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For Margaret Gardner, director of communication and marketing at Practical Action, small really is beautiful. Her charity specialises in using technology to change the world, be it better seeds for Sudan or hydro-energy projects in Peru.

The charity's projects are wide-ranging, but are all examples of how small-scale action can make a big difference. However, Gardner says it can be hard to communicate their effectiveness to a public fed up of reading about one disaster after another.

'It can be difficult to get anyone interested,' she says. 'Newspapers are looking to hear about disasters - they give an impression of western aid being flown in, almost as if Superman brings it, but charities like us are in the communities helping and supporting them all the time.'

During her eight years at the charity, one of Gardner's biggest challenges has been to change its name from the Intermediate Technology Development Group to something the public actually understands. The charity's founder, radical economist Fritz Schumacher, came up with the original name in the 1960s. His philosophy was that small-scale technology could be used to make a difference to the poor, rather than all of the world's technological innovation being used to service the rich.

Gardner says the name no longer meant much to the general public, however. 'We did some quick and dirty research and discovered that most people saw the name and thought we were a bank, a computer company or - bizarrely - a fashion house,' she adds. 'Even when we added our strapline, 'Practical answers to poverty', people thought we were a credit union.'

Future perfect

The charity came up with the name Practical Action with pro-bono help from consultancy FutureBrand. 'It works because it is grounded in what we do and also allows us to emphasise the practical nature of our projects,' Gardner says.

The charity also used the name change three years ago to communicate with employees and supporters about its 40th anniversary. 'We wanted to be able to look back at our roots at the same time. It worked well,' Gardner explains.

Gardner, 47, has been working in marketing for 17 years, after taking a degree in English and theology. 'I wanted to understand my faith more,' she says. 'I would describe myself as a Christian Socialist.'

Her first marketing work was firmly in the commercial sector, in the lucrative home improvement market. 'I started at Coloroll, making sure paint matched bed linen and wallpaper, which seems a bit sad when I think of it now,' she laughs. She then worked for investment company Lonrho before a sideways jump to the fair trade movement, which prompted her love of working at not-for-profit organisations.

'I gave up the company car and took a big cut in salary, but I found something more worthwhile: communicating key issues to a public that is interested but only gets to know about disasters,' Gardner says. 'In many ways, communication is even more important.'

Internal communications

One of Gardner's biggest challenges is making sure the marketing output matches what colleagues are doing and thinking. 'Here, the charity's marketing and communication is constantly scrutinised by colleagues and trustees,' she says. 'It is so important that all money spent gets a good return, and everyone is very keen on making sure we don't oversimplify what we are doing when we are communicating it. People aren't afraid to tell us when there's a problem. If something is wrong, they will be at our door explaining - which I think is a very positive thing.'

Some of Gardner's recent key successes have been Christmas appeals, notably with the Independent and the Guardian. 'I know some newspapers are considering stopping their Christmas appeals because they are not getting as much money as they were,' she says. 'However, they have raised a good amount of money for us, and the interest from readers has been incredibly positive. What's more, it has been really good to see respected journalists looking at our work and providing us with an independent perspective.'

The charity also has a line of gifts called Practical Presents, which allows donors to buy a variety of items including floating gardens, alpacas and ploughs for poor families. Other marketing initiatives include advertisements in newspapers and on television, as well as speaking at conferences.

Practical Action's work seems more relevant than ever in the face of recent disasters. It has helped to provide earthquake-proof housing in Latin America, and is responding to the food crisis by helping small farmers to grow better crops with better equipment and training.

Examples of the charity's work include simple technology like donkey-yoked ploughs in Sudan, where Practical Action trains farmers in how to till their land. Kaltoum Mohammed Abdalla, one of the farmers in the ploughing scheme, relied on labouring on housing projects to support her four children before being given the training in ploughing. She then started growing cash crops and was able to buy 10 goats, send two children to school, and later buy a second plough.

Positive outlook

The charity has also helped women in Bangladesh learn how to farm fish using a simple cage called a hapa. The cages are simple technology, made of bamboo and net, but they allow many fish to grow and thrive.

'These people are in desperate situations, but they are doing something about it,' Gardner says. 'When people only see coverage of disasters, it polarises into absolute need and guilt from people in the West. Of course, disaster response is to be applauded, but there are more complex stories about aid that don't always get heard.'

The charity is based in Rugby, which allows Gardner to live outside the town in the country and indulge in chicken keeping and gardening. 'I'm seriously into composting,' she says. 'Otherwise I spend a lot of time ferrying around my 11-year-old daughter to various activities. I guess I feel a bit like a taxi service some of the time.' A bit of Practical Action of her own, it seems.

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