Social Media and NGOs

Social media sites like facebook, twitter and blogs have become the talk of the town in the past few years and if you are not using them yet then you should be thinking about it. Small charities and big businesses alike have caught onto the benefits of social media and how it can help their organisations. So why use social media?

1. It's cheap
Anyone can sign up to facebook, open a twitter account or set up a blog at no cost, making it a great tool for those with limited budgets.

2. It's immediate
Rather than waiting for a publication to be produced or even an email to be read, updates can be published in seconds and reach a wide audience straight away.

3. It encourages interaction
Social media is all about interaction - people can comment on your posts or pass them on to others at the click of a button. This allows them to feel more involved in your cause.

4. It's easy
A twitter post can only contain ? characters so there is not a lot of research or composition that needs to be put into the posts - it is much more of a thought flow.

5. It can lead to bigger things
Many media stories have been picked up from social media sites and it is a quick, easy and cheap way to spread a message.

One NGO that has embraced social media is Learnasone. A small organisation with minimal budget, they have twittered directly from the field to keep sponsors updated on their work.

Sourcing stories from the field

A common problem experienced by international NGOs is sourcing stories from the field. Your organisation may do great work across the world, but getting the examples to illustrate this can be a constant challenge.

It is usually made difficult by a combination of logisitics - working in remote areas, no access to internet, difficult to visit projects regulalry; attitude - lack of understading about the need for stories, feelings that there are better things to be done with people's time; and time and resource constraints.

To make sure that you get the stories that you need, you have 3 main choices:

1) Rely on people in the field to source and deliver stories
2) Use a local journalist or send a freelancer
3) Travel to the field yourself

Travelling to the field yourself can seem the most reliable option but is often less realistic because of everyday responsibiltities and time and cost implications. If you can find a great local journalist or freelancer then this can help you get great stories but has to be balanced with the expense of hiring them. Most ideally, you want to be able to rely on your staff in the field to source and deliver stories.

To do this successfully requires training and skill - both for you to write and explain clear briefs and expectations, and for the staff in the field to understand how to deliver them. It is an area that many NGOs scrimp on but it is essential to create a regular and successful flow of stories from the field.

Creating a large profile for a small charity

Some of the bigger charities have large professional press offices that are great at churning out stories, press releases and feature ideas. However, sometimes it is much more impressive to see what smaller organisations can achieve. The Amos trust is a UK based NGO that works with partner projects around the world promoting human rights and addressing the causes of poverty. They are running the Street Child world cup taking place in South Africa next week.

With no press permanent press team they have managed to achieve coverage in The Sun, on Blue Peter and the BBC as as garnering celebrity support from the likes of David Beckham. So how have they done it?

Firstly they have known their own weaknesses and by teaming up with a big corporate player Deloitte they have raised their profile and their resrouces. Secondly they have a strong project which translates into an engaging story at a strategic time - leading up to the world cup. And finally, they have known who to target, had case studies readily available and played on their celebrity endorsements.

This project is a great example of what working with partners, creating a great project at the right time, and being targeted with media opportunites, can achieve. Amos trust is a relatively unknown charity but after this event will have a much bigger profile and great links to support their work.

Writing Good Reports

How many reports have you seen that send you to sleep? For me, it's a lot. If you have something great to say, just say it. Don't spend 30 pages describing methodology, leave the key messgae until the last chapter and cram it so full of jargon and acronyms that I need a translator.

Reports don't need to be long and complicated to show that you know what you are talking about. The research and findings should speak for themselves and be presented in the simplest way to make the content shine.

Here are a few tips for good report writing:

Content
*Decide on the key messages you want to get across
*Make sure these are clearly explained on the opening page
*Keep re-focusing on them throughout the report

Style
*Use everyday language
*Say things in the most concise way possible
*Keep sentences and paragraphs short

What can NGOs learn from Haiti media coverage?

There may have been some criticism of NGOs for jostling for their place in the media scrum, but the truth is that when a disaster of this scale dominates the news agenda, it is important to be in the hustle.

Some NGOs are seasoned professionals and always seem to be quoted in the press so what can we learn from these well oiled media machines?

Move Quickly
The news media is a fast paced environment where information and updates are expected as they happen. To keep up with this NGOs need to be able to work at the same speed. The first few days of a disaster is when there is going to be most coverage and when NGOs have the chance to put themselves at the forefront of the discussion.

Have a voice
What does your organisation think? Where do they stand on the important issues raised? The NGOs that get the most media coverage are those that have a voice – that aren’t afraid to speak up and give their opinion. In the Haiti debate there was a lot of coverage of orphans being shipped out the country for adoption. The likes of Save The Children waded in to speak out against the move and therefore were given coverage in the media.

Make People Available
What the media want in these kinds of situation is people on the ground – people who have experienced the devastation first hand and can talk about it. NGOs are at the forefront of the disaster and therefore well placed to provide this kind of comment.

Think Multimedia
Remember, the media is not only about what is said - a picture paints a thousand words. In disaster situations NGOs are often in areas that the media can’t reach. By providing video footage, audio clips and photos NGOs can make themselves indispensable.

Should NGOs have fought for media attention in Haiti?

There was an interesting segment on Radio 4 last week about NGOs vying for media attention in the wake of the Haiti earthquake. The question was asked – Surely if you didn’t pay a pr officer you would have more money for aid work? And the answer from Brendan Gormley of the Disaster Emergency Committee– Yes but the media would continue to chase our workers for interviews, without someone there to co-ordinate them. He also spoke out in defence of NGOs having a media focus rather than just quietly going about their work.

While there is criticism of international aid agencies using their work as ‘pr stories’ and exploiting people as ‘case studies’ – do they have much choice? To raise the funds to do their work NGOs need to have a profile that attracts people to give them money. And the people who are giving money want to see where it's being spent. The most cost effective and successful way of doing this is through the media. Who are you more likely to give you money to – a big charity you have heard of like Oxfam or a lesser known organisation that does not have a voice in the media arena?