Age UK 'has bolstered its online presence'

Written by Isabel Griffith

Online charity fundraising is seemingly becoming increasingly prominent and more organisations are switching on to the benefits to be had through embracing technological advances and the internet in particular.

And one group that seems to have pushed forward in its web-based charity fundraising endeavours is Age UK, which has been commended for its informative website and its exploration of the world of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

According to a study carried out by Third Sector Research, Age UK is the good cause with the best online presence.

The investigation was carried out by researchers looking at the 300 biggest charities in the UK by voluntary income, with schools and grant-making trusts excluded.

Those conducting the report - which is entitled Charity Web Check - assessed both the website and the social media activity levels of the groups selected.

Organisations were marked on how easy users would find it to access and navigate their portal.

This suggests those looking to boost charity fundraising via the world wide web would be wise to make sure their net-based operations are simple to use and easy to understand.

In addition, the manner in which the bodies had got to grips with popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was also assessed.

With this in mind, charities looking to branch out to the largest possible number of would-be donators might want to make sure they are making the most of the opportunities provided by social media and encouraging internet surfers to visit their pages as much as possible.

And it appears an emphasis on its site in particular has paid dividends for Age UK, as the report noted the group emerged victorious overall "in large part thanks to its website, the highest scoring of all the sites examined".

Furthermore, despite Age UK being primarily associated with older people who may not be as accustomed to navigating the web as much as younger users may be, it was shown that the charity is also performing admirably with regard to its achievements in social media.

The investigation found: "Contrary to what some may assume, Age UK has a strong social media following, with more than 12,000 likes for its Facebook page and in excess of 6,000 Twitter followers."

And Age UK - whose free national helpline is open 365 days a year between 08:00 and 19:00 - appears to not be alone in its successful forays into such platforms as the British Heart Foundation, which was ranked eighth overall in the study, was heralded as the best in the UK for its social media uptake.

The body boasts nearly 13,000 followers on microblogging site Twitter, for which it was commended for its "chatty and informal" feed.

In addition, the group has chalked up more than 750,000 views of the videos it has uploaded to YouTube.

Following just behind Age UK in its online charity fundraising efforts was the British Red Cross, which placed second in the ranking.

The organisation was praised for another aspect of its net-based operations, with the researchers finding its blog much to their liking.