The need to create a very virtuous circle
Howard Lake | 1 October 2009 | Blogs
The very real and far too common experience of hate crime amongst disabled people dominated the news agenda at the beginning of this week. And it presented a golden opportunity for organisations that support disabled people and their families to raise awareness of their work.
So well done to Mencap and Contact a Family who took advantage of some of the priceless free media opportunities that presented themselves.
Too many organisations still fail to create virtuous circles between campaigning and fundraising with communications often being the weak link, especially if responsibility for comms work sits within one of and not across these departments. Awareness of the work organisations do and the difference they make through campaigning and services is the prerequisite to encouraging people to give to a particular cause. Similarly charities can and should do more to stress in their campaigning communications that they can only make a difference and address the need if people support them financially.
Advertisement
The best – the ones with the highest awareness levels, the most high profile campaigns and the most money raised – appear to do it seamlessly. But it takes a lot of work. It also means dropping everything else to take up free media opportunities. Because they generate something for very little, even if the benefit is fleeting. For causes like disability that often struggle to reach the public conscience and purse they are quite literally priceless.
If your organisation doesn’t have a virtuous circle of campaigning, awareness raising, communications and fundraising it’s time to create one. And while you are at it review your media strategy – just how prepared are you to take advantage of a free media opportunity at a moment’s notice? Do you have trained, available spokespeople, position statements, core messages etc?
And if all this sounds a bit mercenary given the horrific circumstances that caused a desperate parent to take her own life and that of her disabled daughter because she could not get help no matter where she turned and she could not see any other way out – good. Because only by charities using all the tools at their disposal to raise awareness, campaign for change and raise the funds to do so, can we ensure that fewer people have to put up with what Fiona Pilkington and Francecca Hardwick had to endure.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.