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Here to help you think big, be brave and stay real when communicating for social impact. We’ve been embracing change over recent months. Welcome to Agenda.

You may know us as Slack Communications; you may have worked with us over the last 10 years, heard us speak at events, or followed us on social. Our leadership team has grown. We’ve got new services, new skills, new knowledge – all of which we’re looking forward to sharing with you under our new name, Agenda. Our name and look are different, but you can expect the same energy, culture of cooperati

on, and commitment to your success that we’ve always offered. When you work with us, you get:

* Your very own team of comms professionals who have exactly the skills you require, built around your goals and budget.

* A programme of work tailored to your specific needs. We always work with you, rather than doing stuff to you, drawing on the latest insight, learnings from others, and our collective experiences to create significant and sustainable impact.

* A partner in comms whose values match your own, acting as a compass for all we say and do. You can read more about what we stand for. For more details on the range of services offered, please visit our website:
https://your-agenda.com

10/09/2025

Will you be going to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool?

For those wanting to have greater social impact and extend their influence, a trip to party conference can offer valuable rewards. But it needs careful planning and consideration.

In the first of our two-part blog, Matt Ball, our senior associate with 20 conferences under his belt, has curated some top tips from other seasoned conference pros:

⭐Niall Couper, our senior associate for media and campaigns and former head of media, PR and supporter communications at Amnesty International

⭐Roberta Fusco, head of influencing at ACEVO, who works with chief executives in the voluntary sector

You can read part one of the blog here: https://your-agenda.com/latest/blog/maximising-your-impact-at-labour-party-conference-part-one

09/09/2025

When crisis hits, will you be ready?

That’s the big question for many organisations nowadays, who can see even the smallest crisis situation develop and go viral across countless digital channels.

That’s why we’re launching our new practical workshop on Crisis Communications. It’s built for busy comms professionals in charities, unions and companies with a social purpose and is designed to get you crisis-ready.

One organisation we’ve already helped prepare is Alzheimer’s Research UK, who came to us for a bespoke training course to help colleagues understand how their incident comms plan would work in practice, as well as advice on handling media scrutiny.

So what was our approach?

📌Working with ARUK comms colleagues, we explored the areas of risk for the charity so we could design our session around realistic potential incidents.

📌We reviewed their incident comms plan and surveyed colleagues on their levels of experience and confidence in incident comms so we could meet their needs. We then crafted a morning session that shared and explained ARUK’s incident comms plan, before talking them through how to identify and escalate a problem.

📌We provided an ARUK-specific guide on the steps to take to gather the facts, create a narrative and FAQs, identify audiences and communicate with credibility and concern.

📌We balanced training on internal processes with a look at what the media want – thinking about how to develop good relationships with journalists and using case studies to show how to prevent a drama from escalating into a disaster.

📌Using three scenarios of escalating severity, we asked colleagues to work in groups to plan their response using the guide we had created. Our favourite session was a final mock press conference, where we enjoyed throwing in a few curveballs to test colleagues’ reactions.

📌At the end of the session, we asked colleagues to think about what they, their teams and the charity might do differently as a result of the training. We followed up with a survey to check that we’d helped them improve their understanding of incident comms planning and asked for their feedback so we could improve too.

If you want to work with us on armour-plating your own crisis communications, you’ve still got time to book on to our Crisis Communications workshop.

You’ll walk away with:

✅ A clear understanding of what to do before a crisis hits
✅️ Practical tips you can tailor to your organisation
✅️ The essential dos and don’ts that protect trust, people and reputation
✅ Confidence to lead with calm, values-led communication when the pressure is on

⏳Only 8 places available – reserve yours now and be ready before the next storm breaks.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67 / €79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

04/09/2025

In the heat of a crisis situation, there is barely any space to think, plan or prepare – and all the while, things continue to escalate.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a practical, realistic and tailored crisis communications plan in place, ready to turn to as a worrying issue starts to develop?

We feel the same way, which is why we are launching our new practical workshop on Crisis Communications. It’s built for busy comms professionals in charities, unions and companies with a social purpose and is designed to get you crisis-ready.

The workshop will help you identify what to do, and importantly what not to do – so you can avoid common mistakes that damage reputations.

You’ll walk away with:

✅ A clear understanding of what to do before a crisis hits
✅️ Practical tips you can tailor to your organisation
✅️ The essential dos and don’ts that protect trust, people and reputation
✅ Confidence to lead with calm, values-led communication when the pressure is on

Just like an insurance policy, a good crisis plan protects you when things go wrong. This workshop helps you build one that actually works.

