GivingTuesday is a great opportunity to get some media attention for your organization. To help you get the most PR benefit from your activity this year, Paradigm Public Relations shares PR and Media strategies for GivingTuesday.

1. GivingTuesday Media and PR Strategies:
Get press for your organization!
October 21, 2014

2. Who we are
Paradigm Public Relations is a
consumer public relations and social
media agency based in Toronto. We
are storytellers. We specialize in
brand marketing communications,
social media communications and
corporate communications.
We find creative ways to tell your
story that generate results.
Sheri Papps,
Account Manager
Anna Weigt-Bienzle,
Consultant

3. What is GivingTuesday?
• GivingTuesday is a day dedicated to giving back!
• Just as Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season,
GivingTuesday is the opening day of the giving season
• Charities, like yourselves, will be reaching out to the
public with fun and creative ways to give back
• National and local media will be looking for stories to tell
as we get closer to the big day
• Organizations that make the most of this chance will
have a big opportunity to get media coverage

4. What are we going to talk about?
• This webinar will take you through the steps of how to
pitch your news about GivingTuesday to the media
• We will cover:
• What makes a good news story
• How to write compelling media materials
• Picking a great media spokesperson
• Pitching your story to media
• How to prepare for a media interview

5. Why media relations?
• Increase awareness of your organization and
GivingTuesday activities
• Encourage participation by members of your
community
• Raise your organization’s profile
• Media can help you tell your story

6. What makes news?
• Controversy
• New
• Community impact
• Celebrities, puppies,
cute kids!

7. Start planning now!
• While connecting with media and getting coverage for
your GivingTuesday activities can be straightforward
and fun, it does take time to do it right
• Start your media outreach early to give media enough
time to write about your organization prior to
GivingTuesday

8. Know the story you want to tell
Key messages are the most important points that you
want to share with media.
• Developing key messages:
– Think about the ideal story you want a journalist to
write about your organization and what it is doing for
GivingTuesday
– Work backwards to craft simple key messages to help
you tell that story
– Focus on 2 or 3 main key messages
• Include key messages about what GivingTuesday is
at the national/global level to connect your
local story to the overall movement

9. Develop Proof Points
• Support with secondary messages or ‘proof points’
that reinforce your key messages
• Secondary messages can be:
– Facts, figures, statistics (if they are easy to understand)
• 3 out of 5 families have used a food bank in the last
year
– Analogies or comparisons
• If we lined up all the food we collected it would
reach from Windsor to London
– Anecdotes or personal experiences
• Here’s what the Smith family had to say about
receiving their donation at Thanksgiving

10. Developing media materials
Compelling and well-written media materials will help
pique media’s interest in your story!
• Information for media can be in the form of a news
release, an advisory or invitation to an event, or even
just a paragraph of information in an email
– focus on the most important or interesting details first
– always include your key messages
– include the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘why’ of your story
– add in contact information at the bottom so media can easily
reach out for more details or to set up an interview

11. Example of
a media
advisory
Island View School to unveil new $20,000 outdoor classroom
- Saint John school winner of the 2013 MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge Competition -
WHAT: On October 25th, staff and students from Island View School will celebrate the
unveiling of their new $20,000 outdoor classroom, the first prize in the 2013
MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge Competition. Providing a unique learning
environment, the outdoor classroom features a covered amphitheater-like
classroom with stepped seating, learning pods to facilitate smaller group
learning and a water garden. The school rallied community support to garner the
most online votes and beat out nine other finalist schools from across Canada
during the competition.
During the event media will see students and teachers interacting in the new
outdoor classroom and taking part in tree plantings. Media will also have the
opportunity to speak with teachers, students and parents, as well as
representatives from MAJESTA and program partners, Tree Canada and Focus on
Forests.
WHERE: Island View School
496 Ridge Row
Saint John, New Brunswick
E2M 4A1
WHEN: Friday, October 25, 2013
8:50a.m.-9:20a.m. Speeches & ceremonial tree planting
Speakers include:
 Mark Blucher, Principal, Island View School
 Jim Schedler, Vice-President, MAJESTA
9:20a.m.-10:30 a.m. Children participating in activities in the new classroom

