- Paperback: 260 pages
- Publisher: Kaplan Business (1 Jun 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 141952299X
- ISBN-13: 978-1419522994
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 19.7 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,376,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
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.
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First Sentence
What is publicity, and where does it fit into the marketing mix? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
What is publicity, and where does it fit into the marketing mix? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Written in a fluid manner, with tables and tips. It is a very usable strategy book. One of the best I have read on PR, and I am a PR professional.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A much needed simple but solid book on publicity for nonprofit directors!
4 Sep 2006
Format: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!
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
Just the basics, nothing new
4 Jan 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
A mediocre book that ignores the needs of many nonprofits
12 May 2012
Format:Paperback
A how-to book is never going to please everyone. It might bore people who already know the basics or confound people for whom the basics are completely new territory. But while it's an impossible goal, it's still a good idea to strive to please the entire crowd. In that regard, Beckwith's book drops the ball.
To be fair, her book does provide information that should help any nonprofit. Some of that information is the stuff of common sense. Other information will seem superfluous to more intuitive readers who are naturals at understanding what a journalist or editor wants in a story. But there are plenty of other tips and suggestions that common sense and intuition won't provide.
Where Beckwith drops the ball is in her conception of who needs this book. For established nonprofits with large budgets, there is plenty of relevant information, but nonprofits in start-up or growth stages that have very limited budgets will mostly be left in the cold. Ironically, the former should need less help with publicity in the first place. As mature nonprofits, they should already have media-savvy personnel, and as large-budget nonprofits, they should have the funds for direct-mail campaigns, media consultants, and so forth.
The nonprofits that really need guideance--start-ups and growing organizations that are still precariously juggling their expenses--will have to think through much of Beckwith's advice to distill what's useful and what's not. Some of Beckwith's advice will, at best, make for a long-term goal post for the start-up that is still devoting all of its staff and volunteer resources to working in the trenches and doesn't have the luxury of having designated spokespeople or media relations specialists. Readers from those nonprofits will get to chapters with titles like "Press Release Distribution Services" and "Do You Need to Hire a Publicity Consultant?" and wonder if they should even keep reading. They will be disappointed by the appendix of "Sample Tools" when they see that most of the sample material pertains to a $70 million sculpture museum. (It doesn't get much better; a sample op-ed is from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and a sample news release is from an animal charity announcing a $100,000 expansion.)
The author's minimal efforts for the nonprofits that need the most help are baffling and disappointing. Organizations that need advice on grassroots publicity tactics are probably going to be better served by another book.
To be fair, her book does provide information that should help any nonprofit. Some of that information is the stuff of common sense. Other information will seem superfluous to more intuitive readers who are naturals at understanding what a journalist or editor wants in a story. But there are plenty of other tips and suggestions that common sense and intuition won't provide.
Where Beckwith drops the ball is in her conception of who needs this book. For established nonprofits with large budgets, there is plenty of relevant information, but nonprofits in start-up or growth stages that have very limited budgets will mostly be left in the cold. Ironically, the former should need less help with publicity in the first place. As mature nonprofits, they should already have media-savvy personnel, and as large-budget nonprofits, they should have the funds for direct-mail campaigns, media consultants, and so forth.
The nonprofits that really need guideance--start-ups and growing organizations that are still precariously juggling their expenses--will have to think through much of Beckwith's advice to distill what's useful and what's not. Some of Beckwith's advice will, at best, make for a long-term goal post for the start-up that is still devoting all of its staff and volunteer resources to working in the trenches and doesn't have the luxury of having designated spokespeople or media relations specialists. Readers from those nonprofits will get to chapters with titles like "Press Release Distribution Services" and "Do You Need to Hire a Publicity Consultant?" and wonder if they should even keep reading. They will be disappointed by the appendix of "Sample Tools" when they see that most of the sample material pertains to a $70 million sculpture museum. (It doesn't get much better; a sample op-ed is from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and a sample news release is from an animal charity announcing a $100,000 expansion.)
The author's minimal efforts for the nonprofits that need the most help are baffling and disappointing. Organizations that need advice on grassroots publicity tactics are probably going to be better served by another book.
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