Now that you have a bigger group, you will need to think about how to communicate with each other.

By this stage, it is useful to have an agreed name and logo so that you have a settled identity as a group. See below for some examples from other Groups.

Attached - Ideas for names and logos

Also below, you can watch a webinar we held about Internal Group Communications.

As you build up your team, you will also need to consider how you protect volunteers data. We look at data management in this module

Email List

As a first step, we recommend that you create an email database for everybody who wishes to keep in touch with the group's activities. Your Communications Lead can then contact the wider group in periodic email newsletters about activities such as fundraising events, social activities and public meetings. Later on, 'call outs' can be made to people on this database for such things as furniture for the family's house or DIY jobs that might need doing.

We also recommend that you set up a group email account. This has several benefits:

• You will not need to publish your private email address on public leaflets and websites
• It keeps your Community Sponsorship work separate from your private emails
• If a core group member has to pause, or leave the group, information and contacts are not lost with them
• You could rotate the person who manages the inbox, so that the work does not fall to one person
• It also looks more professional when you approach agencies for support 

Communication Tools

Slack - is an excellent communication channel for groups. Watch our video below to see how Refugee Sponsorship Edinburgh have used Slack as a group.

WhatsApp - a WhatsApp group is a handy way of quickly reaching each other.

Mailchimp is a useful website tool for sending attractive group emails.

Skype, Zoom, Google Hangout - with these video conference calling tools, team meetings can be held remotely.

For shared documents, you can use Google Drive or Dropbox. You can download a Google drive folder with all the template documents you need to get started here (contact [email protected] if you'd prefer this in a different format).

Airtable is a great project management tool that keeps all your budgets, task checklists, group contacts, etc. in one place. We've created a template Community Sponsorship Plan to get you started.

We look at some of these in more detail, and provide instructions in the Useful Project Management Tools module.

Social Media

It also makes sense to set up social media accounts, both to keep group members in touch with your progress, but also to communicate more widely with people who are interested in your initiative. You don't need to be tweeting or posting all the time, but it is good to do fairly regular updates.

We recommend a Facebook page and a Twitter page.

Examples:

Croeso Menai Facebook

Herne Hill Welcomes Refugees Twitter