Promoting Your Work

We aim to form lasting partnerships with the community organisations we fund and we want others to engage with your story as well.

Rātā is here to support you to raise awareness and promote your work as widely as possible. This can help to attract support in the community, including further funding, and build a network among organisations to share ideas, lessons and best practice

There are a range of ways you can start to tell the story of the work your organisation does and the impact it is having in the community:

Networking

Word of mouth and working with other people and organisations can help develop your project and they may be able to promote you through their own channels. 

People you could work with include businesses in your area; local MPs or councillors; community groups providing similar services; local councils; schools; business mentors; other voluntary organisations.

Website

If you don’t already have a website, WordPress has a template and guides to help you create one. Ask your community e.g. local businesses, schools, other service providers and events calendars, to include information about your project on their website and link back to yours. Keep your social media current and interesting and let it serve to drive people back to your website. 

Remember your website serves as the ‘front window’ to your organisation so always keep your information current, relevant and practical.

Social Media

Social media is an important channel for reaching, reconnecting and engaging with supporters. It is a great way to build a community, start conversations and create a presence on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. You don’t need to be an expert to maintain your presence. However, it is essential you keep your profile current, engaging and accurate or people will lose interest in it. 

Upload content to photo and video-sharing sites, such as YouTube and Instagram to visually illustrate to people what your project is about. Remember, if your photographs/videos feature members of the public, particularly children or vulnerable people, be careful with any content you may upload and ensure you have permission from a parent/caregiver for them to be used.

Videos/Digital Stories

Produce short videos about your project to post on networking sites such as YouTube and add to your website or social media channel. You don’t always need a film company; smart phones often have good quality cameras you can use for short snippets of content.

Remember for content that features members of the public, particularly children or vulnerable people, ensure you have permission from a parent/caregiver for them to be used.

 
The Media

Press, TV and radio are a cost-effective way of promoting your project. They can reach a large audience in a short time, so it is important to provide clear and accurate information. The media which is most likely to benefit your project is your local newspaper, so don’t overlook community newspapers.

Real people and their stories are the most interesting to read. Find people in your community whose life has been changed for the better through your work. Interview them about their situation and get their permission to quote them in your media releases. Get some good high-resolution photos. Your staff and volunteers can be a story too.

If you want to stand out, direct liaison is your best approach and back that up with your social media efforts. Make sure your news is current – something that happened a month ago isn’t news.

Community Stories

Behind every grant is a great story about the impact your organisation is having in communities of need, and we’d love to hear about the difference you are able to make with our funding. Check out our community stories page here. 

If you would like us to help tell your organisation’s story, contact our Communications Advisor.

We will need you to provide great photos or video with your story. Action shots are always more engaging than posed photos. For reproduction we require high resolution photos which are at least 1.5MBs or 300dpi in size.

You must get consent for photos/videos depicting any person under the age of 18 or vulnerable adults. Make it clear where the photographs or film will be used. You can download a consent form from our website here. Ensure the form is signed and dated.

Events

Holding an event, for example a launch event or open day, will raise awareness of your organisation, programme or project in your local community. It can also give you the opportunity to network and build contacts. 

It is a good idea to invite the key people from your community such as councillors, your MP, high profile stakeholders and the media, as well as the people involved in your work. Remember if you want celebrities or key government officials to attend, you need to get dates in people’s diaries as early as possible. 

When organising the event think about who can help you to deliver it effectively. For instance by providing a low-cost venue.