Nonprofit Public Relations

Nonprofits need to advertise as well!

Any organization in any sector needs to advertise its achievements in order to gain mileage. The same applies for the nonprofit sector as well. Though the nonprofit sector by definition is not in pursuit of profits, it still needs funding and sponsorships to keep going. Hence, the supply side of the equation or the attraction of funding for nonprofits has to be actualized only by presenting its case to its donors and funders. This is the key requirement for nonprofits to have a public relations department that would highlight its achievements to the donors.

Further, the nonprofits need to keep up the demand side as well when they have to attract potential volunteers and recruits to its cause. This means that they would also have to advertise on the other end of the spectrum i.e. to make people sign up to its cause.

The case for Public Relations on both ends of the Spectrum

In these recessionary times, the nonprofit sector has been hit with dwindling funds and lesser donations and hence, it is more the reason for the nonprofits sector to advertise and display its achievements. Leading nonprofits like Red Cross and Oxfam among others have a well-established public relations team in place whose sole function is to publish brochures, promotional material, handling the media, and ensuring that the organization and its goals and objectives along with its achievements are made known to the people. Apart from this, leading nonprofits like Action Aid have procedures to manage public perceptions along with media management. In these days of 24/7 news coverage, it is important that the right message is sent out to the media and that the media portrays the correct picture about the nonprofits.

The other needs for Nonprofits to have PR teams

The need for a public relations team is also accentuated by the fact that nonprofits have to reach out to the society to ensure that the work they do gets public recognition. This is important because they need potential recruits as well as donors from society who would be willing to step up to the plate and support them. Some nonprofits based in the US and India often hosts events and activities for fundraising. These events have to be publicized in order to attract audiences and in order for the donors to get to know about the work that these nonprofits do.

Finally! If you do not blow your trumpet, somebody would spit in it.

We have discussed the imperatives behind the public relations exercises for nonprofits. This concluding section lays out the rationale for nonprofits to reach out through outreach programs and to ensure that the beneficiaries are made aware of the work that the nonprofits do. The reason for this is that the intended beneficiaries might not be aware of the existence of the nonprofits activities and hence, would miss the outreach programs. Therefore, nonprofits and their activities need to be advertised through public relations to make the beneficiaries aware and cognizant of the efforts made by the nonprofits.


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The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.