How to Write a Press Release!
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You are Doing Good Work…..Get the Word Out!
One of the most undervalued skills you can learn as a nonprofit leader is the ability to write and distribute a good press release. These are amazing tools that reporters and news staffs use to get information out to their media consumers about the work you are doing.
And if you haven’t noticed, the media landscape is changing. Reporters in the traditional and legacy media are as busy as ever and are doing more and more things. It’s not uncommon for a local newspaper reporter to also be their own photographer and shoot video for social media sites. You can take advantage of this time through well crafted press releases; a good press release, more often than not, will be printed verbatim in local newspapers. You have an amazing opportunity to describe your work to a larger audience without paying one thin dime. Amazing!
Get The Format Right
One of the most important aspects of writing a good press release is understanding the format. First, make sure the press release is on your letterhead or you at least have a digital copy of your organization logo at the top of the release.
Second, the first lines of text should be , All Caps and Bold and look like this:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOB BUCKEYE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
937.555.1234
DATE ##, 2025
Next you have the opportunity to write your headline, which I usually center justify and again make bold with all caps. When writing your headline, this is where it is helpful to describe what is happening or what is going to happen. A good example is, “Athletic Boosters to Hold Fundraising Dinner” or “Local Group plans Neighborhood Cleanup”. Getting to the heart of who is doing what in a succinct fashion will be very helpful to the reporters you send the press release.
Now you are ready for the text of the press release. This where you get can get into the details (the where, the when, the how, the why, the who) of your particular effort. It’s always helpful to add a quote from someone on your team explaining the “why”. For example, “This fundraiser will allow us to continue to provide school supplies for our students”, said Betty Buckeye, the group’s Board President” . A good press release will have one or two quotes that are brief and that can help explain “The why” of the event or happening. Brevity is the key to press releases, I have always found that those releases that are less than one page get the most traction.
Always add a “-30-” or “ # # #” to the end of your press release, that is center justified. This is an old custom that tells the reporter that the release is finished.
Who do I send it to?
A good nonprofit should have a media distribution list of at least four to six reporters. Fortunately, this should not be hard to find. Read local papers and find email addresses of those reporters that are reporting on the stories you think fit well with your work. Also, pay attention to social media. Many print and television/radio reporters have active social media accounts. Shoot them a DM and ask them for their email address and let them know you have a press release. By taking a few minutes and searching out the media sources you interact with, you may very well be surprised with the number of email addresses you can come up with to distribute your release.
When you send your release, I always send it as a pdf and a word .doc. Depending on the software programs these reporter use, either format will allow them to cut and paste into their publication. I always keep the email short, basically just saying, “Press Release Attached. Please feel free to contact me if you need more information.”
If you would like a few examples sent to you, please feel free to send me an email at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to send them along to you!