This week we how at how a powerful social campaign from CALM is getting people talking about male suicide and Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's latest video makes people remember the benefits pets bring to their lives.

CALM there are #BiggerIssues

This week the Campaign Against Living Miserably and Lynx have launched the #BiggerIssues campaign to raise awareness of male suicide.

The campaign has been producing a series of graphics to share on social media that react to current topics, such as the latest Twitter update. It is also regularly updating digital billboards.

It is encouraging supporters to sign to a Thunderclap, authorising the charity to send a tweet about male suicide being the biggest killer of men under 45 to their followers on 19 November, include campaign materials in their profiles and share with friends.

Why we love it: by juxtaposing comparatively trivial topics that people are talking about on social media (see this week’s Society Diary for an example of some of the discussion of #nonprofitpickuplines on Twitter) with the serious issue of male suicide the charity really grabs people’s attention and makes them think.

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home - #WhoNeesWho?

A new video campaign from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home hightlights the positive impact a pet has on people’s lives to encourage people to consider rehoming a pet.

Since it was published last week the video has been viewed more than 40,000 times on YouTube.

The charity has also started a Pinterest board to share photos of adopted animals and give pet owners an opportunity to explain what they important.

Why we love it: most of the animal charity campaigns focus on how humans can help animals so it is great to see the Battersea reminding us that it is a reciprocal relationship.

Trustees Week

This week is Trustees’ Week, an annual opportunity for everyone involved in charity to make a song and dance about how amazing their trustees are, and where better to do so than on the internet.  

Here are two of our favourite examples:

• Tenovus Cancer Care used its Facebook page to post videos showcasing some of its new trustees. With perky background music its new trustees explained why they had joined and how they expect to work with the charity.
• The Shannon Trust used the hashtag on Twitter to encourage people to apply for a role on its trustee board. To attract people’s attention it included an infographic with an inspirational quote from a current trustee.

Why we love it: Trustees’ Week may have been around for a while but that doesn’t mean charities can forget about it, and with more organisations looking to involve young trustees on their boards where better place to look than on social media.