12. Example
of a news
release
ISLAND VIEW SCHOOL WINS $20,000 OUTDOOR CLASSROOM AS PART OF
THE THIRD ANNUAL MAJESTA TREES OF KNOWLEDGE COMPETITION
(Saint John, NB) May 10, 2013 – After six weeks of voting by Canadians from coast to coast,
Island View School’s dream of teaching and learning outdoors has come true as the winner of
the 2013 MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition. As the winning school, Island View takes
home the grand prize of a $20,000 outdoor classroom from MAJESTA, expert consultation from
Tree Canada to help bring their classroom to life and outdoor learning curriculum support from
Focus on Forests.
“Congratulations to Island View School for being chosen by Canadians as the winner of the
MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition,” says Jim Schedler, Vice President of Marketing for
MAJESTA. “We want to thank every finalist school for their hard work and participation, as well
as every community and Canadian who came together to show their support and help these
schools realize their dream of taking learning outdoors.”
Island View School’s new outdoor learning space will open in October 2013 and will feature a
covered amphitheatre-like classroom with stepped seating, learning pods to facilitate smaller
group learning and a new structure to help direct rain into the school’s water garden. The school
rallied support across their community through door-to-door campaigning, setting up voting
booths at local sporting events and creating a “human” MAJESTA logo. To create the logo, all the
kids donned red t-shirts and formed an apple shape in the school yard. A photo was then taken
from the roof of the school. The image became the face of Island View’s campaign, appearing in
all their social media channels.
“We are absolutely thrilled with the win. Our success in this competition was the result of the
hard work put in by students, parents, staff members and the community, as ultimately they
made this happen,” says Mark Blucher, Principal, Island View School. “We are excited to get
moving with the construction and begin learning in the classroom. I’m grateful to MAJESTA for
offering us this opportunity, as they made it possible to make our vision for an outdoor space a
reality.”
Other top finalists include Our Lady of Sorrows School in Petawawa, ON ($5,000), École Vision
St-Jean in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC ($3,000) and École St. Thomas in Lloydminster, AB
($2,000). The winner of the $3,000 Most Creative Idea Award will be announced the week of
May 13, 2013.
School submissions for the next MAJESTA Trees of Knowledge competition will open in early
September. More information can be found at www.majestatreesofknowledge.ca.

13. A picture tells 1,000 words
Having a great photo or
video is a compelling
way to tell your story!
• Think of visuals that
showcase your
organization in action
• If your GivingTuesday
activities include an
event, make sure to
create a great visual
moment for media to
get their own photos
or videos if they
attend

14. Picking a great media spokesperson
Your media spokesperson will be the face
(and voice) of your campaign!
• A media spokesperson should:
– have experience interviewing with media or be comfortable
speaking publicly and on camera
– be a good communicator who can confidently speak to media
about your organization and your GivingTuesday activities
– be organized, flexible and readily available for interviews
– if possible, be a leader within your organization
• Consider having a second spokesperson who has had a positive
experience as a result of your organization

15. Find the right media contacts
Having the right media contacts can increase the success
of your outreach and save time in the long-run!
• To determine the best media contacts:
– Follow the news to become familiar with reporters who
may cover your story
– Look at media’s editorial ‘contact us’ section online
– Common contacts include:
• Radio: producer and news director
• TV: producer and news director
• Print/Online: editor (assignment and for specific
sections)
– Ask colleagues, friends or even
family if they have a personal media
contact they can share

16. Pitching media your story
Once your media materials, contact list and spokespeople are ready,
it’s time to reach out!
• Start by sending your media materials to media by email
• Add a personalized message that highlights what you think
will be of most interest and mention if you have a
spokesperson available for interviews
• Then, follow up with media by phone
– Have your 60-second ‘elevator pitch’ ready to go
– Reach out to media in the morning, before they
are on deadline
– If you are inviting them to an event, give the
journalists several days notice

17. Inviting media to your GivingTuesday
Event
Your GivingTuesday event may be the perfect opportunity to share
your story with the media!
• Media like events that provide great visuals (video/photo) and
interview opportunities
• If timing for your event is flexible, hosting an event in the morning
(e.g. 10 a.m.) makes it easier for media to attend
• Share details with media through an event advisory
• Have your spokesperson available for on site interviews
• Take photos/videos to share through social media and with media
who were unable to attend

18. How to conduct a media interview
Media interviews are a great way to bring your story to life!
• Think of the interview as a business meeting or
conversation where you want to get a few key points across
• Be confident: If media are asking you for an interview, they
already think you have an interesting story to tell

19. The Media Interview
• Media interviews:
– tend to be quite brief (5 minutes)
– can be live, taped, in person or by phone
– can be for print, television or radio
• Before the interview:
– Know your key messages
– Think about what questions might be asked and how you
want to answer
• Why are you here today?
• Tell me about your organization.
• What is your organization doing for GivingTuesday?
• Why is your organization involved in GivingTuesday?
• What impact does your organization have on the local
community?
• Why/how can the community get involved?
• Practice what you want to say and take
part in ‘mock’ interviews

20. The Media Interview
• During the interview:
– Remember that everything is ‘on the record’
– Don’t be afraid to say ‘I don’t know that off hand’ or ‘I’ll
get back to you with that information’
– Avoid jargon and talk in terms the audience will
understand
– Don’t be afraid to pause and think about your response
– TV interviews: look at the interviewer and not directly
at the camera, and be aware of your body language
– Radio interviews: speak at your normal voice level and
use descriptive examples to illustrate your key messages
– Phone interviews: You can have key
messages in front of you, but
don’t read off the page

21. The Media Interview
• During the interview:
– If the interview goes off course, use bridging statements
to keep the interview on topic:
• That’s an interesting/good point, but I’m here today
to talk about…
• What I really want to talk to you about is…
– If media ask if there is anything else you want to share,
reiterate your most important key message and how
people can learn more
• After the interview:
– Follow up with media to see if they need anything else
– Don’t ask to review the story but feel free to
ask to fact check key points
– Ask when the story will run

22. Next steps
Remember that it’s never too early to start planning!
Once you’ve developed compelling media materials
and picked your spokesperson, you’ll be ready to go!
Have fun!

23. Questions?