So you want to get a job in Charity PR, but you don’t know where to look or how to start. You may also need to build up your skills and experience in the sector before going through the application process of a job that’s of interest.  With it currently being tougher than ever to find the right job for you and with increasing competition, it can seem like a hard prospect.

But don’t panic! Bright One is on hand to help guide you through the process and give you the best chance of getting your dream job in Charity PR.

Read about Charity PR

One of the best ways to get a feel for what working for a charity might be like is by reading about those who already work for a charity. There’s plenty of information out there.

A good place to start is the askCHARITY blog, where you’ll find posts about charity communications from a host of experts. There’s also the PR Week Volunteer & Charity News section and a range of good article, case studies and interviews on CharityComms.   For wider issues around charities communicating in the digital age, take a look at Beth’s Blog, which is US focused but equally valuable for online comms advice for charities around the world.

We also feature a range of Charity PR articles here on the Bright One blog (such as this one!) so you should subscribe by RSS or subscribe by email.

Subscribe to Job Alerts

When you’re looking for a job in Charity PR, you’re going to need to know when they come up and who they’re with. There’s lots of places to get job alert from, with the most popular ones being Guardian Jobs, PR Week Jobs, Third Sector Jobs and Charity Jobs.

If you’re on Twitter, we’ve created a handy little service that will aggregate all of these sites together, so you’ll never miss an opportunity. Simply go to @brightonejobs and follow the feed to start receiving updates. You can even subscribe by RSS or email.

Do an Internship

To get a real experience of what it would be like working in Charity PR, without committing yourself to a long term career, a good start is to do an internship. This could either be done with an agency that works with charities or directly with the charity itself.

For example, Bold Creative are looking for a PR and Social Media intern. This is a fantastic opportunity for a recent graduate with an interest in the creative industry and strong experience of social media to join the Bold team. The role offers real variety and responsibility, so find out how to apply here.

Also, beautiful world are looking for a lively, motivated social media intern to work on an exciting Christmas campaign that aims to raise money for homeless young people. You will be responsible for managing content, monitoring and evaluating all social media activity in order to expand the Charity’s online community. Find out all about it and how to apply here.

If those two positions don’t take your fancy, head on over to Enternships, where you can find the best internship and full-time opportunities in small but fast-growing companies.

Volunteer for a Charity

An alternative to interning is to approach a charity about volunteering to help with their PR. Lots of charities rely on volunteers for support, so do a bit of research on the charities  that you are passionate about and see what volunteer opportunities they have available. If they are not advertising any positions, send them an introductory email with your CV and offer your support – you’ll be surprised at just how many charities would welcome your support!

Of course, Bright One offers plenty of volunteering opportunities for people at all levels and stages in their career. Whether your a grad looking for you foot in the door or a more experienced professional looking to switch careers, then volunteering with Bright One is a great way to build your skills and experience in PR. Find out more, take a look at our volunteering opportunities, or apply now to get involved with Bright One.

If Bright One doesn’t take your fancy, then why not check out the Media Trust’s Media Matching Service, which offers one-to-one support for charities from media professionals.

Network with other Charity PR Professionals

Another good way of finding out about Charity PR jobs and roles is to network with this who work in the sector. With the proliferation of social networking, there’s now lots of ways to connect with other Charity PR professionals.

One of the longest running communities is the Third Sector PR and Comms Network on Facebook. Setup and managed by Rob Dyson, PR Manager at Whizz-Kidz, the group contains all sorts of useful information related to Charity PR.

There are networks that look at more specific areas. For example, the NFP Tweetups are a series of events looking at how charities can best make use of Twitter. There’s also Because It’s Good, a community blog for digital communications professionals working in the charity sector.

Write About Charity PR

Now that you’ve read what other people are saying about Charity PR and you’ve connected with those already working in the sector, why not start your own blog on the subject? Blogging is a great way to set out your thoughts on various different topics, but also making you keep up to date with the latest news and trends.

But if setting up your own blog seems like too much trouble, why not write a guest post for the Bright One blog? It can be on anything you like to do with Charity PR, so if you have an idea for an article, simply get in touch and we’ll happily publish your work!

