TELSTRA KIDS FUNDSHOUT OUT GUIDEHOW TO PROMOTE YOUR GRANT

INTRODUCTION

YOU RECEIVED A TELSTRA KIDS GRANT?CONGRATULATIONS!

YOU’LL NO DOUBT WANT TO “SHOUT IT OUT LOUD” TO ALL YOUR SUPPORTERS.

Spreading the word about your Telstra Kids grant can help you to:

> promote your activities > show your success in getting funding > attract more volunteers or participants > tell the world about the great stuff you’re doing > let us know you’re happy to receive the grant!

Not sure where to start or how to get the best results from your announcement? Here are some tips and tools to get you going.

IN THIS GUIDE, WE COVER:

> using social media to promote your grant > taking great photos > tapping into Telstra’s support > writing newsletter articles / blog posts / tweets / Facebook posts > links to Telstra Foundation logos, etc.

We have assumed a basic knowledge of social media, but we’ve included tips and examples that should be easy to follow even if you’re a novice…and save you time if you’re not.

Most importantly, don’t feel like you have to do everything that we have outlined in this guide. There are just some ideas to help you along the way.

2 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE

4 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 5

Sample tweet for Twitter:

SHOW SOME PERSONALITY

Are you “pleased” to receive the Kids Fund Grant? Or are you “high-fiving” or “doing a happy dance”? Which is more fun to read and more memorable?

You can spark up your social media messaging to suit the personality of your organisation or your project – let your enthusiasm shine through!

KEEP IT LEAN

Your Facebook message doesn’t have the length restrictions of Twitter, but you should try to keep your message brief. If you want to include a link so readers can find out more about your project/activity, use Bit.ly or similar to get a shorter link (and to track how many people click through).

On Twitter, aim to keep your tweet, say, 20 characters shy of the 140-character limit. This allows room for others to re-tweet your message. Remember you can shorten your words (“w/” will do for “with”, “+” for “and”, “thx” for “thanks”) and don’t be shy about dropping vowels as long as your meaning is clear (e.g. “classrm” for “classroom”).

HAVE A CONVERSATION

Remember to write it like you’d say it and – like in any conversation – be polite and respond to questions.

1. BEFORE YOU BEGIN

We would love you to promote your Telstra Kids grant far and wide. It’s your grant, there’s no need to loop us in first or to come to us for approvals.

But if you want to mention children by name, or to use their photos, we encourage you to do the right thing and get advance written approval from the kids’ parents/carers and let them know how the photo is going to be used (e.g. on social media sites like Facebook, in emails, in newsletters or public blogs).

We also encourage you not to use children’s surnames – for privacy reasons.

2. GET SOCIAL

Social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram offer great ways to promote your grant.

FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Here’s one we prepared earlier

Below are some sample messages that you can use in social media. Just fill in the relevant details, and then check out the tips and tools below to spice up your message.

Sample post for Facebook:

Sample Facebook Post20mins

We just received a grant from #TelstraKids Fundfor our [insert program name].We’re [insert emotion] as we’ll use this funding to [insert description].

Sample Twitter Post30mins

Yay! Just received #TelstraKids grant for our[insert activity/program name]: $$$ to[insert description of what you’ll buy].Thanks @Telstra_news

6 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE

SHOW AND TELL

Photos are a great way to tell a story. Instagram makes images the hero, but even on Facebook you can stand out by posting a strong photo. Twitter is also making it possible to upload multiple photos to a tweet.

DON’T FORGET TO HASH # TAG

Include a hashtag or two. Hashtags make it easier to find and follow a particular topic on social media. You can check sites like hashtags.org to see trending (most popular) hashtags that you may relate to the topic of your tweet, or you can create your own.

If your Telstra Kids grant is funding a new campaign or project, you may want to think about creating a new hashtag that will connect all your messaging about it. Try to keep your hashtag short and easy to remember – and don’t forget to use the search tools on Twitter and Facebook to check it isn’t already being used for another purpose.

The Telstra Kids website features a newsfeed, which means relevant messages from social media will appear on the site – just another reason you should be sure to add #TelstraKids to your message.

