Nonprofit Organizations: Do you have what it takes?

Nonprofit Organizations: Do you have what it takes?
By Abby Grantham
When most people hear public relations, many think of sales and profit organizations. Most public relations students think of nonprofit organizations such as JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Nonprofit organizations depend on their donor’s donations and support. These organizations depend on their local community involvement. Without it, the events would have no support or turnout. Nonprofit is a selfless job. Public relations is essential for a nonprofit organization to be successful.
Nonprofit strategies differ from those of the corporate world, but they both share similarities as well. Corporate organizations wish they had the great inspirational stories and deeds the nonprofit organizations have.
All practioners create publicity and at rough times try to change the perceptions of their organization. They also need the close relationships to their media outlets. This helps them get their stories and information out accurately and timely. Both corporate and nonprofit need a process binder, knowledge management, to keep up with what events and ideas have worked and not worked. This way their efforts are more likely to be successful and inventive.
In the nonprofit world a practioner is involved in all aspects of the organization, such as advertising, marketing, fundraising and volunteer work. They are the communicator internally and externally.

Here are a few tips from www.strkerweiner.com/newsletter/nonprofit.htm:
1. Keep your volunteers, staff and donors well informed of your organization’s activities.
2. Maintain a clean and updated donor database.
3. Spend time getting involved in your organization’s programs and its recipients. This will stimulate creativity and provide you with direct experience that you can translate to external audiences.
4. Have a key volunteer and staff person trained as a media spokesperson.

My Big Payoff, Nothing to do with Money

My Big Payoff, Nothing to do with Money

by Ashlie Clay

Public relations is a profession that transcends boundaries, whether a railroad company shipping coal or a small B&B tucked away in the mountains. This untamed nature of where public relations practitioners can be utilized leaves ample room for taking my public relations degree and practicing the art of strategic communication in an industry that I have a sincere interest in. However, my sincere interest and how it ties into a professional career has yet to be discovered.

One of my favorite shows is ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In this reality show of sorts, a group of carpenters and interior designers design, build and decorate a home for a family that has faced significant hardships in their life. At the beginning and end of each episode I all but ball, as the stories, happy endings and just the generosity of people overwhelm my heart. Ideally, I would like to have a career that creates this sort of life changing events for people as this television show does each week. My dream job would leave me with that warm fuzzy feeling. I am not one to sit in an office or cubicle all day every day and I have an undying need for interaction with other people. With this in mind, the corporate world just does not seem to be in the cards for my life after graduation.

So what would a job like this take? This sort of job would entail lots of hard work and creativity, a knack for people and being able to adapt at a moments notice. Very unlike the corporate world, the world of nonprofits is without the glitz, glamor and usual luxuries and all about the nitty-gritty and rewarding pay-off. Seeing families with a place to call home, children with positive role models playing active roles in their everyday life and kids going home on the weekends with food to eat would be reward enough. I want to serve a bigger purpose and bring smiles to people’s faces. The key is just finding out what career within the public relations realm will allow me to do just this.

Following Your Dreams...Or Are You Really?

Following Your Dreams...Or Are You Really?

By: Amanda Pardee

     When I think of the phrase "dream job," several different images flash through my mind. Of course I, as most people do, dream of the expensive cars and mansions, but do those desires really bring you the happiness of life?

     As graduation approaches, and the "what are you doing after you graduate?" questions get more frequent, I continue to weigh the pros and cons on what exactly I want to achieve and do with my degree in public relations. Although I am very indecisive, I think the true definition of my dream job is to work in the non-profit field of public relations. I know that this area is stereotypically viewed as low paying and hard to move up in, but in the end I do not think this will matter me. The more I debate over the issue, I am reassured that the way I was raised and the morals I hold are drawing me more and more into the realm of non-profit PR.

     Growing up I was constantly around mentally challenged individuals because both of my parents chose careers in this area. My dad worked for United Cerebral Palsy much of my early years, and my mom is still an educator for the Special Ed. Being surrounded by this, I found a love and passion for these individuals and overall I think I want to give them all the attention they deserve. Saying so, I would love to work with Special Olympics of Texas or a hospital to boost their public relations departments. I plan to move back to the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area and I know that both of these jobs could be fulfilled there. Working with an organization like either of these two would provide me with a sense of personal satisfaction knowing that what I doing is in turn helping others.

The Jungle: Looking for my first REAL job!

The Jungle: Looking for my first REAL job!

by: Dana Brantley

As future public relations practitioners, we hold the balance scales of journalism and business. In fact, the ability to be in the corporate realm while utilizing my journalism skills has inspired me to major in public relations.

