Get Free Nonprofit Publicity Tips

I've just added more free tips to my nonprofit publicity Web site. Select the article link for "The 4 most deadly nonprofit sins" to learn more about why many well-intended publicity campaigns fail and how to make sure yours succeeds.

This is particularly helpful information for communicators at charities and nonprofits who don't have formal public relations training but are expected to execute flawlessly and with great success. When your job requires you to take on many responsibilities -- PR, marketing, Webmaster, fundraiser -- it helps to get some free advice here and there!

If you think the article is helpful and you'd like to share it with others, feel free to reprint it with proper attribution -- see the author box at the end of the article.

Use Easy-to-Digest Facts to Make Your Case with the Media

Want to create a compelling case for your story? Captivate the media with statistics that are easy for the average viewer or reader to digest or absorb.

The Natural Resources Defense Council did a good job of that this morning on a Today Show report (video: kids helping to save trees) about how to ask companies to stop sending you catalogs. During an interview promoting the NRDC's catalog-opt-out site, CatalogChoice, spokesperson Kate Sinding not only offered impressive numbers, she put them in context for viewers:

• The 19 billion catalogs printed annually use 53 million trees. CONTEXT: That's like clear-cutting 2,000 Central Parks each year.
• The CatalogChoice.org site has helped 500,000 users opt out of 5 million catalogs. CONTEXT: Those catalogs would fill 225 Olympic-sized swimming pools. They equal the energy used to power 3,500 homes annually or the global warming impact of taking 600,000 cars off the road.

I don't even need to understand what reducing the number of catalogs by 5 million has to do with power generation for those 3,500 homes. As a viewer, I'm stuck on the impressive numbers and how they are translated into mental pictures.

How does this example help the rest of us? If you've got a great story to tell but you're having trouble getting the media interested, it could be in your presentation. In the right situation -- where statistics are available and meaningful -- you can use numbers to help make your case and communicate key information.

Nice job, Kate Sinding!