Young children’s organisation Start Strong has published a free toolkit offering advice to charities to more effectively promote their work and messaging with the media.

While focused on supporting early years organisations, its advice around avoiding technical messaging and instead concentrating on everyday life of communities being supported, applies to all charitable sectors.

Advice in its Tell a stronger story: how to guide includes urging charities to avoid “more abstract or technical terms” such as “early years” and “early childhood development” and instead talk explicitly about the people they are supporting, for example saying “babies and young children”.

Similarly, abstract outcomes should be avoided, such as “social determinants” and instead replaced with day to day life goals, around being healthy and safe for example.

It adds that while communication around economic savings from investing in support can “strengthen an argument” they “should not be the focus of press releases and other communications".

Sharing data on inequality is to be encouraged, especially when it is used to “gain attention and build urgency”, says the toolkit. But this should focus on “tangible and proven” things that governments and others can do to.

Avoid painting a terrible picture

Charities are urged to avoid “painting a terrible picture that it feels overwhelming or impossible to address”.

"We can see that most of the public now know how important the earliest years are, and want to ensure babies and young children have the best start in life,” said Start Strong director Sally Hogg.

“But that isn’t translated into the sustained public demand for the government action that babies and young children need. Building this demand is critical to securing bold political action to shift outcomes and inequalities.”

She said that “the answer is not simply to say the same things more loudly” and that the public “cares about our babies and young children today, not as future workers or tax payers”.

This means charities “don’t need long-term technical arguments” to promote their messaging to the public, she added.

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