BrownBag -- "How to pitch the media," Carol Tice, Puget Sound Business Journal  (http://seattle.bizjournals.com )

Before you make a pitch to a publication, know the publication. Are they a monthly, weekly or daily publication? When sending a press release, provide 2-3 weeks advance notice before event.

Successful pitches may include an agency's; cooperative measures with other agencies or the community, changes in staff or building location and reason for the change, restoration or revitalization after a negative impact.

Methods to deliver a pitch:

Voicemail

• Less is more when using the phone to make a pitch
• Limit your Voicemail to under 90 seconds
• Eliminate industry specific jargon in your message
• Leave an informative message that will interest and hook the party to call you back

E-mail

• Remains the best pitch method because it will be stay in computer
• Do not send attachments; attachments are software specific
• Keep text simple to page length
• Do not send e-mails without a subject title, they may be eliminated as SPAM
• Provide a response e-mail address that will be checked within 24 hours be it by you or another staff member

Do not pitch for the purpose of raising funds, for example proposing a general story about your agency and hoping that readers will be compelled to donate.

Do not send unsolicited lengthy press packets, these will not get the attention you desire.

Sending widely distributed press releases is a turn-off because all media is receiving the same set of information and no one has the scoop over others.

BrownBag Seminars
help people widen their horizons and learn about how nonprofits work.
Offered in cooperation with Antioch University Seattle at 2326 Sixth Avenue, Seattle

BrownBag -- "Ten Ways Nonprofits Can Drive Traffic to their Websites," Maria Marsala (http://www.coachmaria.com)

The most important part of good website design, Maria Marsala urged at the May 20, 2004, BrownBag Seminar, is to have a business plan -- a business plan for the organization and its programs that includes a plan for the website and how it will be used to support the organization and its work.

Once you have this business plan, it is much more likely that you will be able to visualize a website that communicates effectively with your ideal client (or clients -- those served, volunteers, donors, others).

And even when you have a successful website that you can be proud of, you should probably be sending out something in print at least three times a year.  There are some people who just never look at websites, and you don't want to lose them in your communications.  Plus even committed Internet users find something valuable about holding a piece of paper in their hands.

While you're at it, she advised, don't forget the first rule of good design --  consistency.  The website, the newsletter, your business cards, your stationery, and everything else that represents you to the public should all be easy to identify as coming from you. When things look as though they might be from different groups, their impact is diluted.

BrownBag Seminars
help people widen their horizons and learn about how nonprofits work.
Offered in cooperation with Antioch University Seattle at 2326 Sixth Avenue, Seattle

Civil Society -- "Running for Office in Modern Times" with Phil Talmadge

"Let me ask you three questions," Phil Talmadge began. "Have we lost our capacity for outrage? Can we solve the big problems? Is our political system broken?"

Over the next 90 minutes, he and the group at the May 18 Civil Society discussion explored the challenges behind these questions with lively back-and-forth and ready examples.  (Discouragingly, the consensus answers were "yes," "no," and "yes.")

As a step toward repairing the political system, Phil Talmadge would like to see stronger parties with a greater capacity to mobilize voters around broad political themes to counter the growing power of well-organized special interests who can dominate candidates' attention with donations and buy their way on to the ballot with paid signature gathering for initiatives.

Toward the end of the time, Phil Talmadge answered a question about changes he would like to see made in the Washington state constitution that might brighten the prospects for more effective politics in our communities.  He started by praising our state's protections for civil liberties and prescriptions of state responsibility for preventing monopolies and protecting workers and consumers.  But there are other parts of the constitution that should be changed to reflect changes in the marketplace and society since the populist era at the end of the 19th century when the Washington constitution was first written. Some of his ideas:

• Centralize executive authority by reducing the number of offices filled by direct election statewide

• Shift to a much smaller, but full-time, year-round legislature

• Revise the lending of credit provisions to assure a valid quid-pro-quo when state funds are used to support private developments -- in business and in nonprofit work

• Set maximum rates while eliminating the apparent prohibition on taxing personal income and corporate net revenues.

Talking about taxes, he said that if Washington were to adopt the taxes that are in effect in Idaho, we would have a fairer system with lower rates!

Phil Talmadge is a former state senator from West Seattle who has also served as a justice of the Washington Supreme Court.  In April 2004, he recently called off his race for governor.

"Civil Society in Everyday Life" is
the topic of discussion at free monthly morning meetings
Plan to attend next time: 3rd Tuesdays in the Student Center at Seattle U