⏳Limited places available. Get yours before it’s too late.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67 / €79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

03/09/2025

August has been a month of two halves: we’ve caught up with colleagues, refined new offers for clients and plotted our autumn schedule, while also helping clients manage reputations and influence change.

Read our monthly round-up now: https://your-agenda.com/latest/blog/monthly-round-up-aug25

29/08/2025

What if your fundraising organisation could boost its income without adding more staff, budget or hours?

Alan Clayton has spent decades studying high-performing non-profits – and he’s found that growth is rarely about working harder. It’s about getting the right mindset and strategies in place – as well as your messaging, storytelling and sense of audience.

On 10 September, Alan will share his findings – which have also been published in his book Great Fundraising Organisations – in a free lunchtime conversation with Becky Slack.

Register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2YEZz6CuTV6hoIdQ5c0upg

More information on our website 👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/in-conversation-withalan-clayton

28/08/2025

Crises are always worse when you’re unprepared.

Silence, missteps or inconsistent messages can escalate quickly. Without a plan, you risk losing the trust of the people you serve and the credibility you’ve worked hard to build.

Think of a crisis communications plan like an insurance policy for your comms. You hope you won’t need it – but when something does go wrong, it’s the difference between staying trusted or scrambling to fix a mess.

Our new practical workshop on Crisis Communications will help you build a crisis comms plan that works. You will learn:

✅ How to prepare for the unexpected
✅ What to say – and what to avoid – when the pressure’s on
✅ How to protect your reputation, people and mission
✅ How to respond fast, clearly and confidently

⏳ Only 8 places available – reserve yours now and be ready before the next storm breaks.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67 / €79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

27/08/2025

What separates good fundraisers from great ones?

Most fundraising organisations are not raising as much as they could. Not because they lack passion or purpose – but because they are not set up to unlock their full fundraising potential.

This is the view of Alan Clayton, whose book Great Fundraising Organisations shares insights from 20 years of research with 500+ non-profits, showing how great leadership, internal behaviours and communications can make all the difference.

If you want to know more, come hear from Alan himself as he joins Becky Slack for a free lunchtime conversation on 10 September, 12.30pm-1.30pm BST – register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2YEZz6CuTV6hoIdQ5c0upg

More information on our website 👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/in-conversation-withalan-clayton

26/08/2025

❓Crisis comms – can you keep up?

Have you updated your crisis comms plan in response to the massive political shifts that have taken place over the last 12 months? Where do you even begin? Everything is moving so fast that it’s difficult to keep up, right?

💡If we are to thrive not just survive in times like these, we need to PIN it. PIN stands for preparation, insight and networks, which are three core elements of a crisis comms plan that all good comms people need to have in place.

📌Preparation: We can’t predict the future, but we can make a good guess. Planning for the worst not hoping for the best helps teams face what may – or may not – be around the corner.

Sometimes situations can be high stakes and emotionally charged – thinking them through in advance, assigning roles so people know who does what and when, and prepping holding statements can help you respond to risks with calm, clarity and impact.

📌 Insight: Knowledge is power. The more you know, the fewer nasty surprises – and the better your response. You’ll also spot what you don’t know and where the gaps are, which is important information for recruitment and supplier decisions.

For example, do we understand the psychology behind propaganda – and how to counter it? How should we respond to physical and verbal attacks on our teams? And how can we challenge far-right tactics without fuelling their fire?

📌 Networks: Insights matter but, in a crisis, they can only carry you so far. Often, it’s who you know that really counts. Whether it’s high-profile influencers to defend your reputation, journalists to shape your story or sector colleagues to provide strength in numbers, who you know and can count on is essential.

Keeping up with the world can feel impossible. Knowing how to respond is just as hard. But finding help is easy. Stick a PIN in your crisis comms plan and come join our new practical workshop on Crisis Communications. It’s built for busy comms professionals in charities, unions and companies with a social purpose and is designed to get you crisis-ready.

You’ll walk away with:

✅ A clear understanding of what to do before a crisis hits
✅️ Practical tips you can tailor to your organisation
✅️ The essential dos and don’ts that protect trust, people and reputation
✅ Confidence to lead with calm, values-led communication when the pressure is on

Just like an insurance policy, a good crisis plan protects you when things go wrong. This workshop helps you build one that actually works.

⏳Only 8 places available – reserve yours now and be ready before the next storm breaks.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67 / €79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

21/08/2025

When a crisis hits, it’s not theory you need – it’s experience.

That’s what you’ll get in our new Crisis Communications workshop, led by comms strategist, journalist and crisis response expert Becky Slack.

