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Looking Back on 2009 My year as your NCC president has passed in record speed, and as I look back, I want to note the significant progress the chapter has made in so many areas. Noteworthy accomplishments include the Membership Ambassador Program through the efforts of co-chairs Bren Landon and Ufuoma Otu. Despite the poor economy and high unemployment, NCC's membership numbers have stayed strong at more than 1,300 members. The Ethics Resource Page was the result of committee chair Gwyn Walcoff's dedicated effort to bring more attention to ethics as one of the most important aspects of PRSA. Then there's our new NCC Strategy, facilitated by Bruce Butterfield, APR, Fellow PRSA, and NCC's efforts to help job seekers and the many unemployed through our first Resume Review and Job Hunting Panel. |
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Association/Nonprofit PR Pros Share Tips for Proving Value Approximately 30 percent of the 1,300 members belonging to PRSA-NCC work for associations or nonprofits. That's why on Nov. 18 PRSA-NCC held a professional development program titled Communications in the Nonprofit Sector: How to Demonstrate PR Value. It's especially important in this difficult economic environment for PR practitioners working for associations and nonprofits to prove the value of PR. To address this challenge, four PR leaders shared best practices and specific tactics during a morning program held at the Burke Theater at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Heritage Center. The panelists were Jay Morris, senior vice-president of marketing/communications, National Association of Federal Credit Unions; Shonali Burke, ABC, principal, Shonali Burke Consulting; Scott Frank, director of media relations, American Institute of Architects; and Julie Phillips-Turner, principal, Phillips Turner Communications. Moderator and chapter president-elect Jeff Ghannam kicked off the program and introduced program sponsors PR Newswire, represented by Emily Howard, and the GWU Strategic PR Masters Program, represented by Larry Parnell. Parnell shared the preliminary findings of a study GW is conducting on association and nonprofit PR. GW's preliminary research has identified the following key challenges for PR executives in association and nonprofit organizations: • Demonstrating the value of PR efforts to members and C-level executives while being cost effective-doing more (or the same) with less (budget, staff, resources, etc.) • Measuring impact of visibility beyond media coverage and the need to conduct strategic vs. tactical public relations • Identifying the role of social media in achieving communications and advocacy goals. What works; control, measurement, and costs are considerations. Those findings formed an ideal backdrop for the presentations of the four panelists. The panelists shared the following "take-home" tips: Jay Morris on metrics that make sense: • PR pros in associations and nonprofits aren't measuring enough. When they do measure, it's often the wrong things. A PRNews survey found that only 55 percent of PR agencies and 45 percent of in-house PR departments analyze media results. More than 80 percent relied primarily on press clippings and 40 percent or more used ad value equivalents (AVEs). • Marketing pros are ahead of PR practitioners in quantifying ROI. And multi-pronged campaigns that cross departmental lines-marketing, PR, membership, government affairs-are the ones most likely to succeed. • Proving the value of PR to CEOs, boards, and key stakeholders requires aligning PR practices with their expected outcomes, not ours. Shonali Burke on social media: • 88 percent of associations and nonprofits are still experimenting with social media; 51 percent are active users, says a recent survey by Weber Shandwick. • Align tactics with key performance indicators or business objectives, such as online donations, new donors or member, and applications to programs or conference registrations. • Jump in and learn as you go. It's important to have a strategy or plan but just do it and adjust. Scott Frank on cost-effective communication tips and tactics: • Partnership/coalition development with other organizations allows for programmatic synergies and economies of scale. There is power in numbers. Coalitions are particularly effective in the public affairs arena. • Media tactics such as "mat releases" (formatted, consumer-related articles for newspaper s) and distribution of content via topic-specific wire services or networks, such as the Matter Network (world's largest online distributor of sustainability news and information) are proven and cost-effective. • Member and local chapter involvement allows an association or nonprofit to leverage the expertise of its members on a large scale. Enlist members to serve as topical spokespersons and to conduct media outreach at the local level. Provide them tools such as press release templates, local media lists, media interview tips, and online guides to media relations Julie Philips-Turner on creative budgeting: • The economic environment is ripe for making big changes. Now is the time to propose new money saving ideas and create new energy for your organization. In turn, you can energize your membership/supporters by giving them new tools and information to use. • Be ruthless about abandoning things that don't work or have lost their value. Key indicators of efforts that need to be slayed include lack of member participation; an ongoing project crafted by a previous staff member that no longer has a champion; a project/program that no longer meets your organization's goals or mission, the ROI is less than its cost or it can be done better, faster and cheaper some other way. • Specific costs savings tips include eliminating services (such as subscriptions) that you don't use; better planning and meeting deadlines to save rush charges and wasted time; evaluating the quality and value of your projects/programs through member surveys - then modify or cut; and ditch print projects and go online whenever possible. The Nov. 18 program was held by the Professional Development Committee and the Association/Nonprofit Committee.
Congratulations to New APRs Congratulations to the newly accredited NCC members in 2009!! This is a significant accomplishment and only the beginning of your journey! The world of PR is exciting, challenging, and in high demand today. You have demonstrated your commitment to PRSA's goal of lifelong learning through attaining your accreditation.
PRSA-NCC Members Learn Social Media Strategy and Management Techniques The increasing popularity of social media sites has changed the media landscape, and while it remains to be seen how traditional media will fare, there is no doubt that PR professionals must adapt their communications strategies to the new environment. In a presentation held by PRSA and PRESSfeed, Sally Falkow, PR News' 2009 PR Trainer of the Year, provided practical tips and suggestions for modifying communications strategies to incorporate social media. Falkow began the presentation by citing the real impact that successful social media outreach has on a companies' returns. A recent study by ENGAGEMENTdb found that those companies who had the deepest engagement with customers through social media had the most positive impact on their bottom line. Social media provides customers the opportunity to have a voice and engage in a real dialogue with companies and other customers. Engagement is an important metric for PR professionals to capture to show the effectiveness of social media outreach. PR professionals should measure how they engage with opinion leaders and also how those opinion leaders communicate with each other. It's important to develop a network of social media stakeholders so that they will share the information provided to them and reach is increased. Outreach to traditional news reporters should not be diminished, but now reporters are being asked to take on more tasks to accommodate the Web. Newspaper reporters are being asked to bring back photos, sound bytes and video to be posted on the medium's Web site in conjunction with the text that they write. This places a growing importance on PR professionals to provide those materials in a social media release. Additionally, Falkow stressed the importance of search engine optimization (the process of getting your client's Web site to show up near the top of the results when searching a related keyword in a search engine). Falkow also shared tips for developing a strategy for social media outreach. Traditional communications rules still apply: know the audience, set the goals, research media and target outreach to reach audiences with the right messages. However, unlike traditional media where the biggest influencers could be discerned by circulation and reach, determining social media influencers requires research and constant monitoring to see what is being said about your client. Incorporating social media into outreach is no easy task, but the returns can be well worth it when a successful strategy is implemented.
Newsletter Volunteers Needed PRSA is looking for volunteers to attend professional development workshops and submit articles about the workshops for PRSA's monthly newsletter. Discounted or free registration may be available for those who volunteer. If you are interested, please contact Amanda Piasecki at apiasecki@kearnswest.com.
January is IPRA Membership and Renewal Month
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 Joseph Catapano |
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I'm new to the area and I need to develop some contacts. What's the best way to leverage my chapter membership to do that? Can you give me some networking tips?-JG, Arlington, VA |
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December 9 January 28 |
| BENEFIT BAZAAR |
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PRSA Holiday Reception |
| Contributors |
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Newsletter Committee Members: Barbara Burfeind, APR (President) |