What Is 'Charity PR' & How Can It Help With Fundraising?
Marketing and PR are essential for non-profit organisations, but many don’t give them the time of day. If you want to have an impact, whether environmentally or socially, you must invest time in crafting and sharing your message. In this article, our charity PR experts outline the benefits that come from public relations, and how it can amplify your fundraising efforts.
So, what is meant by ‘Charity PR’? Charity PR is a type of PR which supports organisations in the non profit and third sectors to engage with stakeholders, educate, inform and manage reputations. PR can be used to build and maintain relationships and can be used to drive fundraising campaigns and activity. PR is also a useful tool to demonstrate impact and results.
In this blog post, we'll explore how charity PR can help with fundraising, as well as the host of other benefits that come from public relations.
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What is Charity PR?
Charity PR is a great tool for non-profit organisations looking to increase their fundraising efforts. This type of public relations (PR) helps to spread the word about a charity and its mission, which can result in more people learning about and supporting the cause. With effective charity PR, organisations can build relationships with potential donors, attract volunteers, and generate donations that can help them achieve their goals.
Does PR Help With Fundraising?
Yes definitely! PR can help you amplify your campaign and keep momentum throughout, as well as provide ongoing updates and reminders that donations are still being accepted.
Sharing press releases with influential media outlets allows potential donors to read stories that highlight how their donations are making an impact, which encourages them to give more generously.
You could also create a hashtag for the cause or set up an online petition that supporters can share, which would increase visibility for the charity among potential donors. Furthermore, it’s important to make sure that donors are thanked properly for their contributions, which is something else that PR can do for you. Doing so ensures that people feel like their donations were valued, creating loyalty for future campaigns down the road.
Ultimately, having an effective charity PR strategy in place makes a huge difference in boosting donations, since it provides an incentive for donors by demonstrating the value of their contributions and spreading awareness about the charity's mission.
How Else Can PR Benefit a Charity?
Public relations for the charity and non-profit sector can come with a number of benefits, which we’ve outlined below:
Expand Reach
When it comes to charity fundraising, PR can be a powerful tool. It allows charities to reach more people, strengthen their brand, and increase their chances of reaching their fundraising goals. In addition to helping with direct fundraising efforts, good PR has the potential to engage new audiences, generate positive press, and make a significant contribution to long-term success.
Form New Partnerships
Media coverage can help stimulate interest in the wider work of the charity and can lead to new corporate partnerships. Through PR, you can demonstrate what you do and why it matters. This is your opportunity to forge relationships with brands or organisations which share your ethos and values. Clearly communicating what you do through the media, and evidencing the support you receive, can help build deep and long lasting relationships with donors and corporate partners.
Strengthen Bids
Any resulting media coverage can also be used in other marketing materials and funding bids as evidence of your work. When it comes to writing a funding bid, drawing on links or pieces of media coverage can be very powerful. Media articles tend to be concise and impactful and can bring your project to life in a succinct way. Using media articles in funding bids evidences the impact and reach of your project and can also highlight engagement with particular audiences.
Raise Profile & Reputation
PR has the ability to raise an individual charity leader’s reputation in a particular field or sector. Opinion pieces, for example, help position you as authoritative and innovative in your sector and can help you establish an expert reputation. This in turn helps to build the credibility and standing of your charity. Some of the best charity leaders are spokespeople and influencers in their own right and this has undoubtedly occurred through regular media exposure.
Gain Competitive Advantage
Having a PR strategy or the support of an agency gives you a competitive advantage over charities who don’t have strong PR strategies and can be a very useful tool. Working in partnership with a PR agency gives you competitive advantage and can help you tap into new networks. Not just that, but PR can help you strengthen existing marketing campaigns.
SEO & PR go hand in hand. If you are keen to learn how PR can boost your organic traffic, read one of our latest blog posts - ‘How PR & SEO Work Together To Boost Results’
Our Favourite Charity PR Campaigns
A recent PR campaign that’s caught our eye recently is the Glastonbury 2023 Bid for Tickets with the Trussell Trust (and not just because we missed out on tickets!) This campaign, organised by BBC Music and BBC Radio 1 in collaboration with the Trussell Trust, raises awareness of the rising poverty levels across the UK by encouraging people to bid for Glastonbury tickets on eBay, with all proceeds going to the charity.
Altitude’s campaign for The Alexandra Rose Charity is also one of our favourites. In 2022, we helped the London-based charity launch the UK’s first fruit & veg on prescription scheme. The charity was working with public health leaders in two London boroughs to roll out a scheme where people facing health inequalities and hardship could exchange fruit & veg vouchers for fresh produce.
The campaign ran across health media, local government sector media and more generally in The Guardian, BBC and on leading UK podcasts. The idea was new and built on the social prescribing model to offer a solution to health inequality and food poverty. We were delighted to be able to tell this story.
Work With An Award Winning Charity PR Agency in Sheffield
If you are a charity looking for any of the benefits that we’ve outlined above, why not consider working with an agency with years of sector-specific experience?
Get in touch with the Altitude PR team today for an informal chat about your charity PR needs. We’re happy to offer a free 30 minute consultancy to help you get started on your PR journey. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our team either by phone or email - we’d love to hear from you!
Charity PR FAQs
How Should Charities Market Themselves?
Charities need to clearly articulate their aims and objectives and this happens through marketing. If your audience doesn't know what you stand for, you can't expect them to support you with either time or donations. Thankfully, this is where Charity PR comes in.
Charity PR helps charities get the message out there and generate the revenue they desperately need. Through effective charity PR campaigns, charities can raise awareness of their cause and potentially engage more people in donating time and money.
Additionally, charity PR campaigns can help bring new volunteers on board as well as helping generate additional revenue streams such as sponsorships and corporate partnerships. Furthermore, charity PR enables charities to promote new events, campaigns, projects, or initiatives that could potentially raise more funds.
As a result, it's clear that charity PR has an important role to play when it comes to fundraising. Not only does it help promote a charity's message to a wider audience, but it also helps increase its revenue by tapping into various sources of income. All in all, it's evident that charity PR is an invaluable tool when it comes to raising funds for good causes.
What is the Key Difference Of Conducting PR For a Non Profit Organisation?
The principles are the same. Know your audience and ensure your messages are clear.
Make sure you tell the reader or viewer what you want them to do. Have a clear call to action.
Bring your campaign to life through storytelling. Use real stories and let your people tell your story. Storytelling is impactful and effective.
We’d urge you to nurture relationships with journalists and influencers and try to be as relevant and timely as possible. Leveraging your existing supporters, such as celebrities and other high profile figures, can also be effective as can using multimedia platforms to reach new audiences. Video content for social media sites like TikTok, Instagram and Twitter can help you push your message out.
These platforms also give you an opportunity to encourage direct donations from supporters – so make it easy for them by having a link directly from the platform. Establishing long-term partnerships with sponsors can help increase revenue too; not only will they contribute funds but they can also help raise awareness of your cause among their own networks. Finally, don’t forget to track your metrics; measure the effectiveness of campaigns so that revenue can grow over time.
If you’d like to learn more about the types of PR, and how they differ from one another, why not read one of our recent blogs - ‘Different Types of PR: Your Ultimate Guide’
