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Public Relations
Positive and effective external relations activities is a part
of every organization. To assist community organizations and volunteer
centres in building a positive and strong image with the public
and businesses in the community, Volunteer BC has compiled the following
information on public relations.
Community Involvement Ideas
Celebrate Volunteerism
Promote Volunteerism
Improving Accessibility
Communication Planning Sheet
Community Involvement Ideas
No matter what type of organization, association or level of government,
there are many ways to recognize, celebrate and promote volunteers
and volunteerism. An organization can start by incorporating a volunteer
theme, adding a category, focus its PR on volunteerism or spotlighting
volunteer contributions. Building on existing events with support
from Volunteer BC and handy tools from the website is a good starting
point.
Please check back regularly to this webpage for more community
involvement ideas.
Celebrate Volunteerism
Involvement ideas for Youth:
- Hold, develop or implement projects involving youth for youth.
- Work with schools or youth in general to get students thinking
about volunteering. Develop a student curriculum focussing on
citizenship, voluntary action, and civil society. Ask students
to talk about instances in which they have acted as volunteers
or helpers.
- Develop a strategy to recruit youth volunteers by youth
- Develop a media strategy spotlighting youth in the community
who have made a difference. Promote youth who have volunteered
as well as youth who have benefited from the volunteer experience
- Initiate a youth volunteer project as part of Global
Youth Service Day. A community project in partnership with
a local community organization i.e. food bank, parks and recreation,
libraries, shelters, meals on wheels etc.
- Host a forum or conference for youth on volunteering
- Develop a database or weblinks to organization that have volunteer
opportunities for youth.
Please check back regularly to this webpage for more celebration
ideas.
Promote Volunteerism
For volunteer centres and community organizations:
- Use real, personal stories and testimonials of volunteers. Share
them with the media, collect them into a book, or publicize them
in newsletters. Let people know about your local volunteers.
- Plan volunteer recognition and appreciation events throughout
the year, particularly during National
Volunteer Week.
- Make a scrapbook or photo album showcasing the contributions
of volunteers in your community.
- Emphasize the importance of volunteering. Raise awareness about
the work that volunteers do. How many paid staff would you have
to engage to work the hours worked by volunteers? What is the
impact of volunteer work in your community?
- Talk to those in the community who benefit from the work of
volunteers. What difference does it make to them?
- Build on the power of events. Include a celebration of volunteering
in all of your events.
- Organize a play or other public events to celebrate the contributions
of volunteers. Consider ways to link this activity with volunteer
recruitment and/or fundraising.
- Ask the town/city/municipality to declare its support of volunteerism
through an official proclamation, a perfect opportunity for National
Volunteer Week.
- Organize a volunteer recognition event/celebration in coordination
with other agencies in your community.
- Create a volunteer-a-thon to collect pledges of volunteer time.
Consider doing this as a school challenge, or workplace challenge.
- Create a video of the contributions volunteers make in a typical
day.
Improving Accessibility and Volunteering
for all
For volunteer centres and community organizations:
- Facilitate opportunities to discuss policy and legislation that
will enhance volunteerism and provide better access to volunteering.
- Physical location: Are buildings wheelchair accessible, well
signed and marked? Do organizations hold events in accessible
venues? How is the public transit accessibility?
- Written materials: Are your materials available in alternate
formats for people with visual impairments? Are some or all of
your materials produced in Braille, on audiotape, and / or in
large print?
- Web page: Is your organization's Web page designed with accessibility
guidelines in mind? (for resources, see the Web Accessibility
Initiative at www.w3.org/WAI).
- Language: In what languages are materials available? Does this
reflect the language needs of your community?
- Plan and carry out a seminar on accessibility of volunteer programs.
Invite community agencies and others that wish to recruit volunteers.
Focus on the ways in which organizations and communities are enriched
through diversity, and practical ways to improve accessibility.
- Meeting the challenge of diverse communities:
o Do the board and volunteer base represent the diversity of the
community? This can be diversity in terms of language, age, cultural
background, etc.
o Is your staff trained to deal with volunteers who have diverse
needs? Can they accommodate the needs of the "atypical"
volunteer?
o Do you know the various cultures in your community? Are they
reflected in your volunteer base?
o Are your publications written in an understandable language?
o Develop programs to recruit more diverse representation. Hold
a workshop or develop materials to assist voluntary agencies in
increasing their diversity. Recruit a pool of volunteers to translate
materials or transcribe them into alternate formats.
o Recruiting and retaining new types of volunteers
- Today's volunteers do not necessarily have the same availability,
skills, needs, and schedules as the volunteers of the past. How
can you facilitate volunteering by families, new Canadians and
seniors?
For information on accessibility, consider reviewing the Volunteer
Connections series of resources development by Volunteer
Canada.
Communication Planning Sheet
Volunteer BC has created a useful Communications Planning Sheet
to help in your organization’s strategic planning for public
relations activities.
Click
here to view the planning sheet. |
