Tips for Making Your Charitable Event a Success

This week during Temple's PRSSA meeting, Julie Cassidy, the Director of Special Events and Group Sales at the Wilma Theater (and my previous internship supervisor) came to speak with students about some of the challenges and tips for success in regards to organizing charitable events. After interning with a few nonprofits as a special events assistant, I have experienced first-hand how difficult it can be to throw an event thats unique and exciting while having limited resources to work with.

The website Fundraiser Ideas posted a great article with six simple and effective ways to create an outstanding charitable event:

1. Reservations, please. Especially when there is limited space available and food and beverage are being served, requiring reservations eliminates wasted food and prevents overflowing crowds. Additionally, reservations serve as a useful way to evaluate the methods you use to publicize these events and fine tune your PR strategy.

2. Know your audience. Depending upon the type of event you are throwing you should shape your donation level accordingly. For example, if you are hosting a tailgate party, smaller donations are more acceptable whereas if you are throwing an elegant gala, donations should be on the higher end. By accurately gauging the audience you are targeting, the more accurately you can gauge the financial results for the charity events.

3. Keep the ball rolling. Planning events well in advance allows time for changes to be made and can provide a sense of momentum to your fundraising activities.

4. Put it in print. It's one thing to organize a spectacular event but it all means nothing if nobody is hearing about it. Promote your event through press releases and local newspaper stories to increase public interest.

5. Utilize online networking tools. Use Facebook and Twitter to their fullest potential! It's easy and free advertising for your event and can reach large audiences. Use these forums as a way to announce your upcoming events and allow guests to respond to your invitations. This can allow your organization to open up a dialogue with potential donors and create relationships that can help your charity or nonprofit raise funds more efficiently.

6. Say thank you. Thanking donors and guests for their contributions is incredibly important and will increase your likelihood of donations in the future. By expressing gratitude to your donors, you are enhancing your public reputation and make sure your organization is regarded favorably by those who make its work possible.

What are some pieces of advice you would share for organizing a successful charitable event? Let us know!

Semper Tweet?

It’s official: All branches of the military are using social media.

Last week the United States Marine Corps officially became the last branch of the military to endorse the use of social media by its soldiers when it published its very own set of social media guidelines. The handbook features a comprehensive set of policies, guidelines and terms for basic Marines, leaders and even the families of Marines.

The handbook comes two years after the Marine Corps issued a ban on social media use and is a victory for social media nerds everywhere. The Air Force, Navy and Army have already adopted social media guidelines for their soldiers and employees.

The central focus of all these military social media guidelines is to transform soldiers into walking, tweeting brand representatives while giving them a chance to connect with their families and express themselves. The Marine handbook even goes as far as to designate soldiers with public affairs occupational specialties as go-to “social media marines” for their units.

The Marine social media handbook is pretty comprehensive and gets the point across that safe, effective use of social media can benefit both individuals and the military. It’s about time that the Devil Dogs jumped on the social media bandwagon. I just hope that the Marine Corps didn’t already turn their soldiers off to social media with their two-year ban.

Organized Writing

When I have to write a story or press release, I tend to write in an unorganized method. But recently (and fortunately), my News Writing and Media Relations professor has shared his methods in writing media pieces.

In a few short steps we can brake down the process:

First is figuring out your lead. The lede provides the reader with the who, what, where, when and why in one to two sentences. As most of us know, the lede sets the tone for the entire piece, but its important to really think about your lede before you start writing the narrative. Think to yourself, "What do I want the reader to get out of this?"

Then we move to the quotes. Sometimes we don't have a lot to work with when it comes to quotes but its our job to make sure we let the quotes speak for themselves. The best quote(s) should convey opinion, something that only that person could say.

Next, its important after your finished writing your piece to walk away. This allows you to come back to your piece with fresh eyes. It can be especially beneficial when your not confident in your word choice.

Finally you proof read, which can be done in three steps. First read the whole piece and only look for spelling errors. Then read the whole piece for a second time and only look for grammar mistakes. Finally, read the whole piece for a third time and only look for AP style mistakes.

Feel free to adopt this method or tell us about your own method!

A New Audience for Nestle

In any campaign, when you craft a message it is necessary to identify your audiences. This remains true even if your audience happens to have wet noses and wagging tails. This is the case with Nestle, a major pet food supplier.

They recently launched their first television commercial that is tailored to appeal to dogs and their owners. The company used a high-frequency tone, much like that of a dog whistle that humans can't really hear, but will cause a dog to pay attention to what is on the screen. Xavier Perez, Brand Manager of Beneful for Europe explains, "The television commercial aims to reach both the pet and the owner, supporting the special one-to-one relationship between them".

The 23-second commercial will be playing in Austria this week for their German customers. They were inspired by an advertising campaign in Germany that attracted dogs with scented posters. Just like any project, the company first had to do research into what sounds would appeal to dogs and what they should incorporate into the commercial for them to perk up their ears.

Do you think Nestle's new commercial will be successful?

