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Flickr: Increase your visibility online!

In this Article:

 

What is it?

Flickr is a website used for storing, organizing, and sharing photos. It is also a fun and easy social networking website, popular with photographers and photo lovers. In addition to being a popular site for users to share photographs, Flickr is also a place to manage and organize photos into albums and categories.
 
Its popularity has been fueled by its organization tools, which allow photos to be browsed easily. Tagging (adding keywords to) photos makes them easily searchable on Flickr and the web.
 
Check out Common Craft's "Online Photo Sharing in Plain English" video for a short explanation on the benefits and features of online photo sharing.

 

Why should charities use Flickr?

We all know the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” so why not let photos tell your organization’s story? Setting up an account at Flickr allows you to post pictures about your cause so you can show your supporters how the event went and use it as a promotional tool for next year’s event.
 
Further, we all know how much bandwidth (web space) photos can take up. Using Flickr to host your photos saves you space on your website!
 
You can also connect with your supporters with a Flickr group. Groups are places to share photos related to a particular theme (e.g., a geographic location, subject matter, photographic technique, etc.) Any Flickr member can create or join one, and they are a great way to share content and start conversations. You can set privacy settings for them.
 
Setting up and maintaining your Flickr account will allow you to:
  • Tell your organization’s story and explain your work through photos
  • Reach new people and build a rich online community using the community tools built into Flickr
  • Give your cause and organization visual meaning
  • Involve and engage your supporters
  • Promote events and campaigns
  • Acknowledge volunteers and supporters
 

Cost

Signing up for Flickr is free, and with that account you can upload 100MB worth of photos each calendar month. Please note that you can't recover any of your monthly allowance by deleting photos. If you have a free account, you'll see your limit on the upload page. You can always upgrade your account to Pro, which costs $24.95 US a year.
 
 

What do I need and how do I get started?

All you need is a Flickr account and digital photographs! If you have a digital camera then this is easy. If you don’t have one, borrow a friend’s, or you can scan traditional photographs onto your computer using a scanner. Once you have your photos on your computer, follow these steps to start sharing, connecting, and engaging!

  1. Sign up for a Flickr account at www.flickr.com. If you have a Yahoo! account, this process will be quick, since Flickr is part of Yahoo! If you don’t have one, it’s still a simple process. Follow the prompts and you’ll shortly be on your way.

  2. Start adding your photos to Flickr. Flickr lets you upload six individual photos at a time. Simply find the photo on your computer and upload it.

  3. Provide details about your organization. When uploading your first photo, you are prompted to come up with a unique Web address for your Photostream (your main Flickr page), fill out your profile information, and upload a Buddy Icon—a small image that shows up when you leave your mark on the Flickr site, such as commenting on other photos, or participating in discussions. For your organization’s account, this could be your logo or another image that represents your organization. It is recommended that you fill everything out so people know exactly what your organization is about.

  4. Title, tag and describe your photos. Tags are short identifiers you can use to categorize and search for photos. People often tag pictures with names, locations, event descriptions, and themes: "California," "Fundraiser," "Happy," and "Conference."

  5. Organize your photos. Once you have multiple photos in your Photostream, you can start assigning photos to different albums, or “sets” as they’re called on Flickr. Use them to sort your photos into smaller groups with a common theme, story, or feeling. For example, “Fall 2009 Campaign" or "Our staff" or “In the field” or “Our volunteers”. You can create and manage your sets by clicking the “Organize” tab and selecting “Your Sets.” The “Organize” interface is designed to make it easy for you to edit photos, add tags, and create new sets.

  6. Share your unique Photostream! Include the link to your Flickr account on your website, blog, and e-newsletter. Update often and participate in the growing Flickr community.

 

  • Promote your event. Upload your event photos and encourage your attendees to do the same. Create a set within your Flickr account to showcase your event photos and share them with everyone. This will help you reach a much wider audience than if you just posted them on your web site. Check out our Flickr set for the MyCharityConnects Conference as an example.

