iAbolish - Donate - Fundraising Guide: Advertising Your Event

Fundraising Guide: Advertising Your Event

Without publicity even the best-planned event will be a failure. On the other hand, a well-publicized event can have positive, far-reaching effects beyond your expectations. Publicity comes in many different forms; choose a combination that works for you. Here are some effective publicity methods:

Hand out and post flyers in public places
Make phone calls to people who may be interested
Contact other school groups (such as student government and other organizations)
Table or canvass
Writing letters to the editor or columns in local papers
Have a newspaper listing in the "events" or calendar section
Send out a press release
Hold a press conference
Make a public service announcement on the radio or on TV
Give tickets to your event away to a radio station for a free give-away

Things to remember

When you disperse information, you often have to take the initiative and approach people. Try walking up to someone and handing them a flier with a smile and positive comment, or question. If you are working at a table and in a setting where it is appropriate, call attention to the area and yourselves by playing music, calling out, or asking questions of people passing by. Regardless of the setting be respectful and wear appropriate attire — you are representing a larger group. It is a good idea to have prepared answers to basic questions such as: "What are you doing?" and "What is this all about?" and "What is the American Anti-Slavery Group?" A clear, confident voice, eye contact, and appropriate interaction will get you a long way. Finally, know that it is illegal to drop leaflets in mailboxes, although you can put them through a letter slot in a door or leave them in door handles or on the doorstep. If you are planning to solicit contributions, check local and state regulations.

Posters and leaflets

If you are postering at a university or in a public space, be sure to check the rules and regulations beforehand. You may need to get a campus group to provide their stamp of approval before you can poster on campus. Here are a couple examples of posters used in the past. Remember to include an event title, time and date of event, location, and contact information.

Tabling

A great way to reach a large number of people is to set up an information table in a busy area of town. Choose a spot with a lot of pedestrian traffic where people will see you. Tabling is a good method to raise funds or to publicize a fundraiser and raise awareness in the community.

Online

If you know how, set up a webpage for the event or post the event on an existing website. If you can, include a volunteer sign-up page and a registration page. This is good way to spread the word of the event while recruiting volunteers and participants. Create a link between the website and iAbolish.org. Contact the American Anti-Slavery Group and tell us what you are going to do. We can help advertise by sending mail to all of our Freedom Action Network members about the event.

Press Coverage

During the weeks preceding your event, be sure to call local and student newspapers and radio stations to give them information about your event. For example, send a press release to a student newspaper and then call them to confirm they receive it and to encourage them to cover the story. Also, advertise in local calendar listings, both online and in newspapers, so that more people will hear about your event. When you send information to these listings, be sure to include event title, time and date of event, place, a short description, and a contact phone number. Try to do this far in advance of the event so that you don't miss deadlines.

Writing a Press Release

A press release, a short announcement of a newsworthy event, is sent to newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations to interest them in doing a story. Because news directors receive hundreds of releases every day, yours must be professional and concise. Keep in mind that what you send may be published.

Here are a couple of sample press releases. If you use them as a template, be sure to change all of the information — including the contact information at the top.

Here are some guidelines for writing your own press release:

Keep it short. One page is best. Cover the 5 Ws in the first paragraph: who, what, where, when, and why.
Write a concise, catchy headline that summarizes the story.
Use the "inverted pyramid" style to write the release: Put the most important facts in the first paragraph and supporting information in descending order, so that the least important information is last.
Underline the text that gives the location, time, and date of the event.
Always remember to proofread the release carefully for grammar and spelling.
You may also want to include photographs, a fact sheet, or a flyer. If you do, at the bottom of the last page of the release write, "Attached: (list documents)."
Double-check the facts. It is virtually impossible to correct a release once it has gone out. But if you do make a mistake — especially in the time or location of an event — be sure to call and tell those to whom you sent the release.
List the name of the "contact person" and try to have someone available to field calls.
Send a copy of the press release out a week before the event and the morning of the day before the event.

