Non-Profit PR Industry Trends by Colleen Griffin

On March 11th, 2013 PR News held their annual Nonprofit PR Awards. Over 200 nonprofit communication executives filled the National Press Club ballroom to celebrate and honor the work of those in their field, and share practices and lessons learned throughout the year. When giving the keynote address President and CEO of the American Refugee Committee, Daniel Wordsworth, focused on storytelling instead of just using the typical elevator pitch. Telling a story can make it more personal, because people will look for themselves in the stories of others. “The greatest stories for nonprofit communicators are the stories that our clients tell –not our stories,” Wordsworth said.

The big winner of the night, taking home Association/Nonprofit Team of the Year, was the United Nations Foundation Public Affairs Team, of the United Nations Foundation. The UN Foundation focuses on telling the story of the UN and sharing its message with potential supporters. In the past year, this team has decided to shift its media outreach into high gear. Their efforts included expanding their relationships and creating new ones with journalists and bloggers and including two global social media summits in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and New York City. The team also launched #GivingTuesday in the beginning of the 2012 holiday season. The outreach effort was a huge success –the Foundation saw a 209% increase in their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube followers, as well as a 53% increase in email subscribers.