here to help

7/25/2019 Here to Help

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Here to help!A guide to working with the newCNIB AB+NWT Communications Team


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Here to help!A guide to working with the CNIB AB+NWT Communications Team

As a national organization with a strong local presence that relies on

local support, we need to raise and maintain our profile in our division

and all team memers have a role to pla! in making this happen"

Whether !ou#re in service deliver!, advocac!, fund development or an! other

speciali$ed area within our team, there are wa!s !ou can help us identif!

opportunities and for us to help !ou communicate and market !our

services to !our respective audiences%

This guide will focus on four main areas&

Workflow: An ideal workflow that will show !ou a t!pical process on

how the communications team supports another department#s pro'ect

or campaign%

Alerts: Alerting the communications team on newsworth! events or

initiatives%

Social media: A ackground on our divisional social media properties,

including how team memers can appropriatel! help increase the level

of social media engagement%

edia relations: A rief overview of spokesperson and mediarelations protocols%

(f course, this is meant to e a guide onl! and we are alwa!s open to !our

)uestions, comments or suggestions% *lease contact an! of us after all,

we#re here to help!

ung-uk .!u /mil! 0iss1anager, Communications Communications Coordinator


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Contact Emailthecommunicationsteamwithyourrequest.Usecommunications-ab@cnib.ca.Beveryclearwithwhatyouarerequesting,includinganappropriate

deadline,specicrequirements,andotherpieceso!in!ormationthatwouldbehelp!ultothecommunicationsteam.

Communicationswor"begins

#ewillassignacommunicationsteammembertoyourpro$ect.

%heassignedteammemberwillconsultwiththerequestingsta&memberand'ordepartmentonpreliminarycopyordesign.%heassignedteammemberwilldevelopapro$ectplanorstrategy(i!

appropriate),assigncertainbudgetimplications(i!appropriate),andmo*e!orwardwithde*elopingthecopyordesign.

+e*iew %heassignedteammemberwillpresentpreliminarydra!tso!copyordesignwiththerequestingsta&memberand'ordepartment.#ewillma"echangesi!required.#ewillthenhandoverthenalproducttotherequestingsta&

memberand'ordepartmentunlessadditionalstepsarerequired.

ppro*al

Remembertoseekapprovalsthroughtheappropriatechannels.#henindoubt,alwayschec"withyoursuper*isortogaintheproperappro*als!orthenalproduct.%hismeansthatitisnottheresponsibilityo!thecommunicationsteamtosee"appro*als,unlesspre*iouslyagreedupon. oreample,allcommuniqueswithourExecutiveDirectoror

Board'ssignaturesmustbeapprovedthroughtheExecutiveDirector'sofce

#or"/owThis page will answer )uestions like&

I need something designed"edited"drafted # how can I engage

the communications team to get their assistance$

With a wide range of programs, services, funders, communit! partners and other

stakeholders, we understand that all team memers 'uggle various priorities

throughout the da!% We understand that and that#s wh! we#re here to help"

Think of us as !our consultants% We are a part of the team with e2perience and

knowledge in the areas of communications, marketing and media relations%

-o here is a simple flowchart that can help !ou think aout how we can work

together to get !ou the product that !ou want%


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,lertsThis page will answer )uestions like&

%ow can we contri&ute suggestions to the communications

team$

Can we tr' and assess if our suggestions are (alid$

3or our communications team at CNIB AB+NWT, ideas areke' to our

success, and we need !our input to keep our content and approach fresh

and relevant"

Alwa's remem&er the following factors should &e considered when it

comes to communications:

%umanInterest

4o !ou have an idea for a feature stor! aoutsomeone with vision loss5 This could e an opportunit! to

present their challenges, concerns or achievements in an

interesting wa!%

For example, the Edmonton Journal's piece on "Blind

Fashion" with our own Diane Bergeron was a great "human

interest" piece.

Impact 4oes it involve or affect a large group of people5

Events like 2! E#e $are Da# are good examples o%

"impact" stories.

No(elt' 4o !ou have rare or surprising news5 4id !ou discover

an article aout a revolutionar! technolog! that will have future

impact5 4id !ou hear aout a uni)ue fundraising event

pertaining to vision loss5

& great example would e the "Blind (ouch (our"

event with the $avalia show in $algar# %eaturing our children

clients.

