Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

...World Pulse's recent Girls Transform the World campaign invited girls and women to identify, share and reflect on barriers to girls' education and to propose solutions. World Pulse received hundreds of responses from some 60 countries, including from repressive societies where girls’ stories often go untold.

The community shared stories about the effects of education policies, child marriage and pregnancy, security and school facilities. In addition to creating an active discussion inside the community, World Pulse aggregated and organized 350 stories and gave them to delegates of the G(irls)20 Summit, who then delivered the communiqué to the G20 summit.IJNet recently spoke with World Pulse Digital Action Campaign Manager Leana Mayzlina and Content Coordinator Kim Crane, and came away with these tips for engaging a community...

More than 1,200 people who struggle daily with homelessness and survival attended the Community Resource Exchange. I saw a story in each person – it was my job was to tell their stories with pictures and tweets.

This was a task I thought a lot about the night before the event. I wanted to tell stories, but I also wanted to be careful to be respectful and not invade privacy. I often cringe when I watch news coverage of such events showing the faces of people – in an unemployment line, at foreclosure help conference, those type of events. I worry about the dignity and privacy of those people.

The most difficult part of the day was looking into the dining room as the tables filled. I saw men who looked like my brothers, women who could be my mother. I didn’t want to go in, I wanted to be on the outskirts where I could stay somewhat removed. I had a lump in my throat and tears filled my eyes.

[Nice storytelling by @ImeldaDulcichPR ~ Jeff]

...I got to hear Scott Dunlap who is VP, Emerging Opportunities/New Ventures at PayPal deliver a great talk that offers some persona for different actors in your nonprofits network and how they influence, activate, or raise awareness for your cause through social channels....

He went on to describe how to activate social voice by describing how these personas use social networks to share information about their favorite charities and fundraise for them....

Getting major media placements in outlets such as "NBC Nightly News" and The Huffington Post is every PR and media relations professional's dream—and if you can get 1 million or so people to visit your brand's website in response to the coverage, that's icing on the cake.

This year, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center pulled off this feat using a brand journalism approach. Here's how it attracted so much public attention to the news so quickly....

I have a short attention span, but I rock at multitasking. I may get bored easy but if you capture my attention, I could become your number one advocate. Please just cut to the chase, there’s no need for lengthy instructions; to me a picture’s worth a thousand words. At about 80 million strong, by 2017 these Americans, born between 1980-2000, will have more spending power than any other generationbefore us. You call me a millennial, but I prefer Rachael....

What does this mean for non-profits? If you figure out the secret sauce to reaching us now, not only will you execute better fundraising campaigns, but you increase your chances of creating lifelong donors.

Here are 5 things you need to start doing if you want to captivate my fellow millennials...

I’m fortunate to work at an organization that encourages employees to volunteer and give back to the community. As a guy who loves to work with nonprofits, this makes me so happy. Throughout the year, in and outside of work, I help nonprofits publicize their events to the public. It’s not only an opportunity to fundraiser for a cause, it also gives the nonprofit a chance to tell their story to the community.

I just finished helping with PR for the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer bake sales in Richmond and thought some of the best practices would be helpful to other organizations. So, without further ado, here are 10 tips for getting the word out about your event...

[10 basic tips for event publicity - JD]

Last month I donated online to 25 of my 32 Favorite Nonprofits in celebration of reaching the benchmark of following 100,000 nonprofits, nonprofit staff, and nonprofit service providers on Twitter...

Usually I donate to one or two nonprofits at a time, but to go through a list of 25 nonprofits in less than two hours made it abundantly clear that many nonprofits still need to tweak their “Donate Now” process to maximize online donations and their social media ROI. The rise of social media has significantly changed how our supporters digest our messages online and as a result website and e-newsletter design has evolved dramatically in recent years. The “Donate Now” process of many nonprofits, however, still seems to be stuck in 2005. That said, here are five common mistakes that nonprofits are making in their online fundraising campaigns...

A new report shows almost all nonprofits are on Facebook, spend little to no money, and employ just one person to handle their social media efforts.

Almost half of all nonprofits (43 percent) don't spend any money on social media, and 79 percent have only one person who spends half their time, or less, on social efforts.

Curious which sites nonprofits use the most, or how much money they fundraise through them? An infographic summarizing the report has these answers and more....