BTCV Handbooks Online

Book:	Local Action
Chapter:	Publicity
Section:	Getting your message across
Metadata:	Details	Buy this book

Before you think about how you are going to publicise your group, think about what you are going to say. The underlying message you probably want to send out is:

: "We are a group of local people carrying out conservation work on this local site. We need and deserve your support. The best way you can support us is by coming out and working with us."

Material that does no more than say this, and explains what the group does and how and where to get involved, will fulfil 75% of your publicity needs. However, you can do better. The essence of successful publicity is to let people know what is unique about your group. You are the group that encourages people to actually get out there and clean up your local woodland or open space. Other groups may lobby the council about it or write letters, but you are the people who actually DO IT! This does not mean that you should attempt to show that you are better than other organisations; rather you should be looking to promote co-operation. Many towns, however, have a range of different environmental and conservation groups. You need to make sure that they do not confuse you with the others. There may be other unique selling points for your group and discussing these with other volunteers may produce some valuable ideas.

The other important aspect of your publicity should be to make sure that you get the right message through the right medium. This may seem obvious but it must never be forgotten. Turning up to talk to a school group with leaflets aimed at businesses is a clear error. Less obvious might be sending a press release to a local paper that does not cover the area where you are working. Everything you do affects how you are seen by the public, so never forget to "think publicity".

Producing materials

Your group will need some printed materials. These might include:

Programmes or newsletters listing current and planned projects
Membership/recruitment leaflets
Posters
Headed note paper

All these are different, but share a common basis. There are three golden rules:

1) Publicity is an investment

You are publicising the group to get members and money, so be prepared to spend time and money on this work. These days, using computers makes life a lot easier. The first step is to find someone in your group who has access to one and who is proficient at design. If there is someone in the group who is good at design, then value him or her. Even simple word processing facilities can make a lot of difference to your image. You don't need up-market desktop publishing computer programmes to do simple leaflets. You can produce effective leaflets quite simply and if you are starting out, why not plagiarise someone else's leaflet or poster with their consent, just changing the details to suit your own circumstances?

2) Take your time

Work out what you want your material to say, whether it's a membership leaflet, a newsletter, or simply a list of projects. Make sure it's accurate and spelt correctly before starting the design. If you're writing a leaflet, avoid doing it 'by committee'. Ask one or two people to come up with a first draft and let others comment on that. If you're producing something on your own, make sure someone else looks at it before it is printed or copied.

Make sure it's accurate.

3) Create an identity

Try and ensure that all your material looks as if it is coming from the same organisation. Designers call this your 'house style'. Use the same type face for all publications. You may also want to develop a logo. Keep the logo simple and professional. If there's no one in your group who can or wants to design a logo, try and find a local artist or designer who will help you out. Lots of groups manage without one so don't worry about it too much.

Once your group has joined BTCV, you can also use BTCV's logo for publicity purposes. You can benefit from BTCV's publicity work and have a clear link with an established national charity. This should support your work but should not overshadow your own publicity. The artwork for using BTCV's logo and guidelines for use are available from the Community Unit free of charge.

There are a several key elements of publicity:

Newsletter or Programme

This exists simply to tell people what the group is doing, so keep it snappy and readable. Tell people how the projects are going, what new projects are coming up, what's happening at the next meeting and what happened at the last one. People need to know where to meet for projects, what to bring in the way of clothing, a description of the work and a map showing the meeting point. Make sure that each issue has all the important group phone numbers and addresses in it; some groups put a membership form on each copy of their newsletter. BTCV produces an illustrations pack, full of pictures you can photocopy and use in your group's publicity, which is available from the Community Unit.

Collating the newsletters and stuffing them in envelopes can be a long and tedious task for one person. Try and set up a regular social evening where a few people can do this job together and make it fun. Many groups now e-mail their newsletter to some volunteers to save time, paper and stamps; remember if you are going to do this and there are a lot of pictures in the document you will need to compress it or remove the pictures.

Posters/displays

People can't come on projects if they don't know you exist. Simple A4 posters are invaluable. They can go up in shops and libraries, at local parks and visitor centres and anywhere you might find potential volunteers. Make them eye catching but simple, make sure that they get your unique selling point across, and have a phone number and address prominently displayed. People stop 'seeing' things that have been on display for a while so update posters frequently, buy some different colours of paper and make sure each one looks different. Posters larger than A4 are difficult to put up, few places have space for them. BTCV's Community Unit can supply copies of a standard poster to get you started.

Displays are also very important and can attract a lot of interest if placed in libraries, community centres and other public buildings. You could organise a display roadshow at different places over a period of weeks or months to get your message across with various photographs of your group in action.

Places to find volunteers

Design a poster or notice about your activities and stick copies up wherever people go. Places might include:

Libraries, Parish Council notice boards, adult education centres, local businesses, pubs, fish and chip shops, student halls of residence, banks, Job Centres, wholefood shops, building societies, recycling centres, newsagents, council offices, environment centres, local fetes & galas, street fairs, schools, youth hostels, BTCV offices, tourist information centres, volunteer bureaus, charity shops, leisure centres and community centres.

You should also try and get regular mentions in local newsletters. A parish magazine or estate newsletter that goes to every household is a good place to have a regular feature just to let local people know how things are progressing, and remind them about special events when you need extra volunteers.

Publicity on site

If you are working on a site where people may well be passing, let them know what you are doing. Some groups put up site notice boards with room for events leaflets etc. If you can't do this or have problems with vandalism an A4 poster encapsulated and stapled to a piece of thin plywood fastened to a post at the entrance to the site is cheap, easy to update or replace and means everyone who uses the site knows what you do.

While you are working make sure someone can talk to people who stop and take an interest or make yourselves an easel you can put up with details of that day's job on it. You can get self adhesive signs made quite cheaply now, and could use a whiteboard marker to update the sign each time you use it.

Group leaflet

This should state clearly where the group is based, what it does, why people should join and what it costs, if anything. On the back have a simple membership form where people can enter their name, address and phone number. It is worth adding a list of group activities and asking new members to tick the ones that interest them, otherwise you may never discover that your newest volunteer is very keen on fundraising. Some groups working in a very small area don't find a separate leaflet of use, but make their newsletter work for them.

Website

If you have a volunteer who can do this for you it can be a good idea. You are unlikely to attract large numbers of new volunteers this way, but people new to the area will often use the internet to identify local activities they could join to make new friends.

You can often get a page as a part of an environmental network site, or get links from their site to yours to help people find you. Some sites run by local councils or newspapers also offer a local listing service you might be able to make use of.

Beware, you need to keep a website up-to-date, so only start one if you think you can do this. If you can no longer keep the site current it might be best to remove it as people are likely to find the project, see that nothing 'has happened' for over a year and may then decide your project or group no longer exists. Some local groups have a link to the BTCV website; ask the Community Unit about this.

Making your publicity work

Publicity is only effective if it reaches the audience. If you've produced leaflets or posters, get them out as far and as fast as possible. Put some time aside at a meeting to ask for everyone's ideas about the best places to display posters and leaflets. Then enlist everyone at the meeting to actually go and do it.

Similarly, get newsletters distributed as soon as they are printed. Share the load by finding people who will distribute leaflets in their neighbourhood. If there are members living in remote areas, do them the courtesy of posting their newsletters. Avoid taking newsletters home with you thinking that you'll be going across town next week and you'll deliver them then. It may never happen.