PR For NGOs

Public relations is an important field, no matter what type of business you’re in. However, due to budget restrictions and lack of resources, public relations is especially important to NGOs. Oftentimes, it’s used as the main source of generating brand awareness (or even funds) for an organization. Nonprofit or not-for-profit groups are those that exist in order to educate, fund research, advocate, or lobby on behalf of a public cause or initiative. Oftentimes, nonprofit groups are those with an educational mission existing on behalf of the public interest. For instance, the Cancer Research Foundation of America educates consumers about what food products to eat to increase healthiness and lessen cancer risk. Public relations efforts on behalf of nonprofits generally involve disseminating public information, persuading publics to adopt the ideas of the organization through the use of press agentry and asymmetrical public relations, and the use of symmetrical public relations to increase donor funding and governmental funding of the initiative. Nonprofit public relations may exist for educational purposes, to promote an idea or cause, or to raise funds for research on an issue or problem. A well-known example would be the many cancer research foundations that exist to raise awareness about cancer and its risk factors, educate the public about preventive measures, lobby the government for further funding of cancer research, and occasionally provide grants for cancer study. Much of nonprofit public relations includes lobbying the government through educating legislators about the problem, ongoing research initiatives, and how the government can increase support for both funding and preventive measures. Nonprofit public relations often relies heavily on member relations, meaning that it seeks to maintain and develop relationships with supportive publics who can distribute the organization’s message, and often pay a membership fee to assist in providing an operational budget for the nonprofit. Member relations is often conducted through the use of Internet Web sites, magazines, newsletters, and special events. Fund-raising or development is the final, vital part of nonprofit public relations. Development is tasked with raising funds from both large fund donors, writing grants for governmental support, and conducting fund-raising with smaller, private donors. First rule is quite simple really – know the difference between publicity and public relations. You should know your basics. Public relations is more than a full-time job. If a crisis occurs, if the media calls or if an event is taking place, you have to be ready to respond in a moment's notice. Don't be afraid to delegate when you can. Maybe you have co-workers that can help cover for you or you can utilize a competent volunteer or intern to help carry some of the load. Don't get so caught up that you don't give yourself a break. You deserve it. How many agencies put out releases in different languages or understand the gist of what is being said about their client when they do get coverage on any of the official, non-English and Afrikaans stations? Most NGOs, because of our vast inequalities and deeply entrenched legacies from apartheid, work within communities that speak one or more of these languages. How then does PR for NGOs expect to be successful when, through a lack of language skills, the basis of communication after all, it cannot fashion collateral, or track communication in languages that appeal to the majority? When working in public relations, it's important to be a cheerleader. Rather than competing with other organizations, lift them up and look for opportunities to do more together — ultimately helping even more people. And don't forget to show some love to your media contacts. Just like you, they're on call 24/7 and are vital to the success of your organization. Proactive approach is of vital importance when it comes to PR, especially in the NGO sector. Don't wait for something to happen — get out and go for it. Play the long game! Plan ahead and be as prepared as possible. Know that you may get thrown curve balls, but be confident in your ability to do your job and do it well.

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