Have you got any other tips on how to get a job in Charity PR? Know of a great blog to read or a site that lists jobs? If you already work in Charity PR, what advice would you give to those looking to get their break? Let us know in the comments!

We’ve got a lovely growing community here at Bright One. In fact, over 100 of them have signed up to our monthly newsletter.

But we’re are that some of you out there will need some more convincing…

Yeah, yeah. We know, we know. “Not another email newsletter,” you say. “My inbox is already full to the brim.”

We hear you. We feel the same about many of the newsletters we receive (apart from Train Spotter’s Weekly – we always read that one from top to bottom).

That’s why we make sure that the Bright One newsletter:

1. only hits your inbox once a month,  a little over 11 times a year and a little under 13 times a year, which isn’t too much
2. actually contains news of interest, such as tips and tricks, volunteering opportunities, client news, and plenty more
3. is short and sweet, so you can digest everything quickly
4. is easy to unsubscribe from, in case for some obscure reason you don’t want to hear from us (the last thing we want to do is spam you)

So what do you say – doesn’t sound too bad, huh?

If you’re convinced, you sign up to our monthly letter by clicking on this link right here and following the instructions.

And if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the newsletter, just let us know and we’ll make the changes lickity spit.

Of course, you’ll need to sign up to the newsletter before you can to do that.

 
This is a guest post from Marc Lawn, Chairman of Camp Quality UK & The Business GP. If you would like to write for the Bright One blog, simply email blog@brightone.org.uk.

Running a charity, using the funds efficiently & effectively is clearly the aim of any business in the 3rd sector. Yes I did say business! Okay so it is contentious in the eyes of some to call it a business but the reality it is.  Third sector organisations are businesses where the profits are reinvested for the benefit of certain causes or groups. It forms part of a different blog topic really but the quicker we all embrace that the better it will be for our service users.

Running a business brings with it some key challenges. One of those is about marketing it effectively for the benefit of all concerned. The objective of marketing in the purest sense is about making the ‘product’ front of mind for people.

Many see PR as cheap advertising. This is a fatal mistake. Clearly an element of it is about having a clear set of messages that you would like to get across to the readers, viewers or listeners BUT the most critical thing that makes a successful PR campaign is preparation, and that preparation focuses on three key components:

1. The message(s) you wish to communicate
2. The flexibility and confidence to have an opinion on matters affecting your specific ‘subject area’
3. A clear brief, and an open partnership with your PR company

When choosing any media, a marketing professional will say three words to you – Message, Audience, Media. The same level of clarity applies to your PR campaign. Understanding who you are trying to target with what message will ensure that you choose the right ‘avenues’ to send the message out. Ironically, the press warm more to organisations who are prepared to have a strong opinion and conviction in that cause so make sure you are comfortable with that.

The final critical element in any campaign is the choice of agency to work with. Most importantly is the fact that you must realise and prepared to be led by them and you must feel 100% trust for their judgement. With a very clear brief and a clear sense of trust you will seize the opportunities that come your way. You have to remember that this is a dynamic and potentially lightning fast market. A nominated contact who is prepared to be available whenever & critically backed up with media training is an invaluable asset for the business, and they will perform their internal duties with renewed confidence.

PR is a great source of awareness building, just understand you cannot control it, but with the right preparation and the right partner you certainly can ride the crest of a wave in perfect harmony.

 
We count ourselves lucky here at Bright One that we get so many fantastic opportunities to help support charity’s communications come our way, as well as the interest from volunteers to match.

But we realise that we don’t always promote these opportunities as best we could, especially as there’s lots of them to let our volunteer base know about.

The ‘Opportunities of the Week’ is an attempt to let volunteers know about roles that they might be interested in getting involved with, in an easily digestible format.

Below is the first in the series, with some fantastic roles on offer. We’ll try to do weekly updates where we can, so if any of these roles are of interest, simply apply to volunteer and we’ll get you going on a project asap!

