet UK shoppers spent 23.6 per cent more on clothing in September compared to the previous month, and seven percent more on gifts and alcohol.Capgemini UK head of consulting for retail Mike Petevinos said that the internet continues to influence consuumer's shopping habits as they search for the best possible deal.

"The internet not only provides retailers with the ability to communicate more targeted offers to consumers," he said. "This will be critical for retailers in the run up to Christmas to get their message across as the gap between winners and losers looks set to widen."

A seperate study from Hitwise has revealed that internet searches for second hand goods has increased as consumers look for bargains from websites such as eBay.

Website payment mechanisms

Sue Fidler explains how to pick a suitable payment mechanism for your website.

However you try to raise money through your website, it is critical that the payment mechanism works.

The most common payment mechanisms are cards and paperless direct debits. Many charities now also offer PayPal as a method of secure payment. Some companies offer online payment processing, and the Charities Aid Foundation and the Charity Technology Trust offer charity-specific services that are set up to deal with both data protection and Gift Aid payment options.

All commercial payment processors can be used for charity donations and payment. Some of the best known include WorldPay, Secpay (now PayPoint.net) and SecureTrading.


Some database providers will recommend a payment processor they have a relationship with, and some may even offer processing services through their databases.

When choosing a secure payment processor, first make sure it is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)-compliant. Consider whether it offers card and direct debit processing and whether you need them now or in the future.

If you are offering direct debits, think about whether you will manage them in-house or need a bureau to process them. And if you need a shop, look at whether the payment processor offers an online shop or a 'shopping basket' service.

The service should be flexible and allow you to retain control, integrate easily with your website and brand it to make it look like your own page.

Check also whether you can have multiple pages for multiple appeals and look at set-up costs and 'per-payment' costs, which can range from 1 to 7 per cent of each transaction.

Lastly, make sure you have used the process on another site to see how easy it is, and remember to offer offline payment alternatives such as a phone number and postal address.

EBay Will Ban Ivory Auctions

Clark Fontaine, ENews

EBay Inc. will ban the sale of all types of ivory products by January 1, 2009, after a conservation group investigation found more than 4,000 elephant ivory listings on the online auction site. The company said in its blog on Tuesday that they feel this is the best way to protect the endangered and protected species from which ivory products are derived. The African and Asian elephants are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

A report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) says that most sales of ivory product through the online auction site were done on the company’s U.S. site. As an example, IFAW says one user purchased a pair of elephant tusks off eBay for more than $21,000. This report also mentions that every year, more than 20,000 elephants are illegally slaughtered in Africa and Asia in order to sell the ivory. The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International applauded the decision and said they first brought the issue to eBay after an investigation in 2002 discovered thousands of ivory items.

Even if the decision to ban all ivory auctions is a good one, there are some exceptions. For example, items with small amounts of ivory, such as pianos, will be permitted only if the items are antique. The company said it defines antique as pre-1900 and added that even if the items are antique, if they contain a large amount of ivory they will not be permitted. EBay’s ban is not the first. The online auction site has already banned commerce in guns and digital music and it seems that the ivory ban will not have a noticeable impact on its revenues.

Sales at Oxfam's online shop tops £5m in year one

Nazia Dewji, Professional Funraising

Oxfam’s new online shop has turned over £5m in its first year with just 50 of its 750 retail outlets providing items to it.

The online shop www.oxfam.org.uk/shop already has 30,000 shoppers a week browsing through the 100,000 listings of goods donated to its shops and the new products and gifts from Oxfam’s Unwrapped alternative gifts catalogue.

By 2009, the charity aims to double the number of shops currently participating in the scheme to provide greater consumer choice.

Huge ambitions
Oxfam’s director of trading, David McCullough, said: “The online shop has raised a fantastic amount for Oxfam so far, but we have huge ambitions for its future, as the number one ethical shopping destination online.

“Shoppers can hunt down bargains and one-off treasures from the biggest charity shop stock ever assembled, quickly and conveniently in just a few clicks.”

Throughout the first year of trading, the online shop sold more than 6,000 women’s clothing garments ranging from Whistles to Armani as well as 4,000 books and CDs including a first-edition George Orwell book for £500.
The revenue raised during its first year is enough to provide safe water for almost seven million people or train more than 130,000 health workers.

