Communicating with Your Key Audiences
Clear, concise communication among the members of your league and with the residents, businesses and organizations in your broader community will help enhance your organization and ensure the success of its individual programs and events – as well as the overall success of the organization.
Effective communication involves frequent interaction with your key audiences, particularly your members – not simply inviting them to the annual general meeting once a year. Your league board needs to understand your community – who lives there, how they perceive their community, what they need and want from their community and how they want to get involved in making it stronger – and then use that information to set league priorities and activities.
Basically, there are two focuses for league communication:
1. Your community league. Within your league, the communications director has a number of different groups, each of whom have different communication needs:
- Board members
- Members. It is useful to remember that there are many different groups (known as target audiences) within your membership:
- Families
- Seniors
- Single people
- Those who have lived in your neighbourhood for many years
- Those new to your neighbourhood
- Long-time league members
- New members
Most of your communication efforts will speak to each of these different audiences in the same way, but it is useful to remember that, sometimes, you will want to focus specifically on one or more of these groups if an event or activity may be of particular interest to them.
2. Your community. Your league is an integral part of your community and its activities affect everyone in your neighbourhood, including non-members, businesses, schools, churches and other organizations. As a good neighbour – and to keep the profile of your league high throughout your community – your communications plan should include these important audiences.
It isn’t necessary to produce material for the broader community very often, but plan for some community-wide promotions at key times of year. These may include:
· immediately before and during your membership drive,
· immediately before major league events such as a summer BBQ or a Christmas social,
· immediately before sports registrations in the fall.
League communication should be handled by one person – the communications director – or a communications committee. This person or the committee should be the only ones who send out promotional materials. This will ensure consistency, an even flow of material and no duplication of efforts.
While it is the responsibility of the communications director or communications committee to implement the communications plan, the entire board should be involved in creating the plan, reviewing it and approving it. This will help the board set clear priorities and allocate resources accordingly.
When you are developing your promotions plans, consider the following factors:
· your league’s publicity needs
· your league’s calendar of events
· who you want to inform, and
· what tools, venues and outlets are available in your community for helping you spread the word.
By promoting your league, you can:
- raise awareness of your mandate and activities in the community,
- recruit volunteers,
- increase use of league services, and
- strengthen the league.
Developing a Communications Plan
1. Review the communication/promotion/publicity plans from previous years and determine what worked and what didn’t. A successful communication effort met its objective (of attracting a specific number of participants, enough volunteers, etc.) within the resources allocated to it. For example, you may have attracted a record number of members to your spring event, but was your promotion successful if it required $500 more than was budgeted?
2. Take lessons from the past – but don’t be afraid to try new ways to promote your league and its activities. Ask other people for their input into new ideas, or call your CRC or EFCL for feedback.
3. Determine the approximate budget you have to work with, using the previous year’s budget as a guide.
4. Using the league’s roughed-out annual activities plan as your guide, organize your communication requirements into audiences and basic communication needs:
· board – does the communications director have any responsibility for informing the board of upcoming meetings, planning sessions, etc.?
· members
o general notices of meetings
o meeting follow-up (minutes, news, etc.)
o programs / registration information
o special events
o volunteer opportunities/needs
o community updates
· non-members
o advantages of membership
o programs / registration information (must participants be league members?)
o special events (must participants be league members?)
o community updates
· community businesses, schools, churches and other organizations
o general news of league priorities, activities, programs
o notice of special events
o community updates
· EFCL
o EFCL will consider covering news in your community for our SHAW TV Community League Feature series, for inclusion on our bimonthly newsletter and as online news. Please contact EFCL at least four weeks before your event.
o EFCL also accepts articles, preferably accompanied with good quality photos.
o EFCL’s website includes public blogs and forums for posting and exchanging resources, information and ideas. Submit events and activities at least two weeks before the event and EFCL will endeavour to include the items in the online calendar. All leagues have the option of editing their own league information and activities. This assures you of having information online in a timely fashion.
5. Determine your information sources and set up ways to get the information you require quickly and easily:
o board minutes
o board members (sports director, program director, government relations director, etc. for information specific to their areas)
6. Rough out the specific activities you want to include in your annual communications plan. You can do this either by the needs of each key audience or by timeframe. Whichever method you choose, you will need to implement your plan according to timeframes, so be sure you capture the activities so you can see easily when they need to be started and completed.
