The annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival took place in London last week with a wide selection of films that show human rights issues and abuse around the world. The festival highlighted issues such as the privatisation of the water supply in Bolivia and trafficking of young women in Eastern Europe.

In the documentary ‘Little Heaven’ we meet the clever and ever so sweet Lydia, who lives in an orphanage in Ethiopia together with other teenagers that have become her family. They all come from difficult backgrounds but they are happy in the orphanage, there’s food on the table and they all go to school. The intense medication routines these kids have to do several times each day is what differs their days to the days of other kids. The reason for this is because they are all living with HIV.

‘Little Heaven’ is a gorgeous piece of film that gives you the opportunity to share the everyday lives of these young teenagers – the pressures of doing well in school, the joy of water surfing when cleaning the floors with loads of water and soap, the admiration of footballers like Drogba whose poster has a prime spot on the wall above the bed.  The film wants to highlight the stigma that surrounds many living with HIV in Africa as well as informing of help that exists in terms of free medication if you’re registered with a hospital.

I went along to the screening of ‘Little Heaven’ at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and was very moved by Lydia’s story. And so was everyone else in that cinema. We all ignored the beaming London spring sun and the beer gardens we passed on our way there so I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one passionate about the cause wanting to support Lydia and her friends. But there was no call to action and not much further information from Human Rights Watch. The filmmaker, Lieven Corthouts, was there for a Q&A in which he briefly mentioned that the orphanage is being funded by a small NGO in Belgium. But no name, no website details, and no instructions on how we could support their work.

Corthouts has created a beautiful and sensitive film and I wish I had time to watch more films during the festival but the aim of the festival feels a little lost to me. According to the official programme “The film festival brings human rights abuses to life through storytelling in a way that challenges each individual to empathise and demand justice for all”. But what does that mean? What difference does our empathy make? And how do we go about demanding justice for all?

Raising awareness is of course crucial, and a film festival is a brilliant way of doing it for any culture-loving person like me but I do feel slightly superficial when watching a film like this, next door to the Queen, and I’m not asked to do anything about it afterwards. Corthouts mentioned that the organisation probably needs to build/buy another orphanage but financial issues are preventing them. Why not ask us to help out? There could be a straightforward call to action and I’m certain everyone in the ICA that evening would have helped out, at least with some cash before leaving the cinema.

I’ve done some Googling and I think the organisation behind Little Heaven is called Siddartha. Unfortunately the donation page doesn’t make much sense.

A missed fundraising opportunity?

At the moment, there aren’t nearly enough younger people going into charity trusteeship in this country. I’m going to try to convince you that it is something that you should consider.

Firstly, anyone can be a Trustee. You don’t ever have to have worked for a charity in any capacity, in fact in some ways you might be even more in demand if you haven’t because it is likely that you will bring a different set of skills for the role. Trustees are needed who have skills in such areas as finance, fundraising, PR, law and much more.

Secondly, you will be making a real difference. Trustees help to make sure that charities fulfil their charitable objectives- ie. what they were founded for. They keep charities fresh and full of new ideas and help them to reach out to the people who most need them.

Thirdly, it will teach you so much. Via my own experiences as a Trustee I have been involved with things as diverse as poring over architectural plans, representing the charity at the live screening of Children in Need and helping to set the pay levels of senior staff. You will have the opportunity to understand an organisation from top to bottom. Being a Trustee will be a great addition to your CV and will show employers that you are prepared to show real commitment to a cause that you believe in.

It shouldn’t be too hard to find a cause you do care about as there are thousands upon thousands of charities covering every area of interest imaginable. The chance of you finding something that you are attracted to is high and even if you have to travel a little the charity should be able to help you with expenses. It’s worth bearing in mind that some charities are very small and don’t have the time or resources to be very proactive in their recruitment. If there is a charity that you would like to be a Trustee for, just ask them. If they don’t have any positions they will at least have you in mind for the future.

