Virtual: BRIDGE (Building Resiliency in Digital Growth and Engagement)

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, many charities were struggling to balance increased demands for services and static or decreasing income. But now those factors are even more extreme, and shifting services and fundraising to social media and other technologies have become an existential rather than strategic imperative.

BRIDGE is a program designed to equip small and medium-sized charities with the technological and social media competence and confidence to become more resilient and deliver greater impact.

We know that charities have the greatest stories to tell. We want to help you better tell those stories using technology and social media and to reach a wider audience.

About BRIDGE

The BRIDGE program has been developed as an in-depth, holistic training program that takes participants through a comprehensive digital curriculum with dedicated support. The program will be centered around three key strands: learning new skills, having access to the right tools and receiving expert training and support.

The 12-month program is divided into four quarters with each focusing on the development of skills in specific areas: Basics, Storytelling, Fundraising and Insights. Each quarter introduces content that builds on the knowledge developed earlier in the course to increase the complexity and expand on the skills levels of participants. The three program delivery strands combined with the four program content areas enable organizations to become more resilient and deliver greater impact.

Three Key Strands of the BRIDGE Program:

1. Skills

Develop the core skills needed to become more resilient when using social media within your organization. Construct a strategy to help you plan, run and analyze your social media campaigns to help you reach and engage a wider audience. Benefit from strategic masterclasses on key digital and social media topics.

• Interactive training delivered by sector experts, such as Lightful’s Senior Advisor, Beth Kanter
• Guest speaker series to help you learn from the industry experts
• Full access to Lightful’s ‘how-to’ webinar series, available exclusively to BRIDGE program participants for more practical learning.

2. Tools

Combine the skills you have developed during the program and the understanding of how to implement them when making use of the Lightful platform, designed specifically with charities in mind.

• Professional membership to Lightful’s pioneering social media management platform
• Exclusive access to Lightful’s content library for practical guidance.

3. Support

During the program, you will be able to work closely with the Relationship Managers at Lightful. This can help you with creating and developing the core skills and then how to implement them.

• Onboarding to the BRIDGE program and the Lightful platform
• Understanding and guidance of the goals you as an organization want to achieve
• Dedicated Relationship Manager from Lightful to coach on social media fundamentals and strategic implementation throughout the program
• Assistance in developing a campaign plan and also understand the impact this is having on the engagement at your organization

The Impact of BRIDGE

• Charities raised 44% more if they attended BRIDGE webinars compared to organizations who did not
• Participants reported a 25% increase in confidence in digital fundraising and social media campaigns
• Engagement increased 54% more per social media post on average compared to a control group

"The best part of the BRIDGE program is being part of an extended family and social media team that comes with it who cannot only advise and support but help you to grow."-  Morgane Legendre, Mothers2Mothers

About Lightful

Lightful was born from first-hand experience working in charities and nonprofits. We saw how digital technology was dramatically transforming everything from food delivery to transportation, but the sector making the biggest difference in the world was getting left behind.

Lightful’s founders knew that good technology would enable charities to deliver greater impact and decided to help make that happen at scale. Bringing together a world-class team of digital experts, strategists, developers and nonprofit specialists, Lightful was created to ensure charities and nonprofits have access to the very best technology for their unique needs.

Candid is proud to partner with Lightful to make this program available.  Support for the program was provided by the Fidelity Charitable Trustees’ Initiative.