Public Relations is the long game.
Nonprofits are in the long game.
Building credibility requires time and trust. Public Relations helps build trust. PR also prepares nonprofits promptly to leverage the power of media.
What are five long-term media opportunities that nonprofits can leverage?
Unique Interviews
Profile your people
Larger Industry Stories
Trending Stories
No-strings-attached briefings
Unique interview
How are you uniquely impacting your cause as an organization? Is your method a new one that will help lift mankind out of its misery? Are you the first one to make such strides in this area?
Whatever sets you apart from your peers in the space is a potential story you can pursue with the media.
Profile your people
Almost every mainstream media has a section to profile individuals making a difference in the community. A diligent search across print, television, and online will help locate relevant ones.
Larger industry stories
Participating in industry feature stories is a great way to position yourself in the eyes of your audience. Keeping in touch with journalists relevant to your space is a good approach, if not the best.
Say a journalist is doing a feature on human trafficking. Your expertise will be valuable for the story. A quote or insight you can provide will add value to the story and educate the public. Your value as a reliable source will help you gain similar opportunities.
Trending stories
When some cause-based issue begins to trend in the news or a trending story is relevant to your nonprofit, reach out to the journalist.
Media briefings or 1o1’s
Frequent media catch-up meetings are a great way to build your media relations. No strings attached briefings, meaning no expectation of coverage. The journalist learns about what you do and the cause. Hopefully, the journalist will leave with enough information for multiple story angles. Keep that in mind when talking to a journalist – story ideas.
Another important detail, no meeting is off-the-record for anyone. It is always official.
These are easy-to-find opportunities, not necessarily easy to get done. Persistent effort is necessary. Apply these media opportunities to spread your word as a nonprofit or startup.