By Hannah Williams | December 6, 2021

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — Out of every form of public relations, nonprofit PR seems to be the most rewarding. Nonprofit organizations use public relations to help educate the public on issues of importance, whether that be with Habitat for Humans, Alzheimer’s Association, or the Boys and Girls Clubs, nonprofit organizations attract an audience that want to help make change.

Unlike other PR sectors, most nonprofits are working with limited resources and staff. This not only allows you to be creative, but forces you to think outside the box and test your skills. The three main purposes of nonprofit’s public relations is to increase donations, educate the public and find volunteers.

When considering potential career options, I often am led down a path to corporate communications. All organizations, whether they are nonprofit or for-profit, serve to increase the awareness of an organization and engage donors through creative ways, either online or face-to-face events.

But there are three important reasons why nonprofit public relations is the right choice for any graduating PR major, including myself. Choice one: Drive by social purpose. 

All organizations work toward promoting and obtaining their mission and purpose, but with nonprofits they are not driven by a profit, but instead the potential for social change. At the end of the day Nonprofits are more focused on the social value and community building than the monetary benefits.

Corporate mission statements tend to focus on the value that its services can bring to its customers, but a nonprofit mission statement looks beyond an individual person and focuses on the wider scope of social impact. The biggest difference is that nonprofits have a social mission, rather than a corporate  mission.

Choice two: Donors not clients.

The main source of revenue with nonprofits are sourced from donors, not clients. In a sense donors are like clients, but instead nonprofits get to create an environment that is susceptible to them as well as their donors. Donors can comprise of many different individuals, foundations, and corporations, which allows a different segmentation and creativity. The strategies that are utilized enable the PR representative to get out of their comfort zone and find more unique and innovative ways to connect.

Choice three: Storytelling

Storytelling is something all organizations must master in their public relations. For nonprofits, storytelling is one of the most powerful tools to use.  Donors tend to give twice as much when presented with a story about an affected individual opposed to reading statistics. Nonprofits have the ability to connect with their audience emotionally through storytelling. \

Overall nonprofit PR has the potential to change my life as well as many others. Whether the reason one chooses to work with nonprofits is because of the storytelling, the social purpose, or even the “clients”, at the end of the day nonprofit’s are a vessel of change.

 

For more information: What Does A Non Profit PR Person Do and Why You Need One

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