7. Determine your budget. Against each activity you have identified, list both your “hard” costs (those for which you have to pay) and other resource requirements such as volunteers. Determining budget costs takes time and likely lots of phone calls. Leave yourself enough time to accomplish this step before you have to present your plan to the board.
For major initiatives, remember to include a contingency budget line. A 10% contingency is standard. For example, if you have budgeted $500 to promote the winter carnival, include a contingency line of $50 to cover any unforeseen expenses that arise.
P.S. Worksheets that capture the budget details give you a good record of your costing research. These worksheets don’t have to be submitted to the board but act as a reference for you.
8. Remember that a communications plan is not set in stone. You cannot anticipate every opportunity or issue that may arise during the year, so be prepared to be flexible with your plan and your resources.
9. For each activity, develop a simple way to measure its effectiveness. For example, how do you know whether your newsletter is answering the questions your members have? How do you know whether your special events are hitting the mark? You don’t need to make your measures complicated, but determining how you measure your success will help you clarify your league’s priorities.
See Appendices Page __ for a template Communications Plan you may wish to use as is, or adapt to suit the specific needs of your league.
Special Event Management
Organizing a special event is a lot of work! A successful event takes:
· a clear understanding of what you want to achieve,
· a clear understanding of how the event supports your league’s overall goals,
· enough time to plan it well,
· enough volunteers to implement it well,
· enough budget, and
· a leader who understands and likes working with details.
Whether you’re planning a sleigh ride, a spring barbecue or the opening of a new facility, virtually every event plan follows the same basic components:
· establishing date, time and appropriate venue
· program (to support your league’s goals)
· budget
· staffing/volunteers
· publicity
o members
o broader community
o media
· event logistics
o liquor licence and other required permits
o sound system
o decorations
o set-up/takedown
· bad weather contingency plan since rain or cold weather may affect certain events
o provide an alternate date on all promotions rather than trying to notify participants in the event of cancellation
· after-event follow-up
In addition to required liquor licences (see Pages __), Alberta Health Services has a number of requirements if your league is holding special events – and any function held out of doors.
Check out the Alberta Health Services website at www.capitalhealth.ca for details and to access the various forms you may need to complete for submit. From the home page, follow About Us / Our Organization / Public Health Division / Environmental Health / Environmental Health Enforcement / Fact Sheets and Forms / Community Events, Special Events and Craft Show Forms and Fact Sheets.
Also, contact your insurance broker to discuss risk management suggestions and/or any insurance concerns regarding your event.
See Appendices Page __ for Special Event Timing Overview Checklist and Special Event Checklist templates you may wish to use as is, or adapt to suit the specific needs of your league:
Requirements When Serving Liquor
Events held at your community league hall where liquor will be served require a special event liquor license.
The licence can be purchased at any liquor store:
· a private non-sale license is $10 and allows the licence holder to provide liquor to invited guests free of charge
· a private resale licence is $25 and allows the licence holder to sell liquor to invited guests
Liquor service can take place from 10 a.m. until 2 a.m. the following morning. A one-hour consumption period is permitted once liquor service ends. For example, if liquor service is posted from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., drinks must be consumed and all liquor removed from the site by 3 a.m.
Leagues serving alcohol are strongly advised to have their serving staff trained through Pro-Serve (formerly Alberta Servers Intervention Program). Details about this trianing are available at 222.proserve.aglc.ca.
Tips to keep in mind:
- Intoxicated persons may not be served or allowed to consume liquor.
- Homemade spirits, beer or wine may not be served at functions.
- The public cannot be invited or allowed into a function.
- For private resale functions, tickets may not be sold to the general public or from business outlets.
- The maximum occupancy of the hall cannot be exceeded.
- Food service is recommended at all functions.
- Non-alcoholic beverages must be available.
- Minors may attend functions but may not be in possession of or consume liquor.
- Minors may not serve liquor or sell liquor tickets.
Special event license functions may be inspected. The police or AGLC inspectors must be allowed entry. The license must be posted in a prominent location during the entire function. Licensees are legally responsible to ensure all liquor laws and regulations are followed.
