Charity PR and how to make a big impact with a small budget

Have you ever wondered why charities spend money? What’s that I hear you say? You mean If I donate a fiver, not every penny goes directly to the cause, I hear you splutter as coffee sprays across your laptop.

Well, I’ve news for you – they do. They spend money on the same things a corporation will spend money upon because like them, they need to invest in the right areas to ensure they see even greater return.

The model is the same as all businesses, albeit slightly more delicate because every penny invested, has been a penny donated – by us, by corporate partners, or through legacies. 

You may also be shocked to learn that one major UK healthcare charity spends roughly £50 to £70 Million every year on admin and fundraising (including staff and marketing). That’s a lot of your honest pledges going straight into salaries, right? Still spluttering? Ok, well what if you now learnt that that investment brings in roughly £750 to £800 Million.

That’s £650 to £700 million ploughed directly into programmes designed to help cure disease – vital funding that would not exist if it weren’t for the upfront investment.

Ah – you’re ok now aren’t you?

But there are levels to this. Not every charity is as vast in its operations and scale, but every charity needs to pump as much effort, resource and elbow grease into fundraising, and the engine that drives it.

Recently, we travelled to London as finalists in the 2026 Purpose Awards, shortlisted for Best Health Cause Campaign for our work with Leukaemia Care and its #SpotLeukaemia campaign.

While we didn’t bring home the trophy, we left with a reminder of why charity communications are so extraordinarily vital. Awards are wonderful recognition, headlines are important, and reach and engagement definitely has its place. But for charities, awareness isn’t the only goal – impact is key.

And the best campaigns change what people think, feel and do. The ‘do’ tends to be a behavioural change, like visiting a healthcare professional. It could also be to put a pound note in a collection tin, or buy the Big Issue, for example. 

Each charity, whether it’s health related, protecting animals, providing facilities for the under-privileged or striving for better equality, national or regional, has a level. It will know its targets – its goals – and invest accordingly. If it smashes that target it will again invest accordingly, and in line with that growth.

And here’s why we are so proud to have been shortlisted for that award. We weren’t working with astronomical budgets, but we reached millions of people through national and regional print and online newspapers, out of home placements, and through social channels.

We couldn’t afford to pay for celebrity-fronted campaigns but we saw a 148 percent hike in visits to a dedicated landing site. We didn’t have the resources to drive a double-decker bus across Westminster Bridge with megaphones blaring, but we did help increase leukaemia symptom search terms by 237 per cent.

If greater awareness leads to earlier diagnosis, better outcomes and improved understanding of a condition, then the campaign has delivered real-world value that extends far beyond any of these metrics. 

There is no doubt that celebrity endorsements and large-scale advertising can be effective, they can generate attention quickly and help send a message to a vast audience.

Letting the people do the talking

But it’s not the only route. At Catalyst PR, we firmly believe that some of the most powerful charity PR campaigns begin with something much simpler and much more tangible – real people telling real stories that the public can relate to.

Behind almost every piece of coverage that truly resonates is someone willing to share their lived experience. A patient explaining how symptoms were missed, a family discussing the challenges they’ve faced, and a supporter describing why a cause matters to them.

These stories work because they are authentic and they help audiences see themselves, their friends or their families within the narrative. And crucially, they don’t require enormous budgets.

A well-told human story can achieve national media coverage, spark conversations across social media and drive meaningful behavioural change. It can generate awareness, support fundraising efforts, attract corporate partnerships and strengthen a charity’s reputation.

Some of the most powerful charity PR campaigns don’t rely on large media budgets or heavyweight advertising spend at all. Instead, they succeed because they are rooted in simple human behaviour and ideas that people actively want to take part in, such as Dementia UK’s Time for a Cuppa, or MND’s Ice Bucket Challenge. With minimal central coordination and relatively low initial spend, these campaigns grew through participation, and peer-to-peer nominations. Essentially, these were people’s stories played out in real time. 

In our experience, audiences increasingly respond to authenticity over spin, and the best charity PR campaigns don’t always need the biggest budget in the room. What you do need is a compelling story, a clear call to action and a genuine understanding of the audience you’re trying to reach.

If you’re a charity, and you’d like to chat with us about increasing your awareness and impact without breaking the bank, get in touch.