Good Practices and Pitfalls in Community-Based Capacity Building and Early Intervention Projects: a toolkit 

Being approved for and accepting funding allows your organisation to turn their ideas into reality. If you are ready to deliver a new project you will be thinking about everything that needs to be put in place to make the project a success.

Following notification that your application has been successful, your organisation will begin the project management relationship with the funding organisation.

Funding Agreement.

In the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy, funding agreements are used as mechanism for managing newly established and existing projects. Use the contents of this agreement to sustain the work in accordance with your obligations - follow your stated intentions and infrastructure, work within budget, and adhere to timeframes and legal agreements:

• Ensure that you are familiar with the agreement and stick to its terms.

What is in the funding agreement?

A funding agreement between FaCS and yo urorganisation 0 utlines the responsibilities of both parties with respect to the project, and processes to be followed should the agreement need to be terminated or changed. The agreement will specify such things as:

• The conduct of the project.
• Funding.
• Records, reports and auditing.
• Intellectual property rights.
• Indemnity.
• Protection of personal information.
• Termination procedures.

The specific details are extremely important. These include:

• Contact details of both parties.
• Commencement date.
• Funding, and when and how funds will be paid.
• A budget that includes how money will be spent on salary, office equipment or promotional material.
• Agreed program principles.
• Reports, including progress reports, financial reports, audited reports and monitoring activities.
• Specification of project.
• Plan for the project.
• Outputs for the project, including dates on which these should occur.
• Milestones, including dates when these are due.

Establish good relationships

Get to know your FaCS project manager

The successful management of contracts depends on good working relationships between staffin the funding body and the community agency. FaCS staff will expect to work cooperatively with you as the project develops.

One of the most important steps at the beginning of your project is getting to know your project manager's role and to build a good working relationship with them. Soon after hearing about your application's success, a FaCS staff member will contact you. This person is responsible for overseeing and managing the project, so it is important to build an effective working relationship with them on behalf of your organisation. Take time to do this. Good relationships do not happen overnight but evolve over time as you work together to achieve common goals.

Effective relationships are developed through trust, open communication and taking time to sort out mutually acceptable solutions. Good relationships flourish when both parties take time and make a commitment to manage the work.

Understand the FaCS project managers' responsibilities

The FaCS project manager is responsible for ensuring that the contract is delivered on time and in accordance with the specified standards. The FaCS project manager may have a range of delegated powers to vary contracts or provide additional resources. Soon after the first contact, it might be useful to ask about their responsibilities in relation to the funding agreement. They will expect you to:

• Understand that you need to stick to the terms of the agreement.
• Renegotiate the agreement if it is not possible to stick to the terms.
• Discuss the reporting requirements, including agreement on what outputs will be reported.
• Specify how outputs will be measured.
• Establish a data collection system.

Practise clear and regular communication

Good relationships with government are developed through clear and regular communication. Here are some ways to ensure clear communication:

• Be familiar with the requirements specified in the funding agreement.
• Share information about your organisation.
• Arrange an early face-to-face meeting with the project manager, project team and your committee and keep in regular contact.
• Talk about your expectations and listen to FaCS expectations.
• Ask questions and seek information if you are uncertain.
• Maintain open communication - provide full and frank answers to questions.
• Be clear about the purpose of any contact.
• Provide timely identification of issues.
• If appropriate, explore and discuss alternatives.
• Generate and evaluate solutions.
• State agreements clearly.
• Take notes of your conversations, date and record.

Conform to reporting requirements

Early in the project, your FaCS project manager will want to discuss performance reporting and project evaluation requirements. This process is not as complicated as it sounds.

Your FaCS project manager is interested in both outputs and outcomes. Outputs are the products or services that are produced and delivered by a project. Outcomes are the consequences, benefits or changes that result from a person's participation in the program. Outcomes can be delayed or long term and they may be intended or unanticipated. Funding agreements require that that outputs and outcomes be demonstrated. Some of the performance indicators may be set because they apply across all the projects being funded.

Steps in performance reporting include:

1. Think about the project's aims that you identified in the funding application, then translate these into the achievements or outcomes for families and communities that you are expecting, and the activities or outputs that your project will do or develop to achieve them. The following example taken from a Strategy project illustrates the connection between program objectives (aims), outputs and outcomes. Two objectives of the Gilles Plain Garden project were:

   To create a practical reconciliation project where local Indigenous and nonIndigenous people can work together.

