Introduction: What is the purpose of a "Media Action Toolkit?"

Why Good Communications Matter for Nonprofits

For decades, many nonprofit organizations followed the dictum: "Do Good, Maintain a Low Profile and Others Will Provide." "Others" often included clients, public supporters, charitable donors and even the organization's staff and board members. It was viewed as self-serving, even taboo, for nonprofits to allocate time and resources to promote understanding, goodwill and support for their mission and objectives.

Today, Americans are a bit cynical about rhetoric. They tend to believe leaders and organizations that lead by example. When our actions fail to support our words, we lose credibility and authority. And, even successful, well-led organizations can have trouble communicating with the public if they fail to present a compelling message about who they are and what they contribute to society.

As nonprofits, we focus most of our attention on the issues and clientele we were created to serve. Too often, we underestimate the value of what we've learned from our work-the human stories, research findings and best professional practices. Yet this field-tested knowledge can be invaluable when placed in the hands of the public, policymakers and other nonprofit and government agencies. Improving your group's ability to communicate can have twofold benefits: It can inform policies that will help advance your mission, and by increasing your visibility, make your organization more attractive to new members and donors.

Karen E. Lake
Director of Marketing and Communications
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
www.wkkf.org/Toolkits/Communication/

Develop a PLAN: Why develop a communications plan?

Make communications part of your overall work planLike any important element of your organization, effective use of the media must be properly and carefully planned in order to produce the most effective results. The media is essentially your lifeline for sharing the successes and strategies of your organization.

The first step in developing a communications plan is not to write a press release and start developing better relationships with local media, but to integrate your media work into your overall work and strategies. Media should not be an afterthought.

Media should be integrated in your annual and even five-year strategic plan. Media should be a line item in your budget, no matter how much or little money you plan to spend.

For smaller nonprofits, the executive director's media skills will be instrumental in establishing the public's perception of the entire organization.

Once media and communications have been incorporated into the long-term plans of your organization, you can begin planning your short-term or immediate media action steps: define your target audience and determine the objectives of your communications program.

Define your target audience

• decision makers
• influential indivduals
• opinion leaders
• multipliers
• the general public

Possible objectives include:

• identify and promote understanding of social issues relevant to the organization
• launch new projects supporting the organization's mission
• stimulate interest in events or activities
• change perceptions or attitudes toward the organization and its work
• gain access to key policy-makers or opinion leaders
• attract quality staff, volunteers, and donors

Clarify the MESSAGE: How do I communicate my message?

Creating Your Message

1. The message must be clear and simple.
2. Use plain language.
3. Your message should include the following components:
   • Key message
   • Highlights
   • Data
   • Citations

If you are using the media to advocate change, answer the questions as you develop your message:

What is the problem or issue?

What do you want to happen? This question is crucial in your planning. It will help identify who and what your targets are, who the best messengers are and how to reach them.

What is the solution or policy that will reach this goal? Sometimes you will be using the media to get someone to change their behavior and thoughts about your issue. In that case, your solution may be a changed behavior.

Who can make it happen?

Who are our allies/ opponents? This will help you figure out who's on what side of your issue and who might be able to be swayed either way.

What would they need to hear to make it happen?

How do we frame our message best?

What themes work well with this audience? This could be a business concern, public health issue, legal or liability concern, etc.

What makes news?

The more newsworthy elements a story contains, the broader the audience, thus the more likely it will be covered by the media.

Conflict & Controversy: Is there any physical or emotional drama involved? If a prominent person is involved the conflict will increase news value.

Timelines: Is your news happening right now? Possibly tie in your news to another current event or an anniversary of a historic event.

Proximity: Is your news nearby? If the event takes place elsewhere, "bring the story home" with a local angle. Could it happen here? Are any locals related to someone in the event?

Human Interest: Does it elicit strong feelings, either for or against? Emotions can be inherent in the story or experienced by the reader. Possibilities include love, hate, compassion, sympathy, curiosity, grief, sadness, anger, joy and humor.

Injustice & Hypocrisy: Are the circumstances unfair? Are children or others with little social or economic power involved?

Number of People Involved or Affected: How many people are involved in or affected?

Possible Future Impact: Can something happening today potentially affect many people or impact a geographic area or organization in the future?

Prominence: Are prominent people involved in your news in some way? Is there someone who could help your story?

Unusual: Is the story usual, unexpected, unique or ironic?

Suspense: Does your news have an uncertain ending?Progress: Does your news involve progress, breakthroughs or something new and improved?

