Company: Shakespeare Dallas
Agency: Carter PR
Timeframe: 2005, ongoing
Last year was Shakespeare Dallas's 35th anniversary, but just a few years ago, the company was contemplating bankruptcy. Meager attendance and fiscal mismanagement had nearly
destroyed the theatrical production company, which had no PR budget or plans.
Says Travis Carter, president of Carter Public Relations, "A prior leadership team took the company to the brink of economic ruin. We came to that fork in the road: We could
declare bankruptcy and fold up our tents, or we could chart a new course. We chose the right direction, and we are emerging. I have no doubt we will become one of the great success
stories in the Dallas arts community."
Carter says "we" because he is chairman of the board of Shakespeare Dallas. Now, the theater company is moving into its 36th year and trying to maintain the momentum from both a PR
and business standpoint.
The Challenges
Taking on Shakespeare Dallas presented many challenges, not the least of which was the fact that the company had no money to spend on PR. This meant that the PR campaign would not
be billed on a reduced-fee basis; Carter PR would, in fact, conduct it free of charge.
Another big challenge is making sure your agency, as a business organization, gives the pro bono client all of the time and attention it deserves. "You have to make it a priority.
It's a commitment that doesn't come easily," Travis notes. Early on, Carter PR made a commitment that if it was going to work with Shakespeare Dallas pro bono, it would give it the
same level of dedication and creativity and input that it gives to higherpaying, corporate clients. "You owe it to the nonprofit and community it serves to do the best job you
can."
Promoting an arts organization in Dallas is a very crowded and competitive undertaking. As Carter says, "There are a whole lot of arts organizations competing for the limited
amount of 'space' that you find here." Another was the shoestring budget, since Shakespeare Dallas could not afford to contribute anything financially.
Because Carter had an appreciation for the arts and their benefits to the community, he had the interest to overcome challenges. As a board member and later chair, he easily
spotted the chink in Shakespeare Dallas's armor: a dearth of PR funds and planning.
"It was a case study in that everything you hope for as a practitioner came to life," says Carter. "You could see the direct impact on attendance, fundraising, and marketing
activities, and you could connect all the dots and see that PR, in essence, helped to secure and protect the long-term future of this organization."
Measurement can be a tricky topic in conducting pro bono campaigns. Carter occasionally bristles at the suggestion that a PR firm should evaluate its success in terms of how many
hits it has generated for a client. He never uses an ad equivalency model, despite the fact that Shakespeare Dallas' hit count did go up 10-fold following the campaign. The real
success in this case lay in the attendance and visibility and fundraiding efforts, all of which went up measurably. In addition, the company has a debt relief campaign in place, as
well as numerous new corporate sponsorships.
Pro bono work is expected in a lot of professions, such as law, a field where pro bono projects are monitored and the hours spent are tracked. "We should hold our profession to the
same standard," Carter says, adding that, "Selfishly, it provides benefits in terms of the skills learned, relationships made, and opportunities it creates."
Among the benefits was the chance to give back in a creative way. "In my experience," he says, "many nonprofits lack an understanding of PR and media relations. That's an area
where they typically don't invest a lot of time or resources. This was about helping them understand PR and achieve their goals in terms of branding and publicity."
Beyond the creative outlets and satisfaction of providing a needed service, working on a pro bono arts campaign gave Carter PR a chance to give back and make a commitment to
community. This is something Carter feels all PR practitioners owe, as professionals.
With more of an eye to the bottom line, however, pro bono work builds relationships in the community, and builds relationships with reporters. This, in turn, builds the brand of
the agency and the PR professionals. In the case of Carter PR, it led to the agency's being named an overall winner in the Volunteer Center of North Texas' "Hearts of Hope" award
program, which acknowledges outstanding corporate contributions to the arts and community. In addition, the firm earned a Summit Award that recognized the campaign.
Another unexpected benefit for Carter PR was the ability to share an exciting and challenging project with the agency's younger staff. "What better way could there be to build the
skills you need in PR than to get them in on the ground level of an important account?" he asks. "It's a great way for a young person to cut their teeth on an account that's important
to the agency and to the community." And finally, he says, working pro bono is "a lot of fun."
Before diving into the waters of pro bono PR work, however, there are some things to consider. First, says Carter, give "serious thought to the commitment. Don't make that
commitment lightly. If you are drawn to that type of opportunity, serve. But commit as much time and energy and dedication to that as you would to any other program. The rewards you
see will be well worth the effort".
Carter suggests seeking an organization that really needs the value you will provide as a PR professional. Not every agency needs the kind of attention Carter PR gave to
Shakespeare Dallas, but, says Carter, "We found a diamond in the rough. This arts organization had done well in the past, but it had opportunity to do better. One of the things that
was missing in its ability to be a well-rounded nonprofit was PR. For us, it was a perfect marriage."
Partnership is key, whether it's the perfect partnership between agency and client, or the match between client and corporate sponsor. Find an organization that understands PR is
an investment, not an expense. Carter PR got buy-in from a board and managers who understood that while the agency would direct PR efforts, it needed their support. "I served on the
board for a couple of years before we got involved," Carter says. "I had always provided some advice and counsel, but it's one thing to call the plays, and it's another to help
execute them."
