I recognize that most non-profits have limited time and resources.  Following are steps you can take to create a plan that will help you achieve your organization's goals. 

Set Your Goals

Getting press isn't a goal, unless you want press clips to use as wallpaper.  Neither is "increased awareness", since it's completely unrealistic for you to reach the hundreds-of-thousands or millions of people in your neighborhood or city.

Goals must be clearly defined and measurable.  Examples include: increase individual donations by 10% or double the applicant pool.  The goals should fulfill the mission of your organization.  Pick one or two goals at the most to get started.

Identify Your Target Audiences and Understand How to Reach Them

Identify the people you need to reach to achieve your goals and create a general profile for them.  You need to understand what will motivate them to take the action you want them to take (to achieve your goal) and how best to reach them (what media do they follow, do they use email, social media, is snail mail best?)  To get some of these answers, you might have to ask some of them.

This information is very important.  It will clarify what you should promote and how you should promote it.

Conduct a Communications Inventory

Identify what you are doing currently to communicate with your target audience and how well it's helping you achieve your goals.

Create a Calendar of Events and Opportunities

Identify all events and organizational and programmatic milestones for the coming year.  Cross off everything that won't help you achieve your organizational goal.  If you are not sure, ask yourself "will (insert target audience) take action to help me achieve my goals based on this event/issue/milestone? 

Once you have a list of events and milestones likely to motivate your target audiences to take action, plot them out on a 12 month calendar.

Choose Your Communications Tools

For each event or milestone on your calendar, identify the communications tool you will use to reach your audience. Tools include: newsletters (electronic or print), social media, traditional media, letters, emails, advertising, and more.  You can find more information on different tools and selecting the right tools on pages 12-13 of my Communications Basics presentation.

You might choose more than one tool for each event or milestone.  For example, you might choose to include something in your newsletter, on Facebook, and in an email.

Since none of this is an exact science, you should set up a schedule to review your progress and assess whether the plan is helping you achieve your goals.  You'll likely have to adjust the plan along the way as you discover what works and what doesn't.

Good luck!

Last month, I conducted a workshop on how to develop and successfully pitch press stories.  The event was sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and hosted by the New York Post.

Most of the participating non-profits had good stories to tell - from hosting an event to wrap gifts for children in Mexico, to launching a new diabetes management community program, to hosting a march against racial-profiling. 

Anat helps attendees understand how to craft a compelling story

It was a reminder that most, if not all, non-profits have press-worthy stories to sell.  For information about developing and pitching a story, check out pages 11-22 in my presentation.  For advice on creating a media list, click here.

Try setting a goal of issuing 3 to 4 press releases a year, and make it part of your communications plan.