On Thursday 23 February, from 7.00pm until late, 500 of the top PRs in the UK will come out in force at Shoreditch Town Hall in London in support of Bright One, the volunteer-run communications agency for the third sector.

For a ticket price of just £25, you will get:

• A ‘Brite Fizz’ signature cocktail upon arrival, courtesy of Eventbrite
• 3 free drinks from the bar
• Live entertainment from the amazing She Makes War
• DJ set from Matt Brawn
• A prom photo as a keepsake of the night
• Food provided by Eat.St:
• Mini wraps, mini rolls and mini portion of ribs from The Rib Man
• Stews from around the world from Stewed and Baked
• Imperial BBQ Pho Rolls, Op La Di Beef Pho Rolls and Fish Q Pho Rolls from Banhmi11 
• And more to come on the night…

Find out more at www.prprom.org

I spent the majority of my first year trying to hunt down someone willing to take me on for a placement. I tried all the usual agencies unsuccessfully, before finally catching a break. I’ve been on placement at Leeds-based homeless and disadvantaged charity St George’s Crypt on one-day-a-week placement since around April, and have loved every second. Whilst I’m there, I really feel like part of the team, and like my ideas are heard.

One advantage of working at a charity is that they’re often quite small. This meant that I got to know everyone who worked there really well, and also had a variety of different tasks to get stuck into. These ranged from the typical intern tasks such as proof reading, to writing copy for the website and newsletters, designing invitations and programmes and giving my input to different things.

I’ve been involved in some exciting fundraising events, such as fairs and even a music festival where I helped organise the bands and steward on the day.  The chance to see first-hand how an event unfolds from start to finish was a great experience, and something I know will be useful for years to come.  I even had the opportunity to go with the Crypt to Leeds Festival, and meet the Lord Mayor of Leeds at our end of campaign party.

Danielle (far left) with St George's Crypt at Leeds Festival

‘Crypt Fest’ took place early October, after weeks of planning and organising. The aim was to provide a full day out to raise money for the Crypt.

We had over 10 acts playing on the day, mainly young local bands, but X factor contestant Basil Simons who made it through to bootcamp also made an appearance.

As we wanted to give the event a festival-like feel, we had various stands, including local milkshake company shake-a-holic’s, as well as a bar, BBQ, cakes and games.

This event was a great opportunity not just to raise money, but also to raise awareness of the charity by generating as much coverage for the event as possible. There is now the opportunity to build on this, by possibly running it as an annual event, and trying to make it bigger and better.

Being at Leeds Festival was a great opportunity for the Crypt, as it yet again helped to get our name out there. We had first pick of any food left over which generated almost two vans full of food, and even had a video on the big screen (in which I embarrassingly made my acting debut!) between bands, encouraging people to donate any unused food to us. This was fantastic, especially as it was shown between Pulp and The Strokes, two off the biggest bands at the festival.

Working at a charity not only gives valuable work experience, but also leaves you with a  feeling you’re doing something good. Before working at the Crypt, I never thought of charity PR as a career option, but now it’s definitely something I would consider in the future and would never rule anything out before trying it.

With everything you learn at university, you never know what really happens in PR until you’ve had some experience, which is why placements are so important.

If you’re looking for a placement to get you started in the world of PR, I would definitely recommend trying charities as a different way to get into this sometimes daunting industry.

A TV and online platform will be supported by professional journalism, UK-wide news distribution and a new online Academy of Citizen Journalism. The new Academy will provide community news hubs with the tools, online training and resources to support and develop the skills of the Active Citizen Journalists who will be at the heart of the hubs.

Media Trust will provide structure for the thousands of local community news outlets that exist throughout the UK including on websites and newsletters. Through the Academy, training will provide communities with the power to deliver quality journalism, whilst the existing Community Channel online and on television will form a national platform that aggregates community news, stories, blogs and videos. The local hubs will be supported by an amazing network of media volunteers and mentors and the Media Trust’s Newswire and Community Channel platforms

Peter Wanless, Chief Executive, Big Lottery Fund said: “Media Trust’s plans to empower people to drive their local news agenda, inspire community action and build their media skills, are a great example of the ethos of BIG’s People Powered Change. BIG looks forward to seeing many more citizen journalists sharing their new skills with other local communities.”

Caroline Diehl MBE, Chief Executive of Media Trust said:

“This funding is fantastic news for communities and charities throughout the UK. Together with Big Lottery Fund and Media Trust’s partners and corporate members, we will be able to connect communities to share their stories with each other locally, regionally, nationally and throughout the UK in a way that inspires us all to create positive social change.”

Last month, Bright One was the guest editor for the PR for Good Causes feature on Behind The Spin. We introduced the special feature by arguing that recognition of the importance of PR in a charities’ every day activity is becoming increasingly stronger, and the issues covered in the resulting articles were testament to that view.

From the “Rise of Social Media in Charity Fundraising” to “How celebrities are used by charities”, “How Charities Communicate with Case Studies” to “The advantages of PR for charities over other comms” – the articles from regular Behind the Spin contributors, PR students, Bright One volunteers and those from the wider Bright One community showed  just how diverse and engaging this area of PR is.

In case you missed any of the PR for Good Causes articles, it’s well worth taking a look:

• Want to know the top 10 charity campaigns of 2010? Let Petra Opelova show you her top choices.
• Selwyn Jerry Boston explores the use of celebrity endorsement by charities
• Melanie Rawlings reviews the way charities use social media: “Platforms such as Justgiving or Virginmoneygiving are great ways for supporters to collect funds as they eliminate the hassle of filling out sponsor forms and trying to contact sponsors after events”, she writes.
• John Parman tells us what’s wrong with CSR: “The biggest problem with corporate social responsibility is that it rarely has much to do with reality. The mistake is to make CSR about ‘me’.”
• Tove Nordstrom responds to those who would automatically criticise her chosen discpline: Does your mother know you work for the devil?

We’ve been delighted with the response given to the series, so thanks for all your feedback. And if you have anything to add or want to let us know what your favourite articles were, just leave a comment in the section below.

