One year of The Comms Collective
A year ago I pressed record on a simple idea: give the people who tell everyone else’s stories a chance to tell their own. Here’s what happened next, and what I’ve learned along the way.
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Beyond Logos: A Practical Guide to Strong Charity Branding
When people hear the word “brand”, many charities think of a logo, a colour palette or an expensive agency rebrand. Those things matter. But in my 25 years working in communications, I’ve learned that a strong brand is built somewhere much less glamorous: in the everyday choices you make about what you say, how you…
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25 Years in Charity Comms: 6 Lessons That Still Hold True
By Vishnee Sauntoo, Founder, VS Comms • 5 min read Twenty-five years is long enough to stop counting the campaigns and start noticing the patterns underneath them. I’ve written a lot over the years about strategy, audience and messaging. This one is different. This is what the work itself has taught me: the lessons that…
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From Biotechnology to Powerful Storytelling
By Vishnee Sauntoo, Founder, VS Comms • 4 min read I was the first in my family to go to university, and I studied Biotechnology and Genetics. Not journalism. Not English. Not anything that obviously pointed toward a career spent writing. I chose it partly because I loved science, and partly because it felt like…
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How to Plan Unforgettable Events: Insights from a Wedding
Vishnee Sauntoo reflects on her brother’s wedding, highlighting that successful events, like effective communication strategies, rely on thorough planning and clarity of purpose. Key factors include giving ample time for decisions, focusing on a single message, understanding the audience’s needs, maintaining brand consistency, and ensuring proper documentation for future reference.
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5 Signs Your Charity Communications Need Improvement
It’s not that charity teams aren’t working hard. They are. It’s that they’re often working hard on the wrong things, or in the wrong direction, without a clear picture of why the communications aren’t landing the way they should. Clarifying purpose can inspire confidence in their efforts.
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Celebrating South Asian Heritage: My Story in Comms
Last South Asian Heritage Month, I posted my story for the first time. The short version: first in my family to go to university, a Biotechnology degree I didn’t expect to lead here, twenty-five years in charity communications, and a consultancy I’d just started building. A year on, it felt right to update it, not…
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Essential Questions for Your Charity’s Comms Strategy
Here’s the thing I’ve come to believe after 25 years in communications: in most of those cases, the honest answer and the first answer are the same thing.
A brand guidelines document is not a comms strategy. A content calendar is not a comms strategy. Even a beautifully written messaging framework isn’t a comms strategy,…
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Spot It Before It Shouts: Recognising Burnout Signs
The burnout signs comms leaders miss. A funny thing happened at the Gallagher Comms Summit in June. I’d built a 30-minute session on leading through continual transformation. Confidence. Burnout. Leading. Three blocks, balanced timings. Burnout was meant to be the middle bit. It became the issue that the room kept coming back to. That told…
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Transforming Communications: From Broadcaster to Editor
Twelve years ago, I wrote a town hall script that I’m still not proud of. It was clear. It was on-message. It was signed off by everyone who needed to. And when the CEO read it word for word, the room went silent — not in shock, but in the way that says we don’t…
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