For further information, visit the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) website at www.aglc.ca or call 780-447-8600.
SOCAN Music Licence
SOCAN is an organization that administers the communication and performing rights of copyright-protected music on behalf of its members, musicians and musical producers.
All leagues with a facility are required to pay SOCAN license fee for music played at events or during programs in any format - live, CD, DVD, tape recorder, jukebox, or karaoke player. The most reasonable way for most leagues to submit dues to SOCAN is by an annual license fee of $185.07 based on Tariff 21. This annual license fee only applies if hall income from event or program rentals with music being played or income from admission to events with music being played does not exceed $15,422.88 in the prior year.
More information for what you must pay for: http://www.socan.ca/jsp/en/pub/music_users/MU_FAQs.jsp
More information about what the fees go to: http://www.socan.ca/pdf/en/pub/2010FinancialReport.pdf
In response to the 2011 push by SOCAN to have Leagues with Halls register, the EFCL has written a letter to SOCAN explaining the EFCL position. As per board motion in October 2011, EFCL is now lobbying the Federal Government to exclude already challenged not-for-profits from obligation to this tariff.
Communication Toolbox
Newsletters
Newsletters are one of the most trusted and effective tools for getting your message out. Whether you use the traditional printed version for your newsletter, or an electronic version (e-newsletter), some basic tips apply:
· Know what you want to say, and say it as briefly as possible.
· Keep your newsletter to a maximum of four pages; your readers won’t read more than that.
· Don’t use too many different kinds of fonts. It’s distracting.
· Use only good quality photos and other graphics.
· Keep each article or item short. Readers don’t need all the details.
· Don’t make the font size too small; 10 pt. Arial or 12 pt. Times New Roman is standard.
Finding enough material for newsletters is sometimes a challenge. Try these ideas:
· Include regular features when you know the information is available. For example, have a “In the President’s Corner” feature that summarizes the highlights of each month’s board meeting or “What’s up at EFCL?” to feature news from throughout the league network.
· Always include the date, time and location of the next board meeting.
· Set a regular time with each board member to get a five-minute update on news from those portfolios.
· Invite members to offer ideas.
· Invite members to give their opinions on various happenings – and sweeten the pot by offering a small prize or other recognition when they respond.
· Map out each issue beforehand so you can assign specific tasks to other people. For example, if you know hockey registrations are happening next month, assign someone to attend registration and get some first-hand feedback from the kids and their parents on the program.
· Search the Internet for interesting facts or statistics you can use for short features.
· Other Suggested Content:
1. Contact Information
Try to provide a name, telephone number, and email for the following contact people.
Membership
· New people want to get acquainted with their neighbors and take advantage of the available programs
· Make sure that the first person the potential members speak to makes an effort to tell them what is going on in the community, to invite them to a meeting, and to find out some of their interests
· If the potential member is just learning about community leagues mention the benefits first, how to get involved second, and then membership purchase. This is all good info to have next to a membership director's contact information.
Hall Rentals
General Information
What email or phone number should I use? If you use a hall phone or a general email box for any or all of these contacts you must have a dedicated person to retrieve these preferably daily, or alternatively at least every other day - Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. It is not recommended to use personal email accounts for outside contacts. With so many free email services such as Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s Hotmail, or Yahoo mail, it is so easy to setup the accounts you need. bestleague@yahoo.ca, bestleague.president@gmail.com etc. EFCL is offering one free email account if a league should require one and for example would look like sherbrooke@yourcommunityleague.com
2. News & Activities
Report the goings on and upcoming events. Include pictures with lots of happy faces. Highlight action and accomplishments.
Regularly delete dated information. Usually this requires biweekly or monthly maintenance on a web and editorial review prior to publishing a newsletter.
Calendars give quick overviews of activities and very good to include in a chronological list form or month view.
Outside announcements & activities should be limited to what your members might be interested in.
Highlight Volunteers and draw attention to appreciation events and social gatherings. This attracts new volunteers.
Be sure to have contact details to register or find out more information about your programs. Include location, program details, & registration deadlines.
