Course description

Looking after social media for a charity or community group, with only a few hours a week? This course shows you, step by step, how to tell your group's story, recruit volunteers, fill your events and raise money online, all safely and within the rules, with no marketing background needed.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow the part-time coordinator of a small community garden charity through seven months: securing the accounts she inherited, writing a policy, running a volunteer drive, promoting an open day and running an online appeal for a new polytunnel, including the mistakes along the way. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-made templates and workbooks.

What you'll learn

• Planning: goals, audiences, choosing platforms you have time for, and a plan on a page.
• Rules and safety: trustees' responsibilities, a simple social media policy, photo consent and safeguarding, data protection and account security.
• Telling your story: bios, accessible posts, impact stories with dignity, phone photos, short videos and thank-you posts.
• Routines: content pillars, a content calendar for the year, batching and a small volunteer team.
• Volunteers and events: volunteer calls that work, replying to enquiries, promoting events and posting on the day.
• Fundraising: the fundraising rules in outline, planning and writing an online appeal, Gift Aid in outline and thanking donors.
• Measuring and problems: the numbers that matter, a one-page trustee report, negative comments and a simple crisis plan.

The final projects

You'll write your own plan on a page, social media policy and audience map, then plan a month of posts and a small campaign for your group. A project brief, a review workbook and a handover checklist are included.

Who this course is for

• Staff and volunteers who look after social media for a small charity or community group.
• Trustees and committee members who want to understand what good, safe social media looks like.
• Clubs, PTAs, faith groups and residents' associations that want more people to get involved.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the practical task for your own group using the templates in the practice pack. The steps work on any social media platform. It is general information, not legal or fundraising advice, and it points you to the charity regulators, the Fundraising Regulator, the Information Commission (still known as the ICO) and GOV.UK where you need them. Go at your own pace and keep lifetime access.

What will I learn?

• Set clear goals and audiences and choose platforms you have time for
• Write a simple social media policy and keep accounts secure when people come and go
• Share photos and stories safely, with consent and safeguarding in mind
• Write posts, impact stories and short videos that people read and share
• Plan a year of content and share the work with a small volunteer team
• Recruit volunteers online and reply to enquiries quickly and kindly
• Promote events and run an online appeal within the fundraising rules
• Measure what matters, report to trustees and handle negative comments calmly

Frequently asked questions