We’re looking for comms professionals keen to use their skills to boost the efforts of community organisations across Aotearoa New Zealand.
We need volunteers with experience in communications strategy and planning, media relations, stakeholder engagement, writing and editing, marketing communications, web content, usability and analytics, social media, branding, internal communications, desktop publishing, visual storytelling and more.
As volunteer Brad Young puts it: “the collective is a great way to use your knowledge, skills and experience to help the community in a way that’s really meaningful and fulfilling.” And you’ll be blown away by the response you get from organisations who are able to achieve so much more with your help. We call it the comms collective buzz.
How does it work?
When you sign up to volunteer, we’ll ask you some details about your experience, interests and availability. Then we’ll get back to you when there’s an organisation needing help that might be a match for you. We provide a brief of what’s required and how much time we’d expect it to take.
There’s no pressure to take on a volunteering gig if it’s not the right time or the right thing for you. But we do ask that you get back to us with a yes or no quickly so we can find another volunteer if need be. Equally, if you’re really keen to get your teeth into something, let us know so we can keep an eye out for something suitable.
If you agree to take on the project, we’ll put you in touch with the organisation and leave you to connect. We’ll check in after a couple of months to see how things are going, and we’re always available to bounce ideas off or if things change for you. You can also discuss your project in the Comms Collective Volunteers closed Facebook group.
What type of matches do we make?
We focus our support on giving a time-effective and efficient comms boost to community organisations who typically have little communications resource, expertise or budget. For example, you could:
- work with an organisation to help them identify their communications needs and priorities
- help develop and/or implement a communications plan for an event or campaign
- run some brainstorming sessions on organisational/communications strategy or planning
- develop some key messages for an organisation to use as the basis of their communications
- coach someone working on communications in a community organisation
- provide specific advice in areas such as media relations, social media, branding, etc
- offer writing support (writing, editing, proofing, reviewing, advice).
How much time do you need to have available?
A big time commitment isn’t necessary – we figure we can achieve a lot more collectively than as individuals, so any time you have to give is valuable.
You might have a couple of hours a month to coach someone or write up a case study, or be prepared to put in a few more hours on an ad hoc basis for a strategy or event. We will always check your availability before we make a match, so you can make a call at the time whether you can fit it in.
How much communications experience do you need?
We’re looking for volunteers at all levels – from recent communications, marketing or journalism graduates to well seasoned communications and marketing professionals. This allows us to make more effective matches. Sometimes we might team you up with someone more or less experienced to get a job done most efficiently.
Volunteering through the collective is also an opportunity to gain greater communications experience. For example, if you want to get some practice mentoring or coaching, or want to try your hand at some different areas of communication (such as social media or PR) that aren’t part of your day-to-day role.
Read JacksonStone Director Annabel McCallum’s blog on how volunteering enhances your employability.