We chat to Rob Dyson*, a PR and comms consultant with over two decades of experience, including everything from strategic media relations to risk and reputational management, copywriting to social media, and strategies to internal comms. Phew, and that’s just for starters! Rob gives a fascinating insight into how charity comms have changed and how charities can make their voices heard.
1. How do you think charity comms has changed for charities in the last few years?
That’s a big first question! Charity comms – when we’re talking about public and internal relations, communicating with our audiences, be it offline or online, and the channels, formats and frequency for doing so – has changed enormously. That said, the principles remain steadfast. Understand your stakeholders, reach them where they are, speak to them in terms in which they will feel seen, and engage them with a role to play or action to take. In the early days of Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, video was playing a role, but not the short, tailored soundbites (that are getting forever shorter) that we see today. So, in short, the landscape is different and there are many more democratised (and I use that word very cautiously because we know large social media organisations strangle dissident voices in the algorithm) spaces and opinions all shouting for our attention. But the role and interplay of charity comms follow the same principles.
2. The media landscape seems so large and fragmented now. How do you help charities get their voices heard?
Well, it’s not easy, but I maintain that you need a clear call to action, strong and relevant storytelling, and an understanding of who you’re trying to reach – why and how. So, one of my current clients is the Women’s Institute (the WI) and they enjoy an enormous membership who carry out soft activism and deploy quiet power across the whole of England, Wales and the Islands. But their campaign work isn’t always the first thing they’re recognised for. I work with them on telling stories of national importance on a regionalised level.
What do we want to achieve? More members and women who are engaged with their communities and can find sisterhood in this movement. So, I sought out women with strong lived experience of our campaigns, worked with them to communicate their local activity and social impact, and approached regional media – and targeted national media – to amplify their voices. Our aim was to empower other women to join the WI and to challenge assumptions about the organisation (e.g. that they’re just about cake, tea and meeting in church halls). What you can also do is play on the archetypes and flip them.
We’ve recently enjoyed around two hours of uninterrupted airtime across swathes of BBC Radio in Yorkshire with this approach. There was reams of coverage in the printed press in Oxfordshire – specifically around campaigning on clean waters. We’ve had members get on air during BBC Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ consumer show. We also had national campaign coverage in the Mirror on access to dental healthcare and TV and radio spots in Wales on specific Welsh WI initiatives.
The opportunities are there – but you mustn’t be scattergun about it. You need to be clear on your strategic communication aims and take an informed and targeted approach to your audiences and the media they consume. As it ever was, let the charity’s users/members speak for themselves; supported by a brief, nuanced messaging, and support from a PR lead. WI members are also big users of Facebook, so of course we engage women there. We also have an ‘unofficial’ FB page run and moderated by members who know, live and breathe the WI’s values and talk the language.
Over the financial year 2023/24, 25,000 new members joined the WI, the youngest being 18. So, the charity is cutting through to ordinary women who believe in its values and want to join in.
3. Can you say more about the opportunities for charities in the ‘podcastsphere’?
I love a podcast and of course the podcastsphere has exploded and shows no sign of slowing. There are opportunities for pitching both to targeted podcasters with strong stories and charity users and colleagues who can talk from lived experience. I look at it like radio – there are many niche programmes, all with their own audience, right? But we’re no longer constrained by trying to get on mainstream media; we can work with producers, presenters and ‘influencers’ who reach audiences with which we wish to engage.
As I’ve done at the WI, you can delve into making your own podcasts, but I caveat that with a couple of things. Firstly, good audio is really important. It’s literally the method of getting into the pockets, cars, smart speakers and ears of your stakeholders. So, invest in a decent microphone and record in a space that limits echo and external unwanted sound. My second point on homegrown podcasts is don’t expect an audience overnight. Water, feed and seed your shows – it will take time to grow them.
If like me, you subscribe to a dozen or so podcasts, you know there is a wide net. There is room to find a home with your charity’s stories, both in the form of an existing pod or by building a niche of your own. There are many great examples online of how to format podcasts, i.e. open with a killer excerpt to reel your listeners in and please edit. Don’t talk non-stop for hours. Explore free editing software like Audacity and learn basic techniques by watching YouTube tutorials.
4. Can you share your advice on how charity communicators can lean into their creativity and explore bold approaches to charity comms?
We’re all creatives, or should be. Communication is a learned skill, or art – it’s not just about broadcasting committee-agreed corporate messaging. So, I would say reach into that desire to connect to others, live what you learn (from others, from the external world and environment, from disparate media), and weave your own experiences into the way you carry out your comms role. If that sounds a little opaque, I just mean: what can you bring that’s unique to you?
I’ve had charity comms colleagues who are superb and talented image creators – able to employ illustration and graphics to communicate complex messages simply and engagingly. I’ve worked with colleagues who are brilliant at creating events and immersive experience ideas to wow supporters, funders and the public. There are others who are natural storytellers with an eye for a photo and strapline that speaks to the soul.
We’ve all come into charity comms to make a difference. I always like to come back to how can we incorporate the charity user/member voice, their input, their story, and communicate that in a new or challenging way. There was the Norwich City Football Club video that came out in 2023 on World Mental Health Day – the one with the two middle-aged chaps in the stands and the story indicates that one is depressed and tragically dies by suicide, with his friend sat next to an empty seat in the final scene. The twist was that it was the extrovert and ‘happy’ of the two, not the quiet and reflective guy. Just brilliant creative, hugely impactful, and it communicated the key message around men’s mental health and how depression can affect anyone. I’ve seen other bold creative around homelessness, dementia and cancer diagnosis. However, what I’ve always said over 15 years of talking to charities and speaking out in the PR, national and charity press is never default to ‘pity porn’. Don’t throw your members under the bus by presenting them as victims. Always empower, never punch down.
5. Finally, what advice would you give to charities on how to manage their reputations on and offline in a challenging environment?
This is a tricker one and an area which I would say has changed the most since the late 2000s. I’m talking about the way reputations are hung out to dry via social media trolling, which then feeds legacy or mainstream media who amplify a negative story for the clicks, views and shares. The best – and only – policy when it comes to managing reputation is a threefold approach:
- Hold your hands up if you need to and take accountability. If it’s your fault, apologise and tell supporters what happens next.
- Hold firm and stand strong and united if you are facing baseless accusations or they are simply emerging from ‘culture wars’ nonsense. (There is a great chapter in Peter York’s book A Dead Cat on Your Table about the ‘astroturf’, i.e. not real grassroots, movements that rallied against The National Trust, for example).
- Communicate with clarity, transparency and absolute precision during a crisis. Recently, M&S and the Co-op were victims of online data attacks. I saw emails and other messages communicated directly from the CEOs of those companies that spelled out what had happened, didn’t try to hide the data-robbing attack from its customers, and reassured its base and the public on what it was doing to protect consumers and colleagues from that point.
Reputations can be made and shattered, but public relations and communications can be a reassuring and salving voice – but only if it comes from complete heart-felt authenticity. A whiff of misdeed or a wrong-meaning misstep and you’re a dodo.
* Rob Dyson MCIPR is a founder member of CharityComms, a member of the CIPR, founded the Facebook Third Sector Comms Network, and has 25 years’ experience working at the heart of large, medium and small not-for-profit organisations in communications. He is a trustee of the South London charity, The Squad, for and about people with learning disabilities. He now consults and can be contacted via robdysonpr.uk. He’s on Bluesky at @robdysonpr.uk.