The 2013 Nonprofit PR Awards are now closed.
Please refer to the main awards tab for more information about this and other Ragan award programs.
If you have questions about this program please call Tyler Landry at 312-960-4303 or email him at tylerl@ragan.com.
Ragan Communications proudly announces its first-ever PR and marketing communications competition solely for nonprofits: PR Daily's 2013 Nonprofit PR Awards.