Results of Futurebuilders' media toolkit competition (14/11/2005)
18.04.2006
‘Today’ voted most popular news programme – but local coverage is what small charities really want.
Small charities would most like to be interviewed on Radio 4’s Today programme, entrants in a Futurebuilders England competition have revealed. But overall it wasn’t a grilling from John Humphries that appealed – but the chance to appear on a local news programme.
More than 70 small organisations voted for their favourite programme in order to win a Futurebuilders’ media toolkit CD-Rom, designed to help them make the most of media opportunities. The most popular type of media outlet was local news and the most popular programme was Radio 4’s early morning news programme Today.
Youth programmes scored highly amongst organisations working with young people. Chat shows including This Morning and Richard and Judy were popular, as were news programmes like BBC Breakfast News and Newsnight. Some of the more unusual answers were requests to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Apprentice, Parkinson, Gardeners’ Question Time and Desert Island Discs.
Futurebuilders England carried out the survey as part of its drive to help the voluntary and community sector raise its profile and expand its role in public service delivery. Chief Executive Richard Gutch said, “This survey shows that many smaller voluntary organisations are fully aware of the power of the media and are clear about who they want to reach. As an investor in the sector we are committed to helping smaller organisations develop skills to communicate effectively using the media. Voluntary and community organisations are uniquely placed to deliver public services because of their experience and close relationships with local communities. Getting their stories on Today or local news programmes is a great way of getting the message to local authorities and other potential purchasers of their services.”
The Futurebuilders England CD-ROM media toolkit was specially developed in partnership with the Media Trust and is available to organisations that are approved for a Futurebuilders investment. So far Futurebuilders has approved investments of over £35 million for more than 90 organisations in England.