Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good free alternative to Mail Chimp?

We have been asked by one of our small organisations, as from the start of 2026 Mail Chimp are starting to charge for anyone with over 250 contacts (unless they have a free legacy account opened before May 2019.) This will impact many organisations.

Thank you, regards, Lorna.

Hello

We're thinking of investing in a social media scheduling tool. Can you recommend one please? Our main channels are: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Thanks

Lindsey

Hi all - does anyone know of any animation software that can be used to create a short 1-2 minute video?

Hi Barking Owlers.

Is anyone doing a podcast? I'd be interested to know how easy/time-consuming/useful/costly it is. Thanks.

Peter

Hello,

Has anyone created Personas for their target audiences, please?

I started to doing this a while back but we have so many audiences that I got bogged down and wondered if anyone has any tips, tools, or examples they could share, please?

Thank you!

Lindsey

Hi,

Is anyone else using the Civi CRM system? Our charity has recently purchased the add-on MOSAICO for email newsletters and I'm finding it extremely basic in its functionality and design. Would love to chat with someone else who may be using this to see what their experience is.

Feel free to email me if you prefer: danielle.hilton@ocva.org.uk

Thanks

Danielle

I'm starting the process of searching for web designers to get quotes to build a new website. Would love to hear from you if you can recommend anyone you've used. Feel free to post here or email me at: clarem@nottinghamcvs.co.uk

Thanks!

Hi all,

Hope you're well.

We've just launched our CWVA Impact Report for 2024 so I thought I'd share it in case it's useful. We've created a new section on the CWVA website and a designed document.

I'd really like to see other impact reports if you've produced one. I'm aware local infrastructure organisations across the country operate differently so it'd be interesting to see your key areas of activity and impact.

See you all at the next Barking Owl.

Thanks,

Ryan

Hi all!

Following the Barking Owl session on 4th December, here's the Vlogger kit I mentioned: https://www.amazon.co.uk/R%C3%98DE-Microphones-Vlogger-Kit-Universal/dp/B08P4CHRWD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2SSMECBRXL6D7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BK5ecoEEjZypZV1xTYvvXdNVAmLEb-DtRCilaB9AvphVUbpysNsOBQ8jbNgIijf0RrKv1MZNmJCIHyX5vffNFnLVwiPWIODF9rAZyTtd4xHG8lVRSRfJDoNDhURxkWPwUujWzNVh4UoRfrLnCqrUbRDb1E09t1sMrelac7ZoghXkCTiT_xYYyvUaolZOYIFm0tAFrlD8SGQtDpGRP1LqKImFPTkiLzwyzqXQyJFh9AE.dlhGfK7-cRlj5zE2aSHhwTMTy_XincGDwH2ri2I3LbU&dib_tag=se&keywords=vlogger%2Bkit%2Brode&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733389407&sprefix=vlogger%2Bkit%2Brode%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-3&ufe=INHOUSE_INSTALLMENTS%3AUK_IHI_5M_VF&th=1

Really useful in terms of getting decent sound when recording on a mobile phone. I used it at a noisy event recently and got great sound from the people I interviewed, whilst hardly hearing me behind the camera/phone, or background noise in the room. Can mount it on a tripod, and there's a handy rechargeable light too. Good alternative to investing in video cameras, as most phones record in high quality now.

This is a branded Rode kit, so clocks in at £139, but there are cheaper (under £100) kits out there.

I know an increasing amount of us are leaving X/Twitter. If you have already left, did you stop posting or put out a statement to say you were leaving the platform?

If you did write a statement, what did it say? We don't want it to be took the wrong way.

Have any of your organisations got MyCake? It's a (paid-for) financial benchmarking tool that gives lots of stats, and I wondered if it was useful for your comms and sharing insights about the VCSE sector?