Great Visuals: Is there a visual that highlights any of the above elements?

Prepare the MESSENGER: What does the messenger need to know?

1. Take the time before a crisis strikes to get to know key reporters.
2. Limit your messengers to a few people who have been trained
3. Make sure all of your messengers know and stick with the same message

Other useful ideas:

Don't just wait for reporters to call you, because it rarely happens. Identify someone whose work has impressed you - call their office and congratulate them. This is such a rare occurrence that they are certain to be pleased that you have taken the first step to get in touch. If you have a story to tell them, even better.

Establish and maintain regular communications. Give them story ideas and help them cover the stories.

Show interest in their work. Ask about the deadlines of the publications or programs on which they work. Don't view your media relations job as the task of getting something from the editors and reporters; your function is actually to help them do their jobs.

Help them frame your issues in a way they can convince their editors that your story is important. Even though you and the journalist think the story is interesting, there is a lot of news to compete with! Keep an eye on what is going on in the media, be able to relate your issue with other ongoing discussions and stories.

Answer their questions immediately. Journalists have deadlines and they will most probably call you half an hour before they pass the deadline. If you are not prepared to answer to their questions in the moment, ask for few minutes to organize yourself and call them back with ready information.

Select the METHOD: How do I choose the most effective method(s)?

What method will be most effective to further your goals?

• Editorial Board Meeting
• Interview
• Letter to the Editor
• Media Advisory
• News Conference
• News Event
• Press Release
• Op-Ed

Editorial Board Meeting

One of the most powerful ways to reach the public is by having the press on your side of an issue.

• Read their newspaper
• Know where they stand on your issue
• Write down key facts
• List your main points

• Know what you want to ask them and ASK

• Leave printed, supporting material
• Follow up with a thank you note

Interview

These can be very effective, BUT require careful planning and preparation.

• Determine your message
• Know who your audience is and speak to their ability to understand
• Develop "sound bites" - short, memorable phrases that are easily quotable that explain your basic message
• Make sure the interviewer has plenty of background information
• Be clear of the "ground rules"
• Prepare visual aids, if needed
• Practice

• Always look the interviewer in the eye
• Maintain good posture
• Be yourself and smile
• Look alert

• Speak in clear, short, declarative sentences
• Always use complete sentences
• Use relevant facts and data when appropriate
• Speak from personal experience as much as possible
• If you don't know the answer, admit it!
• If you are uncomfortable, use the "bridge" (see section 9)

• Thank the reporter
• Offer to be available so the reporter can double check your quotes
• Always be professional and courteous

Letter to the Editor

• Keep it short and focused on one main point
• Make your letter timely to a specific event or local activity of interest
• Support your facts with documentation
• Familiarize yourself with the coverage and editorial position of the paper
• Check the letter specifications of the newspaper. Follow these guidelines, particularly the length requirement
• Keep your letter brief--Shorter letters are more likely to be published
• Monitor the paper for your letter

Op-Ed

An op-ed is a guest column found in the editorial section of the newspaper.

• Try to think of a catchy title
• Tie it to something specific
• When possible, personalize it with experience
• Be brief and to the point
• Start and end with a bang
• Avoid excessive rhetoric
• Sometimes it helps to have "an expert"

Press Release

A press release is intended to gain journalists' interest. Press releases generally follow a standard format. The format is designed to give the reporter or editor all the information needed quickly. May be emailed, faxed or mailed with or without a cover letter.

Release statement
Usually one or two days before the event

Organization's name

Contact information

Headline and dateline

Lead paragraph
This where you should tell the most important information of the release

Body copy
Use quotes here if possible in order to put a human face on your news

Final paragraph boilerplate
End your press release with a final standard paragraph (not more than 3 sentences) about your organization.

News Event

This is an event used to generate news interest with the goal to achieve coverage.News events also help spread awareness, raise funds and build media campaigns.

Consider:

• Topic should be clear
• Choose speaker with statue and influence in the community

• Know your target audience
• Arrange seating accordingly, so the site won't appear too crowded or too empty

• Location should be easily accessible
• Location visually appealing, but prepare an alternative if the site is outside
• Time should be early enough in the day for TV reporters to put coverage on the evening news

• Allow two to three weeks of publicity prior to the event

Media Advisory

• Quickly becoming the preferred document for media
• Clearly and concisely outline WHO, WHAT, WHERE and WHEN of an upcoming news event
• Provide basic facts only
• Use a interesting headline
• Include information on directions to an event site, interview opportunities, or visual for TV cameras
• Should be sent at least a week ahead of time
• Include contact name and number

News Conference

(or Press Conference)

• Determine the participants and confirm their involvement
• Develop talking points for each speaker
• If location is indoors, confirm number of electrical outlets
• Send out a news advisory one week before the conference
• Prepare a news release to hand out on the day of the conference

• Send another round of news advisories in the morning
• Limit the total speaking time to 30 minutes or less

Always EVALUATE: Another evaluation?