Poppy Appeal goes mobile

Stuart Aitken, Precision Marketing

The Royal British Legion is set to unveil a mobile element to the charity’s annual Poppy Appeal in a bid to drive donations across all available media.

For the first time, The Royal British Legion will include a short-code number on its nationwide poster campaign, inviting people to show their support by texting ‘POPPY’ to 80848 to make a £1.50 donation.

Mobile marketing operator Tanla Mobile has been chosen to run the mobile phone element of the 2008 Poppy Appeal and will offer a ‘Poppy Download’ facility, allowing members of the public to make a donation using their mobile phones, and in exchange receive a poppy for their mobile phone wallpaper.

Alternatively, donations of up to £10 using Payforit (WAP) billing can be made by visiting the 3 and Vodafone Internet portals or via www.poppy.org.

Director of national events and fundraising at The Royal British Legion Russell Thompson OBE comments: “We wanted the mobile phone to play a more prominent role in this year’s Poppy Appeal and needed to work with an experienced mobile specialist who are comfortable providing the mobile technology for a high-profile, national campaign. Tanla Mobile understood how much value mobile phones can add to a campaign.”

Tanla’s UK head of sales Louise Ford adds: “We are very excited to be working on the Poppy Appeal with The Royal British Legion; providing a fully-managed service that includes billing, content management, mobile portal creation and a customer service helpdesk. Including a mobile element as part of the overall campaign will work very well.”

British Gas creates "green" game for children

by Staff, Campaign

LONDON - British Gas has launched an online game to encourage 7-14 year olds to do their bit to help the environment.

The game, http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/games/eco-rangers, features Professor Green and the Eco-rangers and allows children to customise their own characters and take on evil Baron Fossilosis over five levels of gaming. The application was developed by LBi.

All of the levels are based around environmental concerns, and aim to inform children about what to do to make a difference in the real world.

TV and online advertising will drive traffic to the site.

Buyout creates CRM market domination

Gareth Jones Professional Fundraising

IRIS, the largest privately owned software business in the UK, has acquired the specialist not-for-profit CRM provider Donor Strategy, increasing its market share to 54 per cent of the 100 largest UK charities.

With more than 1,000 clients in the not-for-profit sector, the move will allow IRIS to expand its reach in the SME charity and membership market and in educational organisations such as independent schools and higher education colleges.

In Professional Fundraising's CRM software survey in February, users of the Donor Strategy product gave it the second highest satisfaction score.

Simon Fowler (pictured), managing director of IRIS NFP Solutions said there was a synergy between the brands and their products.

“Like IRIS, Donor Strategy has a first class reputation for its software and the quality of its personal service.

“By bringing Donor Strategy into IRIS NFP Solutions, we are able to offer an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and experience to this specialist sector; a factor that will undoubtedly strengthen our ability to satisfy a wider range of needs.”

Donor Strategy founder Jonathan Air added: “We are delighted that Donor Strategy has joined IRIS and we are confident that it will provide a safe future for our company.

“For some time, we have been searching for a way to develop the business further as part of a long term vision.

“As a larger organisation with the resources, service commitment and culture to maintain our favourable position in the market, IRIS will ensure that our customers’ investments are protected, our product stays in-tune with the sector and that client care remains central.”

Meanwhile, JA Computer Solutions, which produces the CHARITease database solution, has announced that it is offering full support for charities affected by the liquidation of AK Consultancies Ltd, without forcing them to up upgrade to the CHARITease product.

Among the 21 charities who were using AK’s Fusion database and have taken up the offer are the Institute of Civil Engineers, the Lambeth Endowed Charities and St. Andrews Hospice.

WORLD’S FIRST ONLINE CHARITY SHOP MAKES £5 MILLION THIS YEAR

Oxfam’s Online Shop bucks retail trend with impressive first-year performance

Oxfam’s groundbreaking online shop has raised £5 million in its first year. The online Oxfam shop sells goods donated to Oxfam shops, as well as a range of new products and gifts from Oxfam’s Unwrapped alternative gifts catalogue.

With 100,000 listings on site at the moment, the shop attracts more than 30,000 shoppers per week. People looking to buy one-off donated garments and a host of rare treasures can browse from the comfort of their own homes.

In its first year of trading, the online shop has sold:

• 3,400 women's tops, from Abercrombie to Armani


• 3,000 women's dresses and skirts, from White Stuff to Whistles


• 4,000 books and CDs


• 1,200 bags (Radley, D&G).

