Rob Dyson gives his perspective on NCVO’s Campaigns Conference, highlighting speakers’ concerns about the Big Society agenda and passing on some tips on media strategy.

There were clear signs of frustration from two of Big Society's (cautious) allies at the NCVO Campaigns Conference on Tuesday. As reported by Civil Society, Paul Twivy, co-founder of the Big Society Network noted that the Conservative's big idea is "divisive even within the Cabinet, and [...] is increasingly loathed by the public".

Next, Julian Dobson - co-founder and ex-editor of New Start magazine - riled against the notion that prescribing to the Big Society narrative would increase the will of some to volunteer. He argued that social action often comes from "conflict and contest; not packaged, branded and sold to us by government".

Both speakers maintained that collective action and localism are strong community principles that we must embrace. But both were uncertain that the government's narrative was clear or convincing enough.

Meanwhile in his introduction to the Conference, Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow warned that these are "desperately tough times for the voluntary sector, but there has to be a premium on getting more for less".

There were absolutely no suggestions that 2011 was going to be anything but difficult, and if there was a recurring theme it was that we must use this period to scrutinise our working practices and ensure every ounce of our output is greater than our input.

Media strategy

In this context of amplifying our impact with next-to-no resources, Jonathan Moore, CEO of Suffolk Association of Voluntary Organisations, and I presented a splinter seminar on media strategy planning to a room of voluntary sector campaigners.

Stressing that there are no magic buttons, we shared some basics which never change. The theme of the session was rooted in relationships, and to summarise our main points:

• Research - this is key to any strategy and involves knowing the key people, and an immersion in the tone and language of your key area.
• Retune your messages to be as pertinent to the audience as possible. Jonathan talked about the importance of localism in non-profits' work, and thinking as small as the Parish newsletter in terms of reaching media that matters to local people.
• Build a network of contacts - not only journalists, but local community leaders, online champions, and real people with strong stories that can highlight the themes of your work. 
• Integration - offline and online channels are not separate silos. Whilst some of our supporters will be rooted in traditional ways of getting local knowledge, the viral nature and ease of sharing online means ensuring messages are strong and succinct for bloggers and social networkers too.

If we can remember that we're not alone, and we are in fact networked non-profits (to borrow a phrase from US fundraising expert Beth Kanter), then we can throw away our self-punishing 'hair shirts' as Jonathan suggested, and embrace the power of many.
 
For further reading, and listening - non-profit digital reporters Amplified darted around the conference live-blogging and documenting the event. Their microsite on the conference can be found at http://www.amplified10.com/ncvocc/. It's well worth dipping into.
 
For tips on using social media and new digital tools to stay ahead of the game, check out some of my previous posts for Civil Society IT.

Rob Dyson is PR manager at Whizz-Kidz and a board member of CharityComms