Getting your whole organisation on board
Charity media officers and volunteer managers often feel isolated in their work. Colleagues working or volunteering for your organisation may not understand the value or benefit of media work. While some may not appreciate the value or importance volunteers could bring to your organisation. Your job will be to try and get everyone on board for your recruitment campaign.
Tell everyone what you’re doing
Once you’ve established your media strategy and know who it is you want to recruit it’s vital to present this to the rest of your organisation. You need to inspire everyone about the work you're doing. Help them to understand the benefits and rewards your volunteer recruitment/ media work could bring to your charity.
Have a look at The Donor, a quarterly newsletter sent out by the National Blood Service to all its volunteers.
Call a meeting for key people in your organisation. Put together a basic newsletter or email and send it to everyone who volunteers and works for the organisation. In your presentation and newsletter:
- Explain the real value of volunteers. Spell out why they’re a much needed asset. For example you may want to point out that one of the ways to establish committed, long term donors for your charity is to get your supporters involved in volunteering.
- Explain what the volunteers are being recruited to do. What roles and duties will they have within the organisation?
- Tell them who will look after the new recruits and how new enquiries about volunteering will be handled by the organisation.
- Describe who you are hoping to target with your recruitment campaign and why.
- Show how you’re hoping to recruit them. Give a basic timeline and outline the media activities and campaigns you’re hoping to launch. Really sell the media work and explain the benefits.
- Explain what volunteers/ the public currently think of your organisation. Tell your colleagues why you need to increase awareness of your organisation in general and the value of case studies in securing media/ public interest in your charity.
- Ask your colleagues to help you by volunteering to appear in the media on behalf of the organisation. Reassure them that you’ll be there to support them. For example, explain that there are ways of working with vulnerable people who wish to tell their story in the press but remain anonymous. More on this in the article on Case studies.
- Point out that any media coverage will be also be a way of thanking and recognising everyone who works and volunteers for your charity.
- Ask your colleagues to include information about your volunteer recruitment drive in their fundraising or campaigning work. Explain the power and reach of integrated campaigns. Ask your current volunteers to spread the word about volunteer opportunities in your organisation.
- Ask everyone to include a link to your volunteer recruitment campaign at the end of their emails.
- Listen to and address your colleagues' concerns and fears about working with the media.
- Show an example of what another organisation has achieved with their media work. Inspire them!
Keep everyone informed as your campaign progresses. Let them know when you’ve managed to get a story picked up by a media outlet. Tell them how many volunteering enquiries the organisation has received following a particular campaign or media activity. Shout about your success!
Go to the next section... Create a campaign