Thanks goes to Richard Bailey for getting Bright One involved in the first place and to David Clare for helping arrange all the contributions for the series.

Bright One has lots of plans for the future with lots of exciting charity projects, so make sure you find out more or get involved by applying to volunteer.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Stephen Nunes, Events

Working for Macmillan Cancer Support as an Events Assistant is my fifth internship since graduating in 2009. It is probably my most ‘hands-on’ internship yet and what I consider a fantastic opportunity to gain an insight into the organisation of a large scale fundraising event for a high profile charity.

My role has proven to be a challenging but exciting one as I juggle a number of ongoing tasks and learn more about working for a major organisation. On my first few days at Macmillan I began to realise just how big a charity it is. With over a 1000 paid staff and volunteers working at offices around the UK it is a major player within a competitive sector.

I’m working on ‘The Big Mix’ a one day festival in East London that has taken place over the last two years. This year the ambitions are high as we’re aiming to include fashion, comedy, cabaret and art alongside a diverse music line-up.

My average day starts with checking my diary for any meetings I may have with the various departments in-house who are helping with organising the festival and then mainly chasing people via phone or e-mail. Lunch gives me a chance to scan through any music news and festival news and of course the mandatory Facebook check up! I’m supported by the Event Manager who I work alongside with on a daily basis and who I have weekly meetings with to discuss my progress and any problems I might be having.

I also have regular chances to meet with other departments and find out more about the work that they do and gain a better understanding of the various departments within Macmillan. The experience is definitely beneficial for my CV and the charity is really supportive of professional and personal development, allowing people the chance to get stuck in and have a go.

While I must admit that sometimes I do struggle to crawl out of bed in the mornings and start the commute in to London, I am motivated by knowing that the work I’m doing is playing a part in helping to improve the lives of people affected by cancer in the UK. This knowledge that we are all working for a very worthy cause is something which drives everyone at Macmillan and inspires pride in our work.

Ed Thornton, PR

To start with, working in the PR department of a large charity like Macmillan does not seem too different from working for any other national organisation, but if you look hard enough the differences start to appear.

Let’s start with the similarities. Even though Macmillan’s product comes in the form of support, as opposed to a tangible object that is for sale, the overall aim of our public relations activities is the same as anywhere else: to convince the public that our product, our organisation and our brand are wonderful things that they should be involved with. On a project like the Big Mix the way we will ultimately measure our success isn’t too different either. If the festival is a sold-out money spinner that raises funds for the charity and promotes the brand among young people, who will support us in the future, then we have done our job.

However, being a charity, there are some pretty fundamental differences too. Firstly, the budgets are pretty tight. Every extra penny that is spent on PR could be spent on providing nurses for those suffering from cancer so the department runs a pretty tight ship. This does not mean that having a PR department is a waste of money. In fact, Macmillan only survives because of the support it receives from the public, both through monetary donations and through volunteering. PR is the means by which the charity can stay engaged with the people who ultimately fund its work and in this sense it is very important that we get it just right.

Another stark difference is that there is little question among the public that our organisation has some serious social worth. People respect charities and, while many PR teams must fight a constant uphill battle to persuade the public that their organisation has a heart, Macmillan already has wide support. When Macmillan put it in their press releases that they exist to provide valuable support for those with cancer it is not just a strapline, it is the truth.

Because of the importance of public image, and because of the tight budgets, the interns here are well appreciated. My day to day jobs include compiling press lists, writing press releases and controlling the festival’s social media channels. I am not overloaded with work but if I ask for more responsibility then they are happy to get me more involved. Being given important work to do makes the job much more engaging but it is also great for my CV.  This means that working at a charity is good for my professional development as well as for my job satisfaction.

On top of my work in PR I am also given the opportunity to branch out to help with other jobs. The interns play an active role in the festival’s committee and our decisions help to shape the entire event. In the last few weeks I have been helping the whole festival take shape by approaching bands and by thinking of new ways to make it an amazing day. Unlike many other organisations, charities work with volunteers all the time and so they know that making their jobs worthwhile is really important.

The organisers of ‘Art for the Heart’ are giving art students from Leeds College of Art the chance to show their talent to the public.

The art will be exhibited and sold with all proceeds going to Heart Research UK.

The Yorkshire-based charity, which was founded 40 years ago, invests in innovative research into heart health.

The event organisers Joanna Hughes, Faye Keatley and Marie Zeraati are all first year PR students.

Barbara Harpham, National Director of Heart Research UK said:

“It’s great to see students raising money for our charity. We look forward to seeing the brilliant heart-related artwork on show. Without valuable fundraisers like Joanna, Marie and Faye we could not continue our pioneering research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease.”

Marie Zeraati, 21, said: ‘This event is a great way to showcase the art students’ talent but most importantly it is raising awareness and money for Heart Research. We feel that this event is a great opportunity to get people aware of the charity and what great work they do.’

Tickets cost £2 which includes a raffle ticket, giving guests the chance to win prizes. There will also be tea, cake and good music.

‘Art for the Heart’ will be held on 9^th April (4-6pm) at Cafe Lopez, Great George Street, Leeds. Tickets can be bought in advance from Joanna Hughes at art4heart@hotmail.co.uk.

1. ‘I like it on…’

Probably everyone who owns a Facebook account has heard of this one. In 2009, Breast Cancer Awareness set off their unique, purely Facebook-based campaign where girls were invited to post the colour of their bra to their wall while confusing their male friends. As the campaign was a huge success and gained coverage not only all over the internet but also in print media, Breast Cancer decided to repeat the success in with another campaign in October 2010.

This time, the status update stated: ‘I like it on…’ plus location where girls keep their handbags. The obvious sexual connotation helped to catch attention of a vast audience and exceeded Breast Cancer’s expectations by creating millions of status updates worldwide.

Breast Cancer Awareness has proved that even without big budget you can create an innovative campaign that reaches out to many people. All you need is creativity.

2. TwitChange

Hands up, who wouldn’t like to be followed by his favourite celebrity on Twitter? No hands? Well, that’s exactly what this campaign led by influential actress Eva Longoria hopes for.

