This document provides guidance on how nonprofits can do public relations (PR) themselves through creating a PR plan. It recommends starting with a narrow target audience and focusing on pitching story ideas tailored to specific media outlets. Key components of an effective PR plan include defining goals and metrics, identifying tactics like press releases and surveys, creating an editorial calendar and maintaining an online press room. Measuring success may include tracking media impressions, issue awareness, and changes in donations, followers and website traffic. The overall message is that nonprofits can promote themselves through developing relationships with journalists and creating newsworthy story ideas.

1. Do-It-Yourself PR
for Nonprofits
Hosted by Sean Horrigan, PR Guy
www.prguyonline.com
Twitter: @prguyonline

2. CLIENTS

3. THE POWER OF PR
 PR builds affinity
 PR builds brand awareness
 PR enhances inbound
marketing efforts-donors/
volunteers find you
 PR provides public
validation that your
organization is doing great
work

4. PR is an Essential Part
of Your Marketing Mix
“The right story told at the right time can bring valuable attention to your
business, even during a downturn.” -Business Week
“If I only had $2 left, I’d spend $1 on PR.”-Bill Gates
72% of senior level marketers said PR is most valuable in supporting
product marketing and product launches.”-Advertising Age
“A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.”-Richard
Branson
“In a downturn, an aggressive PR and communications strategy is key.”
-Silicon Alley Insider

5. HOW TO GET
STARTED:
CREATE A PR PLAN
 Helps you define deadlines and reach your
goals
 Allows you to be proactive rather than
reactive
 Should integrate long-term strategy with
short-term tactics

6. Components of a
PR Plan
Summarize your organization’s current
communication situation in one or two
paragraphs.
 What’s happening at your organization that makes
publicity a priority?
 Are you looking to expand your donor base? Attract
volunteers? Launch a new program? Conducting a capital
campaign?

7. Define Messaging
• Your message is the backbone of your
communication plan.
• Determine what key messages you want to
communicate to the press and consistently drive
them home.
• Key messages should be easy for staff to convey
and repeat during conversations with the press -so
keep them simple.

8. Define Target Market
Define your stakeholders.
Who are your Donors? For many organizations this may be broken
down to several distinct groups. For instance, if you’re a hospital, you
may have patients, family members, corporate sponsors, etc.

9. Questions to Ask
About Target
Audience
 Gender
 Age
 Income
 Where they live
 Job titles
 Education
 Religious affiliation
 Sexual orientation
 Leisure activities
 Influencers
 Media
 What’s important to them?
 What keeps them up at night?

10. Define Goals
What do you want to accomplish
through PR? How will you measure
success?
Sample goals may include:
• To generate awareness of our Giving Tuesday campaign
• To raise awareness of our cause and educate the public on
our mission
• To increase the number of corporate donors

11. Determine Tactics
Tactics are the tools you’ll use to generate
publicity. Your tactics may include surveys,
tip sheets, press releases, and special
events.

12. Budget
How much money can you allocate
toward PR?
This will help you define your tactics and determine
whether you’ll be able to hire an outside resource,
subscribe to a database or use a press release
distribution service.

13. Create a Timeline
PR is all about proper planning.
A timeline will help you manage the tasks and
tactics included in your plan. If you plan to
send out one release a month its best to plan
when you’ll write and the release and when
you’ll send it out.

14. Create an Online
Press Room
Pressrooms are often the first place donors go
for the most current info
and impact the SEO
INCLUDE:
Contact Information - Make this prominent!
 Multimedia-videos, infographics, photos of key team members
 Bios, board list, organization’s history, logos

15. Make Your Pressroom
a Resource for the
Media
Own your area of expertise.
Create a pressroom that will establish you as a leader in
your field. Provide details on the latest studies, research,
walks, breakthroughs and survivor stories. Go beyond the
pale and provide journalists/bloggers with the all the
ammunition they need to write a story on your mission.

