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Welcome (back) to Ten Things for non-profits: eclectic links for purposeful procrastination. 
 

In this edition we’ve got a lot of stories about race, trauma, disability, and inclusion. From the role of content and digital in supporting people who have experienced gender-based violence, to inclusive alt text, and the need for content to give disabled people access to museums and heritage sites; I feel like a lot of the issues that have been front of mind for me this year come together in this email. Which is fitting as this is the last 10 Things of 2022. I’ll be sending out one special end-of-year round-up soon, but apart from that: see you back here in January and thanks so much for subscribing.

• "I couldn't let this slide: vulnerable women, like my friends, turning to the internet and being let down"
• "I’m so used to blind people saying they thought I was white, it doesn’t surprise me now"
• "19% of museums and heritage sites surveyed have no online access information"
• "A collection that told a global story of health and medicine in which disabled people, Black people, Indigenous peoples and people of colour were exoticised, marginalised and exploited"
• "Hate speech sucks, and those who refuse to do anything about it suck even harder"
• "If I say the word 'digital' to Mum, she replies, 'watch'."
• "We know this is true… right?"
• "What would I put in a digital strategy?"
• "Everyone who publishes online thinks they know SEO"
• "The latest top picks email actually raised more money than a direct fundraising ask for supporters."

"I couldn't let this slide: vulnerable women, like my friends, turning to the internet and being let down"

Lauren Crichton interviews Hera Hussain, founder and CEO of Chayn, about the story behind the non-profit, the role of digital in gender-based violence, the power of trauma-informed design, and more.

This interview is a wide-ranging and galvanising read. Rather than summarising, I want to highlight one part of the interview in particular — where Hera talks about trying to help a friend leave an abusive marriage — because I think it perfectly captures why what we do as content folk is so important:

‘We scoured over 200 websites searching for answers—the language was convoluted, written by experts, and everything was locked away in hundred-page-long PDFs. When we did manage to find simple material, we encountered racial stereotyping: happy women were always white, and the sad women running away with bruises were always Black and brown. If translated content was available, it contained critical grammatical errors—like incorrect gender—and the advice had a patriarchal framing.’

"I’m so used to blind people saying they thought I was white, it doesn’t surprise me now"

CW: this post contains images of racial segregation in America.

Shopify’s Tolu Adegbite makes a case for describing race in alt-text.

This is a great reminder of when and why you need to reference race in image alt-text. I shared this in the non-non-profit version of 10 Things last week, and it prompted some interesting discussion about alt-text in general via Jonathan Colman on LinkedIn about how to avoid making assumptions about race, or misgendering people.

"19% of museums and heritage sites surveyed have no online access information"

A report from VocalEyes on UK museum and heritage websites has found that there have been no major improvements in accessibility information for blind and visually impaired, D/deaf, hard of hearing, and neurodivergent visitors since 2018. If you’re in the museum or heritage sector, this is an important read. There’s also a free benchmarking tool you can use to get a sense of your site’s performance, or get ideas for how you can improve your accessibility information.

"A collection that told a global story of health and medicine in which disabled people, Black people, Indigenous peoples and people of colour were exoticised, marginalised and exploited"

A Twitter thread from Wellcome Collection on taking the decision to close its Medicine Man exhibition.

This thread (and the replies) are a good window onto the discussions many museums are having as they start to look at their collections in a new light.

"Hate speech sucks, and those who refuse to do anything about it suck even harder"

Tim Wise on why he thinks people leaving Twitter post-Musk is about ‘white liberal fragility’.

I’m seeing some discussion in the sector about whether charities should stay on Twitter. While this article is more about individuals than organisations, a lot of the ideas carry through. Tim argues that being able to turn away is a luxury that not everyone can afford, especially people using it as a platform for activism. I think this is a great point for charities to bear in mind: do you need to be on Twitter to fight for the people you represent; do you need to be on there to be visible to influential people? Thanks to Candi Williams for sharing this.

"If I say the word 'digital' to Mum, she replies, 'watch'."

An anonymous author writes about their mum, one of the 4.2 million people in the UK aged 65+ who have never used the internet.

A great reminder that while digital is important, it’s not accessible to all, and not to forget those who aren’t online. Thanks to Amy Hupe for sharing this one.

"We know this is true… right?"

Scope’s Jack Garfinkel on making content design decisions using research.

Another incredibly useful post from Jack, giving a clear and detailed account of how the team at Scope go about making decisions using data. If you don’t follow Jack on Twitter/Medium/Mastodon/LinkedIn you should — they share so much brilliant content wisdom.

"What would I put in a digital strategy?"

SCVO’s John Fitzgerald says you can’t follow a template for digital strategy, but you can follow a formula to help you craft one.

It would be so great if you could template a strategy, but sadly it just doesn't work. As John writes, a strategy needs to be unique to your organisation, your situation, and your goals. However, if you’re working on a digital strategy, this post has some very helpful questions, themes, and topics to consider to help point you in the right direction.

"Everyone who publishes online thinks they know SEO"

Deborah Carver on why everything you think you know about SEO is probably wrong.

You might feel a little attacked by this, but in a good way. Like when a stranger points out you’ve got loo roll stuck to your shoe. This post is a great quick refresher on SEO that will help you root out any misunderstandings you’ve picked up. It also reaffirms that a good content strategy will ensure you get a lot of the important things right.

"The latest top picks email actually raised more money than a direct fundraising ask for supporters."

A post by me on why content strategy is a great investment for charities, not just in terms of meeting user needs, but in generating income too.

The post features a great example from Parkinson's UK, where a recent content-focused email that addressed user needs, raised more money than a direct fundraising ask.