5 Ways to Get Media Coverage During the Holidays

The holidays are almost here – and so is the annual rush of news stories about holiday shopping trends, Giving Tuesday, and year-end giving.

But this year is different.

Covid-19 and the partisan divisions around the election have disrupted our lives – and will certainly impact our holiday traditions.

As a result, if you typically attempt to use the holidays as a time to garner media attention for your work, you might consider taking a different approach this year.

I’ve already been speaking to a number of reporters who are searching for story ideas and trends in advance of Giving Tuesday and the year-end giving season. In many cases, they are trying to understand how Covid-19 and the election are impacting how donors plan to give – and how nonprofits are faring.

Reporters who cover retail and business are asking similar questions – but through the lens of consumer behavior and businesses.

As a result, I’m expecting to see media organizations ramp up their coverage of nonprofits and businesses during this holiday season – and this provides opportunities for organizations that want to get their story told.

Here are five things you can be doing now to help your organization get a leg up on getting its story told during this most-uncommon holiday season:

1. Show Covid-19’s Impact

If you’re a nonprofit that has seen donations increase or decline as a result of Covid-19 or the election, you have a news hook. The same is true if you’re a business that has seen – or is expecting – the ‘Rona to impact your sales.

Reporters love trends and if you can effectively show how conditions are affecting your work, you have an opportunity to get attention.

2. Show the Need

If you’re a nonprofit, chances are the need for your services is greater now than it was a year ago. This is true whether you work in human services, the arts, education, health care, or really any cause.

Need is a central theme of most of our outreach on behalf of nonprofits. It’s also a theme we’re weaving into our pitches supporting consumer efforts.

3. Showcase Inspiring Stories

Is there an inspiring donor or volunteer who has gone the extra mile for your nonprofit this fall? Has your business done something creative to give back?

Heartwarming stories are in short supply these days – and we need them right now. 

We expect news organizations to double down on human-interest stories throughout the holiday season. Now’s a good time to share those stories with the hope that they might land you coverage.

4. Join Forces

I mentioned earlier that reporters love trend stories. But for something to be considered a trend, it needs to be something that’s happening in multiple places. 

As a result, you can’t show a trend on your own.

With that in mind, consider working with similar organizations or businesses on joint outreach that focuses on your shared plight.

If all of the retail shops in a specific business district get together to create a pitch that showcases their shared challenges, they have a better chance of getting your story told.

The same is true if every nonprofit in your community that provides shelter gets together to showcase what’s unique this year.

5. Go Virtual

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve been bullish about virtual news briefings – and we’re doubling down on this tactic for many of our clients during the holiday season.

If you can pull together experts from your organization – and perhaps some peers – to create virtual events that discuss current conditions and provide insights, you have a chance to reach reporters in new ways.

Is there a media relations tactic you’ve found successful this year? I’d love to hear about it. Reply to this email to continue the conversation.