The advertisement program is entirely up to you. It is generally recommended to try and assess what readers want and put ads on appropriate pages. Imagine how much you would read of a page or how much you would skip if it were too covered in ads. Keep a good balance
E-newsletters
E-newsletters offer some advantages in their easy distribution, convenience for reading and paper savings. However, e-newsletter only work if a significant portion of your members have access to computers and actually read the e-newsletter. Do your homework and ask members their preferences – by short survey at other events, as part of a larger questionnaire or by getting board members to ask the members they see.
Starting an e-newsletter requires the same planning as starting a traditional newsletter – with the added considerations of collecting e-mail addresses (see Page __ regarding PIPA regulations on protecting personal information) and assigning someone to complete the computer work and. Your e-newsletter editor has the same jobs: to collect the news, write it, have the copy laid out in a pleasing design and ensure the finished product gets to those on the distribution list.
Tips for an effective and well-read e-newsletter:
· Avoid attachments; instead, link to a file in your site.
· Always blind copy (bcc) your distribution list.
· Avoid high resolution graphics, flash and anything with direct x controls as these kinds of code and resulting file sizes are rejected as undeliverable by many servers.
· Always include the full name of sender and organization, e-mail, address and phone number, the ability to unsubscribe with an e-mail link and a link to your terms of use. Anti-spam standards require this information to be included to avoid spam filters.
P.S. You may find some eager volunteers to complete the necessary computer work for your e-newsletter, but make sure your volunteer has the skills - and the time - to do the job well and within your timeframe.
SPAM- how to avoid being blacklisted
Requirements for Email Campaigns
* You absolutely, positively MUST include our unsubscribe link on your campaigns.
* You must include your contact information inside every promotional email that you send, including a physical mailing address where you can receive mail or a PO Box. (Not a website or email address.)
* You may not falsify your contact information or subject line.
* Even if you are outside the US, many servers live in the US. We have to make sure all US standards are observed.
* Your emails should comply with the
U.S. CAN-SPAM Act. As a responsible email marketer, we know you don't want to get accidentally noted as a spammer. So it will help to read and understand the
CAN-SPAM rules. If you break the rules, you could be liable for hundreds of dollars for
each recipient that you sent non-compliant messages to.
* In addition to CAN-SPAM rules, you must also comply with the anti-spam laws of the countries your recipients live in. So if you're sending to UK residents and US residents, you'd want to check over the UK spam laws to make sure you're also UK compliant.
Canada- C-28
Is now termed Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) which amends the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act. It is very similar to CAN-SPAM but has some minor differences and covers all electronic messages not just email.
See Appendices Pages __ for a print newsletter and an e-newsletter templates and a Terms of Use template for e-newsletters. You may use these templates as is, or adapt them to suit the specific needs of your league.
For more information, visit:
· http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101043281033.aspx
· http://www.templatesbox.com/free-newsletter-templates/index.htm
· http://www.interspire.com/templates/free-newsletter-templates.php
· http://desktoppub.about.com/od/newsletters/tp/Free_Newsletter_Templates.htm
· http://www.homebiztools.com/newsletter-templates.htm
For complete electronic newsletter service that includes contact and subscription management, newsletter templates, and statistics on opened emails there are many online services. Two popular and proven ones include:
· Constant Contact http://search.constantcontact.com/email-marketing/html-email-templates/email-newsletter.jsp
· Mail Chimp www.mailchimp.com
Websites
Many leagues have developed websites and are pleased with their sites as reliable sources of up-to-date information. Other leagues have decided that websites are not the preference of their membership to receive news of their league and community. Websites can be very effective information vehicles, but only if they are designed well and kept up to date.
The following guidelines and tips will help keep your website effective.
- Web design and maintenance. Before you start a website, keep your current and future expert resources in mind. Even if you have someone now who can load and update your site, keep the design of your site simple enough that it can be maintained easily. To help your readers find information quickly and easily:
- Plan your categories of pages before you build the site. Keep it simple and according to what your audience wants to find. This might include What’s New?, Board Matters, Benefits of Membership, Programs, Events and Reference, which would include past issues of newsletters, articles, etc.
- Cross reference with a good navigation bar, links to feature pages or a good library.
- Keep information a maximum of three clicks away and keep it fresh – out with the old and in with the news.
