For years I’ve been fascinated by ‘values and framing’ in social change communications – the study of people’s deeply held values on social issues (which can often surprise us), and how to shape and frame our messages to appeal to these values (something we often get badly wrong). This recent piece from The Guardian covers … Read more
‘Engagement’ emails are such an important part of your email programme. We know that if charities only ever send ask emails, they become like that friend who only ever gets in touch when they want a favour. And while newsletters have their place, an engagement email that warmly thanks your subscribers is one of the … Read more
I saw an online conversation recently about plans for yet another charity sector campaign to try to ‘rebuild trust in the charity sector’. Someone in that conversation said: “Who better to advocate for the charity sector, than the charity professional bodies?” And to be honest, this made my heart sink. Yes, maybe some audiences who … Read more
I am smitten with this amazing resource from the Public Interest Research Centre in the UK. They’ve taken the years of work they’ve done on researching public values, and how to frame messages to appeal to these values, and distilled it down into this extremely useful five part guide. They highlight the mistakes that various … Read more
About five years ago, the smart progressive campaigners I know (from communities like the ECF) started talking about the growing fear that we weren’t reaching beyond our own filter bubble. Then stuff started happening that confirmed this (you have may noticed them, such fun developments as ‘Brexit’ and ‘Donald Trump becoming President of the USA’). … Read more
The Wheel have launched an exciting new national charity awards, to celebrate the organisations that are leading in impact and transparency in our sector. The aim of this new national award is to tell the story of the positive impact of the work of all community, voluntary and charitable organisations in Ireland. The Wheel is … Read more