Building a charity isn’t as easy as it sounds. You don’t just “find a cause” and expect people to
support it 100%. You have to reach out to people, connect with them, and get them to donate.
Often, this includes media coverage, and one bad press can spell disaster for your charity.
Effective communication plays a key role in the process. Unfortunately, not everyone is good at
communicating. Media training empowers charities with the ability to break this barrier. It helps
them get their message across and produce the results they need.
What is Media Training?
It is a type of communication training that prepares you for media exposure on different
platforms. Examples include phone interviews, TV appearances, and online media. Media
training also prepares you for various scenarios such as live and recorded interviews, scheduled
interviews, and impromptu interviews.
The Role of Mass Media in Charities
A charity is a non-profit organization, which means that its end goal isn’t to earn money. Still, it
requires funding in order to secure the manpower and resources needed for their programs and
services.
Funding can be acquired through donations, grants, sponsorships, memberships programs, and
the sale of good and services. On-paper, it seems simple enough. You just have to put your
charity out there and people will come… right?
But the reality of the situation is that not everyone will be aware or have a good understanding
of your cause and how it can help others. With over 1.4 million charities in the United States
alone, things can get competitive as some charities receive more media exposure than others.
Mass media allows you to introduce your charity to a variety of people who may end up
supporting your cause by providing the funds and resources themselves, or linking you to
people who can. You want positive media exposure for your charity. Media training helps you
with that.
5 Ways That Media Training Can Help Your Charity
Charities struggle with funding for several reasons. One major problem is that they fail to look at
their cause as a ‘brand’. Branding is a term that is no longer limited to commerce these days. It
can refer to the different means with which you want to be recognized.
As a charity, you want to represent your cause in the best way possible. This leads us to the
hallmark media training, which is knowing how to present yourself to the public. If you want to
attract people who can support your charity through funding, you want to convey an air of
confidence.
Below are five ways that media training can help your charity.
- Media training lets you place your best foot forward.
To effectively communicate your charity’s brand, first you have to learn to wear appropriate
clothing. This is especially true for interviews and public appearances, where other people might
record you.
Interviews don’t have to be in video format, however. As long as there’s a chance that you’ll be
meeting people, even if it’s just the interviewers, you’d still want to look your best. They may not
record you, but
- Media training teaches you to control your body language.
Communication isn’t always spoken. Your posture, hand gestures, facial expressions, the tone
of your voice, and how you make eye contact can also be taken as nonverbal cues. With them,
you can attract people and gain their trust, or undermine the value of your cause.
Many people don’t know they have certain mannerisms that translate negatively to the public
eye. Media training can teach you to be more aware of them, so you can stay in control and
maintain a good image.
- Media training teaches you the basics of media engagement.
Interviewers are going to ask questions about your charity. Ideally, you want to be able to
answer them as accurately as possible. This can be done by supporting your answers with facts
and figures.
Media training teaches you to anticipate which questions an interviewer will likely ask, so you
can prepare your answers ahead and rehearse them. Besides learning how to answer basic
interview questions that are related to your charity, you will be taught to transition discussions.
Transitioning is an important aspect of media engagement. If the interviewer forgets to ask
questions that would allow you to highlight your charity’s objectives, you can simply transition
discussions towards the topic and grab the spotlight.
- Media training prepares you for challenging scenarios.
Sometimes, interviewers may ask questions that are too personal, or may lead to the disclosure
of confidential information. They might also make statements which you don’t agree with.
Media training prepares you for these challenging situations, so you can maintain your
composure and deal with them appropriately. The last thing you want to happen is appear
emotional or sound argumentative. What you want to do is divert the conversation so it stays
light and relevant, while exuding confidence.
- Media training teaches you how to engage with media platforms.
The atmosphere of a recorded interview is going to be different from that of a live Zoom call or
an impromptu interview. Media training prepares you for these different media platforms. You’ll
learn to be comfortable and confident, no matter where and how you are interviewed.
Media exposure is a good way to introduce your charity to individuals and institutions. Some of
them will immediately be drawn to your cause. Others may not want to donate initially, but
there’s a way around that. You can still convince them to help your charity by providing the
necessary funds and resources, or connecting you to someone who can.
Media training allows you to leverage the influence of media exposure. It helps you develop
verbal and nonverbal communicative skills which promote a positive image of your charity. It
also enables you to deliver strong and clear messages about who you are, what you do, and
what you envision. Both can entice people to provide the help you need to keep your charity
afloat.