- Blogs on public sites. Be wary! Generally these quick mock-up pages look unprofessional, have unruly URLs and don’t show up well on search engines. Also, you can’t control the comments posted on blogs so they may not be in your league’s best interests.
- Internet service includes room for a website. If you have Internet service to your hall or office, usually you have space on the web to develop a page at no cost. The design wizards included with most Internet servers generally are easy to understand and use. The resulting page may not win any design awards but is usually adequate. You normally do not get your own domain with this basic service so your domain name would appear something like “www.bignameserver.com/bestleagueintown.aspx.” For a little more money, you can get your own domain such as “www.bestleagueintown.org,” the ability to upload your own designed pages, and more memory to store them – but this requires programming know-how and training to publish the site and to then maintain it.
- Application Frameworks. New technologies have made for very nice website frames –much like a blog, very easily set up and easy to maintain (similar to typing a Word document). There are several to choose from and most are free. The inexperienced will require an IT Developer, starting about $400, to get started. More elaborate sites with advanced capabilities such as booking programs online can quickly escalate into thousands of dollars. Make a plan and get a variety of quotes and references if you’re developing a website.
POPULAR FRAMEWORKS:
Wordpress ~ www.wordpress.org
Dot Net Nuke ~ www.dotnetnuke.com ~ Demo Video
Joomla ~ www.joomla.org
Drupal ~ www.drupal.org
- Registering domain names.You needn’t pay more than $10 to 15 per year to register a domain name. Some people choose to keep it simple and keep this service through their Internet or phone service provider. Others shop around for the best deal. Just google domain name servers. Inexpensive complete packages are available that include the domain name, the domain name server (this is needed to point all people who type your name in a search to get directed to your website), and web hosting (this is the space where your website is stored). Just google web hosting.
- Reporting news and activities. Include good photos with lots of happy faces. Highlight actions and accomplishments. Regularly delete outdated information. Plan to do this every other week, or at least monthly. Calendars give quick overviews and are a good way to list chronological information or a “What’s on this month?” type of feature. Outside announcements and activities should be limited to what your members would find interesting. Highlight volunteers and draw attention to appreciation events and social gatherings. This helps attracts new volunteers.
- Reporting programs. Be sure to include contact details to register or to find out more information. Include location, program details and registration deadlines.
- Advertisements. The advertisement program is entirely up to you. Generally, try and assess what readers want and put ads on appropriate pages. Imagine how much you would read of a page or how many ads you would skip on a page. Keep a good balance.
- Contact Information. Your site should provide a name, telephone number and e-mail for the following contact people:
o Membership. Make it easy for new people to get a membership! Include a link from this contact name to important membership information.
o Hall rentals
o General information
Determining the best e-mail or phone number to use is important. If you use a hall phone or a general e-mail for any or all of these contacts, you must ensure messages are retrieved preferably daily or at least every other day - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It is not recommended that leagues use personal e-mail accounts for outside contacts. With so many free e-mail services such as Google’s Gmail, Microsoft’s Hotmail, or Yahoo mail, it is easy to set up the accounts you need.
P.S. Ensuring your website features updated, timely information is the key to success. Make sure you pull off outdated information quickly – and replace it with fresh information.
Social Media
In a recent Ipsos Reid survey of Canadians aged 18-34 81% were Facebook users.
What is Social Media?
From Wikipedia Social Media is:
Social media is
content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. It's a set of technologies, tools and platforms facilitating the discovery, participation and sharing of content.
Transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many)
Transforming people from content readers into publishers.
Allows people to connect in the online world to form relationships for personal and business.
What can social media do for my community league?
- Creating a community league facebook group
- Newsletters and mass emails
- Driving traffic to your website and raising awareness for your community league
- Sharing pictures, media, and building a digital community—NOT to replace, but to enhance—our physical neighbourhoods.
- Recruitment and relationship building
- Rapid message distribution
- Publicly planting your flag so that new people can get involved in your operations
Blogs: (short for weblog)
Public, online journals that allow users to share their information in a searchable setting.
blogger.com wordpress.com -> Free and easy.
Facebook: connecting over 150 million people worldwide.
www.facebook.com – picture your yearbook. Online. With updating profiles and information. Now imagine in connected to every yearbook worldwide….