DOUBLE-UP

Connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts so that your Tweets will automatically post to your Facebook wall. Check out http://support.twitter.com for a step-by-step guide.

TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 7

SERVE UP SECONDS

Think in advance about how you can serve up your news to social media in a few “bites” – you don’t have to cover everything in one go.

If you keep your social media updates friendly and brief, you’ll find that people are happy to hear from you more regularly. You can follow up your grant announcement with updates on progress/milestones/challenges/wins. For example:

Day 1 = dynamite! Kids had a blast w/ [activity/project] thanks to our #TelstraKids grant. Thanks @Telstra_news

Child’s play! [Activity/project] so much easier today, thx to [new equipment] bought with our #TelstraKids grant. Thanks @Telstra_news

Think about how you can use photos to tell your story (see section 5).

INSTAGRAM

Instagram lets you tell a story with images and short videos. If you’re new to Instagram, check out the Instagram for Business blog http://blog.business.instagram.com; it gives some great advice on how to use hashtags to promote your content.

See section 5 of this guide for tips on how to take great photos to promote your activities. Remember that Instagram images are square so you’ll need to crop your photos; make sure you don’t frame you subjects too tight or you risk cropping out something important.

TELSTRA SOCIAL

Here’s where you’ll find Telstra on social media:

We also have 46 Telstra Facebook community pages across Australia, from Kalgoorlie to Cairns. See the current list in section 6.6 of this guide.

Insta

@Telstra_news facebook.com/Telstra @Telstra

8 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 9

PROMOTE IT IN YOUR NEWSLETTERS/E-NEWSLETTERS

Don’t forget to promote the grant in your newsletter, if you have one. You can base this on the content you develop for your media release.

Think about other organisations or groups you work with: do they also have newsletters or email lists you can tap into to promote your grant?

ANNUAL REPORT

Highlighting your grant in your annual report is an additional way to give Telstra Kids a “shout out”.

3. GO TRADITIONAL

Just because you’re “getting social” with your good news, doesn’t mean you should forget about more traditional means of promoting your Telstra Kids grant.

DISTRIBUTE A MEDIA RELEASE

Get information about your grant out to the public by sending a media release to local and trade media outlets.

See section 6 for a media release template that you can use; it’s as simple as filling in the gaps. If you want to include quotes from kids in your release, be sure to get parents’/carers’ approval first; you may also want to consider omitting children’s surnames.

Your local newspaper is a great place to start. Your story can run more than once – in different local papers – if you think of a few “angles” so it appeals to different geographic locations. For example, where does the activity take place?

Where do your key people live? The Telstra employee who nominated you: which town/suburb do they live or work in? You can make minor variations to the media release and then send it to different papers at the same time (no-one wants old news).

SEND A LETTER OR EMAIL

Why not send a letter or email (whichever you use more often) to your stakeholders, letting them know about the grant? This can be based on the information in your media release.

Your stakeholders may include staff, Board and volunteers, your supporters, your clients, your local community leaders, local businesses, peer or partner bodies, politicians, etc.

10 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 11

SEND US YOUR HOOKS

If you’ve got a great story hook to share, or a photo opportunity coming up in a few weeks’ time, you can approach us directly. Simply send a brief email to telstrakidsfund@team.telstra.com telling us the who/what/how/when/why – dot points will do the trick. Please provide as much notice as you can.

GRANT OUTCOMES

There’s no arduous report-writing required for your Telstra Kids grant, but we would love you to tell us about the spark it gave to your project/activity.

That’s best delivered via a brief summary, one or two great images, and any endorsements you’re happy to provide. The summary should take the form of a blog post article (read on for a simple “how to”).

You can submit this on the Telstra Kids website using your unique login at any time – no need to wait until the project is finished before sharing with us!

Just remember that you will need to make sure you get written consent from the people in the photograph (and from guardians of any children in the photo). Make sure to let them know where their photo might be posted. Also, when writing your post, it is best not to use children’s surnames for privacy reasons.

http://www.telstrakidsfund.com

BLOG IT

The Telstra Kids website is a great place for you to promote your activities. It features profiles of projects we support, written by grant recipients in the friendly and brief style of a blog post.