The Value of Evaluation

Evaluation seeks to determine whether activities worked and to what extent they achieved their outcomes, and if not, why not.

This is important for two main reasons:

1. Accountability
Accountability is not possible, unless the results of expenditures are measured and reported.

Communication activities are no different in this regard to any other kind of activity, except that communications outcomes can be more difficult to measure than other types of programs.

2. Continuous Improvement
Evaluation is good management practice. In recent years agencies at all levels have moved from a focus on inputs and processes to a much greater emphasis on program outcomes.

Analyzing Results

Did it work?
Did it accomplish the objects determined for each defined group?
Spend a good amount of time analyzing outcomes. Usually results are mixed and every time a communications campaign is conducted, the organization will learn more about each audience and will become more successful in future campaigns.

Key principles

The following principles should guide evaluation activities:

1. Evaluation involves assessment of the degree to which an activity's objectives have been met as a result of the activity. Evaluations are only as valuable as the objectives they are based on are appropriate.

2. Evaluation is an integral part of all communications projects, not an optional extra.

3. Evaluation should be planned at the outset of a communications project, not left until the end.

4. Evaluation must be properly budgeted for. As a rule of thumb, ten percent of a project's budget should be allocated to evaluation.

5. A good test of the usefulness of an evaluation is to ask the following questions:

• Does it effectively identify the success/failure of the project?
• Does it effectively identify the reasons for success/failure of the project?
• Does it effectively identify the cost-effectiveness of the project?

Know the LINGO: What terminology is needed to be "Media Savvy?"

Donated Print Space - Advertising space available in print media (newspapers and magazines) for pro bono placement of public service advertising.

Editorial Board Meeting - A meeting with the editor or editorial staff of a periodical.

Interview - A pre-planned one-on-one formal conversation between a journalist and a newsworthy person or a representative of a group. Letter to the Editor - A letter written by individual who wants to express a point of view on current issues. The letter is submitted to a newspaper and published in one of the most widely read sections. Tend to create a public forum.

Media Advocacy - The use of any form of media to help promote an organization's or a company's objectives or goals, which come from the group's vision and mission.

Media Outlet - A specific media company (WNBC-TV, WROD-AM, The New York Times, etc.).

Medium - The singular term for a media type (radio, television, newspaper, magazines, cable systems, outdoor companies, etc.). Plural = media

News Advisory (or Media Advisory or Media Alert) - One-page document that lists the basics - logistics, purpose, background information. Generally used to notify the media of a news event at least one week ahead of time.

News Conference (or Press Conference) - A media event designed for a speaker or representative of a group to present a statement, answer question, or make announcements to a roomful of people who represent different media outlets.

News Event - An event that generates news interest with an intention to create visual coverage and sound bites. A news conference is a type of news event.

News Media - Television, newspaper, and radio journalism. Provide the broadest and most in-depth coverage.

News Release (or Press Release) - "Conversational" one- or two-page document that gives details about a certain event, initiative, study, contact information and often includes quotes.

Op-Ed - An opinion editorial gives individual an opportunity to communicate their perspective on the topic of interest for the week in greater detail than a letter to the editor.

Public Service Announcement (PSA) - A non-commercial message that is broadcasted or inserted at no charge to the non-profit responsible for the campaign.

Video News Release (VNR) - Requires script development, interviews and tapings, editing and production, satellite time, station notification and placement and tracking.

Plan for PITFALLS: What problems might I run into?

Common Media Opportunity Pitfalls

Unfortunately, no one can guarantee that if you include every element suggested you will be assured a perfect media campaign. However, if you recognize some common pitfalls, you can prevent your advocacy efforts from becoming a lost opportunity. Here is a list of common pitfalls when working with the media:

"Column inches envy": All too often, staff or volunteers within an organization, or in allied organizations, resent the success of a spokesperson who is called upon time and again to speak for the cause. While it may be inevitable that the media will continue to turn to the most informed and most persuasive. Resist the pressures to subdue an effective voice simply because others are envious.