Profile Groups Home Events Friends Privacy Advertising Applications
Twitter
- A microblog -> 140 characters of text. Intended for rapid, public communication. Searchable and indexible.
- To see what people are talking about go to search.twitter.com and start looking around. You can search "Edmonton" for things happening around edmonton or "#efcl" for posts people are tagging with the efcl tag- that means they are talking about community.
- Tweeting, Hashtags and terminology- #oilers= oilers hockey, #yeg= edmonton, #ableg= alberta politics
Flickr
-Tags
Youtube
- Share videos, music, and more
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIpHXs-xphU
Other: riendster, Myspace, etc etc…..
FEATURE LEAGUE STORIES ON SHAW CBC & IN THE EXAMINER
SPACEFINDER
RENT OUT YOUR HALL TO GREAT PROGRAMS AND PARTNERS. This new website sponsored by the City of Edmonton helps pair up partners with the space you might have available! Check it out.
CITY OF EDMONTON ONLINE CALENDAR
The process for submitting events to the What's On pullout has changed.
The Journal now has a new online community events calendar at edmontonjournal.com/whatson.
Whether you're a non-profit group putting on a fundraiser, a local band with a club gig, an artist with a new exhibition or a community looking to publicize a local event, our new online entertainment calendar can help you get the word out.
If you wish your event to also appear in the Friday What’s On pullout, be sure to submit the information to edmontonjournal.com/whatson by noon Friday, the week before publication.
For a video on how to submit to our calendar, click here:
To let us know what you think of the calendar, comment here:
Working with the Media
Attracting reporters from newspapers, radio stations, TV stations or website news sources to cover league events takes the right type of event, know-how in presenting your news and appreciation of a reporter’s job.
Most media outlets only assign reporters to events when they expect “hard news.” That means news that is new and of significant interest to the broader community. While leagues may think their events or programs fit this definition of news, most media would disagree.
Before you invest time trying to attract media, be clear why you want them to cover your event. The obvious reason is to have your event featured in the paper or on the news – but why is this important? Besides the satisfaction of seeing your league featured, having your event covered after it occurs does little good. If you want to attract more people to attend, or give your league more profile to attract new members, investing your time before the event will pay bigger dividends with your usual tools such as your website, newsletter, flyers and – best of all – word of mouth.
Remember, too, that the media speaks to vast numbers of people throughout the city and even further afield. Many have no interest in the activities of one community league. Targeting your promotional efforts within your own community makes your efforts more effective.
It is possible, however, that community-based media outlets may occasionally be interested in covering your news. If you believe your accomplishment or event is significant and of interest to the entire audience reached by that media outlet, here are some tips to follow to help attract media coverage of your event:
· Send out a news release three or four days before the event. (E-mail is the method media favour. You can also fax the news release or mail it – but allow time for delivery!)
· Never send out a news release describing an event after it has occurred. The media simply won’t be interested – and you’ve wasted your time.
· If time permits, call the media newsrooms the day before the event to ask briefly if anyone is planning to attend. Keep the call brief; reporters are busy people and their assignments are set by other people so there is no use taking time to try to persuade them to change their minds.
· If a reporter attends your event, have someone designated to greet him or her at the entrance and offer a brief orientation of important individuals, key highlights, etc. Give the reporter a copy of the news release for reference – and to make sure the reporter has a name for follow-up.
News Releases
News releases are the work horses of media relations tools. A news release should tell a reporter everything he or she needs to know about your news – in one page or less. It takes some practice writing a short news release, but your chances of catching the media’s interest increase with short releases.
The media write their articles using a writing style called the inverted pyramid. This means that they put the most important news first in every article. News releases should be written the same way so reporters don’t have to search through your entire news release to guess at what you think is the news. Following are some tips for writing news releases:
· Immediately state your news – who, what, where, when and why.
· Always date your news release with the date you want the news to be released to the public.
· Include an informative title; this makes it easier for the reporter to see at a glance what the release is about.
· Keep paragraphs short. One- or two-sentence paragraphs are fine, and are easy for the reporter to scan quickly.
· After you’ve stated your basic news, you can devote a paragraph or two to giving more details about what you’ve just said.
· The last part of your news releases – if you have still have room on one page – is devoted to “colour details,” those interesting human interest quotes or facts that aren’t essential to the story but are interesting for readers.
