Publicising your Event
Advertising your event is crucial to making it a success and the more people who know about it the more money you will raise. We've put together a few ideas to help you increase your publicity and make as many people as possible know about the event. Don't forget to keep your target audience in mind at all times, for example if it's a children's event make posters more colourful and put them up in play centres, nurseries and schools and if it's a sporting event contact local clubs and groups and ask them for their support.
Posters, leaflets and banners
Posters and leaflets are the easiest way of spreading the word about your event. You can ask local shops to display a poster and have leaflets on their counters, put posters up on town/village notice boards and ask your workplace, libraries, sports centres and community centres to put a poster up for you. You could also drop leaflets through the letter boxes of nearby houses. Please do not ask your local Dove House Hospice shop to display your posters - we are happy to promote your events in the shop windows but please contact us and we will liaise directly with the shop managers in regard to this.
Banners are a great way of promoting your event and many people choose to have one outside their venue as an eye catching advert on what's coming up. Some people choose to have a big plastic banner made with full details of the event and others borrow one of our plain Dove House Hospice banners. We can also make smaller paper banners which can include specific details of your event.
On our resources page you will find templates for posters, leaflets and event invitations for you to download, print off and fill in with you details. For those of you who are feeling more creative and want to design your own materials you will also find our logo which you can use alongside our registered charity number which is 509551.
Newspapers
Contacting your local newspaper is another great way to promote your activity. If you have a budget to spend on advertising you might want to pay for an advert, otherwise you might want to speak to the news team and ask them if they could cover your story as an article. Below is a list of contact numbers for some of our local newspapers and keep reading for some hints and tips on writing an interesting press release.
Social Networking
Using social networking sites like Facebook, Bebo and Twitter and sending out emails is a quick and free way of letting people know about your event and will target a lot of people in one go. If you are on Facebook for example you can write details of the event in your status or set up the event online and invite all of your online contacts. Dove House Hospice has its own Facebook page so search for us, join our group and you can post details about your event on there too!
Radio
Local radio stations will often give your event a mention to advertise it for you, some will even invite you in to talk about it and often they will send a reporter to your event. Below is a list of contact numbers for some of our local radio stations and keep reading for some hints and tips on writing an interesting press release.
Hints and Tips on writing a Press Release
Here's a few hints and tips to bear in mind when writing a press release to send to newspapers and radio news desks:
- Clearly start your release with the words PRESS RELEASE and put ENDS once you have finished.
- Include all the main details - type of event/date/time/location/contact details for more information or tickets.
- Explain what inspired you to support Dove House Hospice and a small bit about what we do here.
- Highlight any unusual details or quirky facts about your event/story.
- Keep it short and snappy
- Invite a photographer to come along and take a relevant photo - if they can't make it why not take one of your own and send it with your press release just in case.