*Do The Right Thing

Do The Right Thing:
And Get Publicity For Your Good Deeds

By Suzanne Martin

Volunteering time to a noble nonprofit cause can evoke more than warm, fuzzy feelings. Your efforts can also garner high-profile publicity for your business. Donating products or contributing services to community organizations can amount to more than a tax deduction. Those actions can do double duty by attracting valuable media attention that puts your business in the limelight. Too many entrepreneurs overlook golden opportunities to generate good will with their good deeds, says NASE Member Robert Grede. The author of Naked Marketing: The Bare Essentials (Prentice Hall, 1997) and owner of The Grede Company, a marketing consulting firm in Wauwatosa, Wis., Grede encourages his own clients -- and all small-business owners -- to grab the publicity spotlight with charitable endeavors. “Publicity is something that a lot of entrepreneurs don’t feel comfortable with. They don’t like to toot their own horns, and that’s what publicity is all about. But small-business owners should take every advantage of publicizing their charitable work.” Publicity not only escalates your visibility within the community where your customers live, but also bolsters your credibility more than any slick advertising campaign, says Marsha Yudkin, a Boston-based public relations consultant. “If people encounter your business message in an ad, they know you’re saying something in a self-interested way,” Yudkin explains. “But if you can get the media to say the same thing in their voice in an editorial column or in a news setting, the public more readily believes it.” Public relations experts call that “third party endorsement.” But don’t sit idly by and wait for the media to come calling for your story. Instead, generate your own publicity about your work with charitable organizations.

Get Involved With Organizations That Mirror Your Target Market

Opportunities for community service abound. But choose your charity carefully, advises Grede. You want to affiliate yourself not only with a worthwhile cause that reflects what your business stands for, but also with an organization that shares your target market of customers and prospects. “Certain organizations tend to attract particular demographics,” Grede explains. “The local symphony, for instance, usually attracts an upper crust crowd. The YMCA gets more of a general audience. If you’re in the business of selling bowling balls, then the YMCA is probably a better organization to affiliate your business with. Think of the people you’re trying to attract as customers and get involved with organizations that attract the same type of people.”
Here are a few complementary relationships that small-business owners have successfully nurtured with charitable organizations:

* An office supply retailer adopted a local school and donated classroom supplies at the beginning of the school year. The PTA newsletter ran a photo and short article about the business owner’s contribution. When parents needed to restock supplies for their students, guess where they went to shop?

* A sporting goods store organized a park cleanup with volunteer time contributed by employees and customers alike. Before and after photos of the park, taken by the business owner, ran in a publication produced by the local parks and recreation department. Great publicity for a company that caters to outdoor sports enthusiasts.

* A graphic artist designed the newsletter logo and layout for a new senior citizen center. In every issue of the newsletter, the artist receives a credit line for contributing the design.

*A self-employed violin teacher bought symphony tickets so kids in a local homeless shelter could enjoy a night of music. When the symphony association published its next fund-raising newsletter, it carried a photo of the kids and the teacher sharing their night out, along with a caption describing the event. That small mention gave the teacher valuable visibility among her target market -- music lovers.
The list could go on. And Grede reminds entrepreneurs to look at the local angle of national causes. A photo of you pounding nails for a Habitat for Humanity home makes for great publicity. One of Grede’s favorite publicity-getting causes is the fund-raising auction sponsored by local television stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

“PBS auctions are a terrific way to generate publicity. You donate a product or service, and it gets air time during the auction. Even if you’re an accountant, you can donate one hour of free consultation. Somebody buys that hour, comes to you to do their taxes this year, and most likely comes back next year. You got free publicity from the auction and a new customer.”

Generate Big News From Small Contributions

“A lot of people assume you have to do something earthshaking to earn publicity,” says Yudkin. “That’s not true.” Indeed, even the smallest charitable gesture can generate publicity if you provide the right ingredients, then follow through with your marketing work. Grede offers the example of donating a dozen footballs to the local YMCA. “You get the kids out there playing with your footballs, and you’re out there wearing your YMCA T-shirt. That makes a great photo opportunity. Giving 12 footballs to the YMCA isn’t a big deal. But you make it look like a big deal when you send out the photo with your press release.” Although a major metropolitan newspaper might not run your YMCA story, plenty of other media outlets will. Send your article and photo to the organization you helped. If they publish a newsletter, they’ll usually include your story and photo. Also send your publicity package to other organizations you’re involved with, such as your chamber of commerce, alumni association, country club and church. Getting your story and photo in those newsletters puts your business in front of the organization’s members, many of whom could be potential customers.

Neighborhood papers that are distributed free and weekly newspapers clamor for news, says Preston Kirk, president of Kirk Public Relations in Richardson, Texas. “Small newspapers are always looking for copy and they’re often distributed to up to 20,000 people. So get your photos and news stories in there. The point of the article isn’t so much the initial readership as the chance to get a quality reprint,” Kirk says.

After your story runs, get permission from the publication to reprint your story. Then develop a direct mail campaign that puts your publicity to use again. Send the newspaper clip to your customer list. Include a note such as, “Hope you saw this article.” Many times, you can rent the subscriber list of the newspaper and mail to a segment of those readers as well.

Don’t Be Shy About Asking For Publicity

If the idea of self promotion through volunteer efforts makes you a bit squeamish, take heart in the knowledge that charitable organizations fully understand the motives that drive contributions. They know the business angle of doing good deeds.

“There are basically three reasons that people give to organizations,” says Grede. “There’s the noble incentive to help a worthy cause. Sometimes, there’s the tax deduction reason. Then there’s the publicity reason. Charitable associations know those reasons and they know that getting publicity is part of the package. So publicity should be an important consideration when you work with a charity.”

That means you can freely ask a charity to include your business name on its list of donors. If you contribute to a particular project that the organization promotes and publicizes, you can request that your name be included as a sponsor of or contributor to the project. Even if you operate a one-person business, be sure your name becomes affiliated with the organization.

“It’s important to publicize yourself as an individual particularly for service businesses,” Grede says. “One of the best ways to do that is to donate time. Contribute your advice and counsel to organizations. Take on pro bono clients. Give whatever makes sense from your perspective. Find out how you can be the most help. But also find out how your contribution can garner the most publicity. Find a niche, but make it a visible niche. Visibility is the key.”

Writer Phillip M. Perry also contributed to this article.

How To Approach The Media
No matter how sparkling your press release might be or how dynamic your photo may look, there’s no guarantee either will appear in the press. Here are a few tips to improve your odds of getting your story published.

Look through the newspaper to see which section might be appropriate for your story. Call the paper and ask for the name of the editor in charge of that section. Address your press package directly to that editor.
Better still, read the bylines of news articles. Find out which staff writers consistently cover community issues, charitable organizations and local business. Send your story directly to that reporter.

When writing your press release, remember to focus on the charitable organization first and your contribution second, stresses NASE Member Robert Grede, author of Naked Marketing: The Bare Essentials. “You want to attach your good name to the good work of the charity. But the work of the organization always comes first.”

Be sure to include your name and telephone number at the end of the press release so editors can easily contact you for more information.

Whether the news article is based on your press release or an interview you’ve had with a writer, never ask to read the story before it’s published. That goes against journalistic ethics, and your request will only alienate editors.