Public Relations for Non-Profit Organization - Essay Example

Public Relations for Non-Profit Organisation Windmill Housing Association normally deals with housing activities and a real investment in residentialstructures such as the construction of apartments, single family houses and other accomplishments in the country. It is said to be undergoing financial difficulties and it is seeking for a financial assistance, since the government has denied them a grant. The association has developed for fourteen years but it needs to promote itself by creating a good presentation of the fundraising issue. The association looks for a media house to carryout its promotion activity to maintain and achieve this goal. To come up with the best presentation, the media practitioner should come up with announcements that are attractive to the audience; therefore, it should consider timeliness as the most contributing factor in the organisation of the publicity campaign. Therefore the media should take at least six weeks before handing over the message to the media to be publicized, this timing normally include preparing, distribution and deciding on the method that is effective enough to reach the public. 1 On the effective methods to be applied, the media person may apply the following methods: Community Calendars and Public Service Announcements, under this, calendars are mainly used to promote respective events in the society these events are always of general interests for all non- profit organisations, for them to be listed in the medias schedule, they should be written earlier before the particular event is practiced. While the Public Service Announcements are normally easy to read since they require little rewriting. Theses announcements should be organized in a manner that will be able to make the audience retain the message. In case of an electronic media, the information should be typed and double spacing should be provided including the phonetic pronunciations for the unknown words, it should also indicate who will be conducting the event, the venue, the nature of the event, and the date of the event. One should consider the opinions of the editorial staff of the media house on the issue that would be used to create interest to the public. Under this case, if anyone comes up with an opposing view, then he is given an opportunity to rebut the issue. For the announcement to be productive it should therefore be brief, accurate and clear on the message that the practitioner intends to communicate to the public.2 The director of the association should therefore seek promotion of the association, to enable them generate a positive image through media coverage by the use of publications and broadcasts which will afterwards influence the public in financing the agency. As a director you should then ensure that the following strategies are applied in the association; Public relations- this is normally defined as, the process of correcting the reputation of the organisation to the targeted audiences with the current issues of the association. This normally involves the evaluation of public and personal opinions over a particular issue, formulation of procedures related to communication between the association and the audiences, and coordination of communication programs within and without the particular departments of the association. The use of public relations is, to enhance a positive media coverage thus increasing the awareness of the organisation to the public; therefore the Windwill Housing Association should use the following tactics in achieving this goal: Writing News Releases: This should involve framing of the issue which should be written with a journalistic angle, this should be used to inform the public about the financial problem under which its headline should be Attractive, thus grabbing the readers attention, its paragraphs should contain relevant information about the subject matter including the who, what, when, why and where questions this release should also be able to describe the history of the association. The contacts of the people responsible for the particular event should be included so that it may be helpful when a journalist is carrying out a follow-up story and for this case the director ensure that he states the name of a place where people can place their donations. The director should lastly choose which reporter or writer will cover his story. 3 After carrying out the above procedures, then the subscription of the publication should be done, this is normally done by reading various publications and materials so that, the director will be aware of the changes practiced by various publication outlets. Distribution should be considered, thus to enable one familiarize himself with what the media cover and also to find out the interest s of the public whereby, he should choose the most effective media that should be used, the one that is cheaper and cost effective since the association is undergoing a financial difficulty. Therefore the association is advised to use newswire services, which are normally used to reach many individuals globally including decision makers and other members of the society through the internet. This may help the information reach donors and sponsors, who happen to be searching for information on the web; it may also help one learn about his competitors, get ideas and learn media programs that are normally placed online. Therefore for the association to achieve this, it should include the URL which is used to make messaging more effective, it can also help one understand the ways through which his audience gets information about the organisation. The firm should also provide the profile of its spokes people on the web thus giving the writers a humble time when accessing theses people, therefore you should keep an eye on the information that has been published about the association, lastly the director should also ensure that the effectiveness of public relations programs is measured by, assessing the media coverage, thus helping in the understanding of how the audience receive the message. 4 Press Release Windmill Housing Association Announces a Fund Raising Event To Be Held on 17-05-2007 in Central London Over the last 14 years Windmill Housing Association based in Central London has been established having 2000 tenants, today announces the need for raising funds that may help it achieve its goal of repairing its constructions. The association is said to have been carrying out the real estate investment in residential structures such as apartments, single family homes among others. The association has recorded that there has been drastic fall in the operation of this business due to the following reasons, over building, high building prices and a large credit availability present in many countries due to fall in prices of homes. The changing market conditions is said to have led the consumers to rely on the present comparison between the prices of the households thus leading to the upsetting of their expectations thus giving the agency a difficulty in maintaining the property appraisals since there is a less number of old homes that are to be refurbished and repaired that could have raised the number of houses to be purchased. This course has brought about a negative impact on the wealth of the society in which this fall in the prices has risen up to the national levels thus affecting everyone owning a home this is explained better in the case where economists have proved that there has been an increase 48.5% in the real estate residential value as in the year 2006 from the 38.7% value for the year 1996 this shows that the housing rate rose up increasing the home equity withdrawals but in this case the failure in the prices has led to a low home equity withdrawal levels thus increasing the borrowing costs for debt servicing for many homeowners. Despite the circumstances, the mutual funds of the association has been liquidated rather than adding to their holdings, this process has proved to be slow, it has made the association to believe that this problem will become positive thus expecting the money flowing into mutual funds to pick up and provide the funds to push up the business to a higher level since more houses will be repaired and they will be able to attract more consumers. Therefore, Wind Mill Housing Association is kindly requesting the public and other institutions to assist in the funding of the business that will enable the association to repair and finish its constructions. For more information contact Meshack Rudolf Phone: 873.987.1253 Email: merolf@windmillassociates.com References Morley, M. (2000): How to Manage Your Global Reputation. A Guide to the Dynamics of International Public Relations, 2nd Edn, New York: New York University Press Tilson, D. J. and Alozie, E. C. (2003): Toward the Common Good: - Perspectives in International Public Relations: New York: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon Read More