Public Relations: Strategies

Public Relations: Strategies

for Reaching Today’s

for Reaching Today’s

RotarianRotarian

©Michelle M. Maresh-Fuehrer, ©Michelle M. Maresh-Fuehrer, Ph.D.Ph.D.

The C

halle

nge

The C

halle

nge

Reaching a new audience

Reaching a new audience

Reducing misconceptions

Reducing misconceptions

about Rotary

about Rotary Strengthening Rotary’s

Strengthening Rotary’s

imageimage Gaining public awareness

Gaining public awareness

of Rotary’s of Rotary’s purpose/projects

purpose/projects Increasing membership

Increasing membership

Retaining membership

Retaining membership

Standing out from other

Standing out from other

service-oriented clubs

service-oriented clubs

The Im

port

ance

The Im

port

ance

of

Public

of

Public

Rela

tions

Rela

tions

Today’s public is

Today’s public is increasingly

increasingly concerned with social

concerned with social

responsibility

responsibility Today’s public gathers

Today’s public gathers

information from

information from media/social media

media/social media Today’s public will not

Today’s public will not

know about or trust

know about or trust

Rotary unless we have

Rotary unless we have

an established public

an established public

presencepresence

What

is P

ublic

What

is P

ublic

Rela

tions?

Rela

tions?

PR = PR = Public Relations

Public Relations Positive Relationships

Positive Relationships

Building a long-term

Building a long-term relationship with the

relationship with the public, which results

public, which results in:in: Positive media coverage

Positive media coverage

Positive word-of-mouth

Positive word-of-mouth

Gett

ing S

tart

ed

Gett

ing S

tart

ed

You must first have

You must first have effective effective internal

internal public relations (happy

public relations (happy

Rotarians!) before you

Rotarians!) before you

can focus on

can focus on externalexternal

public relations

public relations (community, donors,

(community, donors,

media, prospective

media, prospective members, etc.)

members, etc.)

Measu

ring

Measu

ring

Inte

rnal P

RIn

tern

al P

R

Ask yourself:

Ask yourself: When is the last time you

When is the last time you

asked a Rotarian why they

asked a Rotarian why they

were discontinuing their

were discontinuing their

membership?

membership? When is the last time you

When is the last time you

asked current Rotarians in

asked current Rotarians in

your club about their

your club about their

experience with Rotary?

experience with Rotary?

When is the last time you

When is the last time you

solicited project

solicited project ideas/discussed projects

ideas/discussed projects

with your entire

with your entire membership?

membership? When is the last time you

When is the last time you

publicly acknowledged

publicly acknowledged

members who helped with

members who helped with

a project?a project?

Ext

ern

al

Ext

ern

al

Public

Rela

tions

Public

Rela

tions

To build trust in the

To build trust in the

community, we must be

community, we must be

transparent.

transparent. We must be proud to:

We must be proud to:

Openly discuss our good

Openly discuss our good

deeds with others,

deeds with others, Letting donors know what

Letting donors know what

their money is being used

their money is being used

to accomplish,

to accomplish, Working with the media to

Working with the media to

create an image in the

create an image in the

public’s mind

public’s mind Making sure our logo is

Making sure our logo is

present and obvious at

present and obvious at

our events/projects

our events/projects

PR

Toolk

itPR

Toolk

it

Developed by Southside

Developed by Southside

Corpus Christi’s Michelle

Corpus Christi’s Michelle

M. Maresh-Fuehrer

M. Maresh-Fuehrer specifically for Rotary

specifically for Rotary

Introduces readers to a

Introduces readers to a

variety of methods for

variety of methods for

reaching journalists with

reaching journalists with

story ideas/establishing

story ideas/establishing

effective media relations.

effective media relations.

Explains how to handle

Explains how to handle

negative social media

negative social media

postsposts Instructions, ideas,

Instructions, ideas,

guidelines, and templates

guidelines, and templates

are included

are included

PR

Toolk

it

PR

Toolk

it

Tem

pla

tes

Tem

pla

tes

News releases

News releases Used to release an

Used to release an announcement to the news

announcement to the news

media with the intent of it

media with the intent of it

being turned into a news story

being turned into a news story

Pitch letters

Pitch letters Used to pique a journalist’s

Used to pique a journalist’s

interest in your story

interest in your story

Media advisories

Media advisories Used to alert/invite the media

Used to alert/invite the media

to an upcoming event

to an upcoming event

Radio spot announcements

Radio spot announcements

A written script to be read live

A written script to be read live

on air by a disc jockey (DJ)

on air by a disc jockey (DJ)

Social media posts

Social media posts To facilitate two-way

To facilitate two-way

communication between the

communication between the

organization and public

organization and public

Free D

ow

nlo

ad

Free D

ow

nlo

ad

http://www.rotary5930.o

rg

Click on “Membership”

Click on “Membership”

Click on “Ignite

Click on “Ignite Membership”

Membership” In the left column titled

In the left column titled

“Page Download Files,”

“Page Download Files,”

click on “Public

click on “Public Relations Toolkit”

Relations Toolkit”

Dis

tric

t D

istr

ict

Confe

rence

PR

Confe

rence

PR

W

ork

shop

Work

shop

For the rest of the story

For the rest of the story

attend the District 5930

attend the District 5930

Conference:

Conference: Fri. April 17 - Sun. April 19

Fri. April 17 - Sun. April 19

Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi, Texas Presenter: PE Michelle

Presenter: PE Michelle

Maresh-Fuehrer, D5930

Maresh-Fuehrer, D5930

Public Relations Committee,

Public Relations Committee,

Rotary Club of Southside

Rotary Club of Southside

Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi