Media relations
One of the fastest ways to build awareness of your organization, your grant or even a special event is to gain the attention of the media. The primary goal of media relations is to educate, inform and persuade the general public. To do so, you must develop a strong rapport with the media by being media-savvy.
"Earned media" is traditionally defined as free placement of news and feature stories in print, broadcast and electronic media. It's considered more credible than advertising (which is paid media), but you have less control over the message and delivery.
When planning media relations' efforts, know your targets and what you want to achieve by reaching out to them. Your goals should be simple and realistic, and you should have key messages that are clearly defined so that your organization gets its points across succinctly and effectively.
A few keys for achieving media relations success:
- Understand the media. Familiarize yourself with the topics they cover, know their audiences and think creatively about the potential news angles you can provide to them.
- Build relationships by becoming a media consumer—watch TV news, listen to the radio news stations and browse news Web sites, relevant newspapers and magazines.
- Take note of media outlets/reporters who cover issues related to your cause—most media outlets have a reporter or section dedicated to education, nonprofits or philanthropy/charitable activities.
- Locate recent news stories on issues relevant to your organization—use Google or other news search engines to track content related to your topics of interest.
- Create a plan. Develop your message, identify a key spokesperson, create a media list that includes reporters who are interested in your subject and begin telling your story.
- Monitor the media. Track and record your stories in the media, as well as other stories of interest to you and/or your stakeholders. Knowing what's being reported can help you prepare to respond or suggest a new or interesting angle on a story that might otherwise be overlooked.
- Consider investing in a subscription service such as Factiva or Lexis-Nexis. Both provide news archive databases that are searchable, even for a per-story fee. Other options include bacons.com or burrellesluce.com, which track print, broadcast and Internet coverage.
- Celebrate your successes. When your story makes the media, inform your board and donors, include a link to the story on your Web site, mail a copy of it to your legislators and include a story about the positive publicity you received in your next newsletter.
- Enhance your media relations by knowing what is and isn't newsworthy. Remember, not all news items will generate a story. Sometimes the purpose of your news is to be listed in the event calendars or the announcement section of the newspaper.
- Know the difference between positioning your organization as a valued news source and labeling your cause as "junk du jour." Pitch only stories that are truly newsworthy and a good fit with the media outlet. If you succumb to internal pressure to pitch stories that are not newsworthy, you'll not only be turned down by the media, but also damage your relationship with reporters at the news outlet.
If you think creatively, chances are you can come up with a story idea that could result in better-than-average coverage. For example, announcing your grant is a relatively simple way to get an announcement in the paper. But if you identify a student who can share how the grant has made a difference in his or her life, you may get a more in-depth feature story that does a better job of explaining the role your organization plays in the community and the lives of its residents.