  • Launch a campaign. With Flickr’s help, you can increase the presence of your latest fundraising campaign with a set of exciting images on Flickr. It can provide an interactive community for supporters and engage new audiences.

  • Engage your volunteers. Take advantage of the creativity of your volunteers and encourage them to share their photos, ideas and stories.

  • Run a photo contest. Use your organization’s Flickr album as an engagement tool and run a photo contest on Flickr.

  • Fundraise. Post powerful photos of the work your organization does. Photographs and the conversations they generate can show how a small donation can make a huge difference.

  • Use the tools Flickr provides to put images and slideshows on your website or blog.

 

Examples from the Sector

The Nature Conservancy ran a photo contest for individuals to contribute their own nature photography. Winners were featured online and in a calendar and over 7,000 photos were posted. Take a look on their contest page on their website and on Flickr.
 
Camera Rwanda’s Photostream on Flickr is an excellent example of using photos to tell the story of a cause.
 
A great example of a fundraising campaign on Flickr is the 2007 Reaching For A Star campaign launched by the Children at Risk Foundation. They were asking each of their supporters to donate $10 to help fund their street kids programs, and to contribute their own photos to their Flickr group. The photos and the discussions generated in the group showed how a small amount of money makes a huge difference.
 

 

Flickr Top Ten Tips

  1. When you have a free Flickr account, you can upload 100MB worth of photos each calendar month. You can't recover any of your monthly allowance by deleting photos. If you have a free account, you'll see your limit on the upload page. This means you need to choose your photos carefully before you upload.

  2. If are uploading many photos at once, you may want to download Flickr’s uploading applications for you PC or Mac. These tools make uploading easier and faster. Go to www.flickr.com/tools to find more about the tools and to download them.

  3. Add notes to your photos. Say there's a really cool part of a picture you want people to notice. The easiest way to do this is with notes. On any of your pictures click the “Add Note” button above the photo. This pops up a rectangle you can move around the picture and adjust in size. Just like a Post-it, you can write a quick message for others to read. When you’re done, save your note.

  4. Join in! Interact with other users, comment on photos, and respond to comments on your photos. Joining a group and submitting your photos is a good way to get some exposure for your website and profile. But remember: finding a group that is active is important. Before joining any group, consider the overall size of the group and the date of the latest discussion post and last image submitted.

  5. Encourage everyone in your network to comment and give their feedback on the photos. Don't worry if you are a small charity and don't have a lot of pictures to post. Even a few will help tell your organization’s story.

  6. Set up your own group. This is a shared space that includes a photo pool and a discussion board. Create a group with the name of your organization and it can act as a common area for your supporters. To create a group, go to the “Groups” tab and select “Create a New Group” option. Next, decide if you want your group to be public, public by invitation, or private. Follow the prompts to finish set up. Now you are ready to start connecting!

  7. Make sure you choose strategic keywords to tag and title your photos. The more information you include, the easier it is for users to find! Flickr is part of Yahoo! so Flickr pictures will be displayed when anyone uses Yahoo! to search for images on specific topics.

  8. Get permission before posting photos. This is especially important when using photos of children, but it’s important for any photos with people in them.

  9. Consider adding a Creative Commons license to your photos. All photos are licensed as All Rights Reserved. This means no one else can use your photos but you. You can change this by clicking the “edit” link next to the © symbol on the right hand side of any photo’s page. By changing this setting, communicate the acceptable use of your photos to the public or your supporters. The permissions you set will be displayed under each photo. Remember, if you want people to share your photos on their blogs or social networking sites, you should choose copyright permissions that will let them.

  10. Create a Flickr Badge for your website to feature your photos and to promote your Flickr account. Go to Flickr's badge page to get started.

 

Learn More

If you get stuck with anything, there’s tons of help on the Flickr site. Just click the “Help” link at the top right corner of every page, or visit this page. Take the Flickr tour here. Familiarize yourself with the Flickr terminology and features before you get started! You can also pick up How to Use Flickr: The Digital Photography Revolution by Richard Giles to keep as a reference guide.