What's the book about?

Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure That Leads to Awareness, Growth, and Contributions helps nonprofit organizations large and small discover and use the tools and techniques that will help transform them into high-profile media darlings.

A detailed, step-by-step guide, Publicity for Nonprofits doesn't just explain why publicity is important — it shows how to use cost-effective publicity plans and tactics to reach fundraising goals, educate and influence consumers, and recruit employees and volunteers. Learn from fascinating case studies, detailed instructions, and a rich array of publicity tools and tactics designed to help nonprofit organizations understand:

• The importance of messages in media relations
• Which tools and tactics will get organizations the farthest fastest
• Which publicity approach will have the greatest impact with the least amount of expense
• How to use in-house and external resources most effectively
• How to evaluate your publicity success

Publicity for Nonprofits includes examples of press releases, op-ed articles, pitch letters, public service announcements and other important outreach tools.

top »

An excerpt from a review in the prestigious Chronicle of Philanthropy

How Nonprofit Groups Can Attract the News Media

"With the right approaches and tools, budget-conscious nonprofit organizations can generate valuable free publicity in the news media, helping them to gain donors or volunteers, raise public awareness of their causes, or run a successful fund-raising event, writes Sandra L. Beckwith, a communications consultant and former publicist.

"Ms. Beckwith's guidebook explains how nonprofit groups can work effectively with news organizations to achieve their goals, from plotting out structured timelines for garnering interest in an event to building friendly relationships with reporters.

"The book includes short, illustrative case studies and step-by-step instructions on identifying the organization's goals and target audience, finding journalists likely to be interested in the charity's story, communicating with reporters, planning and publicizing special events, holding press conferences, creating concise sound bites and talking points, and more methods for generating a positive buzz.

"Appendices include samples of fact sheets, opinion articles, press releases, public-service announcement scripts, worksheets, and other resources."

top »

Praise for Publicity for Nonprofits

"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

"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)

"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."

— Chris Forbes, www.marketingministry.com

"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."

— Jeff Lippincott, SCORE.org, counselor

top »

Table of Contents

top »