Flying Solo

A lot of young women are wary of delving into the professional world. They're worried that they will have to sacrifice having a family for having a successful career. So when I hear about the different areas of PR you can go into; agency, in-house, etc. it gets me thinking, who says you can't do it all yourself? Sure, it's a lot of work, but who doesn't love making their own rules? In "The pros and cons of the solo PR life", Arik Hanson details what to expect when you take on a PR business all by yourself.

PROS

• Flexibility- You are your own boss. No more of that 9-5 business, but in that sense your work day never really ends. You probably will have to give up a little night time and weekend hours to keep up with your work load. However, this may be a small sacrifice when you get to enjoy your kids in their formative years.
• You can always say no- This is hard to swallow when you've been under a supervisor for most of your professional career, but now you have the ability to pick and choose your clients.
• Creative freedom-You have free reign of how you want to go about promoting your client. This can also be a lot pressure, because you have no one to fall back on if you're stumped. If you're a great problem solver who finds working under a company constricting, solo PR is your mecca.

CONS

• Lack of human interaction- It can get lonely running your own business solo. Make sure you schedule co-working sessions with friends. That way, you're still getting the job done, but with a little company and getting the best of both worlds. You can also use your "co-worker" as a sounding board, something you miss out on, being a solo PR consultant. Bouncing ideas back and forth can be essential, as it can be hard to think of creative ideas by yourself.
• Lack of legitimacy- A PR person for a major organization will have the upper hand when placed next to a solo consultant. While you may have equal years of experience, it's something you will have to get used to.

Solo PR has its advantages and disadvantages, but most of all it allows the most room for creativity and flexibility, both hard to come by these days when agency and in-house are the most prevalent.

Would you take on being a PR consultant by yourself? How would you best make up for the lack of manpower? Let us know!

The Fashion Industry and its Glaring PR issue

It is no secret that from the outside looking in, the fashion industry has a major PR problem: most of its waiflike beauties have light complexions. This is to say, the fashion industry hires people that look like the majority of those who work in the industry.

However, recent news has revealed an increase in models of color in headlining shows during New York Fashion Week. According to the New York Times blog "On the Runway" Keli Goff, a fashion industry watchdog and blogger, found that 90 percent of the 200-plus designers featured in Fashion Week had at least one black model, a seven percent jump from last year.

Though this is good news for the industry’s PR reputation, the industry still has to fix the problem at hand. So, what can they do to address it? The simple solution is to hire more models of color and feature them in advertisements. Another, more loftier suggestion, is for fashion houses to host events that celebrate women of color in the fashion industry. This would show that fashion houses are trying to change and are making the effort to diversify the industry more than ever before. In the future, professionals in the fashion industry can also come together to have a panel event where fashion experts discuss industry race issues and come up with ways to ultimately evolve the industry for the better.

Do you have any creative suggestions for the fashion industry to diversify itself? Let us know!

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Kurie Fitzgerald.

Back to School, Back to School, to Prove to Daddy I’m not a Fool!

Ahh… school is back in session. This means the daily grind of waking up early, going to class after class, finishing continuous amounts of work for the week, and going to bed at an ungodly hour is about to take over the lives of thousands of college students around the country. With all of that being said, college students must also start planning for their future, and now is a great time to try and make the most out of your school year.

Public relations students, as well as general communications students, have many options when they graduate with what they would like to pursue in life. In order to be prepared for those steps though, Becky Johns of PRdaily.com reveals tips on how to plan efficiently and effectively for success in future endeavors.

1. Have a part-time job- Time management is one of the most important lessons students can take away from college. Balancing schoolwork, a social life, and a job can be very difficult. It can also be extremely beneficial for students because they can gain invaluable experience in learning time management. If students can strike a balance between school work, making some money, and finding time to go out and be with friends, then they will be well prepared for when they enter the work force. This forces students to focus on the task at hand, which will result in a more disciplined self.

2. Study and know your industry- Find out as much as you can about the agencies or companies you could see yourself working for when you graduate. See who the major game changers are in your industry and find ways to emulate what they do, so that when you go looking for a job after graduation, a future employer views you as an irresistible hire. The more you know about the industry the more beneficial it will be to yourself upon hunting for a job.

3. Compile a portfolio- Public relations and many other communications professions rely on strong writing to succeed. Creating a strong portfolio and keeping it organized by adding writing samples will allow you flexibility within your portfolio. This will give you multiple options of which samples you would like to present to future employers during the interviewing process. Each company or agency may want a different type of writing sample, so a diverse portfolio is best.

4. Go out and have some FUN- College is not all about cramming for tests and stressing over what your going to do with your life five years from now. It’s about going out on your own and experiencing a new adventure. You do not need to totally sacrifice your social life to succeed in college. There needs to be a balance. So go out on a Thursday night and stay up till 3 am and have fun with your friends. Just make sure that homework for that 8am class is typed and ready for you the next morning.

What do you think of these tips? Agree/Disagree? Shoot your comments our way! If you would like to read the rest of the article and other tips provided, click here.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Andy Esworthy.