16. Build a Database
• Determine what publications/websites/online communities
your donors frequent?
• Determine who the influencers are in your industry?
• Create and update your database regularly

17. Create an
Editorial Calendar
• An editorial calendar is the listing of planned themes,
features and needs for upcoming issues of a magazine,
newspaper or blog. You can generally find the editorial
calendar on a publications website under “advertising.”
• The editorial calendar tells you what topics a particular
publication will be focusing on for the coming year. It helps
advertisers plan when they will run ads in that publication.
• Use editorial calendars to plan when to send your pitches.

18. Executing Your
Campaign

19. Introduce Yourself
Your first point of contact should start
with an introductory email.
Send the journalist an email introducing yourself and letting
them know that you’ll be sending them press releases and
pitches from time to time.
Remember, there’s a human being on the other side of that
email and you want to establish a working relationship with
that person.

20. Do-It-Yourselfer
Tip: Go Narrow
Start by handpicking twenty
journalists/ bloggers/influencers
who cover your industry. Follow
them on social media, read their
articles and blogs and become
a trusted resource. Keep your
focus narrow at first before you
broaden your audience.

21. Press Releases
Don’t Always Work
Bloggers, journalists, and producers
receive hundreds of press releases a day.
Most of them are poorly written, boring, and
filled with irrelevant information. In fact, the
majority are never even opened, due to
sleepy subject lines and hokey headlines
crammed with jargon. Many members of
the media simply view press releases as
spam.

22. When to Send a
Press Release
 To Make an Announcement: New hire,
new partnership, new research, new
numbers
 Reaching a Milestone: Anniversary,
number of clients served, etc.
 Promoting an Event: Performances,
speakers, galas, rallies, and calendar
listings

23. Switch
to the
Pitch
A pitch is a story idea you have for a specific
media outlet. A great pitch is tailored to the
publication and can’t be duplicated for other
media. Demonstrate that you’ve done your
homework and you understand what the writer
covers.

24. How to Craft a
Pitch
Personalize your pitch as much as possible.
Keep it short, simple and to the point.
Bullet points, story angle, interviews, and
potential resources should all be included.
Make it memorable and unique. Include the
word “pitch” in your email subject line.

25. What’s
Newsworthy?
Publishers of newspapers, magazines and
blogs create content with their readers in
mind. If you want to be successful in PR
you need to think like a publisher. In other
words, pitch stories that will be of interest
to their readers, listeners or viewers.

26. Do Your Research
The best way to familiarize yourself with what’s
newsworthy is to do your research. If you know
that Bloomberg News reporter Mary Smith covers
healthcare and your doing PR for a healthcare
organization, stalk her! In other words, read her
column, follow her on social media and gain
insight into the topics that seem to really resonate
with Mary. Get inside her head.

27. Surveys
Surveys are a sure fire way to generate press.
The key is the subject matter must be newsworthy
and relate to your organization’s mission.
Just make sure the survey is relevant to your mission.
If you manage a food pantry in Dallas do a survey on “The Number
of Families Living in Texas Below the Poverty Level?”
If you work in domestic violence, do a survey on “How Women Feel
About How the NFL is Addressing Domestic Violence?”
If you work In AIDS and HIV prevention conduct a survey on the
“Percentage of People Living with HIV Who Experience Workplace
Discrimination?”

28. Tip Sheets
A tip sheet is a news release that offers
advice or tips in a bulleted or numbered
format.
Examples:
• If you work for a hospital: “How to Prevent Your
Employees From Falling Victim to Flu Season”
• If you work for an animal shelter: “Six Ways to Ensure
Your Pet’s Longevity”
• If you work in early childhood education: “How to Instill a
Love of Learning in Your Child”

29. Follow Up
Not everyone agrees with this tactic but I like to
follow up with journalists on the phone because
chances are high that your pitch got buried in
their inbox.
 Always ask if they have a moment to talk
 Never say your just following up on the release or pitch
you sent
 Always have more advice and ideas for another angle you
could take
 Keep it short and sweet
 Write down what you want to say in the form of a script so
you don’t forget it.

30. Measuring Success
• Number of media impressions (the number of
subscribers or followers to the blog that
featured your story)
• Issue awareness
• New social media followers
• Increase in donations
• Increased website traffic

31. For more
information
contact:
Sean Horrigan
sean@prguyonline.com
617-304-7899