PR Intern, Bold Creative

Bold Creative is a social and youth innovation agency based in Shoreditch. Employing a unique user-centred approach, theydevelop innovative communication solutions that engage hard to reach groups and empower young people on the issues that matter to them. Pushing through several ground-breaking projects to raise the profile of young People’s voices in mainstream media, Bold Creative have in the last two years won seven international awards including a Royal Television Society award and two BAFTAs. This role involves general marketing tasks such as brand management, maintaining Bold’s social media presence, and growing and monitoring reach and traffic on Bold’s digital media outlets.

PR Executives (all levels), iDance

Combining the power of dance and music with the energy of performance to instil self-confidence in young people.  They are encouraged to make a positive contribution to society, adopt healthy lifestyles and engage in constructive teamwork, regardless of age, ethnicity, race or gender. This role involves event management and promotion experience, as well as social media skills and creating sponsorship opportunities.

PR Executives (all levels), Pants to Poverty

A new type of underwear brand. Not simply content to make some of the most comfortable and stylish pants on the planet, P2P work with thousands of farmers and factory workers in India to celebrate fashion as a beautiful tool to change the world! This role involves social media, event promotion and fashion and consumer media relations.

Media and Web Intern, World Development Movement

WDM is an activist organisation campaigning across the UK for global justice. The media and web intern is an important part of WDM’s communications team which consists of a media officer and a web officer. If you have some experience of HTML, CSS and content management systems, along with desktop publishing software such as Photoshop and an interest in media work, buzz monitoring and social media, they’d like to hear from you. For more information, and details of how to apply, visit the World Development Movement site.

 
So you’ve got the hang of tweeting and branded your twitter profile, but how do you find more people to follow? This post is the third part in our series of ‘Guides to Twitter’, written by Alisha Ramos. You can follow Alisha on Twitter at @alishalisha and Bright One at @brightonecomms.
 
 
Finding relevant people to follow on Twitter can seem like a daunting process. There are millions of people on Twitter, so how do you find the right ones to follow? Below is a list of useful tools to help you find people to follow.

1. The Twitter Search Engine
The Twitter search engine (search.twitter.com) is a powerful tool. Type in any general search term that is related to your company, nonprofit, or interests, and you can see a live feed of everyone who is tweeting on that topic. It may take some patience to weed through all the spammy, irrelevant mentions of the keyword, but you might be able to find some interesting people through the Twitter Search Engine.

2. Other Twitter Accounts
Looking at who other people are following is also an easy step in following relevant people on Twitter. Many Twitter accounts have “lists” that sort accounts in categories, which can be useful for browsing.

It might be best to start off with an influential person or website in your industry. For example, if I were a nonprofit, I would probably look at a Twitter profile like Idealist (@Idealist) and see who they are following and who they are talking about and do the same with those people and so on.

3. Online Twitter Directories
There are many new websites popping up now that serve as directories for Twitter accounts and groups. Here are some you may find useful:

1. WeFollow – WeFollow is probably the best, and is easy to use. Simply sign in with your Twitter account, add yourself to the directory, and see who else has added themselves in that directory. You can also see who the biggest “influencers” are in that category and who has the most followers
2. Twibes – Similarly, Twibes acts as a directory for Twitter accounts
3. Mr. Tweet – A service that recommends users you should follow
4. Twellow – Another comprehensive directory for Twitter accounts

4. “Find People” Function on Twitter
If you click “Find People” at the top of your Twitter page, you can click on “Browse Interests” and select the relevant category to see accounts that are recommended by Twitter.

Twitter now also has a function on some user profiles which presents recommended accounts to follow on the sidebar.

 
So you’ve got the hang of tweeting and finding other people to follow on Twitter. But how do you ensure your Twitter profile fits with your brand? This post is the second part in our series of ‘Guides to Twitter’, written by Alisha Ramos. You can follow Alisha on Twitter at @alishalisha and Bright One at @brightonecomms.

The background image of your Twitter profile can be a useful tool in building your brand.

Many users add a static background image with a “sidebar” of content that reflects them or their brand. The sidebar is a loophole around the limited amount of information Twitter allows its users to display on their profile page. The sidebar can include anything from a photo of that brand or individual, a brief description of what they do, a list of their websites, and a method of contact.

