askCHARITY.org.uk is an excellent free online contacts book of charity journalists. AskCharity was designed and built to help charities improve their media coverage and exposure to help ensure journalists can obtain the charity contact details they need to help write their stories and news articles.
One very popular area of the service is the Answer Service - which lets you send out requests for leading contacts such as spokespersons, interviewees and subject specialists to charities listed on their website.
Here are some tips on how to use AskCharity.org.uk
1. Help build your organisation’s media contacts book by looking at past requests.
As a charity user of askCHARITY, you can review requests that have previously been sent out from journalists. Each request provides the journalist’s contact details as well as giving you a good idea of their interests, sympathies and specialist areas.
2. Include your out-of-office mobile number on every one of your entries.
Journalists use the search engine on askCHARITY to find the details of your charity to contact you directly. And because a story can happen anytime they may need to contact you outside of your normal office hours – so to help you do this always include your mobile number on every one of your charity’s entries.
3. Always be aware of deadlines.
Every request sent to you states its’ deadline, so always try and give the journalist plenty of time to read over, digest so he/she can use your information. It may be helpful to have a prepared range of case studies which can be called upon for quick retrieval.
4. Media requests are excellent opportunities for the smaller charities - so always make sure you check them regularly! One of askCHARITY’s clear winners is that it helps the smaller charities. As journalists usually contact the larger, well known charities instead of the smaller charities that they might not know about.
5. Use askCHARITY helps charities obtain coverage in certain media outlets/mediums that your charity doesn’t usually get coverage in. So what askCHARITY is particularly useful for is helping charities reach areas of the media that are hard for them to reach.
6. askCHARITY is more than just a contacts address book!
There’s also:
· Media Directory
· Expert Blogs
· Message Board
To help you keep in touch with other charities and share ideas and experiences.
at? You say you don't see how Katya is trying to help?! Well, Miss Katya has a real aversion to getting her photo taken! And yet look at her--here she is in this photo and all the rest, modeling the apron and bucket bag that Charity made to sell to help add to her violin fund! Just look at Katya!charity helps raise money
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