CharityComms

08.45 - 09.15

 Registration and refreshments

09.15 - 09.20  

 Welcome, Vicky Browning, Director, CharityComms

09.20 - 09.45

Forewarned, forearmed
Get a snapshot of communications in the charity sector today and work out your organisation’s place in the bigger picture as we present the results from this year’s Communications Benchmarking Survey. We’ll also be looking at changes to structures, resources, budgets, attitudes and ways of working.
Jamie Matthews, Campaigns Researcher, CharityComms
Vicky Browning, Director, CharityComms

09.45 - 10.00

Top tips for: making your brand work for fundraising and comms
Jacqui Kean, Head of Marketing, Diabetes UK

10.00 - 10.45

 Breakout session one

Breakout A      

Assessing your brand (repeated in breakout two)
Whether you’re looking to improve your current comms strategy, or creating it from scratch - it’s vital to understand perceptions of your brand and how it’s positioned in relation to competitors. Based on real examples we’ll show you how to assess your brand and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Grant Imlach, Communications Manager, Bowel Cancer UK

Breakout B

Assessing your environment (repeated in breakout two)
Before you start your communications strategy you should consider your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, plus any opportunities and threats your environment presents. Michele will give you some simple techniques to analyse your position and consider how this should be reflected in your strategy.
Michele Madden, Managing Director (Research and Strategy), nfpSynergy

Breakout C

Integrating processes and workflows
A harsh economic climate has forced charities to do more with less and in many cases charities are streamlining their processes and even restructuring. Before beginning your strategy you might want to consider working more closely with your policy and fundraising colleagues by integrating on specific projects or even combining departments. This session looks at what other charities are doing in this area.
Lindsay Gormley, Assistant Director of Marketing, Barnardo’s

10.45 - 11.15

Refreshments and advice surgeries

11.15 - 12.00

Breakout session two

Breakout D

The trick to herding cats (repeated in breakout three)
Audience focus lies at the heart of a comms strategy and here we’ll share tools and tips on how to create an audience map, prioritise those most important to you and tailor your messages to suit. An informal, practical session suitable for both beginners and those looking for additional knowledge or ideas.
Selina Fox, Director, Randall Fox,
Susannah Randall, Director, Randall Fox

Breakout E

Assessing your brand (repeated from breakout one)
Whether you’re looking to improve your current comms strategy, or creating it from scratch - it’s vital to understand perceptions of your brand and how it’s positioned in relation to competitors. Based on real examples we’ll show you how to assess your brand and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Grant Imlach, Communications Manager, Bowel Cancer UK

Breakout F

Assessing your environment (repeated from breakout one)
Before you start your communications strategy you should consider your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses, plus any opportunities and threats your environment presents. Michele will give you some simple techniques to analyse your position and consider how this should be reflected in your strategy.
Michele Madden, Managing Director (Research and Strategy), nfpSynergy

12.05 - 12.50

Breakout session three

Breakout G

Putting your strategy together
Get an overview of the main elements of a successful strategy. Find out how to align it with your organisational strategy, use your research, set SMART objectives, manage expectations and budget, plus advice on making the case for more resources. We’ll also be looking at examples of good and bad strategies. 
Joe Barrell, Strategy Director, The Eden Stanley Group

Breakout H
 

The trick to herding cats (repeated from breakout two)
Audience focus lies at the heart of a comms strategy and here we’ll share tools and tips on how to create an audience map, prioritise those most important to you and tailor your messages to suit. An informal, practical session suitable for both beginners and those looking for additional knowledge or ideas.
Selina Fox, Director, Randall Fox,
Susannah Randall, Director, Randall Fox

Breakout I

Towards a global communications approach
Achieving consistent communications that reflect organisation-wide coherence, while ensuring all activities are rooted in strong local country insight, demands a thorough and collaborative approach which can be a difficult balancing act. We’ll show you how we tackled this challenge and share some of the key lessons from our journey.
Paul Brewer, Head of International Communications, ActionAid

12.55 - 13.30

Evaluating and adapting your strategy
Evaluating and adapting your communications strategy over time is critical to your organisation’s success. Gerry will be outlining the steps you need to take, starting with when you first set your objectives and KPIs, right through to when you analyse your data and adapt your strategy.
Gerry Tissier, Head of Strategic Communications, NSPCC

13.30 - 13.40

Top tips for: getting staff on-board with your strategy
Emma Thompson, Head of Marketing, RLSB

13.40 - 14.30

 Lunch