the art of the budget possible and an offer of help…
by Eleri Salter
If you’ve got more budget for communications than you know what to do with next year – then read no further.
For everyone else working in local government, getting hold of bigger budgets for your campaigns at any point soon seems like a pipe dream.
But posting this on the day we get to celebrate the best in public-sector creativity (which often means being just as imaginative with resources) at the comms2point0 UnAwards 2018, the picture isn’t as bleak as we sometimes believe. Honestly.
At October’s LGComms Academy, I shared a few things I’ve done at Haringey Council to generate new sources of income from sponsorship and advertising – you can read a summary here – and was slightly overwhelmed by how much interest there was in what I had to say.
Untapped assets = new income
I spent the next few weeks having follow-up conversations with the people who got in touch after Comms Academy and the three most frequent statements they made about income generation to me were:
We need help to understand our income potential
We looked at income generation but haven’t been confident enough to take action
We’re not aware of all the things we could do to raise income
Basically, local councils have many assets they could use commercially that just haven’t been tapped into.
Much-needed extra finance could be sitting in places like your digital, print and outdoor media. And advertisers want to be associated with socially responsible organisations like councils for a guaranteed ‘safe’ environment in which to showcase their brands (instead of rubbing up against dodgy content and fake news).
Free advice this way!
To support local government in making the most of their income-generating potential, I’m offering my time free to take you through what’s possible.
I can help prioritise what would work best for you and write up recommendations you can use in internal planning conversations. It won’t be a formal audit or consultation, just some pointers so you can get on top of your income potential and a simple plan to help you realise it.
CAN we help?
I have eight free sessions available for an income-generation appraisal between now and the end of January. Email me eleri.salter@counciladvertising.net or eleri.salter@haringey.gov.uk if you like the idea and we can get a conversation in the diary.
Eleri Salter is commercial manager at the London Borough of Haringey and sales manager at CAN
image via Petras Gagilas