Write your own blog post following the format, style and word count in section 6.5, and we’d love to feature it on the site. Submit it through the Telstra Kids website using your unique login, along with a good quality photo (see section 5) and a completed release form (see 6.7).

Again, just remember that you will need to make sure you get written consent from the people in the photograph (and from guardians of any children in the photo). Make sure to let them know where their photo might be posted.

Also, when blogging it, it is best not to use children’s surnames for privacy reasons.

http://www.telstrakidsfund.com

4. TAP INTO TELSTRA

NO NEED TO ASK

No, we don’t need you to check in with us before you promote your grant. Just go for it! That said, we do love it if you loop us in via your local Telstra store (see below).

STAY SAFE ONLINE

Please check out our advice for staying safe online, particularly our guide to safe social networking – visit http://www.telstrakidsfund.com

Make sure you do the right thing and enjoy social networking responsibly.

LINK IN WITH YOUR LOCAL

Your local Telstra store is your local link to Telstra Kids. Need a quote for your media release? Like to acknowledge Telstra by including someone from our team in a photo shoot by the local paper? The manager of your nearest Telstra retail store is the person to contact.

Many of our stores now have their own Facebook community page – see section 6.6 for a current list. You can use these pages to update your local store on your activities, to communicate with the team and to say thanks.

12 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 13

RULE OF THIRDS

When taking photos out in the field, try to apply the “rule of thirds”.

The examples below outline how this works in varying ways. This makes it easier at a post production level to add text or play around with the crop of the image.

5. TAKING GREAT PHOTOS

Below we share with you Telstra’s guide to taking great shots for social media. But first, here’s some extra tips tailored for you:

CAPTURE THE ACTION

An engaging photo tells a story. Try to think about the photo in advance and plan what you’ll focus on: how can you show the benefits of the Telstra Kids grant?

LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE

Wide or happy eyes can make all the difference to how we connect with photos of kids. To try getting down low so the camera is at their eye level. Don’t try to include everyone: a pic of four kids can make a better connection than a group shot of 20 tiny heads.

FIND THE LIGHT

Aim for diffused, natural light. Try to avoid harsh middle-of-the-day shadows by shooting early in the morning or late in the afternoon, if you can.

GET CLICK HAPPY

Take loads and loads of photos and choose the best.

Light source is partially obscured by the tree, you still capture detail in the background and the subject will display as a silhouette.

Subject is lit from the left with natural light

Light source is not obscured, making the foreground dark and the subject difficult to distinguish.

This shot has been taken indoors with the only natural light coming from behind the subjects. This creates a dark foreground making the faces unrecognisable.

14 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 15

BLURRING/CAMERA SHAKE/FOCUS

While using a smartphone to take images you need to be careful of the slow shutter speed, this means any slight movement of the phone or the subject will cause the image to be blurred.

When taking photos always make sure you review the shots before commencing to the next shot or finishing the shoot. Especially take care when there is low light, the shutter speed will slow down further to allow more light in, making it more likely you’ll have a blurred image.

Also when taking shots, check your focus. This is not as much of an issue on smartphones as the focus is generally automatic and fairly reliable.

Blurred/out of focus images cannot be fixed in post production and won’t be able to be used.

LIGHTING

When taking shots always make sure the light source is coming from behind the camera. You also need to be wary of glare which may cause the subject to squint if you’re taking a photo of a group or an individual.

When taking landscape shots you can take the shot with a light source in front of you, but always make sure the source is obscured by a structure to negate any lens flaring, see below examples.

The background is clear but the subjects are blurred, this image would work if the camera was moved with the motion of the subjects. That would make them clear, and the background blurred.

Subject is out of focus.

The subjects and the background are all blurred due to the camera moving as the shutter went off. This image would be unusable.

Subject is correctly focused on.

DO’S & DON’TS

Here’s a quick run down on what to do when sourcing shots for social media, and of course what not to do.

COMPOSITION

This is especially important when taking photos of staff or community groups, you need to take control of the shoot and make sure the photo is dynamic and interesting.

A group of people standing together with no expression doesn’t exactly send out good vibes about a project, the photo needs to convey the story which it ties to.