TwitChange represents the only global celebrity auction, where you can bid to get retweeted, followed, or mentioned by a celebrity of your choice, or all those things at once. The money from this unique auction goes to a chosen charity.

Last year TwitChange managed to raise around $500,000 and together with AHOMEINHAITI.ORG help to provide a shelter to $1.5 million people in Haiti.  Moreover, with its 178 celebrities and 750 auctions, TwitChange got over 35 million web hits in 4 weeks. Not too bad.

3. GreenPeace Unfriend Coal

GreenPeace launched its campaign on the very network it was protesting about: Facebook. The simple yet effective idea trying to persuade Facebook to ‘unfriend coal’ together with an enjoyable video featuring Mark Zuckerberg, proved itself to be quite than successful. Over 500,000 people signed the online anti-Facebook petition and more than 330,000 of them took the time to watch the video.

4. UN’s Social Media Envoy

What do you get when you put Ray Chambers, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Malaria, Sarah Ross, the head of digital at Ashton Kutcher’s Katalyst Media, and Ashton Kutcher himself? The answer: massive social media campaign focused on the issue of malaria in Africa and reaching unbelievable 174 million people.

The idea was simple yet effective.  Fifty most influential and followed people and organizations on the social media were unified as UN’s envoys and asked to tweet various information about malaria once a month. This has caused a wave of retweets, blog posts, YouTube videos and other online coverage by ‘ordinary’ people spreading the message even further and thus helping to raise money to help those suffering with malaria.  Another example of how social media may help non-profit organizations to get noticed.

5. Movember

If you noticed an increase in the number of unshaved men wondering around the street last November and wondered what was going on, Movember is your answer.  This campaign represents global long-term initiative to raise awareness about the health problems men can face, and raise money for various charities. Every year, Movember encourages men around the world to turn their nicely shaved faces into hairy jungles for the whole November (hence the name Movember).

The last time, they managed to get more than 255,755 people on board and raise about £26 Million for The Prostate Cancer Charity (TPCC). How did they do it?  Well, one aspect may play a role is that it has given men an excuse not to shave. Apart from its clearly humorous appeal, Movember uses variety of online and offline techniques to make their efforts even more efficient. This includes development of creative posters and compelling websites featuring pictures of the best moustaches, easy online system for donations, good sponsorship base, and various events.

Moreover, Movember has gained a considerable amount of attention on social media networks where men shared the before and after pictures with their friends and spreading the message around.

6. Charity: water

Charity: water was born just three years ago when one guy somewhere in the USA decided to give up his birthday for building wells in Africa.  Since then charity: water has grown into global proportions through word of mouth, advertising on TV and in print, interesting events and exhibitions, and social media.

As they got bigger and bigger, they caught attention of a few celebrities, such as Will and Jada Smith, and tadadada: the campaign for the year 2010 was born! Will and Jada encouraged people to donate as much as they can on the charity: water webpages as the 3 top fundraisers will take a trip to Africa with them. This video was published on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and gained online coverage on Mashable and various blogs.

7. The Lazarus Effect Campaign

In 2010, (RED) joined forces with numerous celebrities to raise awareness about the power of two white pills of  antiretroviral medicine (ARVs) that can save people’s lives and costs mere 40cents.They launched their campaign by uploading videos where celebrities showed various things you can get for 40 cents and how banal and unnecessary they are compare to the medicine.

Comparison and celebrities are usually a good recipe for a successful campaign but (RED) didn’t stop just there. They developed an iPad app that allows people to watch a Lazarus Effect documentary, which was originally aired on HBO, with extra information about the life of every single person featured and how to get involved.

Plus, (RED) established a Twitter and Facebook account to not only spread the message and share success stories, but also to provide people with live-streaming of some of their events such as the premiere of “The Lazarus Effect” film in New York. This made people feel as a part of the whole thing and encouraged them to get even more involved.

8. BeatBullying: “You Can Speak Out Now”

BeatBullying is fighting against one of those things that most people can relate to: bullying. Although some people may claim that the readability of the issue made their job easier, it takes more than that to create an award-winning campaign.

When “You Can Speak Out Now” campaign was launched, BeatBullying had a very clear vision of what they wanted to achieve. The first objective was to generate enough traffic to their CyberMentors website, a 24/7 mentoring and counselling service for young people dealing with bullying. The other one was to attract the attention of media, sponsors and public and gain enough support for its initiative.

The whole campaign evolved around an eye-catching ad called You Can Speak Out Now featuring a young girl with her mouth sewed shut. This ad appeared on TV, in cinemas, billboards and posters, various publications and online sites such as YouTube, where it generated more than 220,000 views for Beatbullying’s videos.

The result? Beatbullying recorded a 700 per cent increase in the number of people interested in counselling, a 600 per cent in counselling interactions, and 230 per cent in mentoring interactions. Moreover, the number of trained cybermentors was raised by 90 per cent. All of this thanks to effective media relations, communication strategy and interesting ad. Pretty impressive, isn’t it?

9. “It Gets Better”

It all started with the suicide of a teenager who was bullied about being gay. Some people were horrified, some didn’t care, and some decided to do something about it. One of the most active ones was Dan Savage, sex columnist and gay rights activist. He decided to send a positive message via YouTube to all of those who were bullied because of their sexuality and reassure them that “It Gets Better”.

It didn’t take long for this video to go viral. Bloggers, vloggers, and famous celebrities, such as Ian Somerhalder, Kristin Cavallari, Anne Hathaway, or Barack Obama, added to it by creating their own encouraging videos, blog posts or pictures that spread all over the web. Webpages were created, Facebook and Twitter accounts established, stories shared, and donations made. Some of the videos were featured on various TV channels and mentioned in the print media.

Overall, the campaign moved hearts and minds of million people all over the world and helped those who were bullied to find strength to carry on. Sometimes a genuine message and access to internet is all you need.

10. To Mama with Love

To Mama with Love is another example showing that even a low-budget campaign can reach many people by using social media and a bit of creativity.

Epic Change dived into this campaign on Mother’s Day 2010 with one straight-forward aim: to raise money to support Mama Lucy in her efforts to educate children in Tanzania.

