Celebrities
A few years ago a celebrity endorsement would have ensured your campaign got media coverage. But times have changed and the media are growing weary of celebrities promoting 'yet another good cause'. Any old celebrity attached to any old campaign won't get you very far anymore. There needs to be a real affinity or connection between a celebrity and the cause or event they promote.
- Are you sure your campaign needs a celebrity? Don't just hook one on for the sake of it.
- Celebrities can help make your volunteer campaign message more appealing to certain audiences. Have a look at the article Peter Duncan wrote for The Scout Association and how an Eastenders' star recruited new volunteers for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
- A committed local celebrity attached to a local campaign can be far more effective than a campaign endorsed by a too busy big name star. Have a look at Solent Youth Action's campaign involving a local footballer.
- Celebrities mean photo opportunities. Photos are an easy way to get you good print media coverage. Have a look at how Matthew Pinsent helped secure coverage for Billion Minutes and Trisha Goddard got a story in Real People magazine for Home-Start.
How to recruit a celebrity
Redpages is the most thorough celebrity directory available. It gives you background information on any celeb, details about their agent, their publicist and any charities they're already involved with. They offer charities a reduced subscription rate of £765 for 12 months.
Fanmailaddresses.com has the contact details for 12,000 celebrities. Online subscription to the service costs £24.99 for 12 months.
Spotlight produce a series of directories (published in April each year) listing the agents details for 30,000 performers. Each directory costs £75.
- Celebrities like to get involved with local issues. Find out about any celebrities who live in your area or region. Search on the Internet, look through local newspapers and magazines for any mentions of local celebrities. Find out how Solent Youth Action used a local footballer in their campaign.
- Write a personal hand written letter asking a celebrity to get involved with your campaign. Call their agent, publicist or personal assistant and get them interested too.
- Look for a celebrity who has some kind of connection to the issues or areas your charity works in (For example, JK Rowling only supports charities which work with single parent families. Jerry Hall supports the small charity called National Association for People Abused in Childhood because she herself had an abusive father) See how Hearing Dogs for Deaf People secured GMTV coverage with the support of an Eastenders star.
- You should never have to pay a celebrity for their support.
Choose a celebrity wisely
Who do you want your volunteering campaign to reach? If it's young people, pick a celebrity which will appeal to them. The wrong celebrity endorsement can actually end up putting people off getting involved. National Blood Service are very careful to work with a range of celebrities in order to appeal to a broad range of people.
National media will only be interested in big A-list stars. However local media will be very keen to hear from local celebrities or dignitaries.
Celebrities don't always behave perfectly. Sometimes they cancel at the last minute. Sometimes they get into trouble. Choose carefully who you work with. Jade Goody had been linked to the charity Act Against Bullying until her very public fall from grace on Big Brother. The charity was forced to quickly announce that they had 'dropped' Jade as one of their celebrity supporters.
How to make a celebrity partnership last
- Brief your celebrity supporter before they take on any public engagements or media interviews. Ideally they'd have some experience of being a volunteer or having been supported by a volunteer.
- Keep your celebrity supporters interested in your charity and informed. Make sure to thank them and let them know what a difference they made to your campaign.
- Don't bombard your celebrity supporter with requests. Choose carefully what you ask them to do for you.
Have a look at the Media Trust's guide to Attracting and Keeping Celebrity Support.
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