Easy advertising for charity events
November 28, 2014 by Dr. Letitia Wright
Filed under A Note for You, Front Page
Easy advertising for charity events
If you’re running a Christmas event, fund-raiser or charity event, finding ways to advertise are crucial. There are plenty of tried and tested methods and it can depend on the type of event as to how much advertising you’ll need to do. If it’s a one-off event there are some easy advertising tricks, while for groups and organisations who run regular events, there are some secrets to making the most of your advertising material.
The paparazzi
The local media will be important for promotion and can act as a free source of advertising for local events. Any good cause that benefits the local community will be of interest to local journalists and broadcasters. Even the smallest publication is likely to be hungry for content, so don’t think that you’ll be turned away! You can create a press release but it pays to make a call to the editor in question. Old fashioned phone calls tend to get attention better than emails, with which editors are often swamped; focus on the local angle and why the story needs telling.
Easy advertising options
Flyers and banners are two of the oldest known advertising tools. Despite the fact that most things seem to have gone online these days, local events (charity or otherwise) are still best advertised with real, solid advertising. Banner producers can be sourced nationally or locally and banners can be reused, if you avoid specific dates on the banner itself. The phrase, “see website for details” can be substituted, meaning you can reuse the banner for another similar event. You can use flyers to target busy places using volunteers – markets, malls and other shopping areas are good places to get maximum exposure in your community.
Talking of websites
Don’t forget the wonders of the world wide web. If your organisation has a website, set up a specific blog to advertise your event (or ask for volunteers), tweet about the event, add details to Facebook; it all helps to get the word out! You can even record a video and post it on YouTube.
Corporate sponsors
Offer advertising for local businesses at your event in return for sponsorship. Companies which are supporting you will be glad of the free advertising on your website (keep it off banners though if you want to reuse them!). As well as sponsorship, you can ask them to distribute flyers with their own promotional material in their offices or retail spaces.