   To create a beautiful and productive community garden that acts as a focus for cultural and educational activities - a place for people to meet, rest, reflect and play.

   If these are the project objectives, the outputs might include:

   • The number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working together.
   • The number of people visiting the garden.
   • The number of different activities in the garden.

   Two outcomes that correspond to these objectives are:

   The community participates in local cultural, Indigenous, educational, artistic, environmental and recreational activities in the community garden.

   Through working together in the co m m unity garden, there are greater levels of trust, awareness and understanding between community members.

2. Demonstrate that outputs have been achieved

   Your FaCS project manager needs to know whether the designated outputs have been achieved. They will want to discuss reporting requirements with you and how you will be able to demonstrate that you have achieved what you intended. As you are the expert in the project, it is importantto give some consideration to the way this is done.

   Use the above example to think about reporting requirements. You might demonstrate achievement of outputs through:

   • Use of before and after photographs.
   • Listening to participants' views of how they have used the services.
   • A count of people using the garden on a particular day.
   • Overall attendance audits.
   • Documentation of observations over time.
   • Documentation of attendance at meetings.
   • Schedule of the range of activities occurring in the garden.
   • Documentation of the different groups involved in the garden including planning, working bees and events.

   Work with your FaCS project manager to identify your performance indicators and develop your own ways to measure these to help you know how well your project is going. Your project may be required to participate in a broader Program evaluation. Large projects may also be req uired to undertake com prehensive project evaluations and these may contribute to developing the evidence base around what we know about improving family and community outcomes.

   Rather than evaluation happening at the end of the project, weaving it into the ongoing life of the project allows you to learn as you go along and use these lessons to inform your action. Evaluation can often be viewed as complicated because of the assumption that a credible evaluation has to be a certain way and look a certain way. It is not necessarily so, but to be credible you do need to have been thoughtful about how you will undertake the evaluation.

   Getting the mechanisms in place to evaluate your project in ways that fit your situation means that you need to be clear about the following:

   • How can community members, participants and workers be involved in setting up the evaluation?
   • On what basis will you know what has worked or been effective?
   • Who makes sense of what has happened?
   • How do you reconcile different perspectives about what has happened and why it has happened?
   • How can you capture what has happened and what it has meant?
   • How will you ensure that the evaluation is respectful of cultural processes and meanings?

   There are many formal evaluation techniques that you can employ (surveys, focus groups, interviews). Methods that are ideal for evaluating community development activities include story telling, and keeping photo journals and pictorial records of what has happened. Plan the best ways to evaluate your project around ingraining within the project a culture of learning from what you do to 'improve' as well as 'prove'.

   There is an abundance of material about evaluation that can assist you in these processes, for example:

   The Stronger Families Learning Exchange website
   
   The SA Community Health Research Unit Planning and Evaluation Wizard on the web is an interactive planning tool from which you can develop an evaluation plan. It is linked to evaluation and planning material.

3. Demonstrate outcomes

   There are many tools you can use to gather data to demonstrate outcomes (e.g. community participation in community activities, and greater levels of trust, awareness and understanding between community members. These tools include:

   • Surveys.
   • Individual and group interviews.
   • Client perceptions of services.
   • Community perceptions.
   • Focus groups.
   • Telephone interviews.
   • Questionnaires with open and closed questions.
   • Case studies.
   • Feedback sheets at the end of sessions.
   • Exit interviews.
   • Collection of documented external feedback (e.g. local media).
   • Social indicators (e.g. school attendance, employment, number of job vacancies reported, visits to health services).

   All of these methods can be used to gather information about, and describe the perceived benefits of the project. It is important that you set up a reliable data collection system to enable you to report effectively.

Set up a reliable data collection system

Data collection involves gathering information from a variety of sources, sorting the data into various categories and storing the information in a secure location so that it can be retrieved at a later date. After the data is collected it will need interpretation and analysis.

In letting your FaCS project manager know about how your project is going, you will have collected information from a wide variety of sources (as listed above). It is important to retain all original data so that you can go back to these sources at any time and retrieve the relevant information. Make sure that you clearly identify the date on which the information was collected, as this may be needed to demonstrate achievement of outputs and describe outcomes.