We need to get the best photo possible to get people to engage with the post. Don’t be afraid to move people around or even move them to a location with better light. Be creative and feel free to try different things to get that shot. The more photos you take the closer you’re going to get to the ideal shot.

See below example.

16 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 17

Before: Subjects have been oddly placed together, unnecessary inclusion of landscape.

After: Focus is now squarely on the subjects, much more emotion is displayed by using close ups.

DO: Make sure the photo is interesting, guide your subjects to make sure you get the story across.

DO:Create depth to your image by focusing on the middle ground. Blurred items in front of the subject can look great, but make sure they’re not distracting. *Not all camera lenses are capable of this

DO: Change the perspective from which you take your photo, sometimes you can reveal a lot more by getting higher or lower when taking the shot.

DON’T: Let the subjects stand around looking disinterested, if the subjects don’t seem to care, why would the audience care about the content?

DON’T: Focus on the wrong spot. Always check your photos thoroughly afterwards to make sure, out of focus images cannot be fixed in post production.

DON’T: Get tied up in looking for different perspectives, sometimes they’re not relevant and an old fashioned wide angle shot will be perfect.

DO: Use natural light where possible. This will make sure that skin tones and other colours will always show up as naturally as possible.

DO: Crop images in post production. Sometimes the full image doesn’t fit a purpose, but we can always crop the photo to appear more interesting.

DO: Be creative with your composition. Create space around your subject to draw the eye to your subject.

DON’T: Use flash indoors on your images. Where possible move to a point where there is as much natural light as possible, or at night, move away from fluorescent lighting as it washes out colour.

DON’T: Zoom when using a smart phone camera. It will decrease the resolution and you lose a lot of information that we can’t get back in post production. In most cases a smart phone camera captures enough information to crop at high resolution.

DON’T: Take your photo with a filter applied. This will remove certain information in the image which cannot be brought back. Any image adjustments should be made in post production.

DO: Take images towards the sun if there is no glare evident. It can create a silhouette effect which is great for images, this can be perfected in post production.

DO: Look at using a different app to the standard phone camera. Some examples are Camera+ or VSCO.

Some examples can be found here: http://www.creativebloq.com/design-tools/best-photo-apps-513764

DON’T: Go crazy with lens flare. Most of the time this will wreck the colour balance of the image, this can be added in post production but it’s very rare a lens flare will be required.

DON’T: Take shots directly from Instagram or Hipstamatic, we want to keep as much information in the image as possible. These apps will destroy the original image.

18 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE | 19

DO’S & DON’TS DO’S & DON’TS

6.1

6.2

6.3

20 | TELSTRA KIDS SHOUT OUT GUIDE

6. RESOURCES

All the resources mentioned in this guide, all together for easy reference:

> sample newsletter article > sample message for Facebook > sample message for Twitter > media release template > sample blog post for Telstra Kids website > list of Telstra Local Facebook pages > Telstra Foundation logos.

Please note that we don’t have promotional banners or apparel that we can provide to you.

SAMPLE NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

Great news! Telstra Kids grant

We are delighted to announce our success in applying for a $1,200 grant from Telstra.

Telstra Kids funds the little things that can make a big difference to kids’ lives, helping kids to play and learn. Our Telstra Kids grant will be used to [explain project].

Huge thanks to [name] from Telstra, who is [relationship/link to your organisation, if any], for endorsing our application, which was kindly prepared for us by [name, role].

We are very excited to share in the million dollars the Telstra Foundation provides each year to help kids across Australia to learn and play

SAMPLE MESSAGE FOR FACEBOOK

We just received a grant from #TelstraKids fund for our [insert program name]. We’re [emotion] as we’ll use this funding to [insert description]. Thanks @Telstra_news

SAMPLE MESSAGE FOR TWITTER:

Yay! Just received #TelstraKids grant for our [insert activity/program name]. We’ll be using the $$$ to [insert description]. Thanks @Telstra_news [insert other relevant hashtag/s]

6.56.4MEDIA RELEASE TEMPLATE

Please update this template to reflect your own project and its benefits. Feel free to edit the description of how you feel about receiving the Telstra Kids grant.