Have a look around on the web and please think about applying to be a Trustee. Good Luck!

This guest post was written by Alex Swallow, founder of Young Charity Trustees. You can connect with them on Twitter @YoungTrustees or via their LinkedIn group where they post news, discussions and interesting trustee opportunities. If you think trusteeship could be something for you and would like to give it a try, we’ve got some roles going here at Bright One.

Are you looking for a volunteering opportunity overseas but don’t know where to start? Would you like to know more about potential countries or roles? Would you like to meet experienced volunteers who could give you advice? ‘Meet VSO’ might be something for you.

Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) arranges regular events where you can go and chat with VSO staff and returned volunteers about volunteering. They share experiences and expertise in order to give you an insight into what it’s like to volunteer.                                                                                                                                               

The next ‘Meet VSO’ event is taking place tomorrow, Thursday 8 December at 7pm, so go along for your chance to ask questions and learn more. At the moment VSO is recruiting for skilled professionals within areas such as healthcare, education and business.

The event is free but booking is essential so take a look at the website and book here

This week, Founding Director of Bright One, Ben Matthews, spoke at a PRCA Charity Campaign Masterclass, alongside David Hamilton of Action for Children.

Below are his slides, which covers three exciting charities and the tactics they use for successful campaigns: The Pixel Project, Centrepoint, and Child’s i Foundation.

What tips have you got for others to master their charity campaigns?

This is a guest post by Zoe Amar, Head of Marketing and Business Development at Lasa, a charity which provides services to Shelter, Age UK and thousands of other charities across the UK. She is also on the board at Bright One and is a Chartered Marketer. Zoe tweets from @zoeamar

Social media gurus keep telling us to ‘listen’ as well as ‘engage.’ Now that Twitter, Facebook et al are well established charity communications and fundraising tools, and we’re all tracking our social media mentions, I think we need to maximise their potential for market research.

Social media offers valuable leads about what your audience is thinking- right now. These channels are ‘free,’ but they are not substitutes for bigger market research projects such as focus group exercises, interviews or omnibus studies. What they provide are raw, immediate and unvarnished insights into your stakeholder’s most pressing needs. And many of us are using all of these tools already. So we are ‘listening’- we just need to know how to do it systematically so that we make the most of the huge amount of powerful data available through social media.

At Lasa we have a tight budget for market research, so I’ve learned some quick and cost effective ways to gather useful data through social media. Here are my top tips:

• Twitter is brilliant for pushing out surveys. Last year we ran an online survey to find out what the charity sector thought about ‘Big Society.’ (As a charity which supports thousands of charities across the UK each year, we wanted to know their views). We sent it out through our @Lasavoice  and @LasaICT Twitter accounts, and we also asked a different charity sector opinion leader (with at least 1000 followers) each day to retweet it. Interest in the survey snowballed and more people began to tweet about it. Over 400 charity sector professionals responded and the results were covered by the BBC Politics Show, Metro, The Guardian and Third Sector, amongst others. We did all the work in-house so the only cost was £150 for the Amazon vouchers which we gave away in a prize draw for respondents. If your survey covers a hot topic, offers good incentives and is quick to complete, then Twitter is a great way to get it out there.

• LinkedIn groups offer useful data. Often the dark horse of social media, LinkedIn can be a great way to source market research. At Lasa we seeded our Big Society survey amongst charity sector discussion groups, which created a lot of word of mouth interest and boosted responses. The charity sector groups are also very active and are good places to pick up nuggets of valuable information.

• Who you follow on Twitter determines the quality of your insights. Make sure that you’re following journalists, competitors, trade associations, trade press, government departments, MPs and any other key stakeholders. Since Twitter is often the first place that news breaks, this means that leads sometimes need to be verified, so take care that they come from a reliable source and doublecheck them if necessary. It’s easy to just dip in and out of Twitter reactively, but if you can get into the habit of checking the timelines of your most important stakeholders regularly and following up useful tweets then nothing will slip through the net.

