PUBLIC RELATIONS, BRANDING, MARKETING, VOLUNTEERS
PUBLICITY TIPS YOU CAN USE

We all know it's important to let donors, board members, employees and customers know about your successes and activities. Here are some tips on how to generate publicity.

Follow the news
Sounds basic, but you've got to know your media inside and out to be able to identify trends and the "good" reporters, i.e., those who write often and about your areas of interest. But don't leave it there. The next step is to develop relationships with those reporters. Send a quick "attaboy" email; make suggestions for an angle overlooked or a fact misunderstood. When you're ready to suggest a story about your own organization, you'll find a more receptive ear.

Use your organization's website
Include your URL in all media communications. Invite journalists to go to your website for more info on a particular program or your mission overall. And make sure it has the kind of content you need - and that makes you proud!

Distribute press releases about your activities
Send your releases out to the traditional media, but don't forget related Internet sites, business publications, fraternal organizations, religious and community organizations. How to distribute? Call or email first to alert journalists to your news and email releases and photos if at all possible. It is much easier for your recipients and much faster.

Photos
A photo increases readership. Take digital photos if you can and distribute them with informative captions to the media. Try to keep the number of people in the photo to five or less to allow for each person's face to be seen. This also minimizes the need for a huge caption.

Before and after stories
It is not true that the media prefer to cover only negative stories. Editors like positive stories about their communities, too. So don't just announce the start of a project. Gather material about the progress being made and disseminate information on the before-and-after effects.

Surveys
Media are always interested in numbers and trends, even if the studies they are based on are not statistically projectible. Do surveys to measure a need for assistance, or to show how assistance is alleviating a need. Do a smart analysis and publicize your results.

Let your funders and community partners serve as spokespeople
Create opportunities for your funders and private and public sector allies to talk to the press. It's another way to thank them and make it easier to recruit others.

Sue Cole is publicity chair of ADO. She and her husband, Bob, are partners in Cole Communications of Bronxville, a marketing communications firm. You can contact her at scole@colecommPR.com; for other PR tips you can use, visit their website: www.colecommPR.com.

October, 2002