Update – Aug 29, 2011: Whether it’s an earthquake or something like Hurricane Irene … when you can tie your message to a major news story in a relevant way, you’ll naturally get more publicity.  And that leads to more donations – directly or indirectly. [End of update.]

If your nonprofit is located in the vicinity of Maryland, Virginia or Washington D.C., then you can zip out a press release on how the 5.8 magnitude earthquake impacted your mission.*

Breaking News

Of course, if there was no impact then you can’t make something up. 

On the other hand, don’t assume you need to sustain major damage to be newsworthy.  Or the impact had to be catastrophic. 

Any impact will be interesting to read. 

“Interesting is the key.  Earthquakes aren’t as commonplace in this region as in California.  So this topic is definitely interesting news for today and tomorrow.

◊ Perhaps the food was rattled off the shelves in your food pantry. Snap a photo. Publish an online press release asking for volunteers to help clean up.  Or for donations to replace damaged goods.

◊ Perhaps the residents in your elder care facility were frightened more than other folks. What did your staff have to do to calm them down? How can donors help?  What happened?

Tying into a current news event is a terrific way to get additional publicity.  The press is hungry for examples (including photos) of the impact of this event.  Act fast and zip out that press release!

* [Note: On August 23, 2011 at approximately 1:50PM Eastern Time, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck about 40 miles NW of Richmond, VA.  I’m located roughly 85 miles away (as the crow flies) and it shook our house, caused a chandelier to sway, and rattled some objects on shelves.]

National Volunteer Week is less than one month away: April 10 – 16, 2011.  Are you ready? 

Established in 1974, the goal of National Volunteer Week is to inspire, recognize and encourage citizens to find ways to help their communities . . . to strengthen communities.

This is not only an opportunity for charities, but also for associations and companies.  Below are ideas and resources to help all three make the most of this special week.

Associations
If your association members are scattered across the country, give them resources on where they can go to volunteer.  Help them find charities.  And suggest causes that have some connection or relevance to your association if at all possible.  Go here for help in organizing your members for National Volunteer Week. 

Don’t stop there.  Make it easy for them to tell you what they’re doing (e.g., send an email or post a comment on a blog).  Encourage them (maybe even give them an incentive) to take photos and send them in to you.  Publicize what your members have done via a press release, email to members, and on your website.

Companies
Today companies of all sizes are seeking ways to expand their community service contributions.  As a charity, reach out to local businesses and invite them to participate.  And this link has resources to help companies get things rolling on their own. 

Charity Promotional Campaign Highlights
Your direct mail letter is probably about to drop if it hasn’t already been mailed.  Perhaps you’re even sending a postcard in a few weeks as a reminder in addition to email campaigns.

And naturally you have a dedicated area on your Facebook page about your activities, how people can sign-up, and how they can spread the word to their networks.  You are also busy publishing periodic updates and reminders on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media site.

There’s also a spot on your website home page – ideally above the fold – with an eye-catching headline or graphic.  Visitors click and are redirected to a dedicated landing page with all the details of your 2011 volunteer week opportunities.

Already have a mobile list?  Then send out text messages to your list.  Promote your volunteer event and get them to sign up.  Include text message reminders just before the event kicks off.

Also give thought to advertising your volunteer event(s) on the web and the mobile web.  And at the events, grow your lists by making it easy for people to opt-in to your email and mobile lists.

Don’t forget to consider how you’ll engage people too far away to attend an event! 

For example: Your organization is a senior care facility and you have supporters half-way across the country.  Encourage them to record short stories and send them to you in an .mp3 file that residents of your facility can listen to.  Any donor who paints, draws, or is a skilled photographer can send a framed picture they created to hang on the wall of a senior’s room.  Give supporters several ideas that require “time” and not merely purchasing something to send.  Maintain the volunteer spirit.

Finally, do your best to get some publicity.

- Issue a press release in advance of National Volunteer Week with your plans and how people can learn more (link to unique landing page on your website). 

