13 August 2011

Communications strategy? It’s where the value is

The communications and fundraising challenges faced by charities are increasing. They have to compete harder for cash, target new audiences and get on top of digital media. It can be quite daunting. What they need is a bit of help.

“The word strategy can put some people off,” says Consider’s Strategy Director Phil Lindsay. “But all it’s really about is translating a client’s long-term objectives into manageable chunks of work. It’s about helping them get to where they want to be before they really know it.”

Prisoners Abroad

Prisoners Abroad is a tiny charity with big fundraising plans, so that they can do more for those who need them - British people imprisoned overseas. Their marketing team consists of two people – Caroline Beckman and James Barry – and they came to us for help in creating a strategic plan for growth.

The value of research

Our work with Prisoners Abroad was challenging because many people have negative perceptions of prisoners and don’t want to support them. We commissioned some research from Jennifer Shea at nfpSynergy to help understand audiences and identify key themes.

"I'd say one of the most interesting insights that came out of the staff workshop was about the discrimination faced by British prisoners overseas. Although the public might well feel that 'if you do the crime, you do the time', they don't necessarily realise that a British person in prison abroad- regardless of guilt or innocence - may be worse off than a fellow prisoner who is a native of the same country."

"This might be for a variety of reasons, including language barriers or lack of access to family who may bring food or supplies. This idea of fairness, that British prisoners abroad should be treated fairly, even while serving a custodial sentence, was a moving insight." Discover more about Jennifer and nfpSynergy's work.

A plan for all touchpoints

We’ve just rolled out a the summer campaign and are watching the results carefully. Now we are making the website more effective and planning quarterly reviews to help develop the strategy. It’s all going swimmingly!