Once they took the job on, because so many people compete for the media space, they had to develop and fashion stories that would play with all the media that covered that
community. Carter PR pitched stories about different aspects of Shakespeare Dallas to very different types of media. The company tours inner city schools with a small company of
actors, who perform 45-minute productions under a program dubbed "Shakespeare on the Go" for kids who have not had much exposure to the arts, and Carter says it was a natural draw for
television, as well as for urban publications.
Follow Your Passion
For Carter, working for an arts organization was a natural fit because he loved the theater and was already involved with the company. When it is time to search for a pro bono
project that will be a good fit for your agency, play to your own passions. "It's such a huge commitment in terms of time that you have to have a passion for it," Carter emphasizes.
"I'm not sure what we did would have worked with any arts organization."
He recommends looking at your relationships in the community, trying to understand the nonprofits and the role they serve, whether it's in the arts, education, or another field.
You have to know the organization before you begin to manage its public relations. Be a part of the fabric of the community and learn what job the organization serves, and how it can
benefit from improved coverage. Make sure the organization sees PR as an investment and understands that PR is a key function.
Carter says it's not hard to find nonprofits that have an interest in PR, and the best way to start is by reaching out. Find out if they currently work with a PR firm, as well as
what their needs and interests are. Then you can say you believe they could benefit from PR and that you are interested in giving back to the community in a different and creative way
by assisting them.
The relationships Carter PR formed through its efforts in behalf of Shakespeare Dallas were a benefit they never expected and had not sought. Carter says, simply, that "good things
happen for good people. As you are establishing your brand as a new agency, what better way than to do good? You evolve civically."
Carter PR is involved in a new pro bono campaign, this time in an effort to defeat a controversial immigration ordinance that has been adopted in a Dallas suburb. "I'm working with
members of the community to lead a petition drive for a vote on the ordinance," he says.
Because of the agency's past work, Carter PR has a template for future efforts in behalf of Shakespeare Dallas. They have identified key reporters and established relationships.
"Now we are preparing for our second act," he says. "There are so many 'tier two' arts organizations. We are one of the smaller organizations, the ones with an annual budget of a
million dollars or less. There are so many vying for the attention of the news media here. It's competitive, even in the arts field. And you are running a business, even though it's
in the arts."
Carter PR has helped lay a foundation for Shakespeare Dallas from which it can now build as an organization. In turn, the company and agency's brands are stronger than ever, and
their profile and visibility are as high as they have ever been. The theater group has added a fall season to its annual lineup, and attendance levels are at an all-time high. In
addition, it has a new annual corporate sponsor in the form of Allstate Insurance, which came on this fall. Shakespeare Dallas still has some financial hurdles ahead of it, but now it
faces less than $100,000 in debt, where before it was looking at a cool half a million. As a business, it is managing its funds better and has made fiscal management its number one
priority.
Says Carter, "We are taking our partnerships and finding new ways to leverage them in support of the organization. We brought polish to the brand, as well as visibility for the
image of the organization. It had it before, but for years, the rocket was rumbling on the launch pad. Now, it has taken off."
Contact:
Travis Carter, 214.360.7815, [email protected]
A Labor of Love
In 2005, Denver-based GroundFloor Media took a desperate phone call that would play to one of its strongest missions: community involvement and pro bono work. Agency founder Laura
Love is dedicated to helping out whenever possible, and since starting the agency, has devoted 20% of GFM's work to non-profit clients and pro-bono accounts.
Like Travis Carter of Carter PR in Dallas, Love is a board member of one of her favorite pro bono clients: the Tennyson Center for Children. In 2005, the Center -- which provides a
home for more than 500 of Colorado's abused and neglected children -- was fighting for its very existence after its parent organization filed for bankruptcy and put the Center's
building up for sale. The potential buyer of the building wanted to turn it into a for-profit senior center. The toughest challenge was the time constraint: the sale was set to close
in three days from the time of the phone call to GroundFloor Media.
Love's PR team swung into immediate action, seeking coverage in at least one local print outlet and one broadcast news outlet. There were two goals: to position the Center as a
casualty of an unnecessary real estate transaction (the parent company did not need the money from the sale in order to pay back its creditors); and to use the stories of the children
served by the Center to illustrate its vital role in the community and the impact its closing would have.
Representatives of the Tennyson Center, as well as some of the children and parents, acted as spokespeople to tell the Center's story and solicit support. Interviews were set up
with local ABC and CBS affiliates, and the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News (two of the state's most prominent newspapers) came to the Center to conduct on-site interviews for
coverage in their pages.
The team also turned to the power of the Internet to create awareness that would spread virally. More than 900 people logged on to the Center's newly created blog over the three
days of the campaign.
The results? When the deadline arrived, the developer found it had not been able to come up with the funds it needed to close on the building, and a friendly bidder was able to
step up and buy the Tennyson Center, which is still open and functioning -- thanks to the labors of Love and her PR team.
Contact: GroundFloor Media, 303.865.8110, http://www.groundfloormedia.com