Roth Builds Non-Profit PR Efforts from the Ground up
When Morgan Roth became VP of public affairs in 1998 at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D), a nonprofit agency delivering audio materials to the sight-impaired,
she walked into a situation common among many charitable organizations: A rough mix of good intentions and chaos.
"We could do some really elaborate campaigns from headquarters, but we also have these 21 chapters around the country and they have always been pretty much autonomous," says
Roth.
"People were representing RFB&D graphically in many, many different ways, and they also were presenting the organization itself differently," she says. "There was no
consensus as to what the organization was."
Since joining the organization, however, Roth has taken pains to enhance RFB&D's PR efforts. Within the first two years she won the backing of the board and the chapters,
and has subsequently launched a number of initiatives that, in turn, have demonstrated the value of a consistent PR effort.
Breaking new ground
Job one was to introduce the organization to the concept of branding. Roth secured the keynote luncheon slot at the organization's national staff conference, where she extolled
the virtues of having a consistent look and effective PR message. "The only way to get them to buy in and to go along with branding was to bring them all to the table," she
says.
Before Roth came aboard, the 55-year-old RFB&D had never really approached PR as a means to an end. Roth gave the leadership team a new vision, explaining that "getting
into the paper does not mean anything, unless it is going to generate some new activity," such as producing revenue or bolstering membership rolls.
In her very first year, Roth spearheaded a 55th anniversary campaign that combined fundraising with name awareness. RFB&D's home office in Princeton, N.J. created the
campaign, which was carried out nationwide. It included upscale events targetting potential donors, and also introduced a new logo that would be used universally by all RFB&D
chapters.
The campaign took in $40.5 million and proved to any doubters that Roth's view of PR was valid. "They could see how integrated the PR was in the fundraising, and they saw how
that approach generated measurable results," she says.
Building momentum
Once the organization's leaders got on board Roth took the nonprofit organization to the next level. In 2000, she led the effort to revise its Web site through a device called
Screen Reader, which makes it possible for sight-impaired individuals to have audio access to Web pages - but not the old RFB&D site. "We are an organization that serves blind
people, and yet blind people couldn't access our site. It was a disaster," she recalls. In addition, more than a dozen chapters ran their own Web sites, with no connection to the
national site. As a central national site has emerged, those chapters have rolled up their local information into one main site that provides both national and local
information.
In 2001 the organization took a fresh look at its name. "RFB&D" "It's unwieldy, it's not politically correct, and it is too exclusive, because we serve more than just the
blind and dyslexic," Roth says. So the group rolled out its new tag line, "Learning Through Listening," which has become central to the organization's identity.
Roth has also scored with efforts to draw celebrity endorsements. Mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind climber to scale Mount Everest, is a longtime member of the
organization. His personal story of persistence and courage has become a central piece of the organization's publications, including its annual report.
To spread the message Roth lined up PSAs with actors Tony Randall and Adam Arkin, among other celebs. How does she "get" them? The Screen Actors Guild has helped her to make
some contacts, while she found Danny Glover, who is dyslexic, through a Profnet query that got noticed by Glover's agent. She landed Steve Burns of "Blue's Clues" fame through
sheer legwork. "We went to the Nickelodeon Web site and just kept calling people until we found the right one."
The results have been phenomenal. On the financial side, the campaign made 104% of its goals for FY03, despite the sluggish economy. Membership grew from to nearly 117,000 in
2002 from 102,000 members in 2001 and should top 132,000 when the 2003 tally is in.
Contact: Morgan Roth, 609.520.8095, [email protected]
More with less
How do you put a nonprofit PR effort on track? Here's what Morgan Roth has learned as VP of public affairs at Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D).
- Don't even get started if you cannot offer measurable results as the projected end product. "If you can't measure it, you cannot afford to do it."
- Get a buy-in throughout the organization. "Everybody has to agree to what the message is. You can negotiate strategy, you can debate strategy, but you have to agree on the
message." - Pick your battles. "You have to really pick your target audience. There is no such thing as a press release that is going to recruit members, recruit volunteers and recruit
donors. So there is a lot of discipline involved." - Sometimes in the non-profit world, "it is just as important to be lucky as it is good." In one case, Roth landed a major story in U.S. News and World Report, in part because
she pitched a reporter whose mother was a longtime volunteer with the organization. "I just hit the right guy at the right time."