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Thrivent Builds Publicity Newsletter Archive
November 2006
- Training? What training?
- November 28 publicity training for the media announcement participation instructions
- Tools available November 28 to help celebrate 2006, announce 2007
- Making that important follow-up call
- October Media Watch
- Feedback
- Newsletter Archive
Training? What training?
“I’ve been through this before – I don’t need to participate in this training!”
“I’ve got a million other things to do.”
“I’m pretty sure I can do this publicity stuff without the training. After all, it’s not rocket science!”
While some of you are veterans now, with a year of Thrivent Builds under your belts, we have made some changes in the way we will approach media outreach, and it’s important that you know about them to make your job easier. We certainly believe that you have a million other things to do. Organizing volunteers, building homes, holding fund-raisers—it’s exhausting work. But the Nov. 28 training will offer you some tips that will help ease your burden a bit. And, if you think that media outreach is not rocket science—you’re right. But when we are all part of a massive outreach effort across the entire nation, it is important that we all have the same information so that our story is told with accuracy and credibility.
Here are some changes included in this year’s training that you will want to know more about:
- New tools for affiliates and Thrivent Financial regional offices that will not only make your work easier, but more effective, too.
- Information on how the communication teams of the Alliance Strategy Office and Thrivent Financial will help with media outreach.
- Information about a video news piece and extra video footage that will be offered to every TV station in the country and how you can leverage it.
- A recap of some of the remarkable successes of 2006.
- Timelines for releasing the national announcement to the faith community and to the general public.
- Complete contact information for the media specialists who will be available to assist you as you participate in the media announcement.
- A guided tour of where to find important publicity tools.
- Guidance on how to coordinate your efforts over larger regional territories.
- Discussion of roles and responsibilities.
Two versions of the training will be offered on Nov. 28. The shorter, more condensed version for returning affiliate and RFO personnel, will be offered from 11:30 a.m. to Noon CST.
A second, comprehensive training for anyone supporting the Thrivent Builds Homes program for the first time, will be offered from 1 to 2 p.m. CST.
The media announcement publicity training is our next big step together as we celebrate the successes of 2006 and announce our goals for 2007. We look forward to your participation!
November 28 publicity training for the media announcement participation instructions
Note that there are two training sessions listed below. If you were part of a Thrivent Builds Homes project in 2006, the first (condensed) version of the training may be for you.If you are new to Thrivent Builds, it is recommended that you attend the second (comprehensive) version of the training. Also, while some affiliates are returning to the program for a second year, you may have some members of your team that are new. We encourage those team members to also attend the second session.
SESSION I - Instructions for joining the 11:30 a.m. - Noon (Central time) conference for those who participated in the 2006 Thrivent Builds Homes program:
- About five to 10 minutes before the teleconference begins, dial 1 (800) 713-9452.
- Please be prepared to provide the following information to gain access to your audio conference call:
Confirmation Number: 16122160
You will be placed on hold until the host opens the conference call. As a courtesy to others, and to improve sound quality, please mute your phone when not speaking.
Host Name: Tara Perre
Company: Thrivent Financial for Lutherans - Click on the link below to access the Web presentation:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/thriventrooms/join?id=TBH07AnnouceReturn&role=attend&pw=1If you are not able to open the link, please copy and paste the link name into the address bar on your Internet browser and click Enter. If this still doesn’t work, you can follow along with the hard copy of the presentation. (PowerPoint, 1.9MB)
- On the Join Meeting page, by Display Name, type in your name and click Join Meeting.
- About five to 10 minutes before the teleconference begins, dial 1 (888) 466-9858.
- Please be prepared to provide the following information to gain access to your audio conference call:
Confirmation Number: 16122172
You will be placed on hold until the host opens the conference call. As a courtesy to others, and to improve sound quality, please mute your phone when not speaking.
Host Name: Tara Perre
Company: Thrivent Financial for Lutherans - Click on the link below to access the Web presentation:
https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/thriventrooms/join?id=TBH07Annouce&role=attend&pw=1
If you are not able to open the link, please copy and paste the link name into the address bar on your Internet browser and click Enter. If this still doesn’t work, you can follow along with the hard copy of the presentation. (PowerPoint, 2.2MB)
- On the Join Meeting page, by Display Name, type in your name and click Join Meeting.
Tools available November 28 to help celebrate 2006, announce 2007
Similar to those tools you have been using so far, the Alliance Strategy Office is creating marketing and communications tools to help you celebrate 2006 and spread the word about the 2007 program. The tools will be available November 28.Easy-to-use templates will be available that will save you time as you prepare to share the Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity story with
- The media
- Through Thrivent chapter and Habitat mailings
- At Lutheran churches
Many tools are returning including templates for news releases, affiliate and Regional Financial Office fact sheets, talking points and interview tips for spokespeople, church bulletin inserts, posters and newsletter articles as well as guides for creating family bios, media kits, using logos and more. While most of these will look familiar, they have been changed based on your feedback.
