East Bay Coalition for the Homeless - Roger Williams University

Press Releases/Media Advisories/News Coverage
Goals
1. Gain exposure and build awareness
2. Tell the EBCH “story”
3. Present the director/staff/board members as experts on
homelessness who can be called on to offer opinions
and examples when reporters need that expertise
4. Encourage donations
5. Influence policy
Why Press Releases
1. Low cost means of connecting with target audiences
2. Helps keeps EBCH top-of-mind leading to increased
awareness and consideration/preference
3. Does require staff members to attend to PR activities
Press Release/Media Advisory Tactics
1. Provide information abut the seriousness of
homelessness to the community
2. Provide information about homelessness
3. Put a personal face on homelessness
4. Promote success stories and testimonials so that target
donors will hear about the EBCH and its
accomplishments
5. Ideally, information will be something that only the
EBCH can provide or that the EBCH can provide a
perspective that makes the issue more understandable
or makes it stand out
6. Appendix F contains a press release template and two
example press releases.
Good to Know
• Services such as CisionPoint, Vocus
and PR Newswire allow an organization
to manage and track the distribution
of press releases and media
coverage.
• Services often include profiles for
media contacts (traditional as well
as social media) as well as editorial
calendars.
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