• E-mail all your family, friends and colleagues about what you’re doing and your reason for doing it. Let them know how they can help.
  
  
• Put posters up at your workplace and in local shops, pubs, libraries, churches, clinics, community centres, schools and post offices. Make sure the posters describe what you're doing, where it is, the time and date, and contact details for more information. Don’t forget to ask for permission before putting up your posters!
  
  
• Get notices read out loud at church services, school assemblies and other events.
  
  
• Contact your local media, such as the newspapers, radio stations, magazines and TV stations. Don’t be afraid to contact your local media. They rely on people like you to fill their pages and air time. 

Tips on attracting media coverage

1. Draw up a list of the media in your area, such as morning and evening newspapers, paid for and free weekly newspapers, and local commercial and BBC radio stations. If your event promises to be eye catching, innovative and newsworthy, try your local TV stations.
   
   
2. Write a press release and e-mail it to your local newspapers. Download this sample press release to see what to include. 
   
   
3. Local newspapers often have community pages listing local events (sometimes known as "what’s on?" sections). Check to see if your newspapers have such a section. If they do, ask if they would include your event.
   
   
4. Take pictures.  Many fundraising events have a visual dimension. Think about what kind of photo would be most eye catching and attention grabbing. Sometimes it's the photo rather than the story that newspapers pick up. 
   
   

5. If you didn’t contact the media before your event or you didn’t have any success attracting the media’s attention beforehand, try sending a "post event press release" detailing your successes and how much you raised. Send some photos from your event to bring your story to life.

Tell us about it

We’d love to hear about your ideas. We might even be able to send you some resources to help you along the way.  Once your fundraising event has taken place, e-mail us at info@orbis.org.uk with your fundraising story and pictures. You might make it into our newsletter or our online supporter news!