PR Tips For Albury Not For Profits

LOW COST PR Tips

Low Cost PR
for
Albury Not For Profits

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Maine Street Marketing
http://mainestreet1.blogspot.com/
info@mainestreet.com.au

LOW COST PR Tips
The Global Outlook Remains Uncertain But …

Here is a collection of low cost tips to help you promote your not for
profit organisation in the next 12 months. Because ….

Despite a tough economy the need continues for not for profit and
community groups to market themselves. Perhaps even more so in
uncertain times, your organisation will need to attract:

• Funding.

• New members and volunteers.

• Clients to use their services.

• Attention for the great work you and your members do

Suggestions for low cost PR tips for community organisations in this
report came from responses to a request for ideas on our Traffic on
Maine blog (http://tinyurl.com/6y56jz).

PR professionals, not for profit groups and others kindly offered ideas
which after minor editing and grouping are presented for you to share
and use however you see fit. You can see the original comments at
http://tinyurl.com/6y56jz

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LOW COST PR Tips
Thanks to those who kindly contributed their thoughts and words
about low cost PR.

Albert Maruggi Provident Partners

Aleeza Zohar Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health

David Waylen Volunteering SA & NT Inc

Elouise Holmes Volunteering Victoria

Joan Stewart The Publicity Hound

Kathy Young Healthy Girls

Paul Hartunian Free Publicity Tips

Scott Anthony Fox's Pizza Den

Sue Ellson Newcomers Network

Terry Fallis Inside PR

Doug

Hohls Blog

Laura Fragiacomo

Rosanne Gain

Tami Belt

….and of course anonymous

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LOW COST PR Tips
Start With A Compelling Message …

In good times and bad, many worthwhile organizations vie for
attention and dollars.

Before embarking on PR your organization must craft its message
about who are you and who you help?

• Do your services overlap with other groups or not?

• What makes you unique and stand out?

People want to know about you before investing in you.

• What area of the community is served - pets, homeless,
elderly, disabled children, etc.

• Do the majority of funds go to the intended programs and
recipients?

Identify the problem and the solution your organization offers. Find
out how to connect emotionally with your target audience. How do
you affect them in the home, heart, health or the pocketbook?

Put a face on the population you serve. Tell their story. Describe
their situation and how your services help them. If you must present
a bleak picture, be sure to provide a solution. People want to hear
positive outcomes to things that affect them and their community. So
how do your services improve the community’s quality of life?

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LOW COST PR Tips
Show Staff Respect In Tough Times …

Remember that external and internal communications are two sides
of the same coin.

What happens internally quickly makes its way to the outside world
and hearing it straight from the horse’s mouth carries considerable
clout.

The financial crisis has already resulted in job losses in the not for
profit sector. Keep the employee communication lines open and
honesty is critical. If job losses are likely, tell employees sooner rather
than later (don’t let the grapevine deliver the news).

If you honestly don’t know what’s going to happen, tell people you
don’t know what’s going to happen (research shows uncertainty is a
killer) and keep them informed – even if that means you have to keep
repeating you don’t know.

If job losses are imminent, let people go with compassion and give
them as much support as possible. And remember survivors will
need support too.

The grapevine is awash with stories about the human carnage
committed by organisations that really ought to know better.

Reputations earned for being an ‘employer of choice’ are being
reduced to tatters, and an engagement program without sincerity will
not convince anybody that “we value our people”

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LOW COST PR Tips
Tap Into Your Board …

Look at the untapped talent base in your organisation.

Are there people on your Board or other committees or even amongst
your staff and volunteers who can assist you in your communications
and marketing efforts?

Perhaps you have a Board member who knows someone or an
agency that may be able to assist your organisation with pro-bono
services, helpful advice or hands on help.

Assess well connected members of your organisation to see how you
may leverage off their connections and talent to promote your not for
profit.

Tami Belt says …

I serve on the Board of two non-profits and provide my services
- PR - for free.

Often, non-profits want Board members who can donate
money. I don't have money to donate but I provide tens of
thousands of dollars of services resulting in 100K in media
coverage.

