Cracking the Code: Media Relations

Mark GilmanPresidentDecus Communicationswww.decusllc.com mark@decusllc.com

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Lisa SommerMedia Relations ManagerMichigan Nonprofit Associationwww.MNAonline.org

• Why Decus works for non-profits …

• Lighthouse of Oakland County• Salvation Army• American Lung Association Midwest• Family Connection – Hope Hill• Sphinx Organization• Charlotte Rescue Mission• USO

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

• If the goal is to increase donor gifts by 10%, most managers rush to main-stream mediums (radio, billboard, newsletters, and telemarketing) as a solution. What sounds good on paper may not actually work in practice.

• This approach, utilizing for some an insider messaging, delivers a stream of messages from the organization to the targeted audience with little regard for their current circumstances. Without this understanding, the channel proposed may not be suitable for the intended audience. 

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

• By starting with the donor (outside-in) and their behavioral circumstances, you will effectively gain their attention, mind, and heart

• When generating a marketing plan, start with your donor base and work your way back to the organization. This exercise will unveil the most direct and meaningful approach to achieving your objective. You might save yourself time, energy, and valuable resources in the process!

• But here’s the caveat – new donors vs. current donors -Reliance on current donors without developing new donors (pipeline) is death for any non profit.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

• So you need to ask yourself, Is your organization’s message compelling and meaningful?

• A lot of nonprofits utilize volunteers or “friends” who can acquire an occasional story in the local paper or regional magazine. And unfortunately it’s usually event driven.

• If scarce monetary resources are one of your dilemmas, believe it or not, it’s actually less expensive to hire a marketing public relations firm to build earned media campaigns than it is to buy advertising.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

1. What is your Value Proposition?

• A value proposition (elevator speech) accomplishes two strategic objectives: Defines what your organization can do better than anyone else and secondly, why that’s important to the donor. If your mission/vision statement is not clear on that point, how can the rest of your organization and donor base feel the same way?

• Ask your organization:

» Does all your collateral material mirror what you do?

» Are all of your people on message?» Differentiators?

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• Public Relations and Earned Media• Public Relations is the means in which you get your

message out in a traditional sense.

• TV• Radio• Newspapers• Magazines• E-newsletters• New Media – blogs, social networking sites, podcasts,

YouTube

– Earned media (or free media) is a category of Public Relations and refers to favorable publicity gained through promotional efforts other than advertising, as opposed to paid media. It’s specifically driven by positive word of mouth you don’t pay for. Either through online marketing and conversation, articles, and polling.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• Public Relations and Earned Media

– Earned media often refers specifically to publicity gained through editorial influence, whereas social media refers to publicity gained through grassroots action, particularly on the Internet. The media may include any mass media outlets, such as newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet, and may include a variety of formats, such as news articles or shows, letters to the editor, editorials, and polls on television and the Internet.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

• Overreliance on Statistics

• Many nonprofits rely way too much on statistics and laundry lists. "We served 900 people, fed 3,000 families, transported 2,289 seniors, etc. etc." Readers are given no context to interpret such numbers.

• But here’s the problem with numbers. Think of yourself as the consumer – the consumer here being donors, potential donors, politicians and people who want to give you grant money.

• So thinking from their perspective - Is 900 good or bad? Is 3,000 more or less than last year? Is 2,289 more than nonprofits your size in comparable communities? Such numbers are numbing, not persuasive. Nonprofits have the most compelling stories in the world to share, and when they default to such laundry lists and abstractions, they forfeit their most precious communications asset: human stories of lives changed by the nonprofit's services.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

• Ask yourself, Is your organization’s message compelling and meaningful?

• A lot of nonprofits utilize volunteers or “friends” who can acquire an occasional story in the local paper or regional magazine. And unfortunately it’s usually event driven.

• If scarce monetary resources are one of your dilemmas, believe it or not, it’s actually less expensive to hire a marketing public relations firm to build earned media campaigns than it is to buy advertising.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• What is your message?

– I do have ONE caveat. IF you use numbers – USE SIMPLICITY.

– This past Easter we put out a media alert for the Charlotte Rescue Mission about Easter feeding. Three sessions, do it every year, blah, blah. A lot of non profits feed the hungry in Charlotte. But we did a little math and determined we were actually going to dole out ONE TON of food. ONE TON. No zeroes, no decimal points, no percentage points. ONE TON.

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• You are a Brand

Every aspect of your messaging, both visual and intangible, should specifically point to your mission.

EVERY message you produce (business cards, newsletters, website, etc.) culminates into a single, brand position. Each additional layer of messages you generate are either acknowledged or disregarded by the donor based on your original pronouncement. Be mindful of the context and character your organization delivers.

When you think of Overnight Package Delivery, does Fed Ex come to mind? The Ultimate Driving Machine? Does BMW sound familiar? How about Just Do It? Try Nike.

UPS is my favorite example

On the Non-Profit side, Breast Cancer Salvation Army

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• Story Creation

– The HeroesWho are they? What are they trying to achieve?

What person, historical figure or even animal might represent these heroes? The hero does not have to be you or your employees. He or she might be a supporter or someone we are trying to help.

– The VillainsEvery story needs a bad guy. Every struggle has to

have a villain. Who stands in your hero's way? Are they identifiable individuals or a set of problems that can be personified in a character or person? Villains should be bad but you don't have to vilify them or personally attack other people.

– The CatalystThe catalyst is something or someone who shifts the

balance and begins to resolve the conflict so that the hero can prevail. Who, or what, is the catalyst in your story? How can the listener of the story be the catalyst or help the catalyst to come about?

Media Relations: Telling Your Story

• Definition: “the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings.”