New tools available November 28
Several new tools will be available this year:
- Media Lists: These lists were created by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and are based on Regional Financial Office geographic boundaries. The lists contain media contacts for community and daily newspapers, AM and FM radio stations, Cable Stations and TV stations. They are in Microsoft Excel format for ease in sorting data.
- Thrivent Builds Homes State Fact Sheet templates: These fact sheets show national, state and local information regarding Thrivent Builds Homes. They will be a valuable resource to share with reporters.
- Sidebar News Releases: Sidebar news releases can be used to share more detail about 2006 stories as a compliment to your main news release. Several sidebars are already created based on submissions from the field. Feel free to use sidebars that are applicable to your media market or use them as a guide to create your own sidebar.
- Pitch Script Template: This tool is a great resource when making follow-up calls to the media. The script will help you hit on your main points and key messages quickly.
- Pre-coded Web Page: This is a valuable tool with HTML code and instructions to create a new page on your Web site. Use it to add to Habitat affiliate, Thrivent Financial regional, Thrivent chapter and Lutheran church Web sites.
- Podium Announcement: Announce your homes project at Lutheran churches. Ask participating churches to use this announcement on Dec. 17 or soon after to celebrate helping families in 2006 and 2007.
- Thrivent Builds Homes Coffee Hour Guidelines – Get your Thrivent Financial representatives involved. This guide offers ideas for hosting a Lutheran church coffee hour on Dec. 17 or soon after.
Beginning November 28, every tool developed to help announce the 2007 homes can be found under “Thrivent Builds Homes” in the Resources section of www.thriventbuilds.com. Select, “2007 Homes Announcement” from the drop down menu.
Making that important follow-up call
So you’ve sent out your news releases for the national announcement and you’re crossing your fingers, hoping that some editor or reporter will take interest and print or broadcast you’re story. To weigh the odds in your favor, plan to make a follow-up call to everyone who received your release. Here are some tips for making those calls successful:
- Never call a television station or print reporter late in the day. Everyone in the newsroom is on deadline and no one will have time to talk to you. Make your calls in the morning before everyone gets too busy.
- Realize that you are competing with all the other people calling the media with their own story ideas. Be ready to be succinct and yet compelling. Write a script for yourself, if that makes you more comfortable. Scripts can also ensure that you include the key messages.
- Accept the fact that your call will be answered by a rushed person who believes he/she has no time to talk to you about your idea. You have about 10 seconds to capture their interest. Always ask if they have time to talk as a courtesy.
- Before making the call, practice the two to three sentences that summarize why your story is important.
- Have all your spokesperson contact information at your fingertips so that you can relay it to the reporter. They may have thrown your release away, but find the story compelling after talking with you.
- Have your news release handy so you can resend or cite information from it.
- Do not ask yes or no questions. For example, instead of asking if they received your information, ask if they need more information.
- Be careful not to annoy a reporter or editor by calling or e-mailing repeatedly.
- Don’t take it personally if a reporter says they are not interested. Even though your story is a great story, it is competing with all the other news of the day in your area and across the nation.
October Media Watch
Media watching is a bit like checking out what’s in your Christmas stocking every day of the year. It is always a joy to discover articles, television news reports, Web site stories or radio programs about Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity projects across the nation. There’s just one problem—we only see the goodies that are near the top of the stocking. We know that there are many more media hits that happen every day of which we are unaware.
Each month a report of all the media hits (from the top of that stocking) are listed and shared with executives of both Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Habitat for Humanity International. We’d love to show them the contents of the entire stocking, but we need your help to do that. Please send information about your media hits to Cheryl Winget or Tara Perre. Be sure to list the name and location of the source (include call letters for TV and radio), the date and the title (if any) of the article or program. Also provide an internet address if the item is found on the Web.
Here are some of the terrific hits we found in our stocking for October:
- Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, Oct. 5, “Community of Faith Churches team up for Habitat,” 365,011 circ.
- WSAU 550 AM, Wausau, Wisconsin, Oct. 10, DuWayne Kleinschmidt and Bill Petri (LCSS-TB) interviewed for 30 minutes by program host, Pat Snyder, regarding the Wausau Thrivent Builds home.
- Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 12, Church builds house, tosses in a quilt, 151,336 circ.
- WBAY TV 2, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Oct. 14, “The Thrivent Builds Mobile made a stop in Appleton today, 84,540 est. total audience for two newscasts.
- Omaha World Herald, Omaha, Nebraska, Oct. 23, “New home has family looking to the future,” 188,866 circ.
Feedback
Is this newsletter helpful to you? Do you have additional ideas for articles you'd find helpful? Please send your feedback to Nicole Doebert.
Newsletter Archive
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