Writing an Op-Ed

One of the best ways to explain your position on an issue is through an op-ed. These lengthy pieces essentially do the same thing as a letter to the editor, but explain your stance on an issue more fully. Be aware that papers may have a strict policy about accepting guest Op-Eds, so consider calling first for information.

Here is an effective format to follow:

The Attention Grabber: An Op-Ed should always start with an effective grabber/attention getter. Be creative; use humor or current events to catch the reader's attention.
The Body: This is essentially your chain of evidence. Address in as clear terms as possible the issue and your position on it.
Conclusion: Briefly sum up your point in order to make sure that it doesn't get lost or forgotten after the body of the Op-Ed. This should be an echo and strong reinforcement of the point you made in the beginning and can include a call to action.
Limit your Op-Ed to 700-750 words; shorter is better. Type and double-space.

Submit your Op-Ed via email to larger newspapers or via fax to smaller papers. Call first to ask which method they prefer. Follow-up with a phone call to ensure receipt of the Op-Ed and to provide additional information that may be requested by the editor. Be sure to include your school name along with a day/evening phone number and your email address.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor provide citizens with the opportunity to comment on articles and editorials appearing in their local newspapers, or sometimes to bring up issues not mentioned in the paper. The letters to the editor section of newspapers is extremely popular and is widely read by community leaders and lawmakers to gauge public sentiment about current issues. The following tips may help you as you write:

Letters should be typed and include your name, address and telephone number. This is necessary as the paper may contact you for more information.
Address your letters to the "Letters Editor" or "Dear Editor."
Be concise and specific. Pieces should rarely exceed one page; try to limit your letter to 100 to 150 words. Pick a topic to focus on and stick with it throughout the letter.
Keep in mind each paper's particular guidelines, which are found on the editorial page

Conducting an Interview

You may be able to do an interview in order to promote your fundraiser, or to talk about it after it is over. Before you can interview, you must get the TV or radio station interested. It can be difficult to get an interview with the largest programs because they are so strongly driven by what the host wants to discuss. Contact the station with information about who you are, how the issues you will talk about are current and relevant to the station's audience and other information on your event.

Once you are booked for an interview, here are some ways to prepare:

Study the issue and reread relevant materials. Memorize a few quotations, anecdotes, and facts.
Practice being interviewed and make sure that someone asks you tough questions and you think of appropriate ways to respond.
Try to make your points even if the interviewer doesn't ask the questions you had prepared for. You can answer them and still take the opportunity to talk about one of your points. Practice saying, "The real question here is..." or, "That relates to a larger issue, which is..."
Be poised and look collected. Smile, and don't fidget or touch your face or hair.
Speak slowly and carefully (without being too slow!) and give yourself time to think before you answer the question.
Talk directly to the interviewer, not to the audience or camera.
Don't worry about repeating yourself: It just increases the chance that what you want to be heard actually will be.

Holding a Press Conference

A press conference is most appropriate for a important story that does not lend itself to standard print media and a press release. Most of the time, it is best to hand-deliver or mail a professional-looking media kit with a news release. Hold a press conference when:

It is beneficial to the media and serves better than photographs and press releases.
You have important or newsworthy people available to present your story.
Experts will be available to answer questions.
The story involves something that has to be seen to be understood.

If possible, send a media alert one to two weeks ahead of time. Explain the details of the conference and what will be addressed. If you are holding the conference right away, alert the media by telephone instead.

If you do choose to hold a press release:

Hold the conference in a well-lit and easily accessible location.
Be careful to allow only media, not the general public, to enter the room. Assign someone to check media IDs at the door.
Start promptly, but begin with a 5-minute introduction before addressing your main topic when everyone will have arrived.
Explain material available to the press, which may include background information on the group as well as information specific to the issue or campaign at hand.
Answer questions.
End the conference on time. It should not last more than 30 or 40 minutes. Reporters will ask further questions if they wish.
After the press conference, follow up with media inquiries as quickly as possible. Make every effort to accommodate requests for personal interviews.

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