As thousands gathered for Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country, many organizations turn to social media to honour the contributions made by Canadian soldiers.
Founded in 2009 by U of T students and recent graduates, Canadian Hero Fund, a grassroots charity dedicated to Canadian soldiers and their families, is one of the frontrunners in using social media to raise awareness for similar initiatives.
Its second annual “11 for 11” fundraiser drive — launched simultaneously on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo — encourages Canadians to donate $11 during the first 11 days of November to raise scholarships for children and spouses of fallen soldiers. Last year, the fund awarded its first $10,000 scholarship to Matthew Mellish, the son of late Warrant Officer, Frank Mellish, who was killed in 2006 while serving in Afghanistan. Four more students this year received scholarships to pursue post-secondary education at two Canadian universities.
Co-founder Tim Peters told CBC Metro Morning in an interview that 95 per cent of donations are received online.
“As a relatively small charity with a large focus and trying to have a national reach, we find the best way to do that is online,” said 11 for 11 campaign manager Johnny Henderson, whose grandfather served in the Second World War.
The volunteers who manage the group’s online presence have experience dealing with the social media aspects of several political campaigns, according to Henderson. CHF’s Facebook page and Twitter account have close to 2,000 active users and followers each. It also keeps a blog on Tumblr.
“Social media is a natural outlet for us,” Henderson said. “[It’s] a way to really quickly penetrate our audience across the country and get the message out.
“It serves our youth base quite well,” he added.
The group’s next step on its social media agenda is to produce more multimedia content. It has posted internship opportunities of a multimedia producer and a graphic designer on the website. Henderson also encouraged students to follow CHF on social media for future job postings and volunteer opportunities.
Another veteran advocacy group on campus, the Soldiers’ Tower Committee of the University of Toronto Alumni Association, created a Facebook page three years ago.
“We recognized that a lot of students engage in social media. It’s something we needed to do to catch up with other student organizations on campus,” said James Janeiro, the page’s administrator and the vice-chair of the Committee, explaining the initial purpose of the page.
The Committee is made up of a diverse crowd, including retirees, working alumni, and student representatives. Although not all members are well-versed with the new forms of communication, Janeiro said that the older generation is “surprisingly familiar” with the concept of social media, as the initial proposal of starting a Facebook page came from one of the older members who used Facebook to connect with family and friends overseas.
Both Henderson and Janeiro pointed out that knowing the audience is key for cause-oriented organizations to launch effective social media campaign.
“If you shape your social media policy around that target audience, you’ll see a lot more conversion and a lot higher success rate,” Henderson of CHF said.
“It’s very important to start with a broad base, but also know who you are talking to,” added Janeiro, echoing the same sentiment.