Below are some examples of Twitter profiles that have been successfully branded by companies or individuals:

Bold Creative’s Twitter account (@boldcreative) displays a simple sidebar image with its logo and important contact information and a URL that directs back to its website. All the information you need to understand what the company is and how you can find out more is there.

Pepsi (@pepsico) advertises a current campaign, the “Dream Machine,” on its sidebar, directing users to the Dream Machine Facebook Page. They also feature members of Pepsi who are tweeting for the company, so that users can know who exactly is behind all those tweets. Many companies opt to do this because it creates a more personal touch to Twitter accounts owned by large, seemingly impersonal companies.

GM (@gmblogs) similarly displays the people who are in charge of their Twitter account, probably for the same reasons as Pepsi. GM also displays their Twitter policy – a disclaimer that states that any 3rd party articles linked to from their account is not their responsibility.

Charity Water (@charitywater) is one of the nonprofits that has done an excellent job with its online presence. Its Twitter is beautifully designed, with a simple background that points users to a specific campaign.

Travel Channel’s Twitter (@travelchannel) has a nicely designed background that is branded well. It points users not to its website but to its other Twitter accounts for its various shows. If you go to these other Twitter accounts, you will see that each of them are also consistently branded with the Travel Channel, sometimes even using similar sidebar graphics – which is brilliant. Even in its variety of shows, the Travel Channel manages to maintain a consistent image.

As you can see, these companies have successfully used the user’s screen to provide relevant information and links — all simply in their background image.

5 Steps to Make A Background Image With Sidebar on Twitter

It’s simple to create a background image that has a sidebar on twitter. Here is the simplest method:

1. Take a screen grab of your Twitter account (with the window maximized.)
2. Paste the screen grab into a photo editing program of your choice (like Photoshop).
3. Create a sidebar graphic in the empty space you see to the left of your Twitter feed, making sure that it is not too wide or too close to the top or left side of the canvas.
4. Select the rest of the image that is not the sidebar and delete it.
5. Save your background image, upload to Twitter, and you’re done!

If you are well versed in graphic design, you can get fancy with this method – for example, you could a background color, add a gradient as the background color (as Pepsi has done), and so on.

If you are searching for a generic background, or one with a ready made template, websites like Twitrounds or Twitrbackgrounds work well.

 
So you’ve heard all about Twitter and decided to sign up. But now that you’re in, how do you grow your Twitter followers? This post is the first part in our series of ‘Guides to Twitter’, written by Alisha Ramos. You can follow Alisha on Twitter at @alishalisha and Bright One at @brightonecomms.
 
 
1. Follow relevant Twitter accounts.
What does “relevant” mean, you ask? Once you define the niche for your brand (for example, “nonprofit”), a simple search on Twitter with the relevant keywords will bring up several recent tweets that mention that keyword. You can sift through these accounts and see which accounts could be relevant to your brand.

Once you find a few key Twitter accounts to follow, the rest of the process is quite organic. You can look through the followers of these accounts and see which ones are relevant to you, or even search through their lists if they have got any set up and do the same.

Following relevant accounts usually prompts people to follow you back. This is not to say however, that you should follow every Twitter account imaginable. Notice the phrase “relevant accounts” — why would someone follow you back if they are not interested in what you have to say? Make sure you keep everything, from your tweets to your tweeps, relevant, and the rest will follow.

2. Use hashtags.
People search for hashtags on Twitter all the time. By adding hashtags to the end of your tweets, you can bet that someone will stumble upon it and decide to follow you. One simple hashtag might be #nonprofit.

3. Engage in conversations.
One thing your Twitter should not do is to simply promote yourself. Nobody wants to follow a Twitter account that is simply an RSS feed of their blog posts or news.

To capture the attention of others, and to remain personable and personal, it’s important to engage in real conversations with others. The simplest way to do this is to @ reply – either answering questions that have been posed, asking a question, commenting on something they have posted, and so on. But as always, don’t simply do these actions to do them – be sincere in your every interaction and you will see better results.

Retweeting is another way to engage and to distribute ideas or links that you believe are valuable to your audience. For more info on retweeting, take a look at Twitter’s own guide.

