Much has been written about the pros and cons of using social media as a communication tool. While there are downsides to almost any marketing technique, our work with Del Camino Connection (DCC), a network of churches based in the Dominican Republic, has demonstrated the amazing potential that social media has for non-profits seeking to rally the support of communities and individuals.
Last year, DCC asked Throwing Light to help them improve their communications strategies by creating a more sophisticated web presence. Among other things, we introduced them to Facebook, creating and maintaining a group where friends of DCC could get updates and share information. While many view Facebook as nothing more than a time-waster, the social media platform that automatically updates you on the most mundane details of your friends’ lives can also serve as a gathering place for people interested in supporting relief and development work around the world, allowing them to receive up-to-the-minute news and photos from the organizations facilitating these services.
In the wake of the Haiti earthquake tragedy, DCC found Facebook to be a critical communication tool as they worked tirelessly to coordinate a grassroots relief effort to bring much-needed supplies and aid to the places that had not yet received help.
In addition to facilitating personal interactions between DCC staff and supporters, the group served an important role in directing group members to the DCC website. As a result, their website traffic increased and the organization raised a significant amount of money towards relief efforts. Our recent work with DCC is just one example of the many ways that our expanded communications services help our clients tell their stories.
While in Burundi, Leah and I visited a prison. This is the song we heard a handful of prisoners singing. I recommend turning up the volume on your speakers…
This is a video I put together of some sights and sounds from Philadelphia. I took the train into the city yesterday for some photography on my day off. Enjoy!
So we really enjoyed helping them build their new website! Our friends at Whiteboard Media did an amazing job with the design and construction of the site, while Leah and I focused on the photography and content management.
Not only have we helped FPCG build their website, but we put together a photo directory, too. The previous directory of members was just a list with names and numbers. But so many people in the community complained of not being able to put faces to the names. So we got to work photographing almost every member of the church — two hundred active or semi-active families!
Del Camino Connection is a nonprofit organization based in the Dominican Republic that connects churches in the global south to churches in the north. The relationships that develop from these connections not only strengthen the churches involved, but effectively change the lives of hundreds of people around the world.
We have the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic every once in a while to photograph some of these churches at work in their communities. The common denominator among these churches is that each one is concerned about both the spiritual needs of the community and the physical/emotional needs. These churches are taking active roles in childhood education, community medical care, work with the homeless, and advocating for those whose voices are not often heard.
Much has been written about the pros and cons of using social media as a communication tool. While there are downsides to almost any marketing technique, our work with Del Camino Connection (DCC), a network of churches based in the Dominican Republic, has demonstrated the amazing potential that social media has for non-profits seeking to rally the support of communities and individuals.
In the wake of the Haiti earthquake tragedy, DCC found Facebook to be a critical communication tool as they worked tirelessly to coordinate a grassroots relief effort to bring much-needed supplies and aid to the places that had not yet received help.