- Take video of people volunteering during the week.  Collect comments from volunteers AND from those directly benefiting from the work.  Then combine the two and publish a short video on your YouTube channel and your website after day 2 of National Volunteer Week.  Also publish another press release. Perhaps you’ll get more volunteers as a result of the additional publicity.  In any case it will help raise awareness of your cause.

- Create another video after the week is over.  Publish this “wrap up” video along with a story in your newsletter, article on your website and link to it in an email, and send out a final press release.  Include an invitation to volunteer again in 2012!

More Resources
Need ideas?  The National Service Resources organization has lots of ideas on their website. 

For example: Perhaps you’re a veteran and you want to help other vets in need.  Or you have a deep appreciation for the sacrifices veterans make and you want to give something back to them or their families . . . this page has many ways you can help veterans. 

Located in the USA?  The Points of Light Institute and the HandsOn Network are resources to tap as you plan and execute your volunteer activities.  The HandsOn Network is considered by many as the country’s leading volunteer organization.  They offer training, resources and networking opportunities to help your organization or company give volunteers meaningful service opportunities.

Nonprofits and government agencies: Explore this section of the HandsOn Network website.

Located in Canada?  The Volunteer Canada website is the resource for you.
 

Make the most of National Volunteer Week 2011.  It’s worth the effort because high percentages of volunteers convert to donors if you cultivate and nurture the relationship right.  Volunteer activities don’t have to be elaborate.  Just do something to engage volunteers.

Karen Zapp's salute to the nonprofits serving veterans (Copyright --- PK Scribe, LLC)

I want to SALUTE your charitable organization or association in honor of Veterans Day, November 11th.  This is a reminder that you still have time to get a salute in the form of free publicity.

How can you receive a salute?

If your nonprofit serves veterans and/or their families . . . I want to salute you.  You “qualify” whether those you serve are still on active duty, or they’re retired, in the reserves, or they served for any length of time in the U.S. military.

If you help vets . . . you deserve a salute! 

And my salute to you is in the form of being featured in my blog next week.  I’ll be sending out a press release, promoting it in Facebook and Twitter, bookmarking it in Digg and Delicious, and inviting others to help spread the news.  This means that your nonprofit has the chance to receive some free publicity.

But in order to salute your nonprofit I need to first know about you.  Please share three (3) easy and fast bits of information about your nonprofit:

- Full name of your nonprofit
- URL of your nonprofit
- 2 or 3 short sentences in everyday language on what you do and how you help veterans (no mission statements, please)

To share this info with me simply add a comment below with these 3 pieces of information, or send it to me via email: Resources[at]pkscribe[dot]com

I’ll be saluting next week (Nov 8 – 12) so please send me your info by the end of this week (November 5).  Thanks!  This is also my way of helping my fellow veterans and saluting them at the same time.

Oh, and I wrote about my salute to veterans and the nonprofits that serve veterans a few weeks ago in another blog post if you want a little more background. 

Karen Zapp’s Salute to Veterans Week is coming Nov 8-12, 2010.  My way of honoring veterans during this week is to promote the organizations that make their lives better.  And I’ll do that by featuring veteran-related nonprofits on my blog.

As you may have deduced, I chose this week because it includes Veterans Day on November 11. And being a Navy veteran I have a soft spot for the military and organizations that support them.

Being featured gives you the chance to tell a new audience who you are and what you do. Hopefully you’ll collect new supporters!

Therefore, if your charity or association helps veterans (active duty, retired, hospitalized, military families, and so on) . . .

- Send me an email, Resources[at]PKscribe[dot]com, or add a comment to this post

- Include the full name of your organization

- Include your nonprofit’s URL

- Type out 1-2 sentences in simple language that summarizes what you do for vets (NO mission statements please. Write it as though you’re telling a 6th grader what you do – seriously), and

- Your Twitter handle (not your personal one; but the one on behalf of your nonprofit)

If you wish, feel free to include a live link to your favorite success story that highlights the great work you do (this success story is optional).  I’d also love to know (this too is optional) what you believe sets your organization apart.  What are you proudest of?  Why are you unique?