To achieve that, Epic Change created a virtual scrapbook or “hearspace” on their webpages and anyone who donated could customize this space by using various photos, videos and notes. They could then send this piece of art to their mothers as an e-card, or share it with friends and family via Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks to their approach and integration of social media, Epic Change managed to raise nearly $17,000 and provide a safe home for 17 children in Tanzania. Plus, they encouraged more than 300 mothers to join the initiative. Just to put it out there, this week-long campaign was managed by two people only.

As mentioned above, there are numerous charities that deserve the recognition for their efforts. If you are thinking why I have picked these 10 among all of them the answer is simple. I talked to my friends, classmates and tutors and asked them witch charity campaigns they liked and why. After all, that’s what matters, isn’t it.

Huge LED screens set up at the venue will stream cutting edge work from the university’s art, design and computing students on March 24 as the Who front-man performs Tommy in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The link with the rock legend came through Middlesex’s Creative Director in Residence Colin Payne.

Payne said: “Last year we worked closely with Rob Lee (editor- thewho.com) developing a new Middlesex University course which is really unique – combining technology and the arts – and out of this work he had an inspired idea to propose a collaboration with the band.

“Daltrey agreed and suggested that our students create new visuals for a gig at the Royal Albert Hall where he planned to revive The Who’s “Tommy” it suddenly became an epic and amazingly real challenge.”

Payne brought together students from across the university, helping them to collaborate using social media, downloading and discussing their ideas on a dedicated Facebook page.

The Who’s lead singer said he was impressed by how the students applied the themes of Tommy to their world.

“The genius of Pete Townshend (The Who’s guitarist who wrote Tommy) is that his work, like that of all great artists, is timeless,” said Daltry.

“The students have been able to get rid of the stereotype images of Tommy that we all know and love and come up with their own fresh interpretation. What’s really exciting is to see these guys use the medium of Tommy to talk about their generation”.

Colin Payne said the students jumped at the chance to work with a music legend:  “They all got fired up about doing something for Teenage Cancer Trust and working with a legendary performer like Roger Daltrey on such an iconic piece as ‘Tommy’.”

Birds on tank, by Ahmed Karrar

Third year Information Technology and Networking student Ahmed Karrar said:  “This project was a real pleasure.  To have a rock icon like Roger Daltrey agree to let us interpret the Tommy album the way we wanted was awesome.

“Collaboration through Facebook was really effective. I am not a heavy Facebook user but the dedicated Tommy page setup let everyone share and access their own and others’ ideas very easily.  The notification system allowed us all to keep abreast of the latest updates and ideas.”

Karrar created more than six minutes of animation for the opening tracks of the rock opera, Overture and It’s a Boy.

He said: “It was based on ideas that came to me after listening to the Tommy album, Tommy’s condition of being a ‘deaf, dumb and blind kid’ I felt relates to all of us today: no matter where you are in the world it seems that no one is listening to each other, seeing what is happening or saying what needs to be said.”

Japan fundraising

• PR student Jasmine Bell has started a #makechangeforjapan campaign on Twitter and has already raised almost half of her target of £1000 on JustGiving
• Practitioner Aimee Carmichael is offering free consultancy in return for a donation via JustGiving

Challenge 66 for ABF The Soldiers’ Charity

• A team of students working for Ptarmigan Academy is supporting Andy McMenemy as he attempts 66 marathons in 66 different cities in 66 days. Their ambitious target is to raise over £1,000,000 from donations in the various city marathons. #challenge66

Desert marathon for organ donation charities

• Exhausted? 29-year-old Alexa Torlo from Birmingham is competing in ‘the toughest marathon on earth’ – running 243km in six days in the Sahara Desert carrying her own supplies. Having lost a close friend at a young age, Alexa is raising £4000 for ‘Live Life Then Give Life’ and ‘Donor Family Network’. See her JustGiving page.

International Women’s Day

• Students were among those supporting Action Aid’s Get Lippy campaign by blogging inspirational stories for International Women’s Day earlier this month. Elena Dransfield is one example of this online activism.

We welcome further examples of PR students supporting good causes.

In my first week, we got a call from a very excited PR lady in New York to tell us about a green vodka. Green as in good for the Earth. Great stuff. We had to have it featured on-air. I had experienced the teething problems of working with a veteran host who did not necessarily know the environmental market nor did she live the lifestyle. However, we could agree that vodka was worth talking about.

The interview was fairly straightforward. We learned about the grass-based ink on the label, the 100 percent post-consumer waste paper the ink printed on, the glue that comes from natural sources.

Finally, we got to the vodka.

“Oh, no, the vodka is not organic,” the vodka maker said. “Look I understand this whole sustainability kick, but if we all tried to eat organic we would be dead.”

The biggest problem with corporate social responsibility is that it rarely has much to do with reality. In theis particular vodka case, the PR was the full force of the outreach for this big company to potentially make a dent in the organic foods marketplace. There were not a lot of well known organic alcohol brands in 2007, so getting away with selling a vodka that was not organic by touting the friendliness of the packaging was easy. This vodka producer wasn’t the only one that worked this ploy.

The real question for PR people when they walk into an office should be: is there anyone or anything here who can be defined by their social responsibility?

As a practitioner who performs and teaches fundraising, I can honestly say there are not a lot of people who can be naturally defined as socially responsible. The reasons are complex but understandable: Some people have been in their jobs so long they “have seen it all”, which taints their vision. There are always those who have found the rungs of the business ladder harder to climb than they expected – often the case of those working at a large non-profit organization – and whose commitment to service has waned.

That’s the ‘me-me-me’ culture you often find among practitioners. There are lots of agents who have such a high image of themselves that they can’t consider what working for others might mean – even when they do it every day.

Repeat this: it’s not about me. Taking that slogan to heart is going to save you so much heartache in the world of CSR.

Before you begin a CSR venture, you have to look at what social responsibility could be for the companies and people you approach for help. Forget about marketing a new product or remaking an old one with a greener appeal. That’s not going to get a lot of attention any more. The fastest and best way to build points for social responsibility is to establish a relationship with a company who can volunteer employees for projects regularly.

