Free and affordable communications resources - Barking Owl

We shared our favourite (free or affordable) communications resources, from video editing tools to social media schedulers. Download the notes to read the full list.

communications

Filmmaking - Barking Owl

Notes from the Barking Owl filmmaking workshop with HelpFilm, including tips for making an affordable film and maximising its impact.

film, filmmaking, social media, video, videography

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) workshop notes - Barking Owl

Notes from the Barking Owl workshop on SEO with Blue Array. These notes contain easy and free or affordable tips on maximising your organisation's search engine and online presence.

comms, communications, websites, social media, jobs

Volunteers' Week brand guidelines

These branding guidelines will help you engage with Volunteers' Week. Download the logos and assets from the website using the link below.

volunteers, volunteering, comms, communications, logo, branding, social media

Big Help Out - NAVCA members' meeting (9th April 2024)

These notes from a NAVCA members' meeting contain information about the Big Help Out, Volunteers' Week, Small Charity Week, #VolunteerReady and the Big Lunch. They contain information and updates on each campaign and event, including key dates, communications assets and toolkits, and current plans for events.

volunteering

LinkedIn - Barking Owl

This document includes notes from a Barking Owl session on LinkedIn, including tips on content, analytics, engagement, getting staff involved and more.

comms, communications, social media, linkedin

Volunteers Week, the Big Help Out and Pride Month - Barking Owl

Notes from the Barking Owl session on 25 April, where we discussed plans for Volunteers Week, the Big Help Out and Pride Month.

comms, communications, social media, volunteering

CharityDigital leaflet

Leaflet from the Barking Owl meeting on 25/04/24 from CharityDigital, to find out more and to share with your local networks.

comms, communications, charitydigital, tech, resources

Using AI safely and effectively - National Cyber Security Centre

These slides, from NCSC's presentation at the NAVCA Annual Conference 2024, give an overview of the risks and benefits of using AI as a charity.

Analytics - Barking Owl

These notes are from the Barking Owl meeting on 4 June 2024. We explored communications analytics, shared ideas and tips, and more.

Proud Changemakers Presentation - Pride Month - Barking Owl

This presentation is by Proud Changemakers, who visited Barking Owl to tell us more about authentic communication around and beyond Pride Month, to celebrate LGBTQIA+ inclusivity.

Developing a Social Media Policy - Charity Commission checklist

Use this checklist to help you think about what to include in your social media policy.

Running local communications networks - Barking Owl

These notes are from the Barking Owl network meeting for communications workers. We discussed running local communications networks, the value of this, challenges and solutions, and top tips.

Far Right Violence: A Messaging Guide

NEON have produced a helpful messaging guide when communicating more widely about the violence, called ‘Far Right Violence: A Messaging Guide’. This contains helpful guidance on language and challenging racist rhetoric.

edi

Keeping Safe Online

Recent far-right activity in temporary accommodation has meant increased scrutiny of organisations in the sector, including on social media. In this resource, there are a number of practical tips on how to improve online safety preventatively and how to respond to breaches of security. HOPE not hate is not an organisation dedicated to digital security, but they have collated best practice from a variety of sources here.

AI session - prompt sheet

Chat GPT prompts for session on 05/09/24.

AI session - slides

Slides by Caroline Broadway from Dandelion Applied AI, from the Barking Owl session. These slides contain a starting point for using ChatGPT in your communications.

Black History Month 2023 - Barking Owl

At this meeting, we spent some time discussing plans for Black History Month. We also shared some learning around filmmaking, SEO, Pride Month and running local communications networks.

Black History Month 2024 - Barking Owl

These notes are from the Barking Owl meeting discussing Black History Month, themes and resources. They also contain notes on Trustees Week.

Social Media Policy Guidance - Cambridge CVS

At the latest Barking Owl meeting, we discussed social media policies and what needs to be included. This example is from Cambridge CVS.

Communications planning - Barking Owl

At the January meeting of Barking Owl, the NAVCA network for communications workers, we talked about communications planning and shared our tips for effective planning and talking to colleagues about comms.

comms, communications,

Awareness Days and Months 2025

This spreadsheet lists some of the important awareness days and months for 2025, to help with comms and campaigns planning (from NAVCA member Spark Somerset)

Awareness Days and Months - Barking Owl

These notes are from the February meeting of Barking Owl, where we discussed Awareness Days, Weeks and Months, and how to plan comms campaigns around them.

Making the case for comms - Barking Owl

The Barking Owl is the NAVCA network for communications workers. This meeting discussed making the case for comms and getting the right level of priority for comms in your organisation. We talked about representation of communications at senior management level, staffing for comms, budget, website and internal comms. This document shares the experiences of comms workers at local infrastructure organisations, and will give you some ideas to bring back to your colleagues.

Social media - Barking Owl

These notes from the May Barking Owl meeting cover our conversation around social media platforms, including X/Twitter, Bluesky, TikTok and more. We talked about what we're finding difficult and shared ideas about the different platforms and ways of reaching our members.

instagram, facebook, whatsapp, communications, comms

Impact reporting - Barking Owl

These notes from the April Barking Owl meeting cover different aspects of communicating impact, including some useful tools for reporting on numbers, as well as tips for sharing stories from our local communities

crm, data, impact, plinth, social value

Canva - Barking Owl

We discussed Canva, shared our tips and tricks for using the platform, including brand guidelines, templates, visual effects and more. We also discussed video editing tools.

AI

Talking about what we do - Barking Owl

The meeting focused on addressing challenges local infrastructure organisations face in communicating their work and missions to stakeholders. We discussed strategies for improving communication, while exploring challenges around terminology and explaining our roles to various audiences. The group agreed on the importance of creating resources like a jargon buster.

Analytics - Barking Owl

Notes from a Barking Owl meeting on analytics. We covered social media, websites and CRMs, and shared our top tips for effective analytics and reporting.