Remembrance Sunday is a day which marks the sacrifice of servicemen and women who have fallen in conflicts around the world, and which emphasises tradition in its parades and ceremonies. Alongside this tradition, however, charities supporting war veterans have been using social media to increase awareness of the day and raise funds. Read on for three examples of this new approach.
#ThankAVet
US Twitter users were encouraged to show their support for people who had served in the armed forces by using the hashtag #ThankAVet. In return for every tweet using this hashtag which was made on the 11th November, the History Channel pledged to donate $1 to VetDogs, a subsidiary of Guide Dogs for the Blind which provides assistance dogs to ex-service people.

Thanks to All Twitter for this info.

#2MinuteSilence and #LestWeForget thunderclap
The Royal British Legion has marked this year’s Remembrance Sunday with a thunderclap – signing up almost 20,000 people to simultaneously tweet the charity’s message at 11am:

I’ll be remembering the fallen at 11 o’clock #2MinuteSilence #LestWeForget thndr.it/Q6ttGM—
Poppy Legion (@PoppyLegion) November 11, 2012

According to the charity’s website, the tweet was eventually seen by over 10m people – and 43,000 people have added an official poppy Twibbon to their Twitter profile picture.

Thanks to UK Fundraising for this story.

Minute to Remember
Australian charity DefenceCare has used a Facebook app to promote the minute’s silence for Remembrance Sunday – and help people remember to observe it. The app was supported by a range of media organisations, and was downloaded by just over 6000 people in the lead-up to the 11th of November.

Read what PR Wire had to say about this story.

Did your organisation use social media to mark Remembrance Sunday? Please share your views and experiences in the comments, below.