NGO = PR

"I love a challenge and saving the Planet seems like a good one" - Paul Stamets

PR plays a major and defining role in the activities of non-governmental organisations - whether we are talking about charities, social welfare, religious organisations or foundations - although people working in the Third Sector are reluctant to admit it; or as our guess speaker from Friends of the Earth said - they would do anything to separate themselves, their work and job titles from anything having to do with public relations. However, at the end of the day, the tasks that they perform and their abilities are exactly those of a PR practitioner.

What are the key abilities and skills that a third sector practitioner must have? Just to list some of the most commonly mentioned: fundraising skills, persuasive pitching abilities, budget management, research capabilities, relationship and network building skills, media relations skills, organising skills, negotiation and planning skills, documentation and dissemination of information abilities. And what are the key abilities and skills that a PR practitioners should have? I would exactly say the above mentioned.

The main thing that advocacy groups do is raising awareness, whether it is for an event, an environment cause, a social issue or for them as an organisation. Raising awareness refers to alerting the general public that a certain issue exists and should be approached the way the group desires. And how do you do that if not through PR campaign?

What did our speaker described himself to be? "The brand destroyer". Because according to him that's what NGOs are in the business of doing: destroying or threatening to destroy the reputation of big brands in order to get their way - impose the cause they are working for. And how could NGOs put that amount of pressure on the likes of Nike, McDonalds or Lukoil if not through well mastered PR skills and techniques?

All in all, NGOs entire existence as Third Sector organisations is based on their ability to practice good PR, whether it is to raise funds, to describe services to their beneficiaries, to inform the public about their accomplishments, to distinguish themselves from other NGOs, engage in media relations or to promote their causes.

PR Spam - An Inconvenient Truth

“PR people are doing themselves a disservice when they just treat journalists and bloggers like cattle. Every time I get an email pitch it reminds me that I’m being treated like cattle. Especially when I get together with Arrington and Malik and Lacy and other bloggers and we see that we got the same pitch. Moooooo!” Robert Scoble

An Inconvenient PR Truth from RealWire on Vimeo.

One of the biggest and most common incrimination that journalists have made against PR practitioners over the years has been the massive amount of spamming that some of the latter tend to indulge themselves in. Millions of press releases are sent every year to publications and journalists that have no connection to the subject or target audience in matter.  

Realwire chief executive Adam Parke, with the support of several important names in the industry, has launched a campaign entitled An Inconvenient PR truth, aimed at regulating the way journalists - online and offline - should be approached by PR professionals. The campaign's objective is to reduce what has become a true disease inside the industry -irrelevant and untargeted PR practices, otherwise known as PR spam.

The campaigns' key element is a ‘bill of rights' suggesting exactly the ways in which the dynamics between journalists and PR practitioners wishing to contact them should be conducted. To read its provisions click here. 

This campaign can turn out be an important step in improving the relationship between PR pros and journalists, which, although it's defined on mutual dependence, it's also a rather conflictual one. And this isn't a secret to anyone mildly related to either industry. It might even lead to some kind of reciprocation, a code of how journalist should use the information they are getting (and using) from those press releases. In a perfect world that is.

And, who knows, if it expands outside its current national UK borders, the campaign could help demystify some of that villain image that PR has been wrapped in for a while now. Might work as a bit of reputation PR on the industry itself.

However, the really big question here is whether this can go even further and become a step towards regulating public relations as a profession. Because at the end of the day, that is really the burning issue that modern PR is facing.

But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself here - the campaign has only been launched yesterday. Still, it does seem like a nice thought to have.