Building the awareness of a charity organisation or charity event is important to encourage donations and support for the cause.
Public relations is a great way to build awareness for a charity, grow the brand, communicate to a target audience and encourage support.
As many charity organisations have a strict budget they may not be able to afford to invest much money in advertising or marketing. Charity organisations can then conduct their own PR activities to promote the business and stick to their budget.
Whether you are a charity organisation or running a charity event here are some tips on how to use PR to your advantage.
Case studies
Case studies are short explanations of a project or issue your charity has worked on. They describe a problem, show how you achieved a solution and detail the results you achieved.
Case studies are a great way to showcase the great work the charity is doing as well as promote the charity. For example, a charity that assists suffers of multiple sclerosis may write a case study about how they have changed the life of one sufferer of the disease.
Case studies are also an effective tool to encourage people to donate or support the charity. Instead of telling people how much you need their support you can show them with a case study. Case studies also help to explain how the money from donations is used.
You can use case studies on your website, social media channels, in speaking presentations, in reports to gain new sponsors and by pitching them to the media.
Social Media
Social media is a cost-effective way to communicate with supporters, sponsors and people who will benefit from the charity. For an organisation on a tight budget, it’s a very helpful tool to disperse messages, gain feedback, engage your target audience and promote the charity.
One way you can encourage donations or participation is by making it easy for people to share their support for the charity. If someone makes a donation via your website you can encourage them to tell their friends by including share buttons on the donation page. For example, if someone posts on their Facebook page that they just donated to your charity their friends will see it and it may encourage them to donate as well.
Ambassador
Many charities have an ambassador who embodies the charity’s values and helps to promote the charity’s cause. By using a celebrity as an ambassador you can use their fame to generate awareness for the charity and gain more interest from the media.
As celebrities have a large fan base you can also use them to communicate your message to their fans and reach a wider audience.
Your ambassador doesn’t always have to be a celebrity. The best ambassadors are people who embody the values, mission and brand of the charity to reinforce your message.
If you are on a tight budget you can ask the celebrity to be an ambassador for free to build their own profile as well as yours.
Pitch to the media
When you have an ambassador or a spokesperson you can pitch them into the media as an expert to interview. You can also consider having someone available for media interviews who the charity has helped.
Journalists will be more likely to write a story about the charity if they have someone to interview and quote in the story.
When pitching your spokesperson to the media you will need to develop a newsworthy angle that a particular journalist will be interested in. You will also need to describe why the journalist will be interested in the story and what the spokesperson can talk about.
Many charities are supporting people in need or conducting activities to change the world for the better. Most charities will then have media angles that appeal to people’s emotions, which you can draw on in your media pitches.
Start a blog
A charity organisation can start a blog to share its stories with its target audience. Blogging is a great way to communicate your messages, engage your audience and share your expertise.
You can blog about what the charity is doing, inspirational stories of people who have befitted from the charity, discuss upcoming events, encourage donations and more.
Start conducting PR activities today to communicate with your target audience and build their awareness. This can help you to gain support or more donations for the charity.
How do you use PR for your charity?
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
