In the last of our series on internal comms in the private, public and third sectors, we examine the challenges and benefits of working for a charity, non-profit or NGO in internal communications

Louise Young, communications manager, Policy Connect

The third sector is unique because we work for more than commercial gain – charities, not-for-profits and social enterprises like Policy Connect work toward the common good. Policy Connect influences political change and progresses toward fact-based policy growth. We’ve been working through an especially turbulent political climate, with the General Election, climate change issues, recession, cuts and most recently the Brexit EU referendum result.

I work at a not-for-profit social enterprise. I’ve been here a year, and over the past 12 months I’ve seen our internal communications grow through the changes – one of the first things I did when I started was introduce a bi-monthly staff newsletter. Because the third sector environment is so changeable and affected by policy and funding, this kind of formal and regular communication is essential.

For me, as Communications Manager, one of my strategic targets is to develop our cross- departmental communications. By encouraging us to talk to each other more, we know what each team member is doing and what our 18 All-Party Groups, commissions and forums are working on so that we can cross-sell essential funding streams to stakeholders.

We’re also heavily influenced by the eternal ‘small but busy’ factor. Internal communications is a central focus point in the busy-ness where we can share a vision, business strategy and manage times of change. I think the word ‘social’ sums up how we approach our internal communications too.

Everything we do is done not just for the good of our funding and business development so we can propel what we do into the limelight, but for the development of us as staff and as a team. This means we can better do our jobs and communicate political change, information and events for our members, visitors and parliamentarians.

Joe Turrent, internal communications manager, British Heart Foundation

Internal communication teams often say they have no money. But in the third sector, our internal comms budget really is tiny. That’s a big challenge, but like many constraints, it can be liberating if you embrace it.

At the British Heart Foundation, our people want us to keep our costs to a minimum so that more of our funds can go towards our life saving research. So we take care to avoid ‘glossing’ our comms. And once you get into that frame of mind, it can be a really positive thing.

People have been talking about wonky comms recently – the idea that authentic, unvarnished messages will resonate more with audiences – and that’s something we definitely go for at the British Heart Foundation.

Essentially, our approach is to look out for innovative ideas from elsewhere, and then do our best to replicate them while spending nothing.

It helps that so many of our staff and volunteers have a personal connection to heart disease, which means they really care where the money goes. It also means we don’t have to dig around for inspiring stories – they’re everywhere!

@Emmavicwilson It’s really rewarding to help raise voices that otherwise may not be heard through the power of comms in the third sector.

@browning_vicky Charities don’t communicate just to talk about how they change the world: they communicate to make change happen

@Gemma_Finnegan Get everyone involved! Staff/ volunteers being vocal about your organisation helps massively

@SarahMarl Accessibility and creativity don’t have be limited because of budget but often put down as first point