PR Tips for Nonprofit Organizations

PR for Nonprofits

Back in September, I was asked to talk to a group of local, very small, nonprofit organizations about how to develop and execute a public relations program. Follows are my remarks.

With the media, you must be compelling, concise, and consistent. The most effective way to do this is to develop background briefing material, so that the message is quickly, clearly, and always, presented in the same way. The basic material includes a tagline, a boilerplate, and message points. The tagline and boilerplate are standard features of press releases, but even if you never write a press release, developing this material will help you be more effective in any media relations activities you do pursue.

The tagline describes who you are and what you do, in a single, brief phrase. This helps you identify the appropriate reporter to contact, and lets the reporter know that your organization is of interest to his or her audience. Reporters cover “beats” or areas of interest, such as government, education, fashion, and so on. The boilerplate is a short paragraph that describes your organization, including history, location, and contact information.

Message points highlight the key features of your organization, and include:

Why you started your organization

Your mission

Accomplishments

Goals

Current initiatives

Upcoming events, membership drives, fundraisers, etc.

How people can join/participate/support your organization

When you are ready t o contact the media, you need to identify the appropriate outlets and editorial contacts. For newspapers, if there is not a specific reporter covering the non-profit beat, the features reporter of managing editor are good initial contacts, as well as the reporter that covers the city in which your organization is located. Radio and TV stations usually have a public service or community affairs director. If not, contact the program director at the radio station, and the assignment editor at the TV station. Many TV and radio stations also have community service programming; if so, contact the responsible producer or reporter.

Many news organizations – TV, radio, and newspaper – allow viewers/listeners/readers to submit items of interest via the website. Check that out. Also checkout the online “community calendar” feature of the news outlets to post your upcoming events. In addition to local news media outlets, also conduct an online search for publications/blogs/websites that have an editorial focus on your category – children, animals, veterans, etc.

After you’ve identified outlets and contacts, build a contact database for outreach activities. Include the name of the outlet, the media contact’s first and last name, title, email address, and phone and fax numbers.

Conduct proactive media outreach. Contact media members by phone or email to let them know who you are, what you are doing, and why you are newsworthy. Participate with the media, by being interviewed, contributing articles, and providing insights as an “expert source” for reporters when they are writing a story about the issue that your organization addresses.

It takes some time and thought to put together your background briefing material and build your contact database, but by doing so, you will have a much greater chance of securing coverage. Media outreach is about developing relationships. Being prepared to effectively engage with the media is the best way to develop successful relationships.