Most non-profits - not to mention some for-profit companies -
cannot afford to buy that kind of coverage. The coverage can
reach those who do have the money to donate, not to mention
tap into a volunteer base.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Work With Other Community Groups and Businesses …

Now is a good time for like minded not for profits to see if they can
collaborate and work with other community groups and share any
costs

When dealing with advertising agencies, be prepared to haggle over
the advertising price or seek editorial opportunities. Advertising
agencies are also finding the climate a little tough and are in a
position to offer better prices

Work with local businesses to raise funds. Arrange for a local firm to
support your cause and in return encourage your members and
others to patronise their business.

Scott Anthony runs Fox's Pizza Den in
Punxsutawney in the US State of Pennsylvania.
He suggests charities and volunteer groups
select and work with a local business to raise
funds.

Fox's Pizza Den has partnered with the Make-a-
Wish Foundation for nearly 10 years. In the past
five years it has been able to grant a wish valued
at around $3400 to the Foundation. On top of
this his pizza sales for this event have been up
nearly 50%.

Read more how this arrangement works at
http://tinyurl.com/6njokj

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LOW COST PR Tips
Actively Seek Donors ...

Being involved in the community is a viable marketing strategy for
many companies.

But non-profits should not wait for donors to come to their door.

They need to figure out what they need -not always just money -and
which companies can help them get that.

Approach them with a proposal of what they will get for what they
give.

It's a win-win situation.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Establish A Reputation With The Media …

It is good to always try and help the media and not just approach
them when you need favours.

It is not always about sending media releases. Sometimes it may just
be about providing information. Journalists are under pressure with
less of them on the ground so they are a busy lot with huge ground to
cover and tight deadlines. PR and communications people probably
outnumber journalists nowadays so we might as well be useful and
helpful to them.

It is tempting to fire off media releases to get a sense of being active
and busy in our roles. But be cautious about that temptation lest one
gains the reputation of constantly sending rubbish to the already
heaving inboxes of journalists.

The worst mistake is being regarded as an annoying pest by
journalists. And that impression tends to stick, especially if you keep
leaving messages in their voice mail to "follow-up on the media
release you e-mailed" etc.

It's all about relationships. In particular build genuine two-way
relationships with a broad range of broadcast, print and internet-
based media. Think of PR as the equivalent of a 'contact' sport.

Cut through is so important in an over saturated information
environment. And not easy to achieve. You need to think, act and
write differently. Most importantly be strategic.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Help The Media With Stories, Spokespersons And Materials …

Stories

Not-for-profit groups may not have a lot of money for publicity and
advertising but they are rich in interesting stories particularly to do
with volunteers

Spokespeople

They also have specialised knowledge in their own fields, so offering
your CEOs and managers as spokespersons on specific areas is one
way of getting media coverage.

This is particularly useful if you lead or are seen as an authority in
your field. There are lots of ways to approach this but the point is,
financial crisis or not, not for profits have an expertise edge.

Material

Make sure your material is really well-written and newsworthy and
contains all the important information that journalists need especially
your contact details so they can get back to you if they are interested
in your story.

Media Releases

Sending huge file attachments to the media is a no-no. Just send
your media release in e-mail format rather than attaching files that not
only eat up kbs/mbs but may also fail to open.

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LOW COST PR Tips
You don't always need to distribute media releases across the
country to every outlet imaginable to get a great result. This is where
a great media relationship comes into its own. And you may be able
to achieve national coverage in one go thereby saving your
spokespeople from doing countless repeat interviews!

Write media releases regularly and post them online and through
media release distribution services.

While these releases might be picked up by journalists, you should be
writing them specifically for consumers who will find the releases
through the search engines when searching for information.

Databases

Many PR agencies maintain media lists rather than creating them
from scratch each time.

Ask for "donated media lists" in return for a "thank you" mention in
your media release or other promotional material.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Use New Media Tools …

The next 12 months will see a continuing trend in organizations using
new online applications to craft their own content and distribute it to
anyone they choose, anywhere, any time at a fraction of the cost of
conventional marketing.

Set aside this year to shift from communicating vertically through old
PR outlets to connecting horizontally through new digital channels.

Practical ways to get started using the new media are:

• Once you know your message, in addition to media
releases, a great way to get your story out – and drive your
name up in the search engines – is online. That means you
must go far beyond traditional media with your message.

• Purchase inexpensive cameras, recorders and software that
allow you to create the images, vision, sound and text that
tell your story.

