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Traditionally voluntary organisations have not been very good at marketing. This is usually because they are too busy running activities and offering their services. However, a little time and effort can work wonders in the long run. Marketing doesn’t have to be very expensive or glossy and can be tackled quite easily. It is simply the ways in which you get your message heard and your name known. Think about all the different ways that the public might find their way to your organisation. Each of these methods needs to be addressed so that the public get a consistent message and you make the best of your organisation.
1. Your premises
If you operate from premises that is accessed by the public, then you need to make the best use you can of them. Ensure you let people know where and how to locate you.
This can be quite easily done by having a sign on the building. If your organisation is a registered company you are required to have the company name visible from the outside of its registered office (usually your premises).
Ensure that your marketing materials have your address, phone number, email, website and social media addresses and if possible a map of how to find your premises. Make it as easy as possible for users to find you.
Finding your premises is one thing - but what do people think when they get there? Again first impressions are important and there are some quite simple steps you can take to make your premises welcoming to visitors:
- If there is a waiting area, make sure it is clean and tidy
- Put pictures or informative posters on the walls
- Imagine you’re walking in for the first time – is it a welcoming atmosphere?
2. The telephone
Answering the telephone
First impressions do count and a phone conversation is often an individual’s first contact with your organisation. You might not be comfortable with the private sector style of having a script that people must use when answering the phone, but politeness and efficiency goes a long way.
Answer machine message
An answer machine is a cheap and effective way of being available to your users when you’re not actually there.
- Your message should make it clear whose answer machine it is!
- Explain your opening hours, email addresses or an alternative number that callers can ring, such as a mobile phone number
Remember that if you are inviting people to leave a message, you should make sure you return the call. If not people will get the impression that you are inefficient or worse, incompetent.
3. Word of mouth
This is rather more difficult to control. If people have had a bad experience of your organisation, you can bet that they won’t keep it to themselves.
It is vital to take steps to ensure that people are generally happy with your organisation. However, problems do occur and you need a complaints procedure to deal with these. In notifying your users that there is such a procedure, you will be making it clear that your organisation welcomes feedback.
On a more positive note, user comments can be very effective. Some methods of collecting information might be:
- Feedback forms at an event
- Suggestions box in reception
Make sure that any comments you receive, both positive and negative are taken into account in the development of your organisation.
4. Networking
You might not think about it in this way but every time you talk to someone at a meeting, you are publicising your organisation. Talking to other people who work in the voluntary sector is vital for raising awareness about your services and activities, and raising your profile in the community. Getting to know your local councillors, networking with people in the local council, health authority and other statutory organisations can be a good way of building up networks through which you can publicise your organisation.
5. Letterheads, compliments slips etc.
The official face of your organisation needn’t cost a fortune to produce, and it does look more professional. Remember if you are a registered charity you are required by law to include your registered numbers on your cheques, invoices, receipts and orders for money or goods. It is good practice to include these on your headed paper as these may get used for orders etc.
6. Emails
The same applies to email as letterheads. Emails are likely to be your biggest form of communication and need to look professional. Include your charity number, links to your website and social media, maybe news of any events and any awards you have been shortlisted for or won - like the Spirit of Manchester Awards.
7. Consistency
Good practice means that you undertake services and activities consistently, i.e. if you advertise a Parent and Toddler group every Wednesday at 11am then do run it then. This can also apply to the way your organisation is run, e.g. answering the phone between certain hours, answering letters within a given number of days. If you have email, make sure you check your messages regularly. All this will go a long way to giving your organisation a reliable image.
8. Website
A website is another means of telling the world about what you do and how you do it. Ensure it is kept up-to-date and interesting, so that people come back to use it again. You must include the name of your organisation, your address, phone numbers, email address and registration number, so that users of your website know that you have a presence in the real world.
9. Social Media
This needs to be updated regularly. If there has been no activity people will stop following and think your organisation no longer exists. This can take some investment of time but there are tools to help. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite are scheduling tools so you can but in a month’s worth of tweets or other social media updates and then just retweet or add others as and when you have time. Most studies agree that once per day is optimal for Facebook, with a maximum of two posts per day. Hubspot found that pages under 10,000 fans experienced a 50% drop in engagement per post if they posted more than once per day. At a minimum, you should post to your Facebook Pages 3 times per week. Regarding Tweeting the general consensus is 3 to 30 times a day. Tweets do have an incredibly short shelf life, so it’s important to spread your tweets through the day.
10. Media relations
If you have a major campaign or event coming up, then don’t forget to use the local radio, newspapers, internet based social media and even television if you can. If you are doing something that's a bit different, or has a good story behind it, then you’ll get yourself a lot of free publicity. Some points to remember when using any of these methods of publicising your event:
- Make sure everyone understands exactly who is going to do press releases, make comments to the press and so on, so your message is clear
- Check with the TV and radio listings, so you are targeting the most appropriate programmes for your message
Doing radio or television interviews can be quite daunting, but just remember some basics:
- Prepare some of the essential details, but don’t rehearse a speech as it won’t sound natural. Try to let your sentences flow and avoid ‘er’ and ‘well’ as much as possible!
- If it’s a phone interview, make sure you won’t be interrupted by ringing phones
- If you’re giving out a phone number for people to get in touch and support your cause or event – make sure you’ve got people ready to answer the phone immediately after the programme has aired
Further help
Contact us 0333 321 0321 or email: [email protected]
Updated: January 2020