Data will come from a variety of sources. Some will be numeric. Some will be based on verbal and written reports, as well as observations and photographs. Whatever the source, it will require analysis, in other words, making sense of the collected information. This may include asking questions like:

• What are the stories or themes emerging from the data?
• What are the main comments made by participants?
• Did participants' actions or words change under different conditions, and did different people act differently?
• What did you hear and notice?

On completion, compare what you have found with what you expected when you established the project and report this to your project manager.

Weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of data collection tools

The use of computers for data collection and analysis can bring some administrative efficiencies. Com puters and associated software programs are useful too Is fo r storing and analysing numeric and qualitative information. It is important to remember, however, that many people do not have the skills or confidence to undertake these tasks. Whatever tools are used for data analysis have strengths and weaknesses. It is im portant that the people undertaking the collection and analysis feel co mfo rtable with the tools they are using.

Understand what sort of information should be kept

Deciding what sort of information should be kept is very difficult, but the following approach is suggested:

• It is necessary to retain all original data collected. This includes raw material from interviews, questionnaires, feedback sheets, case studies, attendance records and so on.
• Store the analysis and interpretation of this information, and keep a record on file of the way you went about analyzing the data.
• Retain any memos or reflections on the data collected, as these may be interesting to the community or to your project manager. Make sure that you have an index so that the data is easily accessible.

All information collected should be kept secure to protect people's privacy. This is a mandatory requirement of the Privacy Act 1988.

Understand negotiation

Negotiation is an important skill for project managers and your project group. Some aspects of projects may need to be renegotiated. This process can be cooperative or adversarial, although cooperation is an important starting point. In negotiating successfully, it is essential to:

• Prepare for the meeting by reading and collecting relevant information and understanding your position on the issue.
• Consider the best time and place for such a meeting.
• Be clear about who will be attending and why.
• Check to see if there are any conventions about the negotiating process.
• Collaboratively decide on the agenda and the order of issues.
• Keep the agenda as concrete as possible.

In the actual negotiation process:

• State your position on the issue clearly and the reasons for this position.
• State this position before you propose a solution.
• If disagreements arise, focus on the issues rather than the individuals involved.
• Be flexible and consider all offers.
• Focus on maintaining effective working relationships, as you will need to continue working together after the negotiations are complete.
• Recognise a satisfactory result.

Make sure that the organisation can sustain the work

Sustaining a funded project depends on good management, complemented by good governance. Donovan and Jackson (1991) regard management as a process that involves planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling. Tasks associated with these processes include:

• Budgeting.
• Program planning.
• Managing staff and volunteers.
• Communication within your organisation and across your community.

Know how to budget

The budget needs to be realistic, accurate and contro lled. Everyone in the 0 rganisation needs to understand the budget. You need to allow for:

• Staff - salary for project orficer, clerical staff, research staff, publicity/PR/media liaison and any other paid staff required. Rememberto cost these salaries against the different pay rates and also the time frame for the project. Remember to allow fo r the writing up phase atthe end - this is often forgotten!
• On costs - such as superannuation, sick leave, and recreation leave which may need to be built into staff costs.
• Volunteers - recruitment and training expenses. Also rewards for volunteers to show appreciation (e.g. volunteers' dinner, movie night etc.).
• Office - rental, furniture, fittings, computers (desktop and lap top if needed), phones (mobile and fixed), faxes and any necessary alterations to the space, postage, phone bills, other accounts (e.g. electricity, gas, water ifnot included in rent), printing, stationery, etc.
• Fieldwork - travel, accommodation, hospitality, research (e.g. journals, newspapers etc.).
• Insurance.
• Publicity and promotion materials (media packs, videos, posters, fliers, newsletters, tapes, CDs).
• Report production - layout, design, proofing, printing, binding, advertising, marketing, distribution.
• Sundries -small petty cash allowance for minor necessities (include in this small amount for celebration when project is completed).
• Unexpected events budget - ensure you allow for unexpected occurrences, e.g. computer repairs, car repairs/accidents, illnesses etc - anything that costs money or has the possibility of putting the project behind time, resulting in the necessity to employ more staff or purchase more/new equipment.

Understand planning

Planning the details of the delivery of the project becomes an important activity once funding is secured. Once the project has developed, different strategies are needed to keep it on track.

