by Deirdre Gould

Created on: June 15, 2009   Last Updated: June 17, 2009

Raising community awareness for a nonprofit organisation is as, or more important than advertising is to for-profit businesses. In many cases, the local media may be more receptive to reports about nonprofit activities than for-profit businesses. Nonprofits have a special status with the media as exciting, unpredictable and newsworthy.

It's best to start on the local level for most nonprofits, because unless you are trying to raise awareness for a very large international group (i.e. Amnesty International), it will reach more of the people affected by your activities. The simplest guaranteed way to reach the media is to submit an event or meeting schedule to the local newspaper, radio and television outlets for the community "what's happening" announcements. While this will not convey a whole lot of information about your organisation, it will help people remember your name and help you keep in touch with current members.

The next step is to create a press release about a special event your organisation will be doing within the next month. Press releases are free (except for a stamp to mail them) and are an extremely effective way to get extensive coverage in the local media, especially if your event is out of the ordinary. It may take a few tries, and you should create a press release for any major event, such as demonstrations, guest speakers, victory celebrations when legislation goes through or court cases are won, or for awards ceremonies for your own members.

When you write your press release make sure that it gives a clear date, time and place for your event, who your organisation is and what they stand for, and contact information for further information. Send a copy of your press release to any newspaper, television or radio station within your coverage area. If there is a local magazine and you know of an event with enough time to spare, submit a press release to them as well. If you have a website (and in this day and age, there is a vibrant, healthy community of nonprofit organisations online, so if you don't have one, develop one!) post your press release on your front page or news page as well. Your release may not be picked up by all the outlets you'd hoped for, but with practice and the right event, eventually your events will be heavily covered by local media.

Regardless of whether your press release was selected for a feature or not, you can still utilise the local newspaper before and even after your event to raise awareness.

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