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107
Revised 8/2016
PR
North Drive Ruritan Club
will hold a
chicken barbecue
,
Saturday, June 10
, at the
Ballpark
to
raise money for a local girl who
needs a heart operation
.
After you’ve written the Who, What, When, Where,
and Why of the news release, use the second
and third paragraph for details, such as how many
volunteers will be working the event, how many
hours of volunteer time your club members have
invested in this project, or additional details about
the event:
More than 20 members of the North Drive
Ruritan Club will prepare 1,000 pounds of
barbecue chicken to raise money for Joan
Smith. Smith is a fourth grade student at
County Elementary School who needs $5,000
for an operation to correct a birth defect in her
heart.
End your news release with some details about
your club’s recent activities, prominent members,
meeting time and location, or information about the
Ruritan organization.
Last winter, the North Drive Ruritan Club
raised nearly $8,000 for the town library by
holding pancake breakfasts. North Drive Ru
ritan Club is part of Ruritan National, an orga
nization dedicated to improving communities
across America through volunteer service.
North Drive Ruritan Club meets the first Tues
day of each month at the Fire Station. For
more information about Ruritan membership
contact Club President John Jones at (555)
555-5555.
End your news release with the mark # # #
centered on the page. This tells the reporter that
your news release is finished.
Don’t be disappointed if your news release isn’t
published. Many times a story will be put on hold
if other news occurs. Newspapers are constantly
faced with a limited amount of space to report the
happenings of your community.
If your news release is not published before the
event, send the press release to the media again,
just after the event, but include details about what
happened that day (
see the bold text
):
North Drive Ruritan Club
held
a chicken
barbecue, Saturday, June 10, at the Ballpark
to raise money for a local girl who needs a
heart operation. More than 20 members of
the North Drive Ruritan Club
prepared
1,000
pounds of barbecue chicken to raise money
for Joan Smith. Smith is a fourth grade student
at County Elementary School who
needed
$5,000 for an operation to correct a birth defect
in her heart.
It is estimated that more than
300 people showed up for the event. The
fundraiser was so successful that North
Drive Ruritan Club exceeded their goal by
$500. Although the club’s supply of chicken
sold out by 3 p.m., many people at the
event contributed donations anyway.
Last winter, the North Drive Ruritan Club
raised nearly $8,000 for the town library by
holding pancake breakfasts. North Drive Ru
ritan Club is part of Ruritan National, an orga
nization dedicated to improving communities
across America through volunteer service.
North Drive Ruritan Club meets the first Tues
day of each month at the Fire Station. For
more information about Ruritan membership
contact Club President John Jones at (555)
555-5555.
A Little Consideration Goes A Long Way
Always include additional information with your
news release, such as the “This Is Ruritan” brochure,
the “Ruritan Is...” card, or your club’s own brochure.
Also include a list of current club officers with your
news release. The more information you can provide
to the media in abbreviated form, such as one page
lists of club activities and prominent members, the
better story they will be able to write.
If a reporter has to stop and research too much
additional information to make the article complete,
the chances are greater that your news release
will end up in the garbage instead of tomorrow’s
headlines.
If you have the opportunity to meet the reporter
or editor, make sure you mention what your club
has done for the community recently. Use the same
techniques for selling your Ruritan message to
the press as you would for any other person in the
community. Also, consider inviting this person to your
next club meeting. Your future news releases benefit
greatly if the editor or reporter has some personal
involvement or familiarity with your club.
Remember that all media operate under con
stant deadline pressure. Take the time to find out
when your local newspaper goes to press, and be