· If you include a quote from your president or anyone else, be sure to get his or her permission to publish the quote – and approval for the words themselves.
· When you have finished your news, simply quit. There is no need for a conclusion or to fill the page.
· End the release by centering “-30-“after the last sentence. This tells the reporter that you have finished the news release.
· Always include a contact name and phone number (e-mail is good to include as well) – and make sure that person is available. Generally, this information is placed at the bottom of the page.
Note: if you are e-mailing the news release, be sure to include the city, community and a short descriptor in the subject line that catches the attention. Due to time constraints, many people screen e-mails by subject line only.
“Inverted pyramid” style of news writing:
Most important news FIRST:
Who, what, where, when, why.
(If the reader stops reading here, he or she would understand the basic story.)
|
Add detail on what you’ve already outlined. Flesh it out.
|
See Page __ in the Appendices for a template news release you may wish to adapt for your own use.
Media Advisories/Photo Opportunities
Sending your news release to the media before your event or initiative gives the reporter the advantage of knowing your news in advance. Most media outlets like to receive the news in advance since it helps them determine whether they can assign a reporter to attend; if not, they can write a story using your news release as a start without sending a reporter.
If your news is sufficiently large – or sufficiently controversial – that you don’t want to release it to the media before the event, you can consider issuing a media advisory three or four days before the event. A media advisory is just that: it advises the media that an event of importance is taking place and gives just enough detail to allow the media outlet to decide whether it is worthy of a reporter’s time.
Generally, a media advisory is very short – as little as two or three sentences in length.
Use media advisories with caution; they should be used only when news can’t be shared in advance. By naming your document a media advisory, you are telling the media the information is for their use and not intended to be published.
Sometimes your event is more appropriate for the media to cover with a simple photo rather than a story. In this case, you can issue a Media Advisory – Photo Opportunity notice, also three or four days before the event.
When considering a news release service, ask for a free trial and do follow-up phone calls to the media advisory recipient to see if the release received attention. Some reporters automatically delete all e-mails from certain companies so be sure to do the footwork before contracting this task out.
See Pages __ in the Appendices for a template media advisory and media advisory – photo opportunity you may wish to adapt for your own use.
E-mail
E-mail is a common, quick and convenient way to share information – but it is also easy to abuse e-mail and decrease its effectiveness.
Following are some e-mail tips to save you time and keep your communication professional and clear:
- Be concise. Think about what the point you want to make and get to it quickly. Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Reading on a monitor is harder than reading printed documents – so long e-mails can be very discouraging to read.
- Do not use e-mail to discuss confidential information. Sending an e-mail is like sending a postcard. If you don't want your email to be displayed on a bulletin board, don't send it.
- Remember that you have no control over your e-mail after you send it. Someone receiving your e-mail may forward it or display it. At all times, be professional and concise.
- League policy for e-mail retention. Determine a league policy that spells out which e-mails should be kept for the files and which should be deleted.
- Official league records. While informal decisions may be made through e-mail, all formal business must be conducted at board meetings. E-mail dialogue cannot replace anything addressed in the minutes of a meeting.
- E-mail addresses. Treat e-mail addresses as confidential. You can collect member e-mail addresses but you should tell the member how you will use the address (only for e-mailing notices and newsletters and promoting events, for example).
Use of ECFL Logo
EFCL’s logo is available for the use of EFCL, its committees and community leagues. Any other individual or organization wishing to include the EFCL logo on any materials needs written permission from ECFL.
When used, the logo should not be altered in form or in color. The logo can be reproduced in three colours or in black and white. When reproduced, it should appear as follows:
Colours (to be displayed on a white background) are:
- blue – Pantone 287C
- green – Pantone 361C
- gold – Pantone 130C
Whenever possible, the tag line “Community Leagues . . . where neighbours meet and good things happen” should be included and centred below the logo. Tag line font is Myriad Pro italic. EFCL generally produces the tag line in 14 pt. font but it can be reduced to 10 pt. if required. If you don’t have enough room to include the tag line at this size, do not include it.
For more information or for eps or jpg copies of the logo, e-mail communications@efcl.org or call EFCL at 780-437-2913.