Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions [Paperback]

Sandra Beckwith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006

Every nonprofit organization, regardless of its size, needs publicity to drive awareness of its goals. Yet, breaking through the clutter in today’s information-overloaded society poses a huge challenge to organizations of all sizes.
 
In Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth and Contributions, award-winning publicist Sandra Beckwith shows how to capture the public's attention with successful publicity strategies geared specifically for nonprofit organizations. Fascinating nonprofit case studies, detailed instructions, and a rich array of publicity tools and tactics will help your nonprofit organization learn how to:
 
§         Create an affordable publicity plan that integrates goals, objectives, and key strategies
§         Determine which tools and tactics will have the most impact on your goals
§         Develop and pitch newsworthy stories with powerful messages that will capture media attention and resonate with your audiences
§         Maximize the publicity potential of your organization’s activities, talents and resources
 
An excellent roadmap that emphasizes how to information, Publicity for Nonprofits is a must have resource for all nonprofit professionals – especially those who know their organization deserves more media attention to achieve its goals.  
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Packed with useful background information, compelling examples, insider tips, and easy-to-implement tools for publicity planning and implementation, Publicity for Nonprofits is a friendly guide for nonprofit managers. To garner and keep donor, volunteer, and community support in today's competitive environment, managers' toolkits need the skills honed in this essential book."
—Vicki Weisfeld, Principal, NEW Associates, LLC; former Senior Communications Officer, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ

“Beckwith’s “how to” publicity guide is a great primer for any nonprofit interested in starting or getting more out of their public relations strategy.  She places a strong emphasis on creating a solid plan and includes suggestions for evaluating success.  The samples and templates included throughout the book are particularly helpful.”
—Jocelyn Harmon, Director of Development and Communications, National Council of Nonprofit Associations (NCNA)

About the Author

Sandra Beckwith has more than 25 years of award-winning public relations experience. A recipient of the coveted Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America, her public relations background includes assignments at one of the world’ s largest public relations firms and a large national consumer products company. Now a consultant who helps others learn how to generate their own publicity, Beckwith counts several nonprofit organizations among her clients.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141952299X
• ISBN-13: 978-1419522994
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #370,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed simple but solid book on publicity for nonprofit directors!, September 4, 2006

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions (Paperback)

What a wonderful book. It was pretty to look at, and easy to read. If you are starting a nonprofit or want to improve on your existing nonprofit, then this book will probably help you in either project. It will help your organization generate media exposure that usually leads to awareness, growth, and contributions for your organization. And all at minimal cost. Use this book to create or improve upon your organization's publicity plan.

All nonprofit executive directors and development directors should have a copy of this book! It is broken into four sections:

1. Getting started
2. Tools
3. Tactics
4. The plan

Topics covered in detail include media materials, news releases, and pitch letters. The information provided is light on theory and jargon and heavy on instruction. And if you follow the advice in the four sections you will without a doubt create a solid publicity program for your organization.

The author also discusses alternatives to publicity that amount to traditional marketing techniques. They include:

1. Direct mail
2. Advertising
3. Public speaking
4. E-Newsletters, and
5. Viral marketing

All in all, a great book and one that will get a lot of use by the people who head a nonprofit. 5 stars!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just the basics, nothing new, January 4, 2009

By 

riverlady "riverlady" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions (Paperback)

I've worked for a number of years as a communications director for nonprofits and I ordered this book because I was hopeful it would be a tool to help move hesitant decision makers in the direction of more strategic thinking. Sadly, when it comes to nonprofits, communications pros often have to spend more time persuading their colleagues and directors than the public. There's nothing like a book in print to solidify your advice!

This book was disappointing in that it joins the many books already out there that focus on the mechanics, aka "basics," but not the critical thinking that is required for PR in today's competitive and changing information age. Yes, it's helpful to know how to write a proper press release or pitch letter, but the reality is zillions of press releases get faxed into newsrooms every day. Newspapers are dying, TV no longer reigns the news world and the rising go-to news sources - the internet and bloggers - abhor all the traditional basics, such as press releases, making it a time-consuming challenge to insert your campaign into their discussions. This means that more than ever, community advocacy groups and charities -- this author's audience -- have to re-think PR strategies in order to insert their issues and causes into the news stream. Bigger organizations are already there.

To her credit, the author does touch on how to evaluate what is and isn't news, and how to transform your beloved cause into a news item -- that no matter how worthy your cause, newsrooms are about NEWS. As the author is clearly a seasoned pro and a good writer, I look forward to her sequel, which will hopefully offer guidance on how to navigate today's stormy PR waters. I need that book to convince my little groups to make the leap.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a Keeper! Get this PR Book with Easy-to-Understand Strategic Insights, May 19, 2007

By 

Chris Forbes "gmnonprofits.com" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions (Paperback)

Sandra Beckwith has put together a very readable book with practical insights for handling public relations in the real world. This work will help you develop a strategy for getting your organization's message out into the public square. Her step-by-step process even has forms you can use in your PR planning. Public relations is so much more than just talking to media when they happen to be interested in your organization. The author shows how you can become proactive right now in getting your message noticed.