Fostering volunteerism and being a volunteer is the first step on the staircase to profiting from CSR. First of all, volunteerism is often mutual and it puts ordinary workers – people who might only give to a bucket in a train station if they can’t be asked – to the test that only hard work provides. For those employees who consider themselves practitioners, it can be perfect to finding new ways to apply skills and start converting deeds into dollars.

The hooks are all there: enthusiasm, understanding, real happiness. I know of several companies in New York that hired a PR practitioner simply because of the links to non-profit organizations the agent provided.

However, it can bite you back if your company is just generous with funding and not teamwork.

Just take a look at Target, the “hip, modern American retailer” according to its press copy. It got a lot of young, university-educated people back to the malls in the last ten years with snappy jingles and lots of fashionable collaborations with designers. Then it was revealed they supported an organization that sought to keep gay marriage from being legal.

The boycott – starting during Christmas – was a big blow to a company that was only expressing the personal values of the CEO. That’s ‘me’ again. It’s not about me, you must remind your contractors when they want to win with social responsibility. If your CEO supports something like that, tell him to mail the check from his own bank account.

The biggest danger is creating a silo that cuts off CSR from the rest of the company. As a strong PR leader, you have to work to keep people in the loop and the doors swinging. Establishing regular activities that raise staff loyalty is crucial. It will keep the attention and help sales people to show and tell what CSR is doing for them and the company.

Social media has seen explosive growth over the last few years and some might argue that it is completely altering the nature of public relations and communications. Businesses and organisations from all sectors and backgrounds are being encouraged to build a strong online presence in order to communicate with their key target audiences – and this includes those in the not-for-profit sector.

Social media is ultimately about connecting, interacting and sharing online – so if this is the case, surely it opens up an abundance of opportunities for organisations operating in the sector? Charities and other not-for-profits want to connect and interact with supporters, and more importantly, they need to share the work of their organisation with the rest of the world in order to raise awareness of their cause and build up a strong group of supporters.

The role of social media in the sector

Melanie Rawlings (photo credit: Steve Hobb, Sussex Newspapers)

There has been much debate about the role social media plays in the sector. Is it a customer service tool? Is it purely a way of communicating with supporters and building relationships? Or does it open up new fundraising opportunities?

From my experience of working as PR officer at the Leeds-based national heart charity, Heart Research UK, social media was used as a tool to complement activities and campaigns going on within the organisation.

Facebook was a place to promote fundraising events and get those taking part to create groups and get to know each other; Twitter was a way to raise awareness of and get people talking about heart disease, and a place to promote campaigns and events run by the charity.

If I remember rightly, there was never an instance where we actually asked for donations using social media.

It was more of a relationship building tool; a way to raise awareness of the cause and a means of encouraging supporters to sign up for events – but could all of these characteristics have the potential to encourage fundraising income?

A fundraising potential offered through social media?

Transparency, relationship building and social capital are all words which we regularly hear being used when talking about social media.

An organisation must be ‘transparent’ online to gain the trust of its supporters; an organisation must use the tools available to their full potential in order to succeed in building a strong relationship with its supporters.

By sticking to these cardinal rules, organisations in the sector can build upon their social capital and engage new donors and supporters in the cause – which in turn, can lead to new fundraising opportunities.

Diffusion of information

Fundraisers and donors are often concerned with where the money that they work so hard to raise is actually going. The diffusion of information through social media is a great way to let people know where the funding is being spent and is key to keeping supporters interested and loyal to the cause.  By increasing informative transparency and updating supporters on all of the activity of the organisation, there is a good potential to turn existing followers into donors.

Social media can also be used by supporters of the cause to help them in collecting sponsorship for an event or campaign they are involved in on behalf of a charity.

Platforms such as Justgiving or Virginmoneygiving are great ways for supporters to collect funds as they eliminate the hassle of filling out sponsor forms and trying to contact sponsors after events.

These  pages can be linked to other social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, and supporters can promote their work through Facebook ‘events’ or ‘causes’ or  simply by tweeting.

But how can organisations help with this? It’s simple! Again, it is just by being there. By re-tweeting a supporter’s tweet, or posting well-wishing comments on their events page/commenting on their status.  By endorsing the supporter, organisations are not only raising more awareness of their challenge which can lead to more sponsorship, but are building a good reputation for the charity by actively engaging with supporters and forming better relationships, and  ultimately, encouraging more support to the cause.

Perspectives from the sector

Stacey Rennard, Communications Manager at Heart Research UK, gives her thoughts on fundraising potential offered through social media:

“Social media is a relatively new way of engaging with our supporters at Heart Research UK. More and more of our fundraisers are using it to keep us updated with their training and fundraising efforts and it’s a great way to stir up a bit of interest. At this stage I see it much more as a way of engaging and building relationships with supporters, and people interested in the charity, rather than purely a fundraising tool. Although, it can be tied in with online giving sites we’ve yet to see it have a major impact on the amount of money people raise for us, but over time this could change.”

Laurier Nicas, Digital Marketing Officer at Dogs Trust tells me how social media is used at the organisation and her views on its fundraising potential:

“Here at Dogs Trust, we mainly use social media for brand awareness, social interaction, as a platform to disseminate information and as a customer service tool. The use of social media is a great way to drive fundraising – whether it’s driving people to events or to promote supporters that are doing events, however, in itself, I find it quite difficult to fundraise with the sole use of social media – it’s a great driver and a great tool, but it cannot stand alone.

“If you’re asking for money and you’ve fostered a genuine community online that’s following you and interacting with you, and you’re interacting with them, supporters would be a lot more responsive and receptive to any efforts than they would be if you just used social media as a loudspeaker – because that’s not what it is about. I think it’s important for organisations in the sector to realise this.”

So although indirect, there is definitely a fundriaising potential offered through using social media and organisations cannot afford to miss out on such opportunities.

Research and studies have shown that the use of social media platforms – such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and YouTube – is being underexploited in the sector. But why are practitioners so reluctant to get involved?

A recent survey by charitycomms suggests that practitioners fear they do not know how to listen and respond online. Personally, I think the biggest problem organisations face is the lack of resources available which are required to maintain the social networking sites.