Some of the activities suggested here may have been completed already as part of your application for funding but they are worth reconsidering at the formal planning stages. A project will have some or all of the following characteristics:

• A clear rationale.
• Understanding and identification of what the community needs.
• A statement of the projects overall aims and goals.
• Statement of objectives.
• Statement of outcomes to be achieved and how these will be measured.
• A clearly stated design and a process by which the objectives will be achieved.
• A target population.
• Resources needed to meet goals, objectives and activities.
• How the project will be implemented.
• Specification of the way the project's aims and outcomes will be measured.
• Means by which the project will be evaluated.
• Congruence between these factors and governance.

Involve the board, and potential clients and project participants in the planning process. You might develop some fantastic ideas, but if they are not acceptable to the project participants, community or clients, your planning has been wasted.

The organisation board is important. Board members are experts in governance and have close community connections. The Board not only sets the organisation's strategic direction, it is also important in authorising and guiding the strategic direction of new programs.

Involve project participants, clients and com m unity at all stages of program plann ing, especially when the ideas are considered initially. It is imperative to involve project participants, clients and community by:

• Discussing their ideas about unmet needs.
• Asking them to participate in the planning process.
• Getting their views on the draft document.

The key thing to remember is that you may not develop the perfect project at the planning stage. A successful project plan means invo Iving the right peo pie and using their experiences to develop a plan that reflects the goals of both the organisation and the funding body.

Once you have developed the project, it will need to be kept on track. The following tips have been identified from the experiences of Strategy-funded projects:

1. Focus on the target group and outcomes

   It is important to always keep in mind the individuals, families or community groups who are the focus of the project and the changes or outcomes that you are helping them achieve. Identifying the issue that the community wishes to address or an opportunity that the community can grasp can provide a practical focus for the project.

2. Be flexible

   Although you might have developed a 'perfect' project at the planning stage, workers later become aware of unanticipated interests and requests that need to be included in the planning process. As an example, the 'Carlton Youth Project' made a number of project adjustments in response to community feedback as the project developed. The project generally saw itself as wanting to be flexible in response to identified needs and maintaining a flexible structure. Part of its philosophy was to celebrate what is good and let go of what is painful. During the course of the project, various types of feedback were received and given a response. Some parents were concerned about their daughters attending the project meetings, either for cultural reasons or because of worries about safety. The project adapted its approach to the meetings and worked along with members of the Muslim community to address these concerns. The project increased its interaction with com m unity leaders to assist in respondingto com m unity feed back. Practical adjustments were made to the project as it progressed, with changes to times, length, how participants were recruited and safety considerations'.

3. Use feedback from consumers and clients to continuously improve the quality of the service

   Client and service provider feedback about the work and the project is useful for evaluating a project's progress. Feedback from clients can be obtained in many ways. Information can be sought about an agency, part of a service, or a worker or team. This information may be highly structured, using rating scales, or more qualitative, using open-ended questionnaires. All of this information can be used to finely tune the service delivery. Redland Community Centre is an example of a SFCS project that used feedback effectively to constantly refine the project's quality. Ongoing feedback was sought from participants through a range of mediums, including: feedback sheets at the completion of each Toddler Tactics session; exit questionnaires at the end of this course and invitations to be part of the listening circles; phone contacts; and email contacts.

   This feedback was used to alter both the content and format of the project activities, and make changes to the project's management and systems', for example 'feedback gained about the evaluation/feedback formats resulted in them being streamlined and additional methods developed such as a phone questionnaire for parents who did not complete the course, and email contacts.'

4. Coordinate with other programs in your community

   The success of community programs depends on the extent to which the project is linked to, and coordinated with other projects. The Connecting Families Project in Wagga Wagga provides an excellent example of this. 'Wagga Wagga staff hold regular meetings with another FaCS funded project at Ashmont to share project learnings. Working parties have been established with the Families First initiative to ensure the implementation and sustainability of the Connecting Families Project and the Families First development'. 'This overarching partnership framework provides the template for the development of Summer in the Parks, which uses popular culture and free neighbourhood-based activities to bring neighbourhoods together in a shared cultural and recreational experience'.

5. Manage staff and volunteers

   Receiving new funding often means recruiting, selecting, training and supervising new staff. One of the firsttasks will be thinking about h iring new staff and making sure that you get the right people. Start by drafting a job description. Consider:

   • Title of job.
   • Salary range.
   • Purpose of job.
   • Organisational context, including reporting requirements.
   • Key responsibilities in the position.
   • Working relationships with other people in the organisation.
   • Criteria used for selection, especially the essential and non-essential criteria
   • Closing date.