)rominence Is a CNIB sponsor or donor holding an event,

appearing in the communit!, or addressing the media5 Will a

notale celerit! guest e attending an upcoming event5

For example, )aral#mpic champion Brian *c+eever's

ke#note address at 2! isions is a prominent stor#.

)ro*imit' Is it specific to Alerta and6or the Northwest

Territories5

While we sometimes share information aout national

CNIB events, or focus is to keep local audiences engaged and

uptodate%


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Superlati(e Is it the iggest fundraiser out of an! others this

!ear5 4id we receive a ver! generous donation or gift from a

sponsor5 7ave we roken a record5

0ocial mediaThe ne2t two pages will answer )uestions like&

What is social media$

%ow does our di(ision engage in social media acti(ities$

Can I pla' a role in promoting CNIB through social media$

Although we often identif! social media with randed platforms like Twitter

and 3aceook, social media is fundamentall! aout giving audience memers

the ailit! to contriute to and share information%

3or us at CNIB AB+NWT, we are eginning an amitious social media

strateg! ecause we know that this is an effective wa! of sharing

information to a roader audience in multiple formats% 1ost importantl!, it

allows our stakeholders to e engaged with us ! asking )uestions,

sharing our information, or 8liking9 us"

As of August :;?cni@ABNWT, and our communications team works with staff memers

to determine if Twitter is another effective wa! to reach out to respectivestakeholder groups% We are also using two secondar! social media tools&

ouTue >CNIBAlertaNWT and -oundCloud >cni@ABNWT%

%ow 'ou can help with our social media efforts

As our team continues to push information out into the social media world,

we rel! on our audience groups to e engaged with us and activel! share

information to their networks%

To this end, divisional staff memers are encouraged to follow us on Twitter,

8favourite9 our posts, and retweet posts on !our own Twitter account% ou

can also 8s!nc9 !our Twitter account with 3aceook so that an! tweets or re

tweets appear on !our 3aceook page%


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iews are a crucial part of ouTue and -oundCloud" -hare a video or audio

clip !ou like on our ouTue or -oundCloud channel% ou can either cop! and

paste the D.E into a 3aceook post, or use one of the 8share9 uttons

featured on each page%

And rememer, with social media content is e(er'thing" 4o !ou have an

upcoming event or an! e2citing news aout !our work5 *lease let one of the

communications team memers know and we#ll Tweet it"

sing common sense

.ememer, when in dout ask"

Eike most other ma'or organi$ations, we emplo! several protocols to ensure

that our messaging is consistent and that our reputation remains intact%Consider some of the following rules ut also refer to the -taff -ocial

1edia Fuidelines on the *ortal&

se a disclaimer that states that 'our social media channel is

for personal use, and that opinions e2pressed are personal and not

those of CNIB%

)rotect 'our pri(ac'and rememer that an!thing that#s posted

online can never e full! erased"

Think &efore 'ou post% If !ou post negative comments aout other

individuals or organi$ations even on a personal account this can

negativel! impact CNIB#s reputation%

,espect the confidentialit' of CNIB &usiness and clients% Dse

caution and common sense when posting aout our organi$ation%

Need a hand$ We#re here to help" Ask a communications team memer to

give !ou a )uick walkthrough of how to create a social media account and

share content from our social media channels%


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1ur media relations policyThis page will answer )uestions like&

What happens if I get a call from the media$

Who are the official spokespeople for our di(ision$

Can I speak to the media$

As we continue to raise our profile, we hope to e in a position where media

looks to us as their primar! source of information" Although most outlets will

contact one of our communications team memers directl!, there is a

possiilit! that !ou ma! get a phone call% 7ere are some things to

rememer&

When 'ou are contacted &' the media, take down their information and

tell them that !ou will alert someone on the communications team% ou canalso provide them with the following primar! media contact&

ung-uk .!u, CNIB AB+NWT Communications

GH;%;ackup spokesperson for our

division is ung-uk from the communications team%

There will &e times when the communications team reaches out to

su&3ect e*perts >e%g%, (M1 or IE- specialists% We will make the re)uest

directl! to staff and set up a time to go through ke! messages and

preliminar! media training%
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

here to help

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