The media is a powerful tool to recruit adopters, donors and volunteers to your animal organization. In addition to crafting good press releases and building relationships with reporters, there’s one more step you should take to get the most out of that tool: creating an online newsroom on your website.
An online newsroom can be as simple as a page with a short description of your organization, your media person’s name and contact information, and links to all your recent media releases. That’s pretty much the bare minimum any shelter or rescue group needs to look credible to journalists who visit your website — which they’ll do before they cover your event or return your call.
But why stop at just the bare minumum? Using your “Media” page to tell your organization’s story in words, photos, video and links is both a doable and a profitable investment of time for any shelter or rescue group.
Those stories can include happy adoption tales, what you’ve done with your donations and upcoming events.
Remember: Most organizations don’t have an endless supply of great photos of appealing animals along with heartwarming and inspirational stories. We do, and it’s a mistake not to use them!
Essential elements of a successful online newsroom include:
- Mobile-friendly for the reporter on the go
- Easy sharing features for social media
- Simple, attractive design
- Direct contact info (email, phone number), not a contact form
- Links to recent media coverage
- Links to your most recent media releases
Check out these newsrooms for more ideas: