Nonprofit Public Relations –
How to Get Started
Typically a young organization does not
think much about PR – they are focused on their
mission and on raising funds. Public Relations, however,
is really an important function to promote awareness of
your organization and it’s mission which in turn
attracts potential donors to keep that mission going.
For a small nonprofit with no staff, PR starts and ends
with the board; as the nonprofit grows PR responsibilities
are usually shared with their first staff member (the
Executive Director) and then with the fund development
team as the staff grows even more until the nonprofit
can afford to hire in-house PR staff or contract the services
out. Either way, the board is a key figure and one of
your board development goals is to locate people who are
well-connected in the community and/or experienced in
public relations to serve on your PR committee. |
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| An example of PR committee duties
can include: |
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Develops and overall marketing / public relations plan
that is in line with the overall strategic plan |
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Planning and overseeing an annual awards event, preparing
event materials and promoting the event |
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Identifies and establishes relationships with the media,
develops and distributes press releases |
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Developing and approving general marketing materials,
press kit etc. for the organization |
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Represents the organization at other events and arranges
speaking engagements |
| As the organization grows, staff
take over the detailed projects i.e. writing press releases,
developing marketing materials while the board committee
provides more of an oversight function i.e. Assisting
with and approving the overall plan, approving press releases
and marketing materials before they go out |
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The PR Plan
Your Public Relations Plan will include a list and description
of the PR activities to be conducted throughout the year
with a timeline for implementation and budget costs. Items
may include on and off-line newsletters, direct mail pieces,
press releases, website interactivity such as a blog or
forum geared at general activities and for any special
events. An integral part of developing the PR plan will
be developing the Press Kit |
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The Press Kit
This information needs to be both offline (press kit)
and online (press center) to have the greatest flexibility,
allowing reporters to easily locate the info they need
to create a story about you. |
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Organizational Backgrounder |
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Organizational History |
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Key Board Members and/or Staff |
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Consumer Stories |
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Testimonials |
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Press Releases |
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Actual stories that have been done on your organization
or mention your organization |
| For more specifics on what to
have in your Press Kit or Press Center see The
WriteMarket.com |
