How to Get Media Attention For Your Nonprofit
Are you ready to start getting press for your cause? The best way to get the word out about your nonprofit is by getting media attention.
If you want to raise awareness, increase engagement, and grow your nonprofit's impact, then you need to increase your earned media.
Earned media — also called PR or press — is when the media publishes content about your organization because it has merit, not because you paid for it. Unlike advertising in a local paper or magazine where you have to pay to be published, earned media is when a reporter includes your organization in their story for free.
Earned media types include podcasts, local TV, morning shows, radio, blogs, trade magazines, online publications, and nearly every other type of media you can imagine.
Getting media attention can be huge for a nonprofit. In this post, I’m going to share exactly how to get media attention for your nonprofit.
Are You Prepared For Media Attention?
First thing’s first. Before you can even imagine your nonprofit making headlines in the local news or an industry publication, you have to make sure you’re prepared for media attention in the first place.
Trust me when I say that once you start reaching out to the media, things can move very quickly. Reporters are usually on tight deadlines and need to get information fast. You need to make sure you have everything in place before you pitch the media so you don’t have to scramble when they begin to request information.
Ask yourself: Are you ready for PR?
Once a publication runs a story about your nonprofit, you can guarantee people will visit your website to learn more. Will they find the information they’re looking for once they land on the homepage? One of the first steps to ensure you’re prepared for PR is to make sure it’s very clear on your website what your nonprofit does and who it helps.
If you’re curious about what else you need to do to prepare your nonprofit for press, I’ve put together a free guide with a checklist of must-haves.
Share Announcements
The easiest way to get media attention for your nonprofit is to let the media know what you’re up to. Whether you have an upcoming event, new programming, landed a recent funding, or secured a new partnership, the media wants to hear about it — especially the local media.
This is a great way to get started with media outreach if you’re new to the process of getting press for your nonprofit. The key is consistency.
If you make an effort to consistently send the media information about anything new your nonprofit is doing, you’ll be surprised by how quickly you will start to get media attention.
Consider Thought Leadership
If you’re thinking, “well, what if I don’t have any news to share?” That’s okay!
Whether you’re going through a slow season or don’t have a major event coming up, you may not have any recent updates to share. This is where you need to get creative with story ideas.
One of the best ways to get media attention for your nonprofit is to offer your expertise for thought leadership articles. Whether you’re the executive director, founder and CEO, or another key nonprofit leader, you’ve got specific knowledge to share that all types of media — from podcasts to digital publications — want to share with their readers.
Pitch yourself or the leaders at your organization as thought leaders to discuss current events and topics. In the pitch, it’s key to demonstrate their credibility and how your nonprofit is helping to navigate the community through whatever it is that’s currently going on.
Be Flexible
The media is busy. They’ve got sources to find, research to conduct, and stories to run. If you really want to stand out and be someone they turn to, flexibility is key.
One of the best ways to get media attention — and get the media to always come back to you for future stories — is to be easy to work with when opportunities come up. Be responsive when journalists reach out, punctual to a phone interview, and get people the information they need on time.
Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people miss these little things — and how much these nuances will affect your chance at getting more media attention for your nonprofit.
Media relations is all about building relationships, after all. And if you want to start your media relationships off on the right foot, then you need to make their job as easy as possible.