In today’s media world, reporters are under a lot of pressure to find and publish stories on tight deadlines with limited resources. A good nonprofit Press page (a.k.a. media center or press room) helps your organization demonstrate its leadership and approachability when a reporter comes calling. It’s also a way to reinforce your credibility with current and potential supporters.
Contact Information
Include at least one main point of contact for media inquiries along with their phone number and email address.
Background Information
State your mission and vision and include the most recent data about your impact, including fact sheets and annual reports when possible. You’ll want to avoid copying and pasting from different places so that your content is brief and customized to your audience.
Important Links
Building on the previous item, also provide links to other important pages on your website, like Financials, Partners, FAQs, History and your blog.
Boilerplate Language
While this typically goes at the end of press releases, it’s helpful to include it separately to help reporters quickly and accurately describe your organization. Oftentimes nonprofits just repurpose their mission statements here along with their web address. If your organization is location-specific, you could also indicate your service area.
Recent Press Releases
Although not as popular as they used to be, press releases help showcase important milestones and could spark a story idea or provide additional background information. If you post press releases on your blog, linking to those posts or blog category is a great way to include them here.
Multimedia Files
In addition to logo files, provide spokesperson headshots and mission-related photos and graphics that are approved for distribution. B-roll video clips, which are snippets of footage that can be used to glue together a finished piece, are also increasingly in demand for online news. Embed them directly or link to the files on Box, SmugMug, Google Drive or a similar free service.
Downloadable Media Kit
Offering a summary of the above information in a downloadable PDF format or compressed file helps reporters do their research and accurately portray your organization.
Got the basics covered? Check out our full Press page checklist for nine more nice-to-have content ideas. We’ve also pulled together press room examples from real nonprofits for inspiration.