- Ben Parr

http://www.benparr.com/2008/08/its-time-we-defined-social-media-no-more-arguing-heres-the-definition

• In other words, social media describes the tools people use and the ways people share ideas online.

• It’s about relationship building!

What is Social Media?

• Building relationships with media and the public• Listening to what others are saying about your

organization/cause/community need• Telling your story

Many Things Won’t Change…

• Photo Sharing (Flickr)• Video Sharing (YouTube)• Social Networks (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn)

*Social media will help you enhance traditional Public Relations efforts you are already doing.

The Tools Will Likely Change…

Social Media Tools

• Social Bookmarking

• Photo Sharing

• Podcasting and Video

• Blogging

• Feed Reading & Sharing

• Social Networking

• What tools are you currently using? • How do these tools advance your mission or

support your strategic plan?

What About You?

SERVE STRENGTHEN

TRANSFORM COMMUNITIEShttp://www.commoncraft.com

A Great Resource for Basic Videos:

Social Media in Plain English

http://commoncraft.com/socialmedia or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

www.diosacommunications.com/nonprofit.htm - Various guides and webinars to online social media sites for nonprofit organizations

• Connect with media through social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

• Opportunity to directly connect with the public – legislators, advocates, community leaders, etc.

Building the Relationship Virtually

• Social Media Release (template: http://www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/smr_v1.5.pdf)

• Photos – host virtually• Videos – host virtually• RSS feed • Online Newsroom

Basic Steps

Campaign Example

Special Olympics – Spread the Word to End the Word campaign http://www.r-word.org/

• 3.8 Million Impressions • 55,000 Facebook Users • + 10,000 Pledges • + 100 Blogs • 1,200 Tweets • 16,000 Video Views

Examples – Nonprofits Using Social Networking Sites

Facebook causes - Lupus Foundationhttp://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2009/07/28/a-facebook-success-story-from-the-lupus-foundation-of-america/ Lupus Foundation increased online donations by 790%

Special Olympicshttp://www.facebook.com/SpecialOlympics

Facebook App - Nature Conservancy & Lil Green Patchhttp://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7629233915#/apps/application.php?id=7629233915&v=info&viewas=0 $210,000 donated total by the Lil Green Patch community

Podcasting and Video

•A program made available as a downloadable digital file. Typically a collection of all shows or episodes of a particular program series.•Videos can be uploaded to sites like YouTube.•To capture podcast – download to computer or MP3 player•Opportunity to tell your story in your words!

•YouTube Nonprofit Channel – apply if you qualify! http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits

•Call to action overlay•Donate button

Examples

Charity: water – raised $10,000 from YouTube overlayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEnlrE4iMBU

The Hiedelberg Project – campaign launched this week http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGZPgPWw1M&feature=autoshare_twitter

Special Olympics - Spread the Word to End the Word campaignhttp://www.r-word.org/

Southeastern MI Community Foundation: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCFSEM

http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits

YouTube Nonprofit Channel Program

Blogs

•Web site usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. •Reverse-chronological order•Ability for feedback•Opportunity to tell your story in your words!

Blogs in Plain English:http://commoncraft.com/blogs

orhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI

Example - Blogs

Carbonfund.org: http://www.carbonfund.org/blog/about-us/carbonfundorg-reaches-1000-followers/

Michigan Nonprofit Associationhttp://mnaonline.wordpress.com/

-Can contain a fundraising widget for raising money

Microblogging

•A form of blogging comprised of user-created brief updates ~ 140 characters •The truncated nature of the updates allows for less sifting and faster, more direct transmission of information •Can be used as a sounding board, peer forum, news feed, etc. Must be interactive!•Relationship building!

Twitter in Plain English

http://commoncraft.com/twitteror

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

TwitCause http://twitter.com/TwitCause

Twestival http://twestival.com/get-involved/

• Charity: water http://www.charitywater.org/media/twitter_backgrounds.htm

• Special Olympics - Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign http://twitter.com/FanCommunity

• Grand Rapids GiveCamp http://twitter.com/grgivecamp

• Carbonfund http://twitter.com/carbonfundorg

Example

Photo Sharing

•Photos can be uploaded to sites like Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket;

•tagged •Grouped•shared

•Tagging allows photos to be organized by subject matter•Groups allow multiple users to upload photos that share a common theme•Examples: http://www.flickr.com/people/39938299@N05/

SERVE STRENGTHEN

TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES

http://www.flickr.com/MNAOnline

Photo Sharing

What Is Social Bookmarking?

vs.

+ +

Traditional bookmarking

Social bookmarking

SERVE STRENGTHEN

TRANSFORM COMMUNITIEShttp://delicious.com/MNAOnline

Social Bookmarking – How Can It Be Used?

Examples

Special Olympics: Spread the Word to End the Word www.r-word.org

The Heidelberg Project http://heidelberg.org • Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/HeidelbergProject • Twitter: http://twitter.com/HeidelbergProj • Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40887152@N07/

Lupus Foundation of America http://www.lupus.org/newsite/index.html • Twitter: http://twitter.com/LupusOrg • Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/1510 • Blog: http://lfa-inc.blogspot.com/ • Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lupusfoundationofamerica/sets/

Examples

Carbonfund www.carbonfund.org• Blog: http://www.carbonfund.org/blog/ • Twitter: http://twitter.com/Carbonfundorg • Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carbonfund

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan http://www.cfsem.org/ • YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCFSEM • Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/nonprofits#/pages/Community-Foundation-for-Southeast-Michigan/123865660803?ref=ts

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/cfsem

Thank you!

Mark GilmanPresidentDecus Communicationsmark@decusllc.com

Lisa SommerMedia Relations ManagerMichigan Nonprofit Associationlsommer@mnaonline.org