4. Add value.
Simply tweeting about your day is not going to be particularly interesting to your audience, so you should keep in mind this golden rule: add value.

Whether it’s releasing a nugget of information from your organisation, or tweeting about something you just read on the internet (with a link, of course) – whatever you post should be relevant and valuable to your reader. “Content is king” not only for blogs but for Twitter accounts as well.

5. Stay relevant.
If you are running a Twitter account for a nonprofit organisation, keep it relevant to nonprofits or what your organisation is doing. Unfortunately, no one really wants to read about what you had for lunch!

We had so much fun at the first Bright One Summer Party last year, that we’re going to throw another one!

This time it will be taking place at 6 St Chad’s Place (near King’s Cross) on Thursday 29th July from 6:30pm.

Whether you’re a volunteer, a client, an organisation looking for support, have been involved with us before or want to get involved, or if you want to support the work that Bright One does, then sign up now on the link below:

http://brightonesummerparty2010.eventbrite.com/

It will be a cash bar, so please bring along your pocket money.

Feel free to get in touch if you want any more details about Bright One or the party, but otherwise we’ll see you all then!

Lots of love,

- Ben & The Bright One Team

We’re delighted to announce that Bright One has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which identifies us as an organisation trading for social purposes.

What’s even more exciting for us is that the Social Enterprise Mark is also a client, as we helped launch the Mark in February 2010 and have been working with them to develop their online presence and engage with social entrepreneurs through social media.

The Social Enterprise Mark is the brand for social enterprises, businesses that have a socially driven mission. Social enterprises are working to make a difference across the UK and beyond, but not enough people know what they are or how they work. The Social Enterprise Mark aims to raise awareness of what social enterprises do in order to get more people to buy from, engage with, start up and work for social enterprises.

You can find out more by watching the video below:

Ben Matthews, Founder of Bright One, said: “Bright One is absolutely committed to supporting charities, social enterprise and other third sector organisations in their communications activities, allowing them to raise awareness and much needed funds for their causes. We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which shows that we have created a sustainable organisation that makes a real impact to both volunteers and charities.”

Lucy Findlay champion from the Social Enterprise Mark Company, added: “We are delighted to award the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark to Bright One. Social enterprises come in all shapes and forms so it’s great to see a vital voluntary organisation understanding the importance of being part of the wider social enterprise brand.”

You can find out more about the Social Enterprise Mark at www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk.

We’ve had a great reaction since Bright One and CharityComms launched the CharityComms 2020 initiative a few weeks ago.

The presentation has had over 1600 views on Slideshare (not quite at 2020 views just yet!) and created plenty of buzz on Twitter with the hash tag #cc2020. It’s also been great to see people writing about CharityComms 2020. You can read reaction from PR Week, Brand Republic, Just Giving, School for Social Entrepreneurs, and the blogs of Steve Bridger, Darragh Doyle and Amy Sample Ward.

We’ve even received additional entries, bumping up the number of contributors in the presentation to 21. Thanks to Stuart Witts of Marie Curie Cancer Care, Rob Dyson of Whizz Kidz and Susan Farrington of the MS Society for their five predictions.

The updated presentation is embedded below:

Rob Dyson even recorded his five points in an Audioboo, which you can listen to here:

Thanks also go to the original contributors: Jonathan Waddingham from Just Giving; Steve Bridger; Vicki Browning, Director of CharityComms; John Carnell, Founder and CEO of Bullying UK;  Gail Scott-Spicer from The Scout Association;  Sue Fidler from Charity Email;  Gideon Burrows, Editor of ngo media; Adeela Warley, Head of Communications of Friends of the Earth; Lynda Thomas, Director of Externall Affairs for Macmillan Cancer Support;  Zoe Amar from Lasa; Julia Cream, Head of Communications for Timebank;
Jaz Cummins, Web and New Media Manager for Amnesty International UK, Amy Sample Ward;
Rachel Beer, Founding Partner of Beautiful World;  Victoria Rae, Head of Communications of UNICEF;
Jude Habib from Sound Delivery,  and Joe Saxton from nfpSynergy.

And a special thanks to Vicky Browning at CharityComms for agreeing to work with Bright One on the project in the first place!