Estimated coverage views, social shares and engagements are all metrics most PR people are familiar with, but when we recently saw them alongside stats on social isolation and ‘no. of friends made’ we needed to know more!
Who was this report for? What job does it do? How was it customised? Was it a success?
Dad La Soul’s Social Impact Report
Dan Flanagan is the founder of the growing community interest group ‘Dad La Soul’. From humble beginnings of a group of 14 dads getting together for a playdate with their kids, ‘Dad La Soul’ is now a globally recognised Community Interest company(CiC) that connects over 2.5k dads through art, technology and music events – in turn they help beat loneliness, and help the people involved live happier lives.
Dad La Soul attributes most of its global growth and success down to PR, however its their CoverageBook report that has been a key driver in gaining the attention of new partners, volunteers and potential funders.
“As a small volunteer-led organisation, we need to punch well above our weight, to get the attention of funders. Our CoverageBook report allows us to do this by showing the impact we are making at Dad La Soul. The reports have the WOW factor.”
Dan Flanagan, Founder; Dad La Soul
Why choose a PR reporting tool to prove social impact?
Dan had tried multiple tools and Powerpoint formats to present the results and none worked for his specific but varied audience groups of funders, volunteers and partners. It was remembering a previous role in PR (when in a hot yoga session!) when it struck him to try CoverageBook.
Report customisation
Dan had previously used CovergeBook 1 so when he started his free trial of CoverageBook 2 and saw the new design layouts and flexibility for custom content he got very excited about the potential of his social impact report (no really, he did!).
Sections
As Dan has shared his report is aimed at three different audiences, with different knowledge and objectives. Because of this Dan organises his report into sections labeled by the oranisation events, impact, and volunteers.
Direct link to sections for stakeholders short on time
It is also possible to direct report readers straight to their relevant section with the new section link feature. So, if you have a very large report with loads of sections you don’t want reader scrolling through, just preview your report and click on the section from the contents menu… Then copy the direct URL link to that section (here, the link will go right to the highlights page)
Sign posting his busty report readers really helped Dan; “I genuinely believe that with CoverageBook we’ll be able to engage future funders more efficiently”
Custom metrics to prove outcome
As you can see, the Dad La Soul report includes normal PR metrics to showcase the PR activity, but it was also important for Dan to demonstrate a range of other metrics too. From volunteer involvement, right through to job changes and decreased feelings of loneliness. Dan was able to include these through ‘custom metrics’ at the top of the report.
“Having PR coverage readership, social shares and SEO metrics taken care of automatically, gives me the time to focus on the additional info funders, potential partners and volunteers look for; such as number of projects delivered, volunteer hours given and project engagement
I was able to easily add this important data through ‘custom slides’, which was probably one of the major selling points for me.
Dan Flangan
If you want to do the same, ensure you’re on the Metrics Summary page, then click on ‘Add Custom Cards’ in the top menu. If you or another team member have already created custom metrics in your account, you can click on the add/remove button at the bottom of the summary page.
You can then just fill in a name, description of what the data measures, add a number and click on Save.
We will be keeping in touch with Dan and sharing the impact his report is having in the future, but if you’d like to connect direct then chat to Dan through Twitter, LinkedIn or email.
Listen to podcast interview
If you would prefer to take us on the move then listen to my full interview with Dan through the PR Resolution Podcast….and then share with all of your non-profit and charity PR friends 😉
Want more measurement tips? Join the webinar:
‘How to prove social impact from PR results’
If you want to go one step beyond then sign up to our (FREE) measurement webinar where will will deep-dive on telling your PR to social impact data story.
On the 21st September I will be joined by analytics expert & comms strategist Kristian Hoareau Foged for a free webinar to share how to transform your PR report into a comprehensive social impact report. There will be live examples, frameworks, and tool recommendations. Sign up now as places are limited!
Start your free trial of CoverageBook and grab your special charity and non-profit discount now at CoverageBook for Charities and Non-profits.
