Charities – how to get your voice heard!
As part of Social Media Week London, Audioboo were invited to attend Barcamp not-for-profit, an unconference for people in the charity sector. It was really good to talk to people from a variety of charities, big and small, and find out more about the interesting work they are doing. I hosted a session on ‘getting your voice heard’ and I thought I’d share some of the ideas that came out of it.
Tell your stories
There aren’t too many people we’d invite into our kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, yet we allow radio personalities into our lives. Why is this? It’s because radio, and audio, is a very personal medium. The simplicity of the spoken word, the emotion in a voice, the pauses, the intonation, it doesn’t cost a fortune to create something very powerful.
Charities are keen that you support them, and so it makes sense for them to share stories of work that they’re doing, information about where the money is going, and good news stories from people they may have helped. Audioboo provides a simple solution for sharing such stories with social networks, blogs and iTunes. Christian Aid is already using Audioboo to collect reports from around the world and also to host their podcasts.
Case Studies
Journalists are always keen to speak to the people that a charity helps in order to bring their pieces alive. Sometimes they may be on deadline and need something quickly, at other times, the charity may wish to protect their case studies from the press. Perhaps it’s a sensitive and emotional topic, and you don’t want to make your volunteers relive their experiences repeatedly for the sake of some media coverage. Why not use Audioboo to create a bank of case studies that you can offer to radio stations and newspapers when you have a press release going out? With Audioboo players they could even embed the audio into their stories giving readers a richer experience a better understanding of the need for your charity’s work.
Press Statements
As a journalist I’ve often worked in radio newsrooms and received written statements from charities in response to big news items. By the time these arrive, there’s rarely time to follow them up, get hold of the person who made the statement, get them to agree to an interview, get them to a studio and get them on air. If the statement was read out and sent in an audio format, you increase the chances of a radio station playing all or part of it on air, and mentioning your charity.
Have fun!
These are just a few simple ideas about ways in which you can use Audioboo to increase your charity’s profile and reach, but don’t stop there. Take a look at the award-winning work that Whizz Kidz did when they sent young reporters out to tackle politicians about issues that mattered to them.
Audio doesn’t require the big budget that television does, and using Audioboo you don’t even need specialist recording devices, your smartphone will do the trick. Since we look after the hosting, streaming, embed codes and social media integration, it really couldn’t be simpler. So why not give Audioboo a try and see what you can do.
Thanks. That’s a really helpful post. Love to hear more ideas like that. I think Audioboo is a great medium for non profits. We don’t use it enough largely because of lack of ideas I suspect.
Have you actually heard of a radio station using an Audioboo extract?