The more you share, the better I can help promote your cause. Still, it ought to only take 3 or 4 minutes to send the four items listed above via email or a comment to this post (i.e., full name of org, URL, what your nonprofit does, and your nonprofit Twitter handle).

I’ll be doing what I can to drive traffic to the posts during this week.  I hope the featured nonprofits benefit from increased awareness at the very least.

Send me the email BEFORE November 5th if you want your veteran nonprofit featured in my blog.  On each day of the week (Nov 8 – 12), I’ll feature a group of nonprofits that support veterans and/or their families.

Please help me spread the word through social bookmarking, Facebook, Twitter, or any other means.

And if you know someone that works at a nonprofit serving veterans . . . please send them a link to this blog post and ask them to submit their info.  Thank you!

This idea is relatively easy.  Better than that: It works.  Get your nonprofit feature on your local TV news station by hosting a pumpkin-carving contest.

I need to give Joan Stewart, Publicity Hound credit for this.  I read it in her newsletter yesterday.

Again, have your nonprofit host a pumpkin-carving contest and have your employees participate.  The twist that will bring the local TV news station and their camera to your nonprofit is this:

Let the TV station know that someone will carve the station’s call letters into a pumpkin.  They’ll definitely want to show that as part of the news clip.

My husband carved this eerie pumpkin!

Oh, and why not ask if someone from the TV station would be willing to judge the contest? 

They would choose the winner from among all the employees who carved anything they wanted into their pumpkin.

Tis the season to take advantage of this publicity idea!  Don’t make it complicated.  Just have fun.  And don’t delay.

Invite the press as outlined above.  And remember to have a fact sheet about your nonprofit ready to hand the reporter.  You have a good chance of getting onto the local TV news with this pumpkin-carving contest.

More than one news source has covered this story.  And the US embassy has confirmed that 10 US citizens were being held for “alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration”.

Apparently the Idaho-based charity was stopped at the border to the Dominican Republic with a bus load of children – supposedly orphans.  But they were without proper documentation.  And after talking to authorities, some of the children have parents and know where they are. 

There are a couple links at the end of my post to the news stories and more of the details. 

But the point I want to make is this:  “Negative” publicity like this could easily receive a lot of attention.  It can plant the seed of doubt in the minds of donors.  You could suffer some backlash.  Donors are thinking, “Gee, if it happened with this group, and given how crazy it seems to be in Haiti, maybe other groups are over-reaching their authority.  Maybe other groups are getting a bit carried away.”

Donors MIGHT hesitate sending you a donation unless you can overcome their objections with your “pro-active copy.”  Your marketing, publicity and fundraising communications need to wipe out their seed of doubt before it impacts your charity.

Therefore, consider pro-active damage control if your nonprofit is involved in Haiti relief efforts.  And especially if you’re working with orphans and children. 

Emphasize the many steps you’re taking to . . .

o protect the children
o verify that their parents are deceased
o to reconnect “lost” children with their parents
o to care for, feed, nourish, and give medical aid to the children
o work with officials in any way you can, whenever you can

And if you have been working in Haiti for several years – you didn’t arrive for the first time after the earthquake – then certainly emphasize this too.   Successful and long track records are another credibility booster.

Basically reassure your donors that nothing like this could possibly happen to your nonprofit, regardless of how chaotic the situation may still be in Haiti.  Transparency can help ensure your nonprofit continues to receive the donations it needs.

Longer news story from “Online Independent.”

Story released by “Voice of America.”

Feb 18, 2010 update: Very brief recap is that the 10 missionaries were arrested on January 31st.  Then on February 5th they were charged with “child kidnapping and criminal association” and sent to jail awaiting trial.  But today the Associated Press reports that eight of the ten missionaries have been released.  The other two remain in jail in Haiti.

Here’s a nonprofit – Agape Flights – that uses general aviation as the primary tool of its mission.  They have been flying critical supplies and mail to missionaries in Haiti (and also the Dominican Republic) since 1980. 

