At Digital Candle, we’re a 400-strong volunteer community of experts, supremely talented on all-things digital.
It’s all about using our digital skills for the greater good.
We match charities in a bit of a digital pickle with one of our experts for one hour of free consultancy and advice.
To give you an idea of what we know, our collective expertise spans:
Now, that’s a list. You name it, there’s someone who can help.
We get several questions a week, but we could handle a lot more. We know there are many more charities out there in need of our help.
Right now, we have more experts waiting in the wings than charities asking for help.
We’re sure there are many reasons why we aren’t seeing the deluge of questions we’re hoping for.
The biggest challenge is that many charities just don’t know Digital Candle exists.
You see, small charities are the biggest users of Digital Candle. And while we worked with Small Charities Coalition (before they sadly announced their closure) to reach more of them, it’s tricky to reach all 166,000 charities in the UK alone!
Especially when they might not know they need help in the first place.
There are steps we can all take to help raise Digital Candle’s profile and make sure we’re seen by those that need us.
Here, we’re thinking of the ‘Twilight Bark’ in 101 Dalmations. You know the bit - all the dogs in London howl into the night to tell Pongo and Perdy they’ve found the puppies. It’s emotional.
Now, imagine a network of professionals doing the same. What an excellent image.
Spread the word amongst your networks through social media - that's how lots of people heard about Digital Candle. Keep reminding people so they don’t forget.
Whichever rooftop social media platform you decide to use - Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or somewhere else entirely - be sure to include our all-important ask a question link, to direct those that need it straight to the good stuff.
The more people that know we exist, the more charities we can help.
The gist of how Digital Candle works is by having your people talk to our people, so we can set up a 1-hour 1:1 chat with a suitable expert.
It’s quick, simple, and oh so effective.
If you’re a charity professional, tell your colleagues that the resource is there - ready, waiting, and free of charge.
If you’re one of our volunteer experts and you’ve helped a charity yourself, say who you helped and what you liked about it (with their permission of course). People are way more likely to ask a question off the back of your personal story.
Everybody else, tell any and all charities you come across that they can get free help with almost any digital challenge by asking a question on Digital Candle.
You might not reach someone who needs help right now. But they might need our help later. Or know someone who knows someone who needs help.
It’s the ripple effect we're after.
So please spread the word, talk to your people, and who knows, you might make all the difference to a charity’s digital strategy.