Publicity
US
Fundraising Events
As a registered charity there are a number of procedures that need to be followed when money is being raised in the name of Freecycle. If you are interested in raising money for Freecycle activities, it is important that you contact Deron.
Please note that local groups can not apply directly for funds or fund-raise in their own name. Freecycle is working to develop a system where our local leaders/groups, as part of the overall organization, can be empowered to gain funding with minimal bureaucracy. Please be aware, for now, that the infrastructure of Freecycle is still developing and is staffed by volunteers who are also running their local groups.
Posters, Flyers, Where can I get some?
A downloadable flyer is available here.
If you decide to produce your own material be careful to use appropriate logos so that you do not risk damaging the Freecycle® logo. Information and what you have to do is available here:
The Graphics Team may be able to help with designing these too.
Do share whatever you have done with the rest of the moderator community at: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/FreecycleLeadershipCommunity/info
Press Releases - How do I write one? Are there examples?
Working with the press is difficult. Reporters as a breed are idle and shiftless. If you do their work for them you are more likely to get results. Here are a few press releases to whet your appetite:
We have a group of volunteers who work on media issues who may be able to help you with publicity for your group. They can be contacted by emailing our info team
If you are interested in joining this team of volunteers please email this address as well.
Promoting My Group
How much time you spend on promoting your group is entirely a personal decision. There are plenty of ways you can promote your group. Here are some ideas.
Bulletin boards posted in markets, newspapers, local magazines, almost anywhere you can think of, people are reading. How about a tag line in your emails or maybe at your local community center...any way you do it, know that you are helping the community by keeping usable items out of landfills. Reuse, recycle, and reduce waste!
Publicity
Publicity for your group is great but it's not easy. Speaking to the media is an important element of getting publicity. It often helps to send them a media release.
Make sure you have a 'hook'. Be creative and have an environmental theme! Watch out for members who do interesting things with their Freecycle items, like making sculptures or house renovations; they may agree to be featured in a press article.
Aim for Headline news and you're more likely to get good exposure for your group, even if it is on page 11.
Some groups run events especially to give the media an opportunity to take photos. See:
Using the Freecycle.org Logo in Publicity - Do we need permission?
Yes, official permission is required for each individual instance of the logo about to be used by anyone other than ourselves.
Whoever is proposing to use the logo needs to receive direct and specific permission from freecycle.org. In each and every instance that the logo is to be used, please ask the reporter (for example) to write in person to info team, requesting permission to use the logo. Any subsequent use by the same person for the same purpose needs to be authorized once again.
This may sound frightful, but is a formality with which they will be familiar and takes very little time.
UK
Fundraising Events
As a registered charity there are a number of procedures that need to be followed when money is being raised in the name of Freecycle in the UK. If you are interested in raising money for Freecycle activities, it is important that you contact our UK director, .
Please note that local groups can not apply directly for funds or fund-raise in their own name. Freecycle UK is working to develop a system where our local leaders/groups, as part of the overall organisation, can be empowered to gain funding with minimal bureaucracy. Please be aware, for now, that the infrastructure of Freecycle UK is still developing and is staffed by volunteers who are also running their local groups.
Posters, Flyers, Where can I get some?
All kinds of example publicity materials are available at the UK Mod Squad and can be found here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/files/
If you decide to produce your own material be careful to use appropriate logos so that you do not risk damaging the Freecycle® logo. Information and what you have to do is available here:
The Graphics Team may be able to help with designing these too.
Do share whatever you have done with the rest of the moderator community at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/
Press Releases - How do I write one? Are there examples?
Working with the press is difficult. Reporters as a breed are idle and shiftless. If you do their work for them you are more likely to get results. There are example press releases available in the UK mod squad files at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/files/
There is some good advice about what you can do and what works in the promotion and publicity files at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/files/
We have a group of volunteers who work on media issues who may be able to help you with publicity for your group. They can be contacted by emailing: ukmedia@freecycle.org
If you are interested in joining this team of volunteers please email this address as well.
Promoting My Group
How much time you spend on promoting your group is entirely a personal decision. There are plenty of ways you can promote your group. For hints and tips, please follow the link below:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/files/
Many groups contact their local Council for support and get differing responses. Some Councils will welcome their local group with open arms and give free publicity in magazines, newsletters and their website; others show little interest. Although the Council is a good place to start, please don't get disheartened if you don't get the response you'd like. Your Council’s recycling officers are a great place to start.
Public Liability Insurance – Do we need this for events?
When promoting the group at a public event, it is your responsibility to ensure you are covered with public liability insurance. If on council ground, the local council insurance should cover you but a council risk assessment form will need to be completed prior to the day. Do discuss prior to the event with the organizers exactly what you intend doing.
Freecycle UK does have its own Public Liability Insurance which can be used where there is no exisiting local cover.
If you intend holding an event which will be covered by the Freecycle UK insurance, do notify ukadmin@freecycle.org well in advance, and you will be directed to the UK Events Support Team and a risk assemsment will be completed with you - make sure you cover the key points:
- Identify the hazards
- Decide who might be harmed and how
- Evaluate the risks and decide on precaution
- Record your findings and implement them
- Review your assessment and update if necessary
For further reading on Risk Assessments please see the UK Health & Safety Executive website
Some other considerations affecting insurance:
If you are holding a GiveNTake type event, consider carefully what you intend to do about whether or not to accept electrical items. See
PAT Testing and Portable Appliance Testing information
Consider having a certified PAT tester on site to test all items. Otherwise, consider individually labelling each electrical item clearly as UNTESTED, or, failing this, do not allow them at all. This is because if they are left on the stall, technically, your Freecycle group will be giving the items instead of the usual role of the group as a conduit to help members exchange directly, and privately.
Face painters need their own insurance and a COSHH risk assessment
A Certificate in Food Hygiene is required where appropriate.
Publicity
Publicity for your group is great but it's not easy. Speaking to the media is an important element of getting publicity. It often helps to send them a media release.
Make sure you have a 'hook'. Be creative and have an environmental theme! Watch out for members who do interesting things with their Freecycle items, like making sculptures or house renovations; they may agree to be featured in a press article.
Aim for Headline news and you're more likely to get good exposure for your group, even if it is on page 11.
Some groups run events especially to give the media an opportunity to take photos. See:
For more hints and tips, please follow the link below.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKmodsquad/files/
Using the Freecycle.org Logo in Publicity - Do we need permission?
Yes, official permission is required for each individual instance of the logo about to be used by anyone other than ourselves.
Whoever is proposing to use the logo -- the council, the reporter, etc needs to receive direct and specific permission from freecycle.org. In each and every instance that the logo is to be used, please ask the reporter (for example) to write in person to info team, requesting permission to use the logo. Any subsequent use by the same person for the same purpose needs to be authorised once again.
This may sound frightful, but is a formality with which they will be familiar and takes very little time.