In today’s rapidly changing climate, your market research needs to be ongoing 24/7. There is no better tool for that than social media.

We’re looking for a graduate to work with Carbon Leapfrog, a new and unique business-led charity that channels free professional advice from leading service providers across a range of disciplines into UK and international carbon reduction projects.

Intern Objectives:

To help identify and extract the marketing opportunities for Carbon Leapfrog’s various projects 

Increase the awareness and reach of Carbon Leapfrog’s projects among their various stakeholders 

Provide a solid foundation of marketing support for future campaigns and activity

How?

• Work closely with the Carbon Leapfrog team to identify marketing opportunities and create campaigns around their projects 
• Maximise coverage opportunities in the press through media relations including social media, creation and distribution of press releases, feature opportunities and case studies
• Participate in the ongoing creation and implementation of marketing collateral

Skills

• Good organisational and planning skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• The ability to work on multiple projects at one time
• Good attention to detail and accuracy
• Strong IT skills
• Good knowledge of marketing techniques
• Self initiative

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Help to create and implement a Marketing, PR and Communications plan
• Identify appropriate media publications to target
• Drafting and distribution of press releases
• Create and update social media channels around appropriate projects
• Identify awards opportunities
• Help with the development and implementation of a new website
• Join in the sourcing of information for, and the writing of, the bi-monthly newsletter – e-mailed to the entire network
• Help in the organising of events
• Use the CRM database (currently Sales Force) as a marketing tool

How Long?

The internship lasts for 3 months, but this could be adjusted according to candidates’ needs

How Much?

Travel Expenses will be paid.

Next Steps:

If you feel that this role is for you, please send a CV and covering letter to ben@brightone.org.uk

Members of the Bright One community had the fantastic opportunity of meeting with global representatives of PR agency Edelman two weeks ago at an interactive workshop session at The Landmark London Hotel. The session was set up together with Bright One ambassador Robert Phillips, President and CEO of Edelman EMEA, and 13 Bright One charities came along for tips and ideas on how best to communicate their causes.

Representatives from Edelman offices around the world took part in the 2-hour long session discussing areas such as fundraising, communicating social impact, digital media, and corporate engagement. Each Bright One charity had the opportunity to speak to seven teams during the session in order to learn as much as possible during the afternoon.

Before attending the workshops, the charities were keen on finding out more about issues like funding and communicating to different kinds of audiences. Additionally, they wanted to know more about how to use social media, how to work with celebrities, and how best to approach the private sector for funding and support. These matters were all answered by the honest and professional Edelman PR practitioners who gave great advice to all participating charities. Their expertise was highly appreciated amongst the participants with many expressing positive comments on the fact that they were able to receive frank comments from professionals with a new perspective. One participant said:

“Knowing that they had no personal agenda and that they had no need to be overly polite or enthusiastic (i.e. they weren’t ‘on the sell’), meant that their advice meant a lot more”

A fresh perspective is always helpful and it definitely benefited the Bright One charities taking part in the session. Clear messaging and strategic thinking were common themes during the afternoon with several Edelman representatives arguing in favour of speaking a simple and informative language towards all stakeholders. The importance of being able to communicate your message in a short paragraph or a 20-second pitch was highlighted together with significant aspects of presenting your impact. Just describing the cause will most likely not be enough if you don’t present what your charity is doing to solve the problem.

The Bright One charities have all got amazing stories to tell and the Edelman practitioners therefore encouraged them all to make sure the stories are being told well. These comments were greatly valued amongst the charities and they left the Landmark feeling motivated to work on clear messaging and develop a more strategic approach when communicating with stakeholders.

The Bright One team sneaked in and took part as well and we had great advice from some very impressive Edelman employees. They gave inspirational comments in regards to our digital communications and how to communicate our social impact so we will consider this feedback when doing our best to improve Bright One.

