Sometimes it seems like the whole world is busy facebooking, youtubing and tweeting. So it’s no surprise that the not-for-profit sector wants to join in. But can social networking really benefit charities or is it just another fad?

The Australian actor Hugh Jackman may be an expert at setting hearts a flutter, but he recently got the charity sector hot and bothered with a promise made via his Twitter page to donate $100,000 to the favourite charity of one of his followers.

Several British charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support and Bullying UK, vied for the money and although the cash was eventually split between two US based organisations the story demonstrates the impact that microblogging and social networking sites can have on the not-for-profit sector.

“Social media sites can bring people closer to charities,” says Jonathan Waddington, a charity champion from JustGiving. “For example, by creating videos about their work on YouTube or putting photos on Flickr charities are reaching out to people in their own space.”

JustGiving processes donations and reclaims Gift Aid for member charities, via the web. The organisation has helped 6,000 charities raise £370 million, mostly through online fundraising pages. Social networking is a huge part of Just Giving’s success - an application developed for Facebook has been downloaded by nearly 300,000 people, with 100,000 downloads in the last month alone.

But research carried by JustGiving last year found that only 5 per cent of charities felt they were making the most of online fundraising. So what should the sector do to utilise web 2.0 effectively?

“Make it appropriate and relevant,” says Michael Docherty, Cancer Research UK's head of online marketing. “And [these sites] are absolutely about engagement.” Cancer Research UK uses both Facebook and Twitter, as well as formats like blogs, to engage supporters, most significantly for Race For Life, their flagship 5km, women-only fundraising event. Docherty says that social networking sites offer supporters the chance to form online communities where they can seek advice, swap tips and rally supporters.

Docherty admits that 1 – 2 per cent of entries to Race For Life that have come via their Facebook page only. “But that translates into 6,000 people. As a percentage it sounds low, but if you think about that as a number it is quite substantial,” he says.

Helen Buxton, the digital project manager of the NSPCC’s e-fundraising team says the organisation uses Facebook to raise awareness of the charity. “The beauty of social networking sites is that they are a really quick and easy low cost way to engage with supporters,” she says. As well as an official Facebook page, there are several unofficial NSPCC pages on Facebook. “There is a danger our message will get distorted, yes, but we do monitor what is being said,” says Buxton. And she points out that unofficial sites can reach out to more supporters. “On Facebook there’s an unofficial NSPCC page called Stop Child Abuse which has 250,000 members. That’s brilliant, because we can go to the page’s owner when we want to talk about a fundraising initiative or campaign, and she messages her supporters.”

The charity is also proactive in attracting young supporters. They have set up a website, www.idea.me.uk, that acts as a virtual agency for ChildLine, which is launching a new website in September. On the site are links to Idea’s virtual offices on social networking sites aimed at younger children - Bebo, Piczo and Habbo - and every week, a new brief for a project is posted. Users have been asked to design posters, create characters and submit ideas, and much of the content produced will be used on the new ChildLine site. “This model allows us have a conversation with users,” says Emily Knee, the NSPCC’s senior digital account manager. “We have had great feedback from the kids. Some brands go onto these sites but don’t sustain their presence, but by giving users something back in the form of these projects it sustains interest.” The value to the charity is clear, she adds, as the feedback allows them to ensure their services remain relevant to their users.

“We don’t tend to just jump on board [trends] for the sake of it, but we make sure we have something to say and that we are doing something appropriate” says Michael Docherty. Like the NSPCC, CRUK set out to engage young people via a MySpace competition to design a T-shirt. The winning design will be produced this summer: “It was a really lovely example of using these kind of sites, as it created an opportunity for people to interact in a way that was really relevant to us a charity.”