PR in Not-For-Profits

Hi all,

This is my first post for the PR393 Reflective Blog. I'm currently doing work experience at a not-for-profit organisation that work towards helping those affected by domestic violence. The organisation was establish in 2007, so it is very new and as a result I have been provided with a lot of great opportunities and freedom in my work placement.

The main fundraising event is a charity ball to be held in late August. I am part of the PR team that are working on the event in areas such as media relations, sponsorship and promotion. The experience I am gaining is invaluable and whilst I have gained a better understanding of the PR function in a not-for-profit organisation and in planning such events, I have also learnt to identify weaknesses in our strategies, tactics, planning and activities.

To date, I have done a lot of written work, in the form of articles (both news and features styles), fact sheets,backgrounders, strategy plan, letters and emails. This has directly drawn on the skills and knowledge I gained throughout my degree, specifically from units such as PR Techniques 220. In distributing the media-targeted documents, I have also gained valuable insight into the reality of media relations and how difficult it is to get articles published or gain free publicity. It has been difficult in some aspects to gain significant media attention and I believe that this is due to the nature of the event (the fact that there are quite a few charity balls throughout the year) and also due to the fact we are a relatively new charity and have not yet established ourselves as a well-known organisation for the cause.

I am glad that I've been able to gain some great experience already in my written work, which will also provide me with some good pieces for my portfolio. I look forward to the remainder of my work experience and hope it continues with the same degree of value and opportunity.

Thanks,

Lyndsay Pekin.