Last-Minute, Non-Profit Pitch Rakes In Coverage

At the #solopr conference, I encouraged attendees to send us good pitches. It's a standing order for our readers as well. Send us your successful pitch and a link to the ink for our consideration.

Rachel Sutherland sent me this one during the conference. And I'm glad it's for a non-profit. I’ve always wondered if people assume getting coverage for a good cause is easy. 

They'd obviously be wrong. Whether it’s for a big brand, a small business or a non-profit, earned media is just that, it's earned. There's competition for coverage regardless of the pitch.

Rachel's ReStore Rakes

Rachel notes in her email to the Bad Pitch blog..."Habitat for Humanity Metrolina Partners ReStore is based in the Charlotte metro area. We had breaking news (for us) when we learned on a Thursday that the following day, a donation of approximately 20,000 rakes were coming into our stores. 

Let’s be honest. Rakes in the winter (even in the Carolinas) is not sexy/salable to the local media. So instead, we focused the volume of the donation, which IS noteworthy. 

We typically share press releases via Constant Contact, then follow up later with personalized email and embedded links to the press release. But with just a day to deliver, we instead focused on a single email pitch to jump us to the front of the line in consideration.

Good relationships with local media, a well-crafted pitch and personalized pitching helped us land coverage in outlets including The Charlotte Observer, two TV stations and regional weeklies." 

Why We Like It

There are several factors that the above scenario doesn’t mention, but they're brought to mind and should be considered for readers' pitches.

• Photo Opp: 20,000 rakes speaks to a unique photo opp. In an age of visual content, are you thinking about your news in pictures? Keep in mind it's not just the media who have cameras. Some great events I've been to recently create a photo opp for attendees -- complete with a seamless, logo-laden background in front of which they can pose.

• News Cycle: Yes, the weekend can be a slow news period. But if you're pitching on Friday, keep in mind that much of the weekend coverage is fairly locked in place. This didn't stop Rachel. It's worth aiming for coverage, but manage expectations accordingly. You've got nothing to lose. 

• Hail Mary Pass: As noted above, pitching on Thursday afternoon for coverage on Saturday is essentially a hail mary pass. But if you’ve managed expectations, and you have the right fit for consideration, it's worth throwing. I’m willing to bet that the tight window translated into Rachel quickly learning if she scored or the pitch fell short.

Break Your Own RulesI'd take a totally different approach to the above scenario. But it doesn't matter, because Rachel's approach worked. Even she usually takes a different approach. By splitting up the release and the pitch, she normally has twice the opportunity to engage the reporter. But she knew she couldn't rely on this formula and created an all-in-one email.

Rules should always be guidelines or they can stop us from success instead of ensuring it.

:: Written by Kevin Dugan

What do you think? Do you have a better pitch? Prove it! Send it our way with some background and a link to the ink and you can be a good pitch on the Bad Pitch blog!