Communication and publicity

Talking about Marie Curie and your fundraising activities is key to making them successful. It’s important to be consistent with approved charity messages and use appropriate communication methods.

On this page:

Talking about the charity

Whenever you're talking to members of public about Marie Curie, the most important things to remember are as follows:

• use positive language when speaking about Marie Curie and your volunteering activities
• use Marie Curie's key messages
• choose one topic at a time. You could choose to talk about an area of our work which is relevant to your community, such as hospice or the nursing services. If these don't exist in your area, you could talk about the Support Line, which is there for everyone across the UK.
• keep it simple.

Marie Curie Speakers

Marie Curie Speakers are volunteers from across the UK who give talks in their communities about Marie Curie and what we do.

This could be anything from a 10-minute cheque presentation to a 45-minute speech. All our Speakers are given training and resources prepare for these talks.

If you'd like to become a Marie Curie Speaker, speak to your local community fundraiser or email speaker@mariecurie.org.uk.

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Promoting your activities

Your fundraising group will be successful in the community if people know and understand what you are doing, so promoting your activities is an essential part of planning.

Posters, leaflets and other materials

Marie Curie has developed a distinctive visual identity for fundraising groups which is consistent with the charity's brand identity.

This will help people in the local area to recognise that your activities are part of Marie Curie and ensure that materials are consistent with other Fundraising Groups across the country.

Once your event has been approved, you can access hardcopy materials to promote your event through your Marie Curie Community Fundraiser or use the online templates.

Put these promotional materials around your local area in places that are relevant to your activity or event audience.

Hardcopy materials 

You can request hardcopy materials from your Community Fundraiser such as posters or leaflets that will have a space to add your event details.

Some events such as the Blooming Great Tea Party will have its own materials provided in the fundraising pack or by your Community Fundraiser.

Making custom materials

There are free templates available to make custom materials for your event.

If you have access to a colour printer, you can create the materials on editable PDFs and print as many as you need.

Producing a template newsletter

Producing a newsletter to highlight your group’s activities, successes and upcoming events can be a great way to keep your supporters informed.

Under resources, you'll find a template and guide to help your group produce your very own newsletter. This can be produced monthly or quarterly and sent by email to your group’s helpers and supporters, or printed and taken along to events.

Using the local media

There will be occasions when the local media can be used to publicise the launch of your fundraising group and your achievements, promote your activities and recruit new members.

You'll find templates for press releases, photocalls and more under resources.

Sending a press release to local newspapers and radio stations either a few weeks before or straight after the event is a good way of generating coverage.

Photocalls notices for photo opportunities and letters to the editor are also great ways to publicise your activity in the local papers.

Getting the support of a local celebrity can also be helpful but should be carefully considered. Your Community Fundraiser will be able to advise if it is appropriate and the process for obtaining celebrity support.

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Ways to communicate with supporters

Personal information is very valuable to the people it belongs to and there are laws around the use of personal information held by living individuals.

Obtaining consent

You need to make sure that you have consent for contacting people by telephone, mail and email by using the charity’s approved data protection statements below.

Telephone and mail

We would like to keep you up to date on our work and fundraising activities. Please tell us if you do not want us to contact you occasionally in the future by phone or post.

Email

By giving us your email address, you agree that we may use it to send you information about our work and fundraising activities in the future.

Once you have someone’s permission to use their personal details, this data must always be kept secure.

Mailings

Local fundraising groups should be out in the community and encouraging support by word of mouth. Mailings are not suggested or recommended but we do provide stationery and templates if you need to send an individual letter to request support.

Look under resources for these.

Email

Email can be a quick, easy way to communicate but you must follow a certain protocol when sending emails and protecting your contacts’ data.

You'll find more information and guidance on using telephone, mail and email, in chapter four of your fundraising groups handbook.

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Resources

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