RSPCA praises social media for campaigning and cost savings

The RSPCA has credited social media sites for helping it to promote campaigns more effectively and save money

Mel Andrews, the animal charity's digital communications manager, told us that its use of Facebook and Twitter enabled it to reach more people with news about its important work, and made campaigning cheaper than using traditional printed material.

"Social media has had an enormous impact and means the RSPCA and all its branches and employees can interact with our supporters, offering advice or just chatting and listening to their stories. Using social media also allows the softer campaigns we run to have more prominence.

"The RSPCA Facebook page has more than 350,000 friends and we have additional pages where campaigns such as our Think Pig and Get Puppy Smart work can be accessed. Our Twitter feed is chatty and lets us post messages so we can keep in contact with supporters and know what they are thinking and their concerns. For example, someone can send a tweet about a missing dog and ask others to retweet it so there is more chance they may get their pet back," she told us.

The internet can also help bring in donations, such as for the charity's Justice for Animals campaign as RSPCA Inspector Tony Woodley explains. He said use of the internet this is "crucial" for this campaign, which is designed to prevent the most severe acts of cruelty.

The RSPCA also uses Facebook and Twitter to launch special appeals, such as finding a home for an animal. The charity also has a YouTube channel. Here the charity can also run harder campaigns such as talking about changes to regulations that could be detrimental to the care of animals.

Computeractive is sponsoring the RSPCA's Justice for Animals campaign. We have donated a lump sum of £2,100, which is the average cost of a prosecution of those accused of severely mistreating animals. We will also donate a further £2.50 for every new or upgraded subscription before 31 August.