Written by Julie Jackson, PR and communications specialist for Hampshire’s third sector and mission-led SMEs
With large charities having well-oiled marketing machines and donors thinking hard about where to donate their hard-earned money, it is tough for smaller, local charities to be heard and to win and maintain support.
In this blog we explore some of the ways that smaller charities can raise their local profile and be better known.
Winning new supporters and donations takes an investment of time and money so it makes economic sense to look after those who already buy into your cause.
Keep this audience informed about what your charity is doing so they can see the difference their support makes and help spread the word about your work to other potential supporters.
Recommendation: A quarterly enewsletter is a cost-effective way to keep this captive audience informed.
Your charity name may give people a clue as to what you do but it is unlikely to communicate why you exist or to inform people about the various services you offer.
Attempting to tell people about everything you do will be confusing so decide what it is you want to be known for and focus on that as your main message.
Recommendation: Help make your charity better known by agreeing one overarching message and communicate it at every opportunity.
Once you have decided what you want to be known for, ensure your key message is communicated consistently across all your communication channels. You want people to be clear about your message whether they visit your website, pick up your leaflet, attend your AGM or follow you on Facebook.
Recommendation: Review your main communication channels to see if your key message is clear.
Communicating what you are about will be more effective if you identify who it is you want to tell. To do this, think about who is important to your organisation and who has the power and influence to help you achieve your aims.
Recommendation: Create character profiles for each target audience – this will really help to picture who you need to reach and will positively shape your communications and marketing material. We really like using archetypes for this exercise.
If you serve a local area, concentrate on making yourself known on your patch. Contribute to community groups on social media, offer to give topical talks at local groups or schools, have a stand at community events and contribute articles to the local media.
Recommendation: Attend local networking groups. I’ve seen this work very effectively for larger charities and think it will work even better for charities with a local connection.
When you are busy doing the day job, it is easy to miss out on opportunities to share your success stories. Get into the habit of identifying good news stories and writing them up as press releases or case studies. This makes great material for sharing with your target audience.
Recommendation: Send a weekly email to your team to encourage them to flag up their success stories. Turn the best and most newsworthy suggestion into a press release and photo opportunity.
Feeling inspired to raise your profile but still not sure where to start? Enter our tenth anniversary competition to win a day of FREE PR support.
Published 4 June 2023