Many non-for-profits just do not have the staff time or enough money in the pot to employ a digital marketing team to respond to the high volume of comments, posts and online queries. 

Meet our social media volunteer

Perhaps this opens up opportunities for a new type of supporter, a new type of volunteer… the social media volunteer?

Many PR, communications and marketing students are looking for work experience in the industry, and charities could maximise on this by getting them in to manage their social media accounts.  After all, social media can be accessed anywhere (anywhere that has an internet connection that is), so it would not necessarily mean they had to be in the office five days a week in order to meet the needs and demands of an organisation’s online community.

However charities decide to manage it, it is important for them to ‘go social’, to get involved in the many platforms out there and use them as a loudspeaker for their cause – otherwise they might just be missing out on an array of new fundraising opportunities which others are taking advantage of.

When celebrities become spokespersons for a charity they can use their fame to increase public awareness for the issue and make a bigger difference than if you or I made the same speech. They add momentum to the cause in a way that ordinary people usually can’t.

The book Exploring Public Relations attributes the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement to ‘credibility’ and ‘attention’. The book goes on to say that celebrities can attract attention and this is the most vital ingredient of success in a world saturated with so much noise generated by media messages.

If celebrities are fully informed and engaged with the cause they are promoting, the message can greatly influence the process persuading people to support the cause.

Cognitive dissonance in action

PR Week recently published the results of a survey by nfpSynergy on the value of celebrity endorsement in the voluntary sector. The survey cited that young people tend to be less influenced by celebrity campaigns as they grow older. Does this mean that charities need to choose the right personality to encourage support from their target audiences?

PR practitioners have to be prepared to manage the image and reputation of the organisation to key audiences if things do not go to plan when using a celebrity as part of a PR campaign.

For example, Naomi Campbell caused controversy by wearing fur in 1997, not long after she had been all over billboards and magazines in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ eye-catching ‘I’d rather go naked than wear fur’ campaign, even appearing on US television as a spokesperson for the organisation. The excuse from her model agency spokesperson pointed out that she “only signed up for the one anti-fur campaign.”

For some famous faces, charity endorsement is just another form of self-promotion. High profile endorsers can bring a certain element of clout to a campaign, but the most important thing PR practitioners must remember is that the celebrity’s values must match the ethos of the charity they have been asked to support.

When it works, it works

A high-impact PR campaign can be enhanced by collaborations with a well-known face to a good cause.

In 2009, Joanna Lumley was invited to become an ambassador for the Child Welfare Scheme a children’s charity that works with disadvantaged children and communities in Nepal.  Her continued support in fighting for the settlement of the Gurkha veterans in the UK demonstrates her unselfish passion for wanting to make a positive difference to the lives and future of others was noticed by the charity and because of her links with the country she was an obvious option.

The use of famous personalities remains a primary tactic that major charities use to send their messages out to their audiences. Charities are getting better at matching their cause with a famous face who thinks about the issues, but also wants to help. The role of a celebrity in philanthropy, good causes and international progress really gets some asking the question – why use them when so many of them do are not fully engaged in the causes they support?

Case study: The Wig Party and National Aids Trust (NAT)

The Wig Party is a private annual charity event, organised by a voluntary group of entrepreneurs and friends raised approximately £45,000 for NAT last year.

As the UK’s leading charity dedicated to changing the public attitude to HIV, NAT provides fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources to people living with HIV trough to the Government. As the event increased in size each year, the committee had to seek out sponsors and patrons to increase the publicity of the charity and its cause and will get in return including logo placement, top billing, naming rights and perks such as VIP tickets allocated to the brand or personality name.

All celebrities, sponsors and partners were met through personal contacts of the committee members. The event was pitched to potential sponsors a couple of times before they got financially involved. NAT’s chief executive, Deborah Jack stated: “Partnering with such a high profile event will help raise awareness of HIV at a time when it’s fallen off the public and media agenda.”

Aims and Objectives

To grow into an international fundraising charity.

To improve public understanding and awareness of HIV.

To increase fundraising targets by 5% each year.

Celebrity Patrons

Leona Lewis / Keisha Buchanan / Dannii Minogue / Jeremy Sheffield / Jason Gardiner / Ben De Lisi / Beverly Knight / Ben Cooke / Lisa Butcher / Tim Vincent / Jasper Conran / Patrick Cox / Benjamin Hart / Gail Porter / Louie Spence

Sponsors and Partners

MAC / DIAGEO / JITROIS / L’OREAL / SELFRIDGES / SWAROVSKI / D-SQUARED

Results

The tickets sold out a week before the event due to the efforts of every committee member’s use of their Facebook profile as a tool to promote the event. Through out the build up to the event, the PR team used specific print, online and social media as channels of communication to its target audience. The Wig Party’s Facebook page was used as way of getting information and updates out, and as a channel of two-way communication with the public.

Coverage spanned from editorials to competitions in weekly publications such as Time Out, QX and Boyz magazines featuring the main host of the event Wiggy Woo, to being highlighted on national television. The Wig Party was featured on Louie Spence’s fabulous “Show Business” programme on Sky 1 HD on Wednesday 2nd March, 2011.

Ben Matthews, founder of Bright One, is guest editor for this month’s PR for Good Causes feature at Behind The Spin. In this post Ben introduces the special feature.

Recognition of the importance of PR in a charities’ every day activity is becoming increasingly stronger. The use of celebrities is ever popular in drawing media attention to a charities’ cause. Social media has played an important part, opening up new opportunities for driving donations and awareness from a disparate group of supporters, driven mainly by PR teams but also increasingly hand in hand with fundraising teams. There’s been a recent rise in the number of media, especially online, dedicated to reporting on charities and related issues. And more and more students, graduates and working professionals are looking to the third sector as a career choice, perhaps looking for a role with more substance rather than following the traditional routes of high finance and management consultancy.

At Bright One, the volunteer-run communications agency for the third sector, we’re heavily involved in the front line of many charities’ PR campaigns – often being the sole team behind an organisation’s complete PR activities. So when Richard Bailey, editor of Behind The Spin, first approached Bright One to guest edit a series of articles on Charity PR, we were delighted to be given this opportunity.

