PR is a crucial element in generating awareness, recruiting staff/members, fundraising and managing crisis situations. When building your annual marketing plan, make sure to include PR-centric tools and tactics that are proactive rather than reactive.

Make sure to proactively look for opportunities to educate the public about your services. This means creating a strategic PR plan that includes a communications calendar and messages highlighting the Club’s positive impact on the community.

The benefits of being proactive include having:

• a constant presence in the public’s eye;
• better credibility when you need to communicate something unpleasant;
• more control of the messaging; and
• healthy relationships with key media contacts.

While there will be times when you will have to react to media coverage, you should always set the Club's public relations agenda. Determine the key messages you want to promote based on goals and objectives already established in your marketing plan.

Working with the marketing committee, actively work to cultivate relationships with local media by:

1. Being knowledgeable about the works of the publication;
   
2. Recognizing and respecting the media’s deadlines, the type of stories sought and the correct person responsible for handling different type of stories;
   
3. Placing the media on the Club”s mailing list so they will receive copies of all events, newsletters, direct mail, etc., that are distributed by the Club;
   
4. Providing press releases regularly on special events and programs being offered by the Club;
   
5. Announcing the addition of new board members, and submitting their photos providing press passes to special events; and
   
6. Making regular phone calls to the appropriate persons at the appropriate media to suggest feature story ideas.