
Community On Board has recently been involved with a campaign to create a Community Arts Centre on the site the former Ritz Ballroom on York Road in Kings Heath, Birmingham, which had burnt down. The idea was simple: get a group of local people together to support the creation of a community asset that "reflects the pivotal role the ballroom played in Birmingham's pop music history and to promote Kings Heath as a major musical heritage tourist attraction."
With ideas comes implementation. By the time we got involved, a great deal of work had already been done, including the start of a community consultation - what did people want from such a centre and, in order that a charity could be formed to oversee the project, would people be willing to pay an annual membership fee of £10? To date, the responses had been collected via paper-based questionnaires. And, through the promotion of these questionnaires at local shops and events, around 250 people had already pledged their support.
Our brief, then, was clear: mirror the consultation online so that we could collect like-for-like data and get 500 people to agree to paying £10 per year (thus demonstrating a recurring annual income of £5,000 to the Charity Commission).
So, what did we do? We set up a very simple Survey Monkey questionnaire, with exactly the same questions as the paper version. From there, we promoted the link via social media to the many supportive organisations that had a local focus. The effect was dramatic and the target of 500 individuals was reached in 48 hours.
As Bob Prew from Kings Heath Walk of Fame - one of the key members of the Community Arts Centre group - explains, "We're delighted to have reached our target so soon. Having an on-line form was crucial in helping us achieve this, so a big thank you to Tom for making this happen."
The world-wide web's a big place, but it can be used to great effect at a very local level with a little bit of thought and organisation.
Get in touch to learn more about how we can help your project.
Our brief, then, was clear: mirror the consultation online so that we could collect like-for-like data and get 500 people to agree to paying £10 per year (thus demonstrating a recurring annual income of £5,000 to the Charity Commission).
So, what did we do? We set up a very simple Survey Monkey questionnaire, with exactly the same questions as the paper version. From there, we promoted the link via social media to the many supportive organisations that had a local focus. The effect was dramatic and the target of 500 individuals was reached in 48 hours.
As Bob Prew from Kings Heath Walk of Fame - one of the key members of the Community Arts Centre group - explains, "We're delighted to have reached our target so soon. Having an on-line form was crucial in helping us achieve this, so a big thank you to Tom for making this happen."
The world-wide web's a big place, but it can be used to great effect at a very local level with a little bit of thought and organisation.
Get in touch to learn more about how we can help your project.