As a group of volunteers who see the power that PR can bring to charity’s campaigns and initiatives, we’re passionate about sharing our knowledge and teaching the next generation of PR professionals on how they can manage a charities communications activities. What better way to do this than for our volunteers and wider Bright One community to contribute towards a series aimed at students interested in the world of charity PR.

While we are writing for a PR student audience, we’ve tried to keep charities and the work they do at the core of the series’ theme. The main uses of PR that most charities see is to raise awareness of and raise funds for their organisation. But PR can do much more than this. It can be used to build a network of passionate and dedicated supporters, communicate with internal stakeholders to increase organisational efficiency, demonstrate an organisation’s social impact and CSR initiatives, and much more.

We’ll be covering these issues and more throughout this series of articles, but if you do have any ideas of comments on what articles we should be featuring – or even if you want to contribute an article yourself – then please leave a comment below or get in touch with Behind The Spin directly.

We hope you enjoy the series and most importantly find some useful tips, tricks and tactics for improving how you implement PR campaigns for the organisations you work with.

Eligibility

• Over 20 years of age on the date of application;
• Currently attending university having completed at least two years of studies at university level or will have completed a qualification/degree within a six month period prior to the application;
• Medically fit to take up an internship at The Global Fund;
• Have not previously participated in a Global Fund internship programme.

Allowances

• Duration of Internship Program: 3 months
• Monthly stipend of 2, 000 Swiss Francs.
• Travel costs and health insurance will be also covered.
• Intern to take care of own visa and accommodation; The Global Fund will provide you with a support letter to attach to your visa application.

How to Apply

Send an essay of 400-words maximum to socialmedia@theglobalfund.org on why you would like to work with the organisation.

Alzheimer’s Society
Epilepsy Action
Meningitis Trust

Following the launch of ‘Pitching for Partnership’ in August this year, ten UK-based charities were shortlisted for the opportunity to make a short presentation to a judging panel made up of experts in the communications, healthcare and charity sectors, at Just:: Health PR’s offices on 11th November 2010.

Judge and ex-Sun Health Editor, Jacqui Thornton, said:

“The standard of the finalists’ entries was extremely high with each project addressing a real need, making it a very difficult decision. The chosen winners demonstrated well thought-out communications strategies and exciting tactical ideas, presenting clear and exciting opportunities for collaboration with Just:: Health PR.”

A Just:: Cause – Pitching for Partnership, is a pro-bono initiative designed and run by Just:: Health PR. UK-based charities were offered the chance to apply for grants of communications resource, delivered as hours of time from the Just:: team and equivalent in total to £150,000 worth of fees.

For more information please contact: ajustcause@justhealthpr.com or visit the website: www.ajustcause.co.uk

This was the venue for Bright One’s Impress London event. Organised by Ben Matthews, its aim was to take an in-depth look at what’s really going on in the PR industry and advise how you can become a part of it.

Ali Gee, Head of Planning at Edelman was first to take to the front after the welcome refreshments. She emphasised the need to make sure that your clients loved you. We gained valuable advice about how she felt PR had changed since she started her career and explored the changing role of the media because of consumers becoming increasingly media savvy. And with a professional career that included working at 3 Monkeys, Bell Pottinger and now Edelman she was definitely one to listen to.

Round one: PR versus journalism

There was then a panel session based on ‘Working with Journalists’, the old PR v journalism debate.

Stefan Stern, a former Financial Times columnist, started proceedings. He made the transition from journalist to PR so was well qualified to advise us how to build relationships. He acknowledged that PR professionals and journalists co-created news and that real news was still ‘something that someone somewhere doesn’t want you to know about.’

Nicole Eisele of Hotwire PR emphasised the differences when working on a pan-European stage, noting differences in media channels and that you have to ensure you make your news relevant for each journalist.

Steve Ballinger from Amnesty International also focused on media relations and acknowledged that many people still got the basics wrong. He also made the point that being in the news kept you in the news therefore emphasising the role of a well structured, consistent PR plan.

Brainstorming and careers sessions

After filling our faces on pastries and fruit we were back into the Brightone break out session, which gave us a chance to work in groups and brainstorm ideas for real life case studies. It was brilliant to be able to interact with the other people who were there and get thrown into groups to produce some ideas.

Sarah Stimson from Unicornjobs.com was there to lend a helping hand and offer advice on CV’s and interviews, crucial for me as I will be applying for jobs in the near future. We were told that there are often 60 applicants for each graduate scheme so competition is fierce. The underlying theme however is to be polite, enthusiastic and to have a real passion for your subject.

Importance of social media

Social media was a phrase that was referred to all day, along with the importance of being au fait with it before we began our careers in PR.

Rob Dyson from Whizz Kids used real life examples from his work to show the importance of engaging with people on social platforms and not just broadcasting to them. He also shared with us that he integrates all the work he does on social networking sites to make sure he presents a cohesive image.

Chris Reed, managing partner at Brew told us of the difference when pitching to bloggers and gave us the ‘WIIIFM’ test – ‘What is in it for me?’, the test that people ask when given new information.

He left quoting the phrase ‘be excellent to each other’, something not just PR professionals could benefit from but society as a whole.

Stephen Davies then took to the floor and told us all to PR ourselves to make sure that we get the career we want. He then used the phrase that would be quickly become the quote of the day for me. ‘You have to have the eye of the tiger…’ Indeed yes, he did quote Rocky!

And community management

Community management is an emerging sector within communications, with more and more brands realising they have to engage with their relevant community all the time, not just when they want to sell them something.

Rob Hinchcliffe told us that community managers used to sit and referee the ‘unwashed masses posting comments on websites’. Now they sit at the middle of the business and integrate all the elements to make sure that the campaign suits their community.

Jaz Cummins from the Guardian used the phrase ‘mutualism’, which is when readers part own the paper and when their comments are classed as content.

Nicola Jones came up with a good analogy: ‘community managers are the host of the party, they invite the right people who all have something in common and make sure they are having a good time.’

