RNLI turns to Facebook ahead of SOS Day

by Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh, Revolution UK 06-Jan-09, 14:24

LONDON - The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) has launched a Facebook application to engage new and existing supporters in the lead up to its biggest fundraising day at the end of January.

The application allows users to create a RNLI Rescue Team, comprising lifeboat crew or lifeguards, name it and invite their friends to join the team.

The aim is to collect as many points as possible through inviting friends, posting comments to the team's page, uploading videos of RNLI related content such as fundraising activities and signing up to RNLI newsletters.

Getting involved with SOS Day, the charity's biggest annual day of fundraising on January 30 will also generate points.

The RNLI has also created the Brain Waves memory game and a desktop crew pager, which once downloaded, alerts the user to the launch of a lifeboat either nationally or at specific stations.

RNLI eMedia Project Manager Nigel Saxon said the application gives the charity an opportunity to reach new audiences that may not have come into contact with it before.