Getting local or regional press coverage for your event doesn’t only help you to boost your fundraising efforts, it’s also a great opportunity to highlight the fundraising needs of the hospital.
Your press questions answered
What should I write?
Our press team have created a template for you to use which you’ll find at the back of the pack. All you need to do is add the details about what you’re doing.
Who should I send it to?
Send a press release to everyone you can think of in your local area. Don’t forget to include newspapers, regional magazines (especially those which include a ‘What’s On’ section), radio and television stations.
When should I send it?
Try and send your press release out early (up to four weeks before your event date). Having said this, there’s nothing to say that if you call the day before they won’t be interested.
How do I send it?
Send your press release by email to the News Editor on newspapers and to Forward Planning at radio and TV stations. You can get the contact details from a local directory service, your newspaper or Yellow Pages.
What next?
Follow it up with a phone call. Ask them if they are interested in covering the story. Don’t be afraid to be persistent and be prepared to send or email your release again if requested as many releases get lost or just go unread.
They want me to do an interview, what do I say?
Don’t panic - think about what you want to say rather than just focusing on what they might ask. Take some time to prepare and think about three key points you want to get across in an interview.
It’s all over
It doesn’t stop here, why not contact your local newspapers again to see if they would like to do a follow-up story and run a photograph. It’s the perfect excuse to tell the world how it went and how much you raised.
Get the word out online
If you want to go global why not try to harness the power of the internet:
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Blogs
A blog is an abbreviation of weblog and is essentially a journal or newsletter that is most effective if frequently updated with your information. Blogs represent your personality and are available to view in the public domain. Blogs require little or no technical background to create, update and maintain so would be a very good way to publicise your trek or challenge to your friends/colleagues. You can upload photos and video clips too. A user friendly site for creating your own blog web journal can be found here
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MySpace
MySpace is an online community that lets you ‘meet’ and interact with a huge range of people all over the world. You can share photos, journals and general interests amongst the network of friends you create. Each user has their own page or profile on which you can promote yourself and your fundraising efforts and achievements complete with photo and video diaries.
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Facebook
Facebook is very similar to MySpace however focuses more on social networking and the sharing of information online. You can join networks based on schools, companies or regions and then create personal profiles to link up with friends, share interests, post photos and send messages.
By keeping the information and photos on your blog or personal profile current and interesting or even amusing, you can reach a much wider audience and therefore fundraise more effectively. A good way to remind people of what you are doing to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and why is to include your page’s URL in your email sign off at work and home.
If you have a Justgiving page then put the link on your blog/profile to encourage others to visit your page and donate money. Please also ensure that this website features on your blog/profile so that your friends and colleagues better understand where the money raised will be going. It might also encourage them to do something similar to raise vital funds for the hospital.
And finally...
Be aware that content placed on the internet is very widely seen, so be sensible about what you put about yourself. You may also get some very silly postings...ignore them. We're happy to provide answers to some of the standard questions people ask about fundraising.
