As Marketing and Communications Manager for Lifestart Co-operative, Alison Turner’s work tends to focus on tracking emails and social media, responding to enquiries, organising events, updating the website, filling in grants and drawing up media releases
Working in a non – profit, training and development, particularly in areas such as social media, is often neglected. Alison says, “Marketing staff don’t get training because it is more important for the therapy staff to keep their skills up to date.”
When Lifestart Co-operative was awarded a scholarship to attend Australian Businesswomen’s Network’s Social Media for Small Business webinar, Alison attended on behalf of the organisation. The webinar encouraged attendees to think outside the square, be prepared, use pictures in posting and invest time in learning how to use social media.
As a result of attending Alison says she was compelled to plan tactics and strategy for social media and to invest time into organisational activities. She felt the webinar allowed her to continue being enthused by what social media has to offer.
Alison is as passionate about serving the not-for-profit sector as ever, claiming that despite undertaking work in government, commercial and small business environments, she has found non-for-profits such as Lifestart are where “people work with soul to help another person.” Lifestart provides early intervention and school age services for children with disabilities or developmental delays, using a family centred approach to identify the needs of the child. Services they provide include occupational therapy, speech therapy, music and aqua therapy. Apart from government support, the organisation relies on the generosity of donors in order to provide its large range of services.
The Social Media for Small Business scholarship was awarded to Alison Turner on behalf of Lifestart Co-operative Ltd as part of HerBusiness’ Partnership with the Australian Scholarships Foundation (ASF). For details of upcoming scholarships programs, visit the ASF website. Learn more about Lifestart at their website. Learn more about on-demand social media learning with HerBusiness. This story was co-authored by Emma Grimley. Emma is studying Bachelor of Arts (Media) and Bachelor of Laws at Macquarie University and is currently completing an internship with the Australian Businesswomen’s Network.