[insert date]

Local kids [insert activity/describe benefit e.g. get new playground equipment] thanks to Telstra Kids Fund grant

[Insert your organisation name] is giving local kids [insert what the project will achieve e.g. new playground equipment] following a $1,200 donation from Telstra Kids Fund.

”We are very excited to share in the million dollars the Telstra Foundation provides each year to help connect kids to their local communities,” said [name/title] from [insert your organisation].

[Add outline of your project and the difference it will make to children’s lives].

“Our new [insert activity/project benefit e.g. new playground equipment] is a huge hit with the kids. The children are [describe benefit].

“At the heart of every Telstra Kids grant is a Telstra employee who nominates a local community activity they value. Our sincere thanks go to Telstra’s [name], [relationship/link to your organisation, if any], who applied for this donation on our behalf.”

Telstra Kids funds the little things that can make a big difference to children’s lives, helping kids to play and learn.

Since 2002, the Telstra Kids Fund has contributed millions of dollars to thousands of community projects for kids.

Photo opportunity: [describe idea of what could be photographed, who could feature, what they could be doing, etc]

Media contact: [insert who in your organisation would be the contact, include: name, title, contact number/s]

SAMPLE BLOG POST FROM TELSTRA KIDS WEBSITE

For more examples, visit [insert URL].

Getting back to nature

[Start with a one sentence summary of the project. It can be easier to write this after you’ve written the main story.]

Young members of a nature club for kids in South Australia are high-fiving their grubby hands, celebrating a Telstra Kids grant.

[Attribute the article to someone with close links to the project. Make sure they have approved the story before you submit it to us.]

By Rona Sakko

Rona is Club President, Junior Field Naturalists SA.

[Prepare a 200-word (maximum) article that describes the project in simple language, avoiding jargon. Try to highlight the benefits of the Telstra Kids funding.]

“Thank you, Telstra, for giving our nature club some of your grant money so we can buy some very handy tools that we can take on field trips. We enjoy doing outside activities and getting our hands dirty!”

Seven-year-old Zara really sums up what our Telstra Kids grant means to us!

Junior Field Naturalists SA is the only club of its type in the State. We celebrated our thirtieth birthday in 2013, but for a 30-year-old we had very few assets.

The Telstra Kids grant was of enormous benefit. It has allowed us to purchase equipment that we can use at our monthly meetings and, in particular, when we’re out on field trips: dipping nets, sample containers, viewing microscopes, magnifying glasses, listening devices, and many other pieces of equipment that help the young people and their families explore our natural environment with scientists and conservationists.

The aim of our club is to make young people more aware of the need to conserve our environment if our native animals and flora are to survive. The best way to do this is through hands-on activities, and the equipment is a huge help.

[Include a brief caption for the photo you submit, plus a “release” form if the image features a child/children.]

Seven-year-old Zara says: “Thank you, Telstra. We enjoy doing outside activities and getting our hands dirty.”

6.6

6.7

LIST OF TELSTRA FACEBOOK PAGES

Current at April 2014. This list will continue to grow, so ask your local store or do a search on Facebook.

QueenslandGold Coast | Jimboomba | Toowoomba | Kawana Waters | Gympie | Whitsunday | Townsville | Cairns | Caloundra

New South WalesWagga Wagga | Gungahlin | Nowra | Wollongong | Richmond | Kotara | Tamworth| Armidale | Coffs Harbour | Tweed Heads | Armidale

VictoriaMildura | Warnambool | Ballarat | Geelong CBD | Broadmeadows | Mornington | Traralgon | Bairnsdale | Bendigo

Western AustraliaPerth CBD | Mandurah | Bunbury | Albany | Kalgoorlie | Geraldton

South Australia

Adelaide Northpark | Adelaide Glenelg | Adelaide Seaford | Adelaide CBD | Whyalla | Mount Barker | Murray Bridge | Mt. Gambier | Kadina

TasmaniaLaunceston | Hobart

ACTGungahlin

NORTHERN TERRITORYNorthern Territory

TELSTRA FOUNDATION LOGOS

http://telstrakidsfund.com/downloads

7. THANKS

We really appreciate your efforts to promote your Telstra Kids grant. We hope that giving a “shout out” in this way helps you to continue to attract the dollars you need.

Telstra Kids Fund - a million ways to show we care