   It may be necessary to give your Board of Management a copy of the jo b description and seek their authorisation before proceeding.

   Advertising the position can be done in a variety of ways:

   • Local and state newspapers are an obvious place to start.
   • Consider placing the notification of vacancy on your web site.
   • Specialist recruiting agencies can also be used.
   • Post information to professional associations and/or community organisations.

   Once the closing date has been reached, you will need to:

   • Screen all applications.
   • Draw up a short list.
   • Check with referees, and begin the process of interviewing and offering the job.
   • A police check may be necessary, depending on the service or program provided by your agency. Funded projects must not engage any person to work with children/ young people without first conducting a police check of that person's criminal record. A police check is a formal inquiry or inquiries made to all relevant authorities which is or are designed to obtain details of a persons criminal convictions in each State and Territory of Australia and in all know non-Australian jurisdictions where the person is known to have resided. Funded projects must not engage any person to work on or in relation to any part of the Project who has a serious criminal record without the prior written perm ission of the Departmental Officer.

   Just before your new staff member commences work, plan fortheir orientation to the project. Consider the following matters:

   • Meet with them on their first day.
   • Introduce them to other staff and perhaps take them to lunch.
   • Show them around the organisation and facilities.
   • Review internal policies and procedures, including occupational health and safety procedures.Ensure that other staff are available to answer any questions.
   • Establish any training requirements to enable them to do the job effectively.
   • Provide them with a list of key people to contact in the community.
6. Volunteers

   Sometimes the level of project funding means it is necessary to recruit and train volunteers. This process is very similar to the process for paid staff, although it is less formal. It is often done by word of mouth by identifying the source of volunteers, then making individual approaches. A formal application, screening and interview are also appropriate. Volunteers, like paid staff, will need:

   • A clear description of the work, reporting requirements and any specific tasks they are required to undertake.
   • Orientation to the agency and provision of additional training.

   Organisations go to a great deal of effort to recruit volunteers, but retaining and rewarding them are also important management tasks. Consider:

   • Implementing a program for management, training and supervision of volunteers.
   • Supporting volunteers through supervision.
   • Involving volunteers in decision-making.
   • Ways to evaluate their performance.
   • Ways to reward and recognise their contributions.
7. Ongoing Financial Viability

   When you are applying for short-term funding you will need to be thinking early on and prepare for what will happen when the funding is over. Ongoing financial viability is about whether the actual operation of the project or the next stage might continue with either similar or different activities, target groups and locations, and also whether the project outcomes can have a longer-term impact beyond the funded period.

   Ongoing pro ject funding can be an im po rtant part of sustainability. No matter how worthy the cause, and how successful the project is, funds don't automatically come to the organisation. While fundraising and seeking assistance from various corporations are major activities for ongoing financial sustainability, it demands a strategic approach.

   Consider the following strategies identified by some Strategy projects:

   • Always ask for enough money when seeking funding - remember to include running costs in your budget.
   • Maintain the engagement and support for the project across a range of community stakeholder.
   • Start planning for evaluation of the project at the very beginning, as there is difficulty accessing appropriate evaluation means for community development projects that allow for the capture of the changes that are occurring over time.
   • Plan for management of legal responsibilities from the outset - be aware of the expense involved, finding the right people, and all of the legal responsibilities that may affect the project, e.g. public liability, event risk management issues, etc.
   • Take into account where your project is located geographically. This will affect the amount of funding required, e.g. projects in remote locations may need to rely heavily on vehicles to carry out their work effectively. Lack of funds for vehicle replacement/upkeep can be a pitfall.

   Consider the following tips for effective fundraising:

   • Develop a fundraising strategy or revisit the existing strategy for your organisation.
   • Appoint a specialist staff member who can take responsibility for fund raising (this could be a part-time or voluntary position) or consider hiring a consultant to advise on these issues.
   • Update your mission statements so that all staff and board have a clear idea of what you do. In this way every person in the organisation is turned into a fundraiser.
   • Assess the world outside your organisation. Determine what stakeholders think of your organisation and why it is worth supporting. This information can be passed on to potential funders.
   • Assess the world inside your agency, including the strengths and weaknesses. Give consideration to how weaknesses can be transformed into strengths. Most Board members are connected to their community. How can you use these connections to raise funds?
   • Review your programs so that you know which ones are working well and are clearly identifiable with the organisation. Make sure that you have evidence of how these programs have changed the lives of individuals and the community (use the outcomes measures, before and after stories, photographs, feedback and communityviews)
   • Make your organisation more visible in the community. Ensure that you have some early achievements that can provide a platform for communicating about the project. This visibility is a key ingredient in raising funds (use the media, have human interest stories, be available for comment).
   • Develop material about the organisation and project - videos, brochures, annual reports, an interesting website, press releases, newsletter
   • Start raising funds. Begin by estimating the percentage of your budget that comes from a variety of sources and evaluating the pros and cons of different types of fund raising.

The full Society for Nonprofit Organisations' fundraising guide can be viewed at: http://www.snpo.org/funding

You should speak to your FaCS project manager about how to make yo ur project mo re visible, promotional opportunities and the specific requirements that are included in your funding agreement, including how you should acknowledge the funding source and use the logo.

Strategy funded project Broken Hill Community Inc. (BHCI) is a good example of how to seekto achieve financial sustainability.lts continuation depends on diversification of funding. It has obtained grant funding from several different sources such as FaCS, other Commonwealth and State departments, and local government. Other funding sources include:

• service groups (e.g. Rotary);
• local businesses;
• income from leasing space to other organisations (e.g. DECS);
• fund raising events;
• income generation (e.g. sale of produce from community garden);
• in-kind donations, which have been considerable (including substantial volunteer hours).

BHCI has also worked to achieve 'structural/organisational sustainability' by establishing Sustainability Reference Group. This is a separate incorporated body, which provides it with the independence and freedom to determine its own future. Incorporation includes a membership structure - all members of groups who use the BHCI facility are required to become members of BHCI (fee is only $2.20). This strengthens the organisation's membership base, as well as assisting with issues such as insurance coverage for those using the building.

'Strategic sustainability' is also an aim of BHCI, which has been strengthening its position in the community, thus helping to ensure the community's investment in its continuation. It has developed a rich network of links with other community organisations, from grass roots groups through to local businesses, all levels of government and local media. The Centre has developed an increasing visibility and presence in the community, and is now sought as a venue and a resource. Strategically, BHCI also has developed a long-term plan that helps map out a way for the Centre to continue.

Raising a public profile: working with the media

Speak to your FaCS Project Officer whenever you plan to raise a public profile or work with the media.

Raising a public profile means letting everyone know that you exist and that you are the best thing to happen to the community in a long time! Make sure that your project has 'runs on the board' including early successes that will provide a practical focus to foster a sense of confidence and community pride in the project. Selling the achievements and benefits of your project for the community will be much easier if you have the media onside.

Planned events and activities to raise the project profile will be built into the project budget. The budget you have needs to be realistic, especially if you are funded for a short-term project. You should speak to your FaCS project manager about your plans, how you should acknowledge the funding source and whether it would be a good idea to involve officials from the funding source in special events and activities.

Wh ile cultivating the media's ability to advance your cause, always respect their right to perform their function. By the sheer weight of argument and factual information, the media can often be persuaded to air or support a cause. The possibility of a project or event that can provide substantial community benefit or the need to counter an activity that harms the community is often sufficient to ensure the local media comes 'on side'. (http://www.communitywise.wa.gov.au/tools/tools.htm)

It pays to have a pre-launch local public profiie before contacting the media so that they may be aware of you when you approach them. This profile can be created by making the project visible via simple steps such as putting posters announcing the project's launch date and place in shopping centres, schools, hotels, cafes, sports clubs, libraries, banks, local council chambers, community centres, churches, bus and train stations, on cars and any other places where they are visible to large numbers of people. It is also a good idea to have professional looking 'business' cards printed and distributed as widely as possible. Having begun to create a profile, you are now ready to work with the media to enhance this and get the message out to the public in general, not just the local community.

