Media relations primer for nonprofits & community groups

Media Relations Summer Camp

June 25 & 27 at The Hamilton Spectator

2013

Why we’re here

To help you:

• Pitch better stories to the media

• Get more media coverage

• Move the yardsticks on your organization’s goals

What we’ll do

• Media relations 101

• Polish, practice & then pitch a story idea

• Plus primers on:– Writing letters to the editor & op-eds– Getting in front of the camera– Getting onto social media

#mediacamp

The good news payoff

• Stand out from the crowd

• Thank your donors, funders, volunteers & staff

• Raise your profile & enhance your reputation

• Build your trust & forgiveness account

We’re pitching the wrong stories

Grip & grins with giant cheques

Ribbon cuttings with giant scissors

Groundbreakings with shiny shovels

Golf tournaments

Fundraisers

Rubber chicken galas

AGMs

Yes, these are worthwhile events for fundraising, friendraising and

recognition. Just don’t hold your breath for media coverage.

OMG Hail Mary panic pitches

No one’s buying tickets to our FILL IN THE BLANK!!! We need free publicity ASAP!!!

If we don’t get new funding and more donations, our doors will close forever!!!

Do you really want to be known for big scissors, big cheques, big holes in the ground, rubber chickens

and bad finances?

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Worthy? Yes. Newsworthy? Not so much.

The good news…. you have much better

stories to pitch to the media.

You’re in the solutions business.

And you’re making Hamilton an even better place to call home.

"People are not very interested in talks about organizations.

Ideas & stories fascinate us; organizations bore us.”

"Don't boast about your company; rather, tell us about the problem you're solving."

-- Chris Anderson

The very first question you will always be asked.

WSIC

Why should I care?

Why should our readers care?

Why should our viewers care?

Why should our listeners care?

2nd question:And why now?

How is this timely?

The better your answers, the stronger your news hook.

Make it newsworthy

• Are you doing something new? Innovative?

• First in our community? First anywhere?

• Are you the best at what you’re doing?

• Informative / interesting / entertaining?

• Story has yet to be told?

3 ways to get tell better stories and get more & better media coverage

1. Find your poster child

The best stories - the one’s we read, watch & listen to, talk about, share

and remember - are all about people. Ordinary people in

extraordinary situations.

It’s not about the ribbons you cut. The ground you break. The cheques you get. Or the events you run.

It’s all about the people you serve

and whose lives you transform.

You are not the

hero.

Find your poster child• Who can be the face & heart of your

organization for this story?

• One person with a compelling story – a life transformed because of you

• Someone we can relate to and root for

• Enlist, don’t conscript

• Authentic, not rehearsed

Client

Patient

Customer

Volunteer

Staffer

Board member

Donor or funder

Funder

Grads make Notre Dame House proudBy Molly Hayes (Hamilton Spectator, June 20 2013)

Caroline Kankowsi cried as she received her diploma Wednesday. At 20 years old, she never thought she'd make it through high school. As a teen, she struggled with anxiety and depression, had family problems and ended up living on her own, moving five times in two years. Eventually, she found herself at the Good Shepherd Notre Dame House School, where they pushed her to graduate."They keep you on track completely. They make you feel like you can do anything," she said.She and five fellow grads were awarded their high school diplomas at the "accomplishment ceremony" Wednesday, in the gussied-up back lot of Notre Dame House on Cannon Street West. Another 14 students received certificates for their work in the program on the path toward graduation. Kankowski has been accepted to Mohawk College's photography program, thanks to her arts studies at Notre Dame House.The house — also a 24-hour youth shelter — has 24 students enrolled in its education program this year."The support they get here is amazing," Kankowski's father, Paul, said at the ceremony. After a tough road with family in her teen years, she had 10 relatives come out to support her.

"There are all kinds of routes you can take in life … hers was a little harder, but she worked hard and made this a very special day for our whole family," her father said. "I cried through the whole thing."