My dream job is in corporate communications. According to workinpr.com, one of the differences between agency work and corporate communications is that the latter typically works on improving or maintaining the organizations brand, while the former works for several different organizations. It has been my desire to work for a set company in their communications department.

Of course, a career in corporate communications requires some prerequisites. According to Ben Silverman in his article, PR Fuel: What It Takes to Be a PR Person , a career in public relations entails both professional and personal skills. We all know that the ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor’s degree but what are some skills that will set you apart from the pack? Silverman suggests that you should have strong oral and written skills, possess research skills, seize the opportunity to think outside the box while being ethical; just to name a few.

Of course, I do not want to remain entry level for the entirety of my career, so when looking at a potential organization, I research current staff demographics. Being that I am an African-American woman, I look for a company that embraces diversity. Since our capstone is made up of women, diversity should be important to us all.

According to, John Gabarro, UPS Foundation professor of Human Resource Management, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School and David Thomas, the H. Naylor Fitzhugh professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, minorities should get a mentor in their desired field, appreciate a slower track process and ensure before employment that the company embraces diversity. The slower process can ensure long-term success.

So, what makes me continue to strive for a career in public relations, besides my passion for communications? According to the US Department of Labor, the amount of employment is rising above average, however, that same article projected that there will be a rise in competition among entry level positions.

So, set yourself apart. Let the company know that they will continue to reach success if you are an integral part of their company. According to D.A. Hayden and Michael Wilder, founding partners of Hayden-Wilder, a one-on-one counseling firm specializing in preparing recent college graduates for the real world job market, suggest that college graduates should set themselves apart by doing the following: 1.) Read publication pieces about the organization. 2.) Define the public’s opinion about the organization. 3.) Make sure that you are showing initiative!

Best of luck job hunting. I am sure that we are the cream of the crop!

The Undecided

The Undecided
By Sheila Frazier

Graduation is a mere 4 weeks away, and when someone asks, "what are you going to do next?" I have no answer. The logical choice would be to go into PR, since I am getting a degree in it, but the more PR classes I take, the more I dislike it.

Originally, I wanted to become a meteorlogist. After one semester of college, I realized my problems with math were going to plague me and my chances of achieving that goal. I was advised to try something else, and I went to PR. I am not bad at it, I just do not like it. Maybe it will be different in the real world, but I want to keep my options open as much as possible.

After graduation, I will have to remain in the Oklahoma City metro area due to the fact that my husband is in the Air Force and is permanently stationed at Tinker Air Force Base. He still has 3 years to go (because he signed up for 6). Unfortunately, at the time of my graduation, he will be deployed to Ecuador. Once he is done with his service, we are planning to move back to southern California (where he is from). Until the move, I plan to use my time by finding different jobs and new options. Hopefully by the time we move, I will know what I want to do, and California will host more options for me.

My Dream Job by Morgan Byram

My Dream Job

By:

Morgan Byram 

"Follow your dreams," is one of the most simple, but meaningful statements my parents could have said to me at a young age. I have always had a love for the fashion industry, and as a child I read articles in all of the top fashion magazines. I use to sit and research different designers and brands to stay on top of the industries' news. Being from Norman, Oklahoma can make it difficult to obtain my dream career of choice in the fashion. There are select few fashion corporations or businesses based out of Oklahoma. 

As I was finishing high school I realized just how difficult it could be to choose a major directly after graduating high school. High school can bring confusion when you are being thrown in multiple directions choosing classes and activities to be involved in as well as being told various things about college. After getting a degree in public relations and fashion merchandising, hopefully my dream job can be obtained. I have always wanted to do a combination of my two degree choices, but did not know if it was an actual job in the field of public relations. 

Living in New York City for a year and completing an internship with a fashion public relations agency, the HL Group, hopefully can put me closer to following my dreams. The internship taught me the importance of creating an identity for a brand. I learned the importance of getting your brand placed in the media and in various publications. The publication your product or service is placed in also needs to be geared towards your target audience/publics. As for the fashion industry, publicity is what can make or break your product into a high fashion item. Having a specific clothing item placed or worn by a celebrity in a fashion forward magazine can result in high sales and become a great public relations tool. Knowing how to incorporate public relations into your fashion business or another business you are doing public relations for can  create a successful end result. 

I dream to someday own my own fashion public relations firm and do work for top clothing designers. I want to live in New York City and be in charge of holding awareness events and placement photo shoots. I dream to be in direct contact with the designers and the continuing success of their business. 

Fashion Public Relations: http://www.fashionpublicrelations.com/fashion%20pr%20home.html

KMR Communications:

http://www.kmrcommunications.com/

The Fashion Rag:

http://www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com/fashionprdivision/