Revised with new information as of February 04, 2020


A free resource for nonprofit organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other mission-based agencies
by Jayne Cravens
via coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com (same web site)


Creating A Guide to Media / List of

Outreach Points for Your Org
& Monitoring Media Coverage


One of the very first things I do when I start a job where outreach and/or community engagement are part of my responsibilities is to start compiling a media guide:

I also compile a list of large local nonprofits/non-governmental organizations (NGOs), regardless of their focus, local NGOs focused on the same issues as the organization I am associated with, and local affiliations of international NGOs, as well as government programs that are somehow related to the mission of the organization where I'm working and key government officials.

It may sound old-fashioned, and I know media outlets are closing, but they still exist and they still play an essential role in getting your message out. This list isn't just your press release "send" list; it is also a list of people and organizations with whom you should cultivate a relationship. Having a good relationship with the media will help you address the communications crisis, criticism or misinformation that is inevitably coming your way.

Postal mailing addresses, email addresses and phone numbers are kept in a spreadsheet or other kind of database. Email addresses are also kept within whatever email client I'm using, for when I want to email just one person or one organization.

I also create Twitter lists of these different outreach points, if they have Twitter handles, within a Twitter account the organization will keep when I'm gone; I may or may not make each list public, depending on the list nature. For instance, if I have a Twitter list called "negative", and it's a list of media outlets, bloggers and others that are repeatedly, even relentlessly critical of the organization or cause, that list is going to be private. But I need to have such a list, so I can monitor what they are saying.

This is a job that's never done: I update it regularly, as media outlets and reporters come and go.

Media monitoring


In the 20th Century, before the Internet became widespread, such media guides were often compiled and sold - by a local newspaper, by a nonprofit, even by a phone company. But now, these ready-made guides are hard to find, so you have to DIY (do it yourself). So, in that respect, it's gotten much harder to map and maintain a media guide. But here's the good news: it's MUCH easier to monitor media coverage than it used to be!

There was a time when you had to pay big bucks for a media monitoring service, which would have paid staff members read mountains of newsprint, looking for your organization's name. The staff were trained in such a way that they might miss articles that quoted your executive director, but didn't name your organization. They wouldn't see opinion pieces that talked about the issues your program addresses if those pieces never named your organization.

Now, media monitoring is oh-so much easier, via free tools like GoogleAlerts. You will want to monitor the name of your organization via its full, exact name and via all the other names used, even if a name is incorrect. You will also want to monitor the name of the head of your organization. You may also want to search for the name of a high-profile event you are coordinating, or a partner organization with which you work freely. You can set up these alerts so that you receive an alert, via email, the moment the system finds the article, or once a day, or once a week.

If there is an exact phrase you wanted searched, put the phrase in quotes. For instance, I don't have an alert for volunteering, and I don't have an alert for virtual, but I do have an alert for "virtual volunteering." If your organization's leader has a name that is not unique - such as John Williams, you will want to add more to the search term so that you get info only for YOUR John Williams. So, for instance, if you are in Kabul, Afghanistan, your search term should be "John Williams" and Kabul.  

Here are some of the terms I have in my GoogleAlert:


Take the time to read


Even with all this automation, you still have to take time to READ. You need to read the alerts as they come in. You will need to take time to look at your Twitter lists and see what the media and other organizations are saying. This takes real time. Put a reoccurring time on your calendar for you to take the time to do this review at least weekly; put it on your shared calendar, so colleagues won't schedule you for meetings at that time, and have your instant messenger app or slack account or whatever show you as busy or in a meeting.


You are never done


You are never done with putting together your media guide or to setting up your automated media monitoring. Publications and bloggers will come and go, stringers will be replaced, Twitter accounts will be abandoned and new ones will rise up...  



Also see


  Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.


  Quick Links 

 my home page
 
 my consulting services  &  my workshops & presentations
 
 my credentials & expertise
 
 My book: The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

 contact me   or   see my schedule
 
 Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without Tech

 Free Resources: On Community Engagement, Volunteering & Volunteerism

 Free Resources: Technology Tips for Non-Techies

 Free Resources: Nonprofit, NGO & other mission-based management resources

 Free Resources: Web Development, Maintenance, Marketing for non-Web designers

 Free Resources: Corporate philanthropy / social responsibility programs

 Free Resources: For people & groups that want to volunteer
 
 linking to or from my web site
 
 The Coyote Helps Foundation
 
 me on social media (follow me, like me, put me in a circle, subscribe to my newsletter)

support my workhow to support my work

To know when I have developed a new resource related to the above subjects, found a great resource by someone else, published a new blog or a new Tech4Impact email newsletter, uploaded a new video,
or to when & where I'm training or presenting, use any of the following social media apps to follow me on any of these social media platforms:

like me on Facebook      follow me on Twitter    Mastodon logo    follow me on Reddit    follow me on LinkedIn     view my YouTube videos


Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty or liability.

See my web site's privacy policy.

Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is credited to:

Jayne Cravens & Coyote Communications,
          www.coyotebroad.com

Otherwise, please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).

The art work and material on this site was created and is copyrighted 1996-2023
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to another web site).