Community Groups Undergo Murdoch Marketing Makeover

Through a partnership between the City of Melville’s MVRC, Fremantle Volunteer Resource Centre and the university’s School of Media Communication and Culture, the university’s third-year Public Relations students develop communication strategies for not-for-profit community organisations.

MVRC Coordinator Nicola Schuman said the program offered benefits to both the students and the community groups. “The students get to use their skills and knowledge and gain some real-life experience while the not-for-profit organisations can take advantage of the skills and knowledge of the students and receive a communication plan they can implement at the end of the project,” she said.

Murdoch University Public Relations Lecturer Kate Fitch said the Campaign Management unit gave all students an opportunity to gain practical, real-world experience before they graduated. “The unit also offers the students a challenge as they apply their university learning to real organisations,” she said. “The students have to be quite creative and develop a plan to suit the individual organisation and it must be a plan that can be implemented with limited resources.”

Ms Fitch said the program was first run in 2006. “Many of the organisations from last year have adopted the communications plans submitted by the students,” she said. “One group of students was even recognised with a national community service award for their work.”

Seventy students are taking part in the 2007 program. The not-for-profit groups include St Patrick’s Community Support Centre, WA Community Broadcasting Association, Hilton Primary School, Melville Cares, Kids are Kids Therapy and Education Centre, Australian Red Cross, Friends of Piney Lakes, Fremantle Heritage Guides and the Fremantle Library.

Friends of Piney Lakes member Margaret Kingsbury said the program had been very beneficial for the group, which consists of volunteers who help to protect Piney Lakes Reserve through rehabilitation and community education. ”It will be the first time we have had a communications plan,” she said. “It has made us really think about what we want to achieve and allowed us to get practical ideas from people outside our group. We decided we wanted a communications strategy to attract new membership to the group, including someone interested in administration duties.”

The Murdoch PR students will present their communication strategies at the Triple C: Community Cares Conference at Murdoch University on 14 November 2007. It will showcase the student teams' hard work and commitment to the various community-based organisations.

For more information about volunteering, including opportunities with local community groups, contact the MVRC on 9364 0153.