Over the last 30 years, Becky has:

📰 Written for The Guardian, The Independent, New Statesman and more
🗞️ Managed reputations through CEO scandals, hostile press exposés and targeted disinformation campaigns
📚 Published Effective Media Relations for Charities: What Journalists Want and How to Deliver It

In this workshop, she’ll show you:

✅ How to build a crisis comms plan that protects your people, mission and reputation
✅ What journalists want in a crisis – and how to stay in control of the narrative
✅ What works (and what definitely doesn’t) when the heat is on
✅ How to respond quickly, calmly and with purpose

Whether you’re a comms lead in a charity, union or a company with a social purpose, this session will leave you better equipped to handle what’s coming.

⏳Only 8 places available – reserve yours now and be ready before the next storm breaks.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67/€79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

20/08/2025

Want to know how to build a shared and inclusive sense of identity that helps to heal division?

Visit bit.ly/CHM_Steve

19/08/2025

In times of unrest, fear spreads faster than facts. It shapes our bodies, our decisions and our politics. But the outcome doesn’t have to be hostile.

Find out more at bit.ly/CHM_Faryal

14/08/2025

Working with celebrities can offer charities and campaign-oriented organisations many benefits for increased profile, media opportunities and raised income. But it can also be fraught with risk. If the worst should happen that’s when good crisis comms preparation comes into play – without a plan in place, it’s already too late.

Becky Slack, Agenda co-director, offers some crisis comms tips for organisations either working with a celebrity or thinking about taking the leap:

📌Undertake a risk assessment and have statements prepared

Make sure you are on the front foot, complete a risk assessment before you engage a celebrity.

📌Quickly identify any legal or safety concerns

Should you find that one of your celebrities has been accused of something serious and illegal, you should act quickly and decisively. Your priority should be ensuring the safety and security of your people – staff, members, volunteers, beneficiaries, donors.

📌Check whether your values align before making a decision

It may be that the individual hasn’t done anything wrong per se, but certain sections of society don’t like their views or associations – you need to assess whether your celebrity’s values match with your own and choose whether to maintain the relationship.

📌If you are going to stand by them, be prepared!

Be warned that the media/social media attention may turn on you and therefore you need to be fully ready for this with statements and spokespeople.

📌Think carefully about when to release a statement

The type of media statement you should publish again depends on the situation. If people have been harmed, their needs should take front and centre of your statement.

📌Do you even need to make a media statement?

If the incident involving the celebrity does not have any direct links or relevance to your organisation, there’s no real need to issue a statement in advance of a media request.

📌Deciding what to include in the media statement and other information

The contents of the media statement again depend on the situation. Keep your statement factual and free from emotion.

If you’re looking for more in-depth advice and guidance then you need our new practical workshop on Crisis Communications. It’s built for busy comms professionals in charities, unions and companies with a social purpose and is designed to get you crisis-ready.

You’ll walk away with:

✅ A clear understanding of what to do before a crisis hits
✅️ Practical tips you can tailor to your organisation
✅️ The essential dos and don’ts that protect trust, people and reputation
✅ Confidence to lead with calm, values-led communication when the pressure is on

Just like an insurance policy, a good crisis plan protects you when things go wrong. This workshop helps you build one that actually works.

⏳Only 8 places available – reserve yours now and be ready before the next storm breaks.

Crisis comms workshop: Be prepared for the unexpected

Wednesday 17 September

10am-12pm BST

Price: £67 / €79

👉 https://your-agenda.com/latest/events/crisis-comms

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Our Story

Slack Communications helps businesses, charities and individuals tell their stories more effectively so they can reach their full potential. We do this by:

Reviewing your current communications and marketing activities to help you understand what’s working and what’s not.

Writing communications and marketing strategies that will help you reach bigger and better audiences and to sell more products and services.

Providing you with advice, support and training so that you and your team achieve your potential easily and effectively.

Our work falls in three key areas:

Editorial We make multiplatform magazines and newsletters; we report the news and shout about successes; we write features, speeches, reports and presentations.

PR and Communications We help people reach new audiences and start conversations; we build and strengthen brands and reputations; we organise briefings, receptions, conferences, and parties.

Training We train people in how to tell their stories more effectively; how to work with the press and how to make the most of tools such as newsletters and social media.

Since 2013, our talent collective has worked with businesses, charities, media outlets and government bodies. We have working knowledge of social affairs, business and charity management, and tourism, among others.

We have helped secure our clients coverage on TV and radio and in the pages of newspapers, websites and magazines in more than 20 countries around the world. We have enabled them to grow their digital presence, reach their target audiences via websites, email and social media, and have trained them so they can secure the best possible bang for their marcomms buck.

How can we help you today?