The shop launched in 2007 with online-savvy staff from 30 of Oxfam’s 750 shops uploading donated items to the website. The shop now sources from 50 Oxfam shops, with a target of getting 100 shops involved in 2009, increasing the amount of items available online from 100,000 to 250,000.

Individual bargains snapped up so far include: Amitabh Bachchan's personally donated

• Armani jeans - £1,000


• Alfred Angelo wedding dress - £145


• 1st Edition of George Orwell book 1984 £500


• 1960s Sambos Dollyrockers, mini dress - £125


• Mulberry Bretton bag - £225.

David McCullough, Oxfam’s director of trading, said:

”The online shop has raised a fantastic amount for Oxfam so far, but we have huge ambitions for its future, as the number one ethical shopping destination online. Shoppers can hunt down bargains and one-off treasures from the biggest charity shop stock ever assembled, quickly and conveniently in just a few clicks.” Online sales are expected to account for more that half of Britain’s retail growth by 2012. The rise of ethical trading and online sales has combined to make this an increasingly important part of Oxfam’s funding.

The £5 million raised in the first year of the online shop’s existence would be enough to provide school dinners for more than 80 million children, safe water for almost 7 million people, or buy 200,000 goats, 150,000 emergency shelters or train more than 130,000 health workers.

Visit Oxfam’s Online Shop at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop.

Diabetes UK builds virtual HQ in Second Life

Third Sector Online, 9 October 2008


Diabetes UK builds virtual HQ in Second Life

The charity has placed posters around the online virtual world to coincide with its Silent Assassin awareness-raising campaign.

Users of the virtual world can teleport themselves to the charity's virtual HQ where they can find information on the condition.

Poll: Britain becomes a nation of online shoppers

by Gemma Charles, Marketing

More than 11 million Britons are now shopping online at least twice a week, according to new research, with clothing, books, CDs and DVDs among the most popular favourite items.

The nationwide study of Britain's online shopping habits by price comparison site Shopzilla.co.uk also shows that the proportion of British shopper online outstrips that of the US with around nine out of 10 UK consumers shopping online at least once a month compared with around seven out of 10 Americans.

The poll of more than 3,000 Brits found that being able to shop any time of the day or night, price and convenience are the biggest motivations for shopping online.

When scoring satisfaction from one to 10, 79% of shoppers give the online experience eight out of 10 or above, compared to just 27% for high street stores. Satisfaction with the customer service offered by online retailers is also significantly higher - 55% of shoppers give internet stores eight out of 10 or better compared with only 28% for their bricks and mortar counterparts.

However, there are still certain goods that consumers are reluctant to buy online. More than half (54.7%) would still not consider buying a car online, while musical instruments and food and drink are still no go areas for three out of 10 and two out of 10 consumers respectively.

Meanwhile, the credit crunch looks set to trigger an even bigger stampede towards online shopping. More than half of shoppers polled said they were now more likely to hunt for a range of items online in a bid to save money.

Scott Macon, managing director for Shopzilla Europe, said: 'This survey shows that Britons are among the world's keenest online shoppers and that they are becoming more and more sophisticated.'

MySpace launches online photo service

Arif Durrani, Media Week

MySpace, the social networking website owned by News Corp, has partnered with technology and printing specialist HP in a move that will offer users the ability to print any photos stored in their profiles.

The new partnership will see links to HP printing technology being rolled out across a number of areas on MySpace where photos appear, including in blogs, comments and messages.

The first stage of the partnership will include an HP-branded print button enabling MySpace users to preview and print photos directly from their MySpace profiles. At a later date, the companies also expect to provide the ability to create and print personalised merchandise with photos from the site.

Chris DeWolfe, chief executive of MySpace, said: "The MySpace platform is home to approximately four billion images and our users, from teens to grandparents will not have an easier way to share their digital assets."

The move is being touted as an "unprecedented partnership", despite coming 10 days after Facebook announced its own online photo printing service, Super Photos, through a deal with Photobox.

Both launches confirm the belief that the sharing and storing of photos online is set to become more integral to the social networking experience in the future.

Raising money online

Sue Fidler takes a look at the most efficient ways to raise money online.