A great afternoon had by all, and a massive thank you to all Edelman representatives who took part and to all charities that came along and joined us!

We’re looking for a PR student/graduate to work on a project with Carbon Leapfrog, a new and unique business-led charity that galvanises and channels free professional advice from leading service providers across a range on disciplines into UK and international carbon reduction project.

Intern Objectives:

• To help identify and extract the PR opportunities for Carbon Leapfrog’s various projects
• Increase the awareness and reach of Carbon Leapfrog’s projects among their various stakeholders
• Provide a solid foundation of PR support for future campaigns and activity

How?

• Work closely with the Carbon Leapfrog team to identify PR opportunities and create campaigns around their projects
• Maximise coverage opportunities in the press through media relations, creation and distribution of press releases, feature opportunities and case studies
• Increase Carbon Leapfrog’s online reach through the use of social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and blog

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Help to create and implement a PR and Communications schedule
• Assist in implementing a marketing plan for Carbon Leapfrog and key projects
• Identify appropriate media publications to target
• Drafting and distribution of press releases
• Contacting key media publications
• Drafting and publishing updates about Carbon Leapfrog projects on appropriate blogs
• Create and update social media channels around appropriate projects
• Identify awards opportunities for key projects
• Assist in implementing a marketing plan for Carbon Leapfrog and key projects

How Long?

The internship lasts for 3 months, but this could be adjusted according to candidates’ needs

How Much?

Expenses will be paid of £30 per week, which covers daily travel in Central London

Next Steps:

If you feel that this role is for you, please send a CV and covering letter to ben@brightone.org.uk

So you want to get a job in Charity PR, but you don’t know where to look or how to start. You may also need to build up your skills and experience in the sector before going through the application process of a job that’s of interest.  With it currently being tougher than ever to find the right job for you and with increasing competition, it can seem like a hard prospect.

But don’t panic! Bright One is on hand to help guide you through the process and give you the best chance of getting your dream job in Charity PR.

Read about Charity PR

One of the best ways to get a feel for what working for a charity might be like is by reading about those who already work for a charity. There’s plenty of information out there.

A good place to start is the askCHARITY blog, where you’ll find posts about charity communications from a host of experts. There’s also the PR Week Volunteer & Charity News section and a range of good article, case studies and interviews on CharityComms.   For wider issues around charities communicating in the digital age, take a look at Beth’s Blog, which is US focused but equally valuable for online comms advice for charities around the world.

We also feature a range of Charity PR articles here on the Bright One blog (such as this one!) so you should subscribe by RSS or subscribe by email.

Subscribe to Job Alerts

When you’re looking for a job in Charity PR, you’re going to need to know when they come up and who they’re with. There’s lots of places to get job alert from, with the most popular ones being Guardian Jobs, PR Week Jobs, Third Sector Jobs and Charity Jobs.

If you’re on Twitter, we’ve created a handy little service that will aggregate all of these sites together, so you’ll never miss an opportunity. Simply go to @brightonejobs and follow the feed to start receiving updates. You can even subscribe by RSS or email.

Do an Internship

To get a real experience of what it would be like working in Charity PR, without committing yourself to a long term career, a good start is to do an internship. This could either be done with an agency that works with charities or directly with the charity itself.

For example, Bold Creative are looking for a PR and Social Media intern. This is a fantastic opportunity for a recent graduate with an interest in the creative industry and strong experience of social media to join the Bold team. The role offers real variety and responsibility, so find out how to apply here.

Also, beautiful world are looking for a lively, motivated social media intern to work on an exciting Christmas campaign that aims to raise money for homeless young people. You will be responsible for managing content, monitoring and evaluating all social media activity in order to expand the Charity’s online community. Find out all about it and how to apply here.

If those two positions don’t take your fancy, head on over to Enternships, where you can find the best internship and full-time opportunities in small but fast-growing companies.