Organiser and Founder of Bright One, Ben Matthews then took to the front holding his red Moleskine notepad. He emphasised the need to be passionate and align your values with that of the brands you are working for. You have to become your business in order to represent it effectively.

‘Your career starts before your first job’ was the other phrase of the day that really rang true with me.

Ben was pleased with how the event went when I caught up with him afterwards. ”It was fantastic to see around 100 people from a mixture of PR backgrounds attend and speaking to them after the event it was clear that they all got something out of the day. At Bright One, we’re always keen to give something back to students and help them transition into the PR industry – after all it wasn’t that long ago that I was in the same position as you. I’d like to thank all of the speakers who gave up their time to come down to the event, as well as Edelman and Unicorn Jobs for all their support and helping us get the event off the ground. Here’s to next year!”

Ben is to me a real inspiration - a shining example of what you can achieve if you put your mind to it. The fact that he set up Bright One to give something back is truly selfless and I wish him every success. The event offered a chance to interact with people who are working within the sector and who are enjoying it as much as I hope to. The final six months for me at university will be extremely busy but now I have even more of a focus and my dream job is within touching distance.

If you want to follow the speakers on Twitter, these are their details:

@stefanstern @chris_reed @stedavies @robmdyson @jazcummins @navigatornic @hinchcliffe @gooorooo @benrmatthews @impresslondon

Photographs of the event from Bright One’s Impress London photostream on Flickr, used with permission.

We are offering the position of communications officer to a motivated student who shares our joint passions for literacy and overseas travel. The Communications Officer makes a vital contribution to the Foundation’s fundraising and volunteer recruitment efforts by way of enhancing our reputation through sound publicity and PR.

Working within our small, dedicated team requires lots of imaginative and creative thinking with ability to produce results. If you are a journalism or PR student in search of unique work experience for your portfolio, Book Bus would like to hear from you.

What you can expect:

• Experience of web and new media design
• Researching and copywriting for our website and newsletter
• Website editing
• Application of social media
• PR projects

Experience Requirements:

• Good copywriting skills
• Understanding of media and media relations.
• Knowledge of public relations tactics and how to implement them.

Personal Characteristics:

• Ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing to varying target audiences.
• Ability to use own initiative and prioritise workload.
• Effective team player.
• Accuracy; good attention to detail.
• A passion for books and major interest in the world

Conditions:

The position will be either temporary or part-time depending on study commitments. We are happy to work with course administrators to ensure applicants receive credit for work undertaken. A travel allowance will be paid depending on circumstances.

We can also offer the opportunity to visit one of our projects in Africa. (In-country expenses provided, flights and insurance at own expense.)

Further information:

www.thebookbus.org

www.ventureco-worldwide.com

Contact:

In the first instance, send your CV and a covering letter to David Gordon at: info@thebookbus.org

An author and TV presenter is seeking PR student support to help promote her new self-help book.

‘Sort Out Your Crap Life’  is in a new genre of self help books aimed at 15 -45 year olds, based on author Claire Anstey’s experience of how she sorted out her life when tragedy struck. A flavour of the book can be found at www.sortoutyourcraplife.com

A percentage of each book sale will  go to CALM, The Campaign Against Living Miserably a charity for young men that Claire is Ambassador for. More information on this can be found via Claire’s personal website www.theanstey.com

Claire is looking for people with a passion for the book to help with an edgy promotional campaign. Claire is currently a voice for MTV and with her experience of suicide and depression inspiring the book there are plenty of hooks and opportunities for good stories and campaign ideas.

The author has set up her own publishing company to publish this book. She feels that the publishing industry has changed – just like the music industry – and aims to build a campaign that will prove success is in the hands of the individual.

To help with the promotional campaign, please apply via email to claireanstey@mac.com. Claire would like candidates to write a little about themselves, what they think of the book via what they see on the website and how they think that they can promote it.

Volunteers can work their own hours and from home. Although this is a voluntary position at the moment future paid opportunities may arise.

Please apply by 15^th October 2010.

As well as joining the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), Bright One will be given a voice by becoming closely involved with the PRCA’s not-for-profit working sectoral group.

The two organisations will work closely together to help raise awareness of the opportunities and need for PROs to volunteer their skills to the third sector and have its volunteering opportunities promoted to other PRCA’s members. This partnership is another step in making Bright One the pre-eminent volunteering organisation for the PR industry.

Francis Ingham, chief executive of the PRCA, said: “We’re delighted to have Bright One on board as a member of the PRCA and look forward to working in partnership. Bright One is an initiative we’re keen to support, as not only does it help charities with their communications needs, but also helps develop the next generation of PR professionals – the future of our industry. They couldn’t get off to a better start than by volunteering with Bright One.”

Secondly, following its successful first year, Bright One has measured the social impact of the work carried out by its volunteers during its second year. The impact has been quantified by calculating the amount of resource that charities have been able to access as a result of Bright One’s services. Its volunteers have collectively dedicated 2,700 hours of PR and communications support to helping small charities with their PR and communications efforts. This equals over £300,000 worth of consultancy services. Year on year, Bright One has donated an extra 1,200 hours of work organised through the agency, and generated a 54% increase in economic value.

Bright One’s volunteer’s have created this impact for clients such as Amnesty International, Centrepoint and the Social Enterprise Coalition.

“We are thrilled with how our second year of life has gone,” said Ben Matthews, Founder of Bright One. “We’ve turned in a fantastic contribution to the third sector’s communications needs, thanks to a growing number of committed and competent volunteers. Charities often cannot afford to invest much in PR, and we are proud to have provided a huge amount of consultancy services, at the same time giving professionals in our industry the chance to volunteer and broaden their skills.”

“It seems fitting that our growth should be marked by the partnership with the PRCA; we are delighted and proud to become members of our professional trade body and to be recognised for our role in both the PR and the volunteering sectors.”

“We are stepping into our third year with continued enthusiasm, and we already have a number of high profile initiatives underway for the near future. We are hoping to continue to attract high-calibre of the volunteers who put themselves forward, and who deserve respect and recognition for their hard work. Without them we could not be where we are today.”