Pitch your poster child• Tell your poster child’s story in

2-3 sentences

• Link to the program, project, event or announcement you want to profile

• Add a spokesperson for your organization

• 1 sentence boilerplate about your organization

• Contact info

Pitch to the right one reporter

Or editor / producer

Coverage in one media outlet can lead to coverage in others

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Email your pitch

Save the trinkets & trash, gifts & swag

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The subject line is your headline. Make it clear, concise and compelling.Max. of 7-8 short sentences in

the body of your email. Get to the point.

End with contact info (work & cell #s,

weekend #)

Should take 30 seconds or less to read.

SAMPLE EMAIL PITCH TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATORFrom: Robb, Jay [mailto:jay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca] Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 10:01 AMTo: Ammerata, CarlaSubject: Mohawk prof wins national honours

Carla – thanks for the Senator Braley coverage last week.

One of my favourite people at Mohawk has won a national teaching award – Peter Olynyk does a ton of great work in the community and here at the college. I’m trying to get him cloned.

Mohawk College is home to one of the country’s top professors for the second consecutive year. Peter Olynyk has received the 2013 bronze teaching award of excellence from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. A professor in Civil and Structural Engineering in Mohawk’s School of Engineering Technology for the past 27 years, Peter was recognized for his excellence in the classroom and leadership on key projects, including the Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair, Meet the Grad Night and the Popsicle Stick Bridge Building Competition. Peter co-founded the competition 26 years ago and continues to run the event for high school and college students. Peter launched Meet the Grad nights with a case of beer, a couple boxes of pizza and one grad brought in to reassure students heading into their final exams. Peter, who teaches more than 400 students a year, consistently earns top marks in student evaluations.

This marks the second year in a row that Mohawk professors have received national awards. Last year, Mohawk Advertising professor Jef Petrossi also won a bronze teaching award of excellence from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges.

Contacts:Peter Olynyk, 905.575.1212 ext. 3186, peter.olynyk@mohawkcollege.caVP Academic Cheryl Jensen, 905.575.1212 ext. 2224, cheryl.jensen@mohawkcollege.ca

HAMILTON SPECTATOR June 11, 2013 (A3)

Signpost: Mohawk prof is tops

Mohawk College is home to one of the country's top professors for the second consecutive year. Peter Olynyk has received the 2013 bronze teaching award of excellence from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. A professor in civil and structural engineering in Mohawk's School of Engineering Technology, Olynyk was recognized for his excellence in the classroom and leadership on key projects, including the Bay Area science fair.

Long emails scare, dissuade reporters

• Poster child + spokesperson lined up for interviews

• Available for interviews any time

• Complete contact info

• 2-3 supporting facts & stats

• Highlight potential places for interviews, photos and video

Make it as easy as possible for the reporter to tell your story

Reporters are always looking for experts to help:

• Localize stories

• Provide comment, analysis and background

• Simplify complexity

• Add colour with great quotes

2. Be a resident expert

Credible, reliable & trustworthy…passionate… knowledgeable…enjoy working with the media…

speak in soundbites…24/7 availability

Qualifications

Get on some of these

More ways to raise your profile

• Stand and deliver: give speeches & talk on panels

• Submit letters to the editor and op-eds

• Win awards

• Follow up with reporters when they file stories that are in your wheelhouse

3. Newsjack

Inject your idea and parachute your organization into breaking news

Add to the narrative with a new dimension / perspective

• Monitor the media

• Need to be fast – respond in real time

• Post on social media (reporters will be there doing keyword searches)

• Contact reporter directly

• Use your judgment – always in good taste and never opportunistic

Newsjacking

Pester the reporter.

Pitch & vanish.

Promise what you can’t deliver.

Ask to review & approve the story.

Ask the reporter to send you a copy of the story.

5 cardinal sins of media relations

Follow up with a quick thanks

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Worth a read

Newsjacking by David Meerman Scott

The Media Training Bible by Brad Phillips

10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech by Fletcher Dean

Jane AllisonManager of Community

PartnershipsThe Hamilton Spectatorjallison@thespec.com

Jay RobbDirector of

CommunicationsMohawk Collegejay.robb@mohawkcollege.ca