Download these Top Tips as a PDF guide

From the Media Trust Autumn Conference 2010 keynote speech Working with the media to survive the cuts and build the Big Society by Patrick Butler, editor of society, health and education policy, The Guardian.

Patrick's keynote speech offered third sector communicators invaluable advice on moving past definitions of Big Society to make better use of the media to make your case and build support for your work.

Tips

• As a charity, don’t worry about precise definitions of Big Society. It’s us, it’s what the charity sector has been doing for years.
• Think about who your constituency is. Who helps you? Who can you lobby? How best can you use your resources?
• What are you going to say in your campaign? Know your message. What’s your call to action? What should people do to help?
• Demonstrate your impact: what you can do and what outcomes you achieve. Let the public and funders understand what will be missed if your organisation is not around. Be frank and truthful about your financial situation and what will happen to your beneficiaries if your organisation can’t continue.
• Tell your stories in digital and social media, not just print. A short, simple video of a beneficiary passionately explaining the impact your organisation has had on them can get your message across better and faster than a 1,000 word article.
• Key to survival is not just getting an article published, but how you can organise and motivate your supporters through print, web and social media.

By Scott Dingley, Online Content Producer