Volunteer for a Charity

An alternative to interning is to approach a charity about volunteering to help with their PR. Lots of charities rely on volunteers for support, so do a bit of research on the charities  that you are passionate about and see what volunteer opportunities they have available. If they are not advertising any positions, send them an introductory email with your CV and offer your support – you’ll be surprised at just how many charities would welcome your support!

Of course, Bright One offers plenty of volunteering opportunities for people at all levels and stages in their career. Whether your a grad looking for you foot in the door or a more experienced professional looking to switch careers, then volunteering with Bright One is a great way to build your skills and experience in PR. Find out more, take a look at our volunteering opportunities, or apply now to get involved with Bright One.

If Bright One doesn’t take your fancy, then why not check out the Media Trust’s Media Matching Service, which offers one-to-one support for charities from media professionals.

Network with other Charity PR Professionals

Another good way of finding out about Charity PR jobs and roles is to network with this who work in the sector. With the proliferation of social networking, there’s now lots of ways to connect with other Charity PR professionals.

One of the longest running communities is the Third Sector PR and Comms Network on Facebook. Setup and managed by Rob Dyson, PR Manager at Whizz-Kidz, the group contains all sorts of useful information related to Charity PR.

There are networks that look at more specific areas. For example, the NFP Tweetups are a series of events looking at how charities can best make use of Twitter. There’s also Because It’s Good, a community blog for digital communications professionals working in the charity sector.

Write About Charity PR

Now that you’ve read what other people are saying about Charity PR and you’ve connected with those already working in the sector, why not start your own blog on the subject? Blogging is a great way to set out your thoughts on various different topics, but also making you keep up to date with the latest news and trends.

But if setting up your own blog seems like too much trouble, why not write a guest post for the Bright One blog? It can be on anything you like to do with Charity PR, so if you have an idea for an article, simply get in touch and we’ll happily publish your work!

Have you got any other tips on how to get a job in Charity PR? Know of a great blog to read or a site that lists jobs? If you already work in Charity PR, what advice would you give to those looking to get their break? Let us know in the comments!

Running a charity, using the funds efficiently & effectively is clearly the aim of any business in the 3rd sector. Yes I did say business! Okay so it is contentious in the eyes of some to call it a business but the reality it is.  Third sector organisations are businesses where the profits are reinvested for the benefit of certain causes or groups. It forms part of a different blog topic really but the quicker we all embrace that the better it will be for our service users.

Running a business brings with it some key challenges. One of those is about marketing it effectively for the benefit of all concerned. The objective of marketing in the purest sense is about making the ‘product’ front of mind for people.

Many see PR as cheap advertising. This is a fatal mistake. Clearly an element of it is about having a clear set of messages that you would like to get across to the readers, viewers or listeners BUT the most critical thing that makes a successful PR campaign is preparation, and that preparation focuses on three key components:

1. The message(s) you wish to communicate
2. The flexibility and confidence to have an opinion on matters affecting your specific ‘subject area’
3. A clear brief, and an open partnership with your PR company

When choosing any media, a marketing professional will say three words to you – Message, Audience, Media. The same level of clarity applies to your PR campaign. Understanding who you are trying to target with what message will ensure that you choose the right ‘avenues’ to send the message out. Ironically, the press warm more to organisations who are prepared to have a strong opinion and conviction in that cause so make sure you are comfortable with that.

The final critical element in any campaign is the choice of agency to work with. Most importantly is the fact that you must realise and prepared to be led by them and you must feel 100% trust for their judgement. With a very clear brief and a clear sense of trust you will seize the opportunities that come your way. You have to remember that this is a dynamic and potentially lightning fast market. A nominated contact who is prepared to be available whenever & critically backed up with media training is an invaluable asset for the business, and they will perform their internal duties with renewed confidence.

PR is a great source of awareness building, just understand you cannot control it, but with the right preparation and the right partner you certainly can ride the crest of a wave in perfect harmony.