The Not-for-Profit Comms Advent Calendar 2022
By Gemma Pettman
9 January 2023
The CIPR Not-for-Profit group’s comms advent calendar returned to Twitter for a third year in December, offering daily links to free and low-cost comms resources.
Thanks to those committee members and kind folk from our wider network who suggested content for this year. With a couple of exceptions (tools we will shout about every year because they’re so darned good) every tool was new (to us).
Frustratingly, Twitter has removed the ability to create new Moments, which is how we have previously shared the full round-up of our posts. Instead, we’ve popped every post below to save you from trawling through our tweets:
1 December - We're starting the month with one of our own resources. Delivering Successful Campaigns on a Budget with Matt Batten is our most popular event to date. Members can watch it again on the CPD database; non-members can read the accompanying blog https://www.cipr.co.uk/CIPR/Network/Groups_/Not_for_profit/Blogs/getting_results_on_a_tight_budget.aspx
2 - There are some very generous folks in the comms community, including Dr Richard Berks, who has pulled together some excellent comms planning templates. Billed as being for charities, we think they're relevant to all not-for-profit organisations https://richardberks.co.uk/blog/communication-planning-templates-for-charities
3 - PR news can feel a little London-centric so here's one for our friends in the north. This free daily briefing offers news on the comms scene in the North of England and beyond www.prolificnorth.co.uk
4 - What gets measured gets done, but you've got to count what counts. The Government Communications Service Evaluation Framework offers guidance on evaluating comms work, including low/no-cost activities https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/publications/evaluation-framework/
5 - We love a good image library and the free-to-use collection from The Centre for Aging Better is one of the best. It shows positive and realistic images of over 50s in a bid to challenge negative and stereotypical views of older age https://ageing-better.org.uk/news/age-positive-image-library-launched
6 - Having completed several SEO audits for charities, Tom Crowe noticed some common mistakes and wrote a blog about addressing them and offering some brilliant tips we can all apply https://tomcrowedigital.com/12-highly-effective-seo-tips-for-nonprofits
7 - No budget for running your own survey? Explore open-source data produced by the likes of You Gov and the ONS which you can use (with credit). ONS have a handy calendar of upcoming releases so you can plan your comms around anticipated data https://www.ons.gov.uk/releasecalendar?view=upcoming
8 - Having trouble phrasing a sentence? Run it through the QuillBot tool to get suggestions for better wording to help you engage readers with your message (this message was generated on QuillBot!) https://quillbot.com/
9 - VidGrid allows you to stream up to four television news channels at a time to monitor how the news agenda is evolving https://vidgrid.tk.gg/ Much better than having umpteen tabs open at once.
10 - Most not-for-profit comms pros are aware of Canva, but the additional functionality that comes from the free charity account/low-cost pro account is worth a second look. Strip backgrounds from existing images, create animations and so much more… https://www.canva.com/help/canva-for-nonprofits/
11 - Need to download a video from a tweet? Mention @SaveMyVideo in a direct reply to the tweet with the video and the bot will reply with the download link. HT to Howard Lake for this one.
12 - There are a lot of free SEO tools so if you’re having trouble working out what you require and choosing between them this blog from AHREFS will help. Updated in June, read The Only 29 Free SEO Tools You Need here https://ahrefs.com/blog/free-seo-tools/
13 - If you are interested in politics then you’ll love London Playbook, a free bulletin each morning covering what's driving the day in Westminster. News, gossip and the occasional scandal. Sign up at https://www.politico.eu/london-playbook
14 - Need stock images? We find www.pexels.com a reliable source, and it’s perhaps a little artier than the alternatives such as Unsplash and Pixabay. Maybe check them all out for a wide selection of stunning royalty-free images.
15 - Google Trends provides access to a largely unfiltered sample of actual search requests made to Google, which makes it a brilliant free research tool. You can look back over data collected since 2004 and compare up to five search terms against each other https://trends.google.com/
16 - We say this so often, but it’s worth repeating. You may have completely free access to Pressreader via your library membership. Check your local authority website - libraries and archives section. It’s a brilliant tool for media research and monitoring https://www.pressreader.com/catalog
17 - Looking for a novel way to illustrate an article or blog? How about writing in soup
https://photofunia.com/effects/soup_letters or generating a newspaper clipping https://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
18 - Ended up with an unfeasibly large video? Compress it without losing quality by using https://www.veed.io/ The free package is perfect for quick one-off projects under 10 minutes
19 - Today we have another stock image library to tell you about. Vice recently updated its free Gender Spectrum Collection which features positive images of trans and non-binary people https://genderspectrum.vice.com Please read the guidelines around use and representation.
20 - If your website loads slowly, you could be losing people - potentially people in need of your support. Use https://pagespeed.web.dev/ to assess the site and receive advice on how to improve your speed.
21 - Taken a fab photo but realised there’s a lamppost sticking out of the CEO’s head or a photo bomber in the background? https://cleanup.pictures/ enables you to remove defects or unwanted objects/people in seconds
22 - If you still haven’t got around to developing a crisis comms plan for your organisation, put it on your Jan 2023 to-do list and follow Helpful Digital’s straightforward step-by-step guide https://helpfuldigital.com/guides-templates-and-tools/how-to-develop-a-crisis-communications-plan/
23 - One for communicators in #SmallButVital organisations, especially... Lloyds Bank Foundation has a free 101 guide to communications, press and influencing written with small and local charities and volunteer organisations in mind. It's packed full of practical advice. https://www.lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk/media/3zpbufhr/lbf-charity-communications-guide-2019-final-small.pdf
24 December - Last but not least, some of the brilliant comms podcasts we like to listen to:
Check them out over the holidays!
We love hearing what you think of the calendar content so if it introduced you to a new tool that’s making a difference to how you’re working, do let us know.