SAcommunity Media & Communications Team

Photo: Volunteer Room R - L Oscar Bigiolli (Media Team), Blake Kennison (Customer Service Team), Hang Zhang (Data Analytics Team), Samantha Whillas (Media Team), Brad Atkinson (Former Staff - Digital Marketing Coordinator)

Promoting & Connecting South Australian Community Services

Need real world experience?
Want to practice or apply your current skills or education?
Have experience and want to stay current while giving back to community?
Looking for like-minded connections?
Volunteering in a not-for-profit might help - try ours!

Interested in working from the Connecting Up Office and helping SAcommunity service tell the stories of South Australian charities and not-for-profits via SAcommunity media?

Join our SAcommunity Media and Communications Team to undertake a project using Bee Pro, Canva and Teams, to plan and present storytelling articles on South Australian community services for SAcommunity media channels. Create stories capturing the missions, histories, activities and events from over 14,000 groups listed to help raise awareness, create connections and build community capacity.

Skills Required: Interest in and knowledge of areas such as Creative Writing, Journalism (media), Marketing (Media), Communication or Social Media/Digital Promotion. Interest in or knowledge of the community sector, good information literacy and digital literacy skills.

Remote/onsite: Projects can be undertaken remotely or onsite

Examples: Read about some of our current students’ experiences >>here:
Brooke; Sam; Oscar; Taylor and Cecilia 

Visit our media channels >>here
SAcommunity eNews edition example: 

SAcommunity eNews https://sacommunity.org/SAcommunityNews,
Twitter Feed https://twitter.com/sacommunity ,
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SAcommunity-332359757260026/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/supportsacommunity/ and
Website Blog http://sacommunity.org/blog



What is the project?
Community Information records and reflects life, with community services and service demand impacted by and emulated in the changes in social conditions, economic development, demographics, and cultural diversity of the population they serve.

SAcommunity provides a free community information directory and South Australian community sector news service. Our Media and Communication team features not-for-profit organisations, services and programs, activities and events in our e-news and across our social media channels, at no cost as part of creating community connections.

Team members research and gather information, collect media releases, collate photos and images, and contact and interview members of community organisations, to write profile-raising storytelling articles and highlight local community organisations.

There are a lot of important local stories to tell in SA, and we could really use your help!

Who are we doing this for?
Community services are on the front line of supporting vulnerable people and all community members, with accessible, accurate community information key to strengthening engagement with local government associations and in helping to build resilient and connected communities.

Consequently, SAcommunity is used by a range of stakeholders in government, councils, libraries and service providers for referrals, communication, consultation, and research. To form strong networks, Connecting Up is committed to capacity building media channels for the community, with SAcommunity eNews available to subscribers across the SAcommunity stakeholder and not-for-profit network .

Why are we doing this?
Storytelling articles assist not-for-profit organisations and charities to promote themselves, reach new audiences, cause supporters and potential members, provide opportunities for service partnerships and networks, and to access funding or grants.

Media activities are particularly important for those smaller but vital groups who lack a web presence and the tools, skillsets, time and reach on social media, allowing them a platform to tell their story. Activities that have the wider outcome of increasing the awareness and impact of not-for-profits, encouraging social participation and increasing the public’s access to assistive services, thus building resilient connected communities.

Image: SAcommunity Media Process

How are we doing this?
Students, as part of the Media and Communications Team, select from a vast range of over 14,000 listed not-for-profits (NFP), charities and community services from the SAcommunity database to feature in a story. Students can focus their story on featuring a single NFP organisation or create a story proposal based on a relevant community sector topic, activity or event, guides, standards and training are provided at each step.

Once approved, students research the organisation in SAcommunity and via online sources, documenting their notes in a media template for structure. Students then identify key organisation contacts, using a standard form to request permission to feature the organisation, interviews are scheduled in the shared content calendar, with interview scripts provided as a guide and are held over 3CX softphone, Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Students can then plan their narrative and create an article for uploading on the SAcommunity website blog with an associated image or photo collage created in Canva’s graphic design platform. Drafts are approved and derivations for SAcommunity eNews are created by students in BeePro, an email design tool, then imported into Campaign Monitor, email campaign software for release to subscribers.

Variations of the story are provided by students for inclusion in SAcommunity’s respective social media channels. The published story’s impact, measured by the click through rate, can be tracked via Google Analytics. Students can also work with the Data Analytics Team to look at the SAcommunity web analytics and collection, reporting, and analysis of the service's website data when looking at various services to feature in response to service demands.

What is the outcome?
Presenting community information service stories in an accurate, accessible, and understandable way assists government, councils, and public libraries to understand local community needs >> SAcommunity Media. This work provides an awareness of locally based services that exist to assist decision-makers in serving their population effectively and also allows for the involvement of local services in designing, shaping and delivering programs, grants and wellbeing strategies which are beneficial for the whole community.

Benefits for Volunteers and Students?
Volunteers and Students become part of the Media and Communications Team, working on a media platform and channels that are well-known across the government, community and not-for-profit sector. Stories are attributed and writers given a unique portfolio link to all their published work in SAcommunity that they can add to their resumes or LinkedIn profiles.

Students receive opportunities for training including access to Connecting Up’s Digital Learning Platform featuring media webinars for the NFP sector from presenters such as:

Andrea Rowe Copywriting Storytelling Tactics for Non Profits and How to plan for and write a newsletter that supporters want to read  
Alecia Hancock How to Overcome the 7 Biggest Mistakes Not for Profits Make on Social Media and 
Kate VanderVoort Creating Powerful Customer or Cause Communities & Content Marketing and Content Creators' Bootcamp.

Students can attend the annual Digital Marketing Webcon an online event featuring the best names in Content & CRM, image editing and marketing strategies. 
 
Students can also track their impact and eNewsletter results by accessing webinars such as Digital Marketing for non-profits: Generating insights from Google Analytics.


Students also have access to the volunteer/placement mentor program with media students able to meet with Connecting Up or Infoxchange staff including Sam Lloyd, Marketing Lead, Products and Services for the Infoxchange Group, or Chloe Le Marketing Coordinator for the Infoxchange Group for a one-to-one conversation in-person or online.

The final benefit is that students can undertake their placement within a recognised tech-based, not-for-profit organisation that brings about positive social change. If students are interested in continuing to practice, learn and develop, they are able to stay on with the organisation after their internship has ended as a volunteer and continue their experience. 

About Us
Established in 1981, SAcommunity is a free, online community information service supported by the Government of South Australia and provided by Connecting Up.

Connecting Up provides a variety of technology-based information, products, training and services for the not-for-profit sector in Australia and New Zealand. A member of the TechSoup Global Network, all partners are leading civil society organisations and manage a range of capacity building programs in their countries.

Connecting Up is a service of Infoxchange, is a not-for-profit social enterprise that has been delivering technology for social justice for over 30 years. With over 180 staff across Australia and New Zealand, we tackle the biggest social challenges through the smart and creative use of technology.

About the Volunteer and Placement Program
Infoxchange-Connecting Up has an established Volunteer and Student/Vocational Placement program, is registered with Volunteering SA&NT and has volunteer insurance and public liability insurance.

Find out more on our Volunteer and Placement Program >>here: https://sacommunity.org/volunteers