(Excerpts from)

The Purpose And Power of Publicity

Part 1

Awareness-raising
Kyle Liedtke, Mediatalk

I believe the greatest distraction of most non-profit organizations is fundraising. I say distraction because many new non-profit organizations mistakenly think fundraising is the first priority in building their organization.  I propose the essential focus of every non-profit organization should first be raising awareness.

Raise Awareness, Raise Funds

The success or failure of your organization depends on awareness.  (This of course presupposes your service or ministry is valuable and meets the needs of the people you’re seeking to help).

Community awareness brings community support. Community support means emotional, physical and financial involvement.

I worked with a non-profit organization recently that had been operating in my community for several years. The purpose of this non-profit is to relieve poverty on a variety of levels – from coordinating food banks to offering employment seminars to providing money for rent and electricity. They do an excellent work and are made up of caring, compassionate and hardworking volunteers. But as the saying goes, working hard never beats working smart.

I opened the seminar with, “your biggest problem is I’ve never heard of you.”  It may sound like sheer arrogance to you, but they clearly understood my point.

At the time, I had been working at a radio station in the same community as the non-profit; and yet despite the fact I was a part of the local media, I had never once heard of this organization or any of their offered services or even one of their fundraising events. 

I should have been one of their best friends.

What was even more disturbing was that they had the mayor and two city councilors on their board - men and women in the public eye and public influence.

And I had never heard of them. I didn’t have to explain to them that if I had never heard of them there were thousands and thousands of others who surely hadn’t either; thousands and thousands who would gladly get involved if they only knew.

Community awareness brings community support. I believe one of the fundamental needs mankind has, is the need to help.  People want to help others – they just need the encouragement and the opportunity.  

In my seminar on creating a mission and vision statement I ask the participants to answer the following questions:

Who are we?
What do we do?
Whom do we do it for?
Why do we do it?
And why should others help us?

These are questions that must be answered in your organization’s mission/vision statement; and these are questions that must be answered in every piece of literature, every press release you send and every interview you do. Clearly communicate who you are, what you do and why people should help you – and there will never be a shortage of funds or labor for your cause.

Your problem is not money. Your problem is lack of awareness.

Kyle Liedtke, Mediatalk Communications.

Kyle offers a number of seminars designed to help non-profit organizations develop their identity and communicate their vision to and through the media. Seminars include:

Message Is Everything – And Everything Is Message
*Defining Who You Are, What You Do And Why You Do It
*Crafting Your Message
*Delivering Your Message
Media 101 - Connecting To The Media
*Establishing and Maintaining Media Contacts
*Press Release Basics
*Interview Basics
*Being An Asset To The Media
Media 201 - Connecting Through The Media
*Capturing The Eyes And Ears Of Your Audience
*Creating Awareness, Generating Support
*Making The Media An Asset To You

For more information about what Kyle can do for your organization, e-mail kyle@mediatalk.biz or call (541) 390-9594 for a free consultation.

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