Wrong Spokesperson: Your best spokesperson may or may not be you - or the boss. Your organizational culture may encourage volunteers to speak for the organization while professional staff members are expected to remain in the background. That may be a fine practice for many occasions - but not necessarily for handling a professionally trained adversarial spokesperson. The head of your organization may be the right name on a press release, or the named author of an op-ed articles, but not an effective broadcast presence. Of course, choosing the right spokesperson sometimes requires exquisite tact, and considerable courage.

"Ghettoizing" media responsibility within your organization: It is not uncommon for organizations to relegate media work to the press or public affairs office. Because media advocacy is critical to the goals of the entire organization, those responsibilities should be spread more broadly within the organization.

Debating (even winning) the wrong fight: Alcohol industry advocates can be maddeningly provocative. Their claims and accusations may sting so sharply that the alcohol policy advocate is drawn into elaborate denials or quibbling over tangential issues. Ignore the attacks and return to your strong themes and high ground.

Passivity: Don't be intimidated by a famous host or a sweet talking industry spokesperson. Don't mistake passivity for civility. If you don't like the way a question is framed, restate the issue, and proceed to answer the question that should have been asked.

Wordiness/jargon/mouthfuls: You're trying to persuade a general audience, not impress a group of experts. Don't ramble. Stay with one or two clear points at a time. Speak simple, plain English (or the language of the the show). Use short, recognizable words. Don't filibuster; come up for air. Let your opponent get a few words in edgewise, but don't allow him or her to pass off misleading information as truth. Challenge falsehood tactfully.

Wasting opportunities/getting drawn off track: There's a danger in getting too comfortable with a charming and gracious host and being drawn off into an interesting side issue that does not advance your policy goals. You may think you've got all the time in the world, but even an hour-long talk show can pass by so quickly (if you're having fun) that you lose the opportunity to hammer home your main points. Don't allow the show to stray far from your program goals, if you can help it.

Losing with your face and body language what you win with your hands: Scowling doesn't win many friends, nor does looking bored and distracted when you're not talking but remain on camera. Tension and anger can also be conveyed by your unconscious body language. A small, sad smile and a gently but clearly noticeable shaking of the head can effectively convey to an audience that you know what theyknow - that this fellow is a paid mouthpiece and is talking nonsense. A subtle gesture may be much more effective than a scowl or a laugh - and more effective than interrupting.

Being Unprepared: Needs no explanation.

Being Overprepared: If your words and mannerisms sound memorized or rehearsed, they lose much of their punch. Your arguments and main points should be thoroughly and comfortably worked out in advance but not rigid formulas committed to memory.

Relying on one's status or credentials : If you think that a skeptical host or an industry spokesperson will treat you respectfully because you have impressive curriculum vitae or are a high-ranking executive of a prestigious organization, think again. Television and radio programming does not favor status or credentials alone.

Bullying, lecturing: Don't lecture or appear to speak down to you host or adversary. It makes the audience feel that you're lecturing or attacking them, and that is no way to win friends and influence people.

Mistaking cuteness and cleverness for wit and humor: Wit and humor are wonderful weapons to disarm a skeptical host or hostile adversary, but not every would-be humorist is good at it. Don't reach for humor or sardonic slogans or labels, unless unbiased friends or colleagues confirm that you're good at it. Otherwise, be serious and straight. It's safer.

Excerpted from www.alcholpolicesolutions.net, original source: The Advocacy Institute, Washington, DC

One of the Most Common Pitfalls in interviews or talking with a reporter is being asked a question you can't or don't want to answer. Here are some tips for getting out of a tough situation:

• I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is….
• The REAL issue is…..
• That brings me back to my most important point…..
• The critical issue that I mentioned earlier is…..
• The most important point to remember is…..
• Let's go back to the point you need to keep in mind….
• As I stated earlier…..

Refer to EXAMPLES: What works and what doesn't work?

Sources and Resources

Alcohol Policies Solutions
Check out their media advocacy section: www.alcoholpolicysolutions.net

American Public Health Association
Download their media advocacy manual: www.apha.org/news/Media_Advocacy_Manual.pdf

Centers for Community Change
Check out their Media Advocacy Section: www.communitychange.org/media.htm

Community Toolbox, University of Kansas
Check out Chapters 6 and 34 in the Tools Section: http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting: www.fair.org/

"Marketing Your Organization" Training Manual from the Ad Council. August 20, 2003

The Marin Institute
Check out their media advocacy section: www.marininstitute.org

W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Check out their Communications Toolkit at: www.wkkf.org/Toolkits/Communication/Default.aspx