As a fundraising volunteer, you play an important role representing Marie Curie in your local community. So it’s important that you have consistent and accurate messaging about our brand. Here you'll learn more about how to communicate effectively in your role.
What we do
Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity. We’re here for anyone with an illness they’re likely to die from, and those close to them. Whatever the illness, wherever you are, we’re with you to the end.
We bring over 75 years of experience and leading research to the care we give you at home, in our hospices and over the phone. And we push for a better end of life for all by campaigning and sharing research to change the system.
Talking about Marie Curie
When speaking about Marie Curie it's important to be consistent and accurate about what we do.
Make sure you are comfortable about the language we use and the way we use it. You can use some of the resources above to familiarise yourself with the language we use.
To find out more on how to talk about Marie Curie, take a look at our latest Annual report and our facts and statistics document.
Our top talking tips
- Before you approach an individual or a group to think about the right message to deliver.
- Always keep it simple.
- Use real stories to help demonstrate the impact of care and support whenever you can.
- Use positive language when speaking about Marie Curie and your volunteering activities.
Promoting your activities
To make your fundraising activities successful, it’s important to let your community know what you’re doing so they can support you!
Print posters, leaflets and other materials
We’ve got a distinct visual identity for our fundraising volunteers, which is consistent with our brand identity. This will help people in the local area to recognise that your activities are part of Marie Curie.
Once an event has been approved, you can access hardcopy materials to promote your event through your Volunteer Manager. We can also create specific posters for you if you need – simply get in touch with your Volunteer Manager for more information.
Spread the word on social
Social media is a great tool to publicise your fundraising activities and create some buzz. We’ve got a social media guide for fundraising groups, which provides some guidance for social media use and best practice for volunteers.
Communicating with your supporters
It’s important that supporters feel safe when communicating with us, which means keeping their information private. There are specific laws that you’ll have to follow, and you’ll also be asked to complete training on annual basis.
Obtaining consent
Any information you have on supporters should be stored securely and password protected.
We need to make sure we have consent for contacting people by telephone, mail and email by using the charity’s approved data protection statements below:
Telephone and mail
We would like to keep you up to date on our work and fundraising activities. Please tell us if you do not want us to contact you occasionally in the future by phone or post.
By giving us your email address, you agree that we may use it to send you information about our work and fundraising activities in the future.
Once you have someone’s permission to use their personal details, this data must always be kept secure.
Mailings
We don’t recommend sending out mailings as a fundraising volunteer.
Send a newsletter
Highlighting your group’s activities, successes and upcoming events in a newsletter can be a great way to keep your supporters informed.
This can be produced monthly or quarterly and sent by email to your group’s helpers and supporters or printed and taken along to events.
Alert the press!
There may be times when the local media can be used to publicise your fundraising activities and achievements.
It’s always worth sending a press release to local newspapers and radio stations to generate coverage. Get in touch with your volunteer manager for more information.
Keeping in touch
To make sure we’re supporting you in your volunteer role, here are some of the ways we’ll stay in touch with you:
- Contact with your volunteer manager to get updates, discuss issues and brainstorm ideas.
- Fundraising volunteer bulletin – our bi-monthly newsletter specific for Marie Curie fundraising volunteers, with local updates, news and stories.
- Monthly volunteer newsletter – a monthly newsletter for all Marie Curie volunteers across the charity.
- Engagement events like our volunteer forum.
- Social media: Follow us on Facebook,X (formerly Twitter), Instagram or TikTok.
If you aren’t receiving any of the above communications from us, please email FRVolunteering@mariecurie.org.uk.