Working with the media is very time consuming and can be expensive, therefore it is a good idea to think about cost-effective options or whether you need to appoint someone as a media/publicity officer (may be a voluntary or part-time position) to work in consultation with the organising committee to:

• Post information on the organisation's website and keep this up-to-date.
• Research which media outlets would be the best place to begin publicising the project - target audiences who are most likely to take an interest in, and support the project.
• Seek out the most appropriate media contacts for different media types (print, radio, television, www).
• Start with local media (e.g. local papers, newsletters, community radio stations, local television programs, community information websites) and gradually broaden the scope (e.g. state and national papers, magazines, radio, television and associations whose focus is specific to the project). Local media publicity is cost effective (often free, e.g. via community noticeboard segments and radio interviews, or photos and stories in local papers) and targets the population in the project's immediate vicinity. Wider media outlets often pick up on stories fromlocal media - this means they might come to you, or will know who you are and what you are talking about when you contact them
• Create 'media packs'. These could consist of a calico shopping bag with the project's logo, motto and contact details, containing novelty items also with the project's logo and contact details (e.g. key rings, pens, mouse mats), posters and information leaflets detailing the project's major aims and why the project is important etc.
• Invite all media, in particular television, to the project launch and all other events - show them around, make sure they have plenty to eat and drink - in general treat them like VIPs!
• Ensure all media receive a media pack.
• Speak with the media contacts to find out the format in which they prefer to receive information (e.g. photos, newsletters, fliers, media releases via face-toface delivery, fax, email, web pages etc.) and how much information they require (i.e. how much space or time they are willing to give to promoting your project). Ensure you inform them of your website if you have one-they may go there for more information
• Prepare and send media releases in acco rdance with media-specific req uirements: keep information short, sharp and simple - who, what, where, when, why and how.
• Ring all media outlets to inform them well ahead of time of fundraising events etc., and then send the information.
• Always attend interviews arranged with media contacts, and be available at all times for phone interviews (budget for the media officer's mobile phone, use of a car and printing costs in your funding application or organise these as in-kind project sponsorship with a phone supplier and printer)
• After faxing or emailing information, always ring the person to make sure they have received it.
• Always deal personally with the contact, never just send information to 'education', or 'sport', or 'community news' or 'info@ .. .'etc.
• Focus on the 'unusual' - what is different about your project? What has happened that is a bit odd? Media love the 'different' (e.g. unusual fund raising events).
• Invite media personalities to MC or participate in fund raising events with other high profile guests (e.g. politicians) - you may be surprised how willing they are if the event fits in with their schedule - and make sure you take photos or video footage.
• Constantly send short media updates about project news or events, and keep in touch personally with your media contacts - never give up if much of the publicity generated never goes to press or is never aired on radio or television.
• Link with other organisations in the community to gain more media clout.

One Strategy projectthat has used the media to enhance its profile is the Collingwood Community Information and Drop-in Centre Project. This project worked from the beginning to develop a profile in its target community - the housing estate. Notices describing the initiation of the Project and soliciting participants were distributed around the estate to generate interest and awareness. They have sustained their profile development by:

• having information booths and stalls at community festivals;
• encouraging word of mouth;
• using community radio to cover events;
• getting media coverage in the local paper, the estate newsletter, the local government newsletter;
• having high-profiie graduations for volunteers who complete their certificate training, with up to 60 service providers coming as guests at a well-known venue (the Collingwood Football Club), with a high-profiie person (e.g. the Mayor) presenting the certificates;
• celebrating the first anniversary of the Centre by having a play written and performed about a 'day in the life' of the Centre;
• maintaining a high level of accessibility for the community, e.g. keeping open during holiday periods.

The effort that has been put into pro file development has reaped noticeable benefits in:

• greater recognition in the community;
• increased attendance at functions and use of programs;
• growing credibility;
• expansion of partnership networks;
• more possibilities of attracting funding and support;
• greater investment by others to keep the project going;
• a multiplier effect whereby one level of public interest can lead to a higher level.

Checklist

• Make sure you understand the contents and terms of the funding agreement.
• Establish good relationships with the funding body:
  • Get to know your key FaCS project manager.
  • Understand the FaCS project manager's responsibilities.
  • Understand your responsibilities.
• Practise clear and regular communication.
• Conform with reporting requirements.
• Use reliable data collection and analysis tools.
• Weigh up strengths and weaknesses.
• Understand what sort of information should be kept.
• Understand negotiation processes.
• Make sure the organisation can sustain the work.
• Know how to budget.
• Understand program planning.
• Focus on the target group and outcomes.
• Be flexible.
• Use feedback to continuously improve quality.
• Coordinate with other programs in your community.
• Know how to manage paid staff and volunteers.
• Understand how to make the project financially sustainable.
• Raise a public profile -learn how to work with the media.