Online sponsorship and event management are efficient ways to collect income and personal data. A huge advantage is the opportunity to collect both Gift Aid and contact details from each sponsor, something that can be time-consuming and painful if you use paper sponsorship forms.

Participants love having a profile online that shows their activism and enables them to tell their friends. Of course, this also enables them to do the marketing for you and generates a higher average amount and a higher rate of collection.


Both raffles and lotteries can be run online - it's a cheap alternative to sending out books of tickets that is far more likely to generate repeat payments. Email is the ideal reminder mechanism and can be used to let participants know who has won.

A few brave charities have experimented with online gambling, which is the fastest growing form of e-commerce in the UK. Most charities shy away from it, but if you are prepared to go down that road, poker and bingo offer huge opportunities for raising money online.

Whatever you come up with to persuade your supporters to get their credit cards out, it is essential that the process is obvious, easy to use and works well. The 'pay now' button on the website you are using should be prominent and obvious. The form must be as simple as possible - we all hate filling in details that don't seem relevant to the purchase, so don't include them. Make sure the payment processing works and the automated 'thank you' is immediate and appropriate.

If you're still stuck for ideas, just take a look at those corporate sites you find easy and efficient to use and do your best to incorporate what works from them.

Google reopens 2001 search index

Brand Republic

Google has relaunched its 2001 search index to provide a light-hearted look at the growth of web use over the past seven years.

To mark its 10th birthday, Google has made available its oldest readily accessible search index for one month only, which users can browse the comparatively tiny search engine, including links to websites as they appeared in 2001.

A statement on the Google site said: "The world wide web and the world have both changed a lot since 2001. Searching Google's 2001 index illustrates both points in what we think is a pretty entertaining way.

"If you searched on 'Michael Phelps' in 2001 for instance, you were probably looking for the scientist, not the swimmer. 'Ipod' didn't refer to a music player, and 'YouTube' didn't refer to much of anything."

According to web experience consultant Webcredible, the index alsos provide a point of measure for the evolution of online marketing. The difference in the number of results thrown up when searching on the terms "search", "engine" and "optimisation" results between the 2001 version and the current Google is notable, growing from 12,300 in 2001 to 77.8m today, an increase of 632,520%.

Results for "usability" and "accessibility" have also shot up astronomically over seven years, increasing by over 5,500% and 8,300% respectively. Search results for "social media", "online marketing" and "email marketing" all show a growth of over 1,000%

Trenton Moss, director at Webcredible, said: "The rise in the importance of websites and online marketing over the past seven years is already well-known, but Google's launch of its 2001 search index really shows the extent of this.

"With online now a major channel to reach customers and prospects, disciplines like online user experience, search and social media are now crucial elements of growing your business and this is demonstrated by the sheer volume of results returned on a search for these terms."

Chinese government spying on Skype users

Iain Thomson vnunet.com

Internet telephony not so secure

A study has shown that Skype users in China are being spied on, despite denials from the VoIP firm that this is the case.

The Breaching Trust study (PDF) by Nart Villeneuve at the University of Toronto shows that the authorities are continuously eavesdropping on Skype's Chinese service, TOM-Skype.

This poses a major problem for business and personal users of the service who had assumed that it was secure.

"The log files obtained during the course of the investigation reveal information such as the IP addresses, usernames (and landline phone numbers) used to place or receive TOM-Skype calls, as well as the full content of filtered messages and the time and date of each message," the report said.

"The collected data affects all TOM-Skype users and also captures the personal information of any Skype users that interacted with registered TOM-Skype users.

"This represents a severe security and privacy breach. It also raises troubling questions regarding how these practices are related to the government of China's censorship and surveillance policies."

The report will make worrying reading for businesses that rely on Skype in order to avoid using Chinese state telecommunications.

During the Olympics the US government issued a warning that state surveillance was targeting business intelligence.

The system scans for certain keywords in conversations, including 'democracy', 'Taiwan independence' and 'voice of America'. It also tracks specific user accounts of people under more rigorous surveillance.

Call logs and personal information are then stored on servers owned by TOM, Skype's partner in China.

"Trust in a well-known brand such as Skype is an insufficient guarantee when it comes to censorship and surveillance," the report said.

"This case demonstrates the critical importance of transparency and accountability by providers of communications technologies.

"It highlights the risks of storing personally identifying and sensitive private information in jurisdictions where human rights and privacy are under threat."