I sometimes get asked if I will I work with organisations that aren’t registered charities? The answer is absolutely yes! I love working with community and grassroots organisations who are making a difference in their local area.
The registered charity model comes with many benefits, as does being a Community Interest Company (CIC), which is a social enterprise business model where profits are used to benefit the local community, but these formal structures aren’t the only ways to exist as a purpose driven organisation. There are lots of different kinds of community group, some are people brought together by a shared hobby or interest such as local history, photography or astronomy; others might be shaped by a desire to improve the local area like community litter picks and clean ups or conservation projects; others might be about providing support through befriending schemes or warm spaces. They tend to be organised from the bottom up, by ordinary people who want to share an enthusiasm or make their neighbourhoods better. This means they are locally rooted and able to relate to their communities.
Helping community groups share their stories and make a difference is often about providing really focused support. Below I share some of my recent projects so you can see what this might look like in practice.
Social media content strategy
At the end of last year I worked with a band of church bell ringers. They want to get started with digital comms in 2026 as part of a recruitment campaign, so they were very clear on their big picture goal, but not sure how to achieve it, particularly in terms of social media content. I was able to give them five content pillars (these are key themes that can be used to help maintain a balanced feed) and suggested what kinds of content they might include for each. Each theme offered the ringers a different way to connect with their local community.
Guides and resource packs
I can create step by step guides that you can refer back to, information banks and resource packs. These are tailored to your organisation or project and designed to help you build confidence and consistency in your communications. For example, whilst I was working with CPRE Bedfordshire I wrote a series of simple two page guides to help local action groups being supported by the charity get started with different aspects of online campaigning.
Writing support
Copywriting is all about creating content that is designed to inspire action. For example, you might want people to click on a link, read a feature, volunteer, donate or sign a petition. Whether it’s strengthening your existing copywriting or guiding your first steps in persuasive writing, I can help you understand what makes an effective call to action for your project. I’m also happy to assist with one off projects, such as helping a warm spaces programme craft a volunteer recruitment leaflet, or with wording for grant applications.
Please get in touch if you’re a community group with a specific communications problem that you’d like me to help solve.
Shelly Dennison 