SCIP News
Important information for Windows XP users
SCIP’s Technical Support manager Andy Fairhall has warned organisations to be aware that Microsoft have just announced that Windows XP will be unsupported after April 2014.
Back to school for SCIP
Patcham High School in Brighton has a great new website to help parents, pupils and the wider community keep up to date with what's going on.
Five New Year Resolutions for social media success.
by Caroline Sutton
Admit it, the diet’s boring and the gym’s too crowded and sweaty. At last, the team at SCIP have some New Year’s Resolutions which you can really stick to.
Goodbye and good luck to Mark Walker
It’s with real sadness that SCIP have said goodbye to one of our founders, Mark Walker, who has moved on after twenty years.
Christmas Opening Times
The SCIP office will be closed from the 23rd December and opens again on the 3rd January 2012. We will be providing an emergency service between these dates.
Three books to boost your digital fundraising strategy.
These days there are tremendous resources online for discovering all about how to run a PR or marketing campaign.
Those cheaper chips just keep on giving
The story about cheaper chips from November generated a lot of interest from people looking for cheap laptops and desktops, including a few after a bargain as a Christmas present.
The SCIP list is for life, but it’s also great at Christmas...
The amazing power of the SCIP list came to the rescue of the St John’s Centre in Hove when they needed Christmas fancy dress clothes for a fundraising event.
Investing in IT saves cash for the Credit Union
East Sussex Credit Union is one of a growing network of not-for-profit banking services that is breaking the mould of high street banking across the UK, and beyond.
Three ways to get a journalist to run your story
With funding so tight it’s important to keep spreading the news about the good work you do in the public eye. Good publicity gives your organisation status and raises awareness for your users, potential funders and other stakeholders, which explains the high turn out for a recent workshop about ‘Promoting Your Group Using the Press and Social Media.’
Planning your social media campaigns
The secret of any good communications is good planning. Whether you're using email, press releases or Faceboook you need to think about your goals and how you will achieve them. Who is your audience? What are the key messages? Who is going to do what? One way of managing this process is to use a communications campaign template, like the one available for download below.
What do you do if you don't get Twitter?
Many people dismiss it, saying it's just Stephen Fry telling everyone about his breakfast, but Twitter has become a serious communications tool used every day by businesses and charities for fundraising, sales, research, networking, referrals, intelligence-gathering, PR, recruitment, word-of-mouth and much more. If you're still wondering what the fuss is about you may need to download a short free guide by Mark Walker from SCIP called 'Get to grips with Twitter'.This simple guide explains in plain English what other people are using it for and suggests a few simple steps to help you understand what it could offer you.
How Amaze uses Facebook
Brighton-based charity Amaze supports families of children with special needs from Brighton & Hove and like a lot of organisations they use social media to support a lot of their engagement work as well as generate income. As part of his preparation for a forthcoming workshop about social media and fundraising Mark Walker interviewed Nicky Bagilhole to ask her how Facebook supports her work as Amaze's fundraiser.
The other side of the coin for online donations
Last month's SCIP newsletter featured a round up of various online donation platforms and the charges they make, as part of the prep I'm doing for a briefing about social media and fundraising. Since then I've had conversations and updates via email and Twitter, mainly about the fact that cost alone isn't the best way of choosing between possible providers. There may be specific features that fit your needs, or it may be about ease of use for you and you donors. So here are two new lists that help you review what is best for you.
Bargains beckon as chips change
toshiba laptop
If you think you may need a new computer in the next couple of months now could be a good time to buy, as suppliers clear out laptops and PCs to make way for models that use a newer faster Intel chip that was launched this summer. Some of the best bargains include high spec laptops for less than £400 including VAT.
SCIP meets the need for speed at Voluntary Action Within Kent
Staff and volunteers at Voluntary Action Within Kent (VAWK) have a spring in their step since SCIP installed a new server to support their network. The new setup means files are moving at light speed between offices across Kent, replacing an ageing system that had reached snail's pace. Having provided training and other support to VAWK for several years the SCIP tech support team worked closely with VAWK's in-house IT team to bring the specialist skills needed and deliver a cost-effective solution which they can now manage themselves.
How much do online donations cost?
We're all facing huge fundraising challenges and a recent question on the SCIP list asked about options for taking donations online. Several people made suggestions that highlighted the need to compare the charges made by different services, so Mark Walker rounded up the comments and reviewed the fees of six of them.
Ten tips for safer passwords
As our use of the internet grows we acquire more and more passwords, PINs and usernames. Despite security concerns about people hacking into large online databases we are also vulnerable to people guessing usernames and passwords to our individual accounts and accessing personal details that can lead to fraud. Here are ten tips to make sure your passwords are as secure as possible.
Working Together Project adds online bookings
Local voluntary sector training provider Working Together Project has introduced online booking for its latest training courses, which means that people can now use the web to book and pay for over 30 courses, including community training and organisational development. The switch is part of a website upgrade carried out by SCIP that uses EventBrite event management to accept bookings and online payments but can also issue an invoice.
SCIP's Cheaper Chips: Get VAT-free RAM during September
Is your computer feeling a bit tired? As belts tighten and budgets evaporate SCIP's special offer on RAM means that you may get a big jump in speed for not much money. We're paying the VAT on all RAM ordered during September, which means we can save you 20% and boost your computer's speed by as much as 100%.