Today I’m focusing on Agape Flights for two reasons:

1. I’m an aviation buff (i.e., I’m a private pilot) and I enjoy reading about nonprofits who use aircraft to fulfill their mission.
2. Haiti is “in the news” because of the tragic 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck just outside their capital of Port-au-Prince on January 12, 2010.

Let’s explore possible ways Agape Flights could leverage its unique way (i.e., using aircraft) of completing its mission and raise even more funds for their continuing work in Haiti:

• Contact aviation associations – also nonprofit organizations – and ask them to help spread the word.  Two examples are AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), and the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association).  They have members very partial to flying who also have compassionate and giving hearts.  Agape may benefit from more donations and possibly even more pilots and aircraft to use for their relief work.  Plus AOPA and NBAA benefit from keeping their members informed of aviation news, and some goodwill.
• Publish an online press release.  Get more media coverage.  Agape Flights has some unique angles that I believe will appeal to the media.  The fact that they use aircraft leads the list; they support other nonprofits with their work; and they’ve been doing this since 1980.  Lead with a story of one of their flights to Haiti following the earthquake . . . include someone they encountered while in Haiti unloading the supplies and the stories they shared with the Agape Flights pilot, impressions of the situation, and so forth.
• Send out updates via Twitter on their great work. Include a link directly to their online donation page and the #Haiti hash tag.
• There’s a link to a TV clip from a local ABC news affiliate on their website.  However, it blends in making it difficult to find.  It ought to be featured more prominently on the home page.  It gives a lot of credibility to prospective donors, and it reassures current donors that they’re supporting the right charity.
• For an event like this they don’t have time to redesign their website.  But I believe the earthquake story at the top of the home page ought to also mention that helping Haiti is not new for them.  They were able to respond immediately and efficiently to the earthquake disaster because they have been providing relief for over 29 years.  This gives them additional credibility to donors and the media.

None of these publicity and fundraising tactics would require significant amounts of time.  Yet they would likely yield impressive response and conversions for their nonprofit.  And Agape Flights would be in a stronger financial position to continue their work in Haiti long after the current media attention has faded.

A firefighter from Dorset, England organized a seasonal fundraiser to benefit “Julia’s House” – a hospice for terminally ill children.

About 500 people chased a man dressed like “Christmas pudding” along the beach in Weymouth, England.  Nearly everyone was dressed in a Santa suit, plus a Christmas tree and a few of Santa’s elves joined in the fun. 

It’s a great idea that attracts runners and walkers; gets publicity; raises awareness; raises money for charity; and gives people a chance to “do good” while having fun and exercising!  Give you any ideas for your organization?

They raised roughly £1,200 (about $1,940 US), for the charity.  Read more about the 5km Santa charity race and view a short video.

Merry Christmas!

How often have you read or heard something like this: “Your press release must be truly newsworthy if you want the media to pick it up.”

It is true . . . however . . . news really means something interesting.

And that includes something as simple as a list of helpful tips.  Many people wouldn’t define that as “news” but a good list is certainly interesting.  The public loves helpful tips and therefore so does the media.

Why?  Because the media wants to deliver what the public wants.

Does your charity have anything to do with children?  Offer safety tips for Hallowe’en Trick or Treating; how to minimize the risk of germs; and so forth.

Are you a faith-based charity?  Publish a list of ideas for a less commercialized Christmas season.  Include family activities, games, and other wholesome ideas.

Is your charity a food bank or soup kitchen?  Your list of helpful tips could be how to stretch the dollar when shopping for and preparing holiday meals.

Two final tips for you:

1. Have keyword text links back to a unique landing page on your website that continues the story from your press release.  Make certain the donate button is easy to find.
2. Optimize your list for the search engines to help drive more traffic to your website.

Plus guidelines on corresponding fundraising, marketing and PR tactics.

That’s the topic of my presentation coming up on October 15, 2009.  I’m speaking at a workshop centered on publicity and public relations.

The event is the “Annual PRISM Public Relations and Marketing Workshop” from 8AM – 1:30PM.  This is held at the College of Southern Maryland Leonardtown Campus, St. Mary’s County, MD (Building A, Room 206).

For more information and to register: http://bit.ly/2KBarT