• Set up a profile on Faceboook and investigate social
networking sites that target a specific niche.

• Start Twittering and read the free Twitter Handbook at http://
www.TwitterHandbook.com

• See how other community groups use tools like Twitter eg
http://tinyurl.com/5dxdtr

• Many areas have online opportunities to post stories and
photos often through the online version of their daily papers.
Invest time in exploring what is available online in your
community.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Use The Power Of Events And Networking …

Events

Attending community events and expos as a participant with an
informational table, or as a guest with business card in hand, is a
great and inexpensive way to reach the public.

It is also a great way to informally network with media who often have
representatives at the community events and expos. These informal
meetings can often begin or further develop a personal relationship
which can only help one's efforts in getting seen and heard.

Networking

Be selective about the events you go to and make an effort to learn a
lot from three people you meet at each event (and follow up
afterwards).

Attend events regularly so you are recognised in your specialty area
and always provide referrals if you can.

Seek local, national and international coverage so that when people
'Google' you they find relevant references.

Make it easy for the media to contact you and recognise your “talent”
through their research. If you can’t assist them provide referrals to
someone who can.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Share good news and publish achievements particularly if they create
an interesting history.

Contact the people on your database at least three times a year to
keep your network “alive.”

Complete as much as possible online. You can do it at any time, it’s
free and it’s “permanent.” Do not write anything you don’t want to be
published in the public domain.

Aim for long term relationships, providing help whenever you can.
Whilst you may provide help to someone who cannot 'return' the
favour, something will come of it from elsewhere.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Get People Talking About You …

Community organizations after a single marketing strategy they could
use at no cost starting tomorrow should look no further than word of
mouth marketing.

Word of mouth marketing is about people passing on information
about you to their friends, families, workmates, professional
associates etc. It is becoming more important as we become
increasingly tired of the barrage of advertising we face each day.

It is the most powerful type of marketing because people will trust
people like them before they trust institutions.

Word of mouth marketing is free, credible and often fast. Getting
tongues talking by:

• Identifying and approaching the key people in your field or your
community who can help spread the word to others about what
you do.

• Giving them the facts, figures and stories about your organization
and a compelling reason to support you.

• Providing simple messages, stories and pass-on tools (brochures,
articles for their newsletters, information for their websites etc) to
make it easy for key people to spread the word.

• Track and measure the impact word of mouth and use free digital
tools to track what people say about you on-line.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Make Everything Count …

Always look to recycle or re-purpose any promotional activity you
spend time on.

Once you take the time and/or money to develop content (recording a
video, interviewing someone helped by your agency etc) use it as
many places as possible.

It may have been created for one use but it can be promoted in many
other ways.

For example with an event: you invite people individually but also you
should create a Facebook event, twitter it, post it in several places on
your Web site, in community calendars etc.

Then take photos/video at that event and post in all those spots
afterward.

Host all your video on YouTube instead of your local server. It's free
and it can't hurt to have a few more people accidentally see it. And it
makes your site look more hip when your video appears in the
YouTube "frame."

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LOW COST PR Tips
Think Long Term …

It's a buyers market and troubled times so the natural reaction is to
cut costs, renegotiate contracts and push a bit to get an advantage
and save a few bucks. However, that is a short term view of a long
term situation.

People do business with people and they remember what has
transpired in the relationship.

Troubled times are the best time to cement a relationship and show
that you are really in this for the long haul.

Everyone will remember that you paid an invoice early when their
cash flow was short. They will also remember that you kicked them
when they were down.

Think of ways you can help those involved and build the kind of trust
that will pay exponential benefits in the long run.

Finally if you say you will do something with the money/resources you
get, then you do it. Never use it for something else or fail to deliver.
Otherwise you get a bad reputation in the marketplace and not only
lose your first source of funding but many others.

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LOW COST PR Tips
Go To Resources …

Traffic on Maine http://mainestreet1.blogspot.com/

The Publicity Hound http://www.PublicityHound.com

Free Publicity Tips http://www.FreePublicityTips.com

Newcomers Network http://www.newcomersnetwork.com/

Inside PR http://tinyurl.com/7fcv4r

Marketing Edge http://www.providentpartners.net/blog/

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PR Tips For Albury Not For Profits

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