When I was a journalist at the BBC I got fed-up of being called up by press officers that had no idea what our programme was about and the sorts of stories we were interested in. Equally, selling-in a story to my editor based on a strong case study only to find they didn’t exist was very frustrating. However I did also come across fantastic charity PR’s who knew I needed a strong story and good interviewees to help tell it.
PR is not always easy, even after you’ve got an idea for a story or report launch, you need time to find and pitch to journalists reporting about your issue. Many smaller charities have some great stories and ideas but little time or resource to put into PR.
For the last seven years I’ve helped charities, large and small, launch reports, write PR strategies and even launch brand new charities. I’ve come to realise that there are some general lessons and advice that charities can follow if they want to get the most from their PR efforts.
So, how do you get started?
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Think about your key messages before you start doing anything. Every organisation should have 3-5 key messages, 3 being ideal. These should cover what your organisation is, what it does and the issue/problem it is trying to address. Running a messaging session with staff is a good way to start. These messages should then run throughout any communications work and be at the heart of your organisation. However they should be brought to life with anecdotes and case studies of people you’ve helped so think about the stories that help back up your key messages.
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A PR Strategy can set your goals for the next 12 months and help you identify where you might need more PR resource. Consider if you have any strong case study stories that might fit well with national events or if you have a key event/report coming up. Think about when you launch a key report or survey so that you can maximize press attention. When I was head of PR at NPC we launched a report on autism the day before a big national announcement about the autism strategy. That way we got press the day before and also the day of the Government’s announcement because we were on journalists’ radar.
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Social Media is a great way to start getting your message out there. Think about setting up a blog if you haven’t already done so. At first aim to do a post a week/every two weeks and get your team to brainstorm some ideas. A blog planner is a good way of making sure momentum doesn’t get lost and people can see when their blog posts are due. Good ideas can also be pitched to external press, such as the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network or the Huffington Post. Most media let you run the blog on your own website after it has appeared on theirs, enabling you to get the most out of your efforts. Remember, blogs need to be punchy and opinionated. Don’t just tell us about an event you ran, tell us about the issue and use anecdote/stories to bring it alive. Advice-led blogs can also work well or invite guest bloggers. Aim for about 500 words and add in links to any articles or research you mention.
Use twitter to tweet about your blog. A good headline can help as this can get debate going and engage new followers. For more on social media, see our blog.
In my next blog post we’ll look at whether press releases are worth doing, how to pitch a story to a journalist and how to make the best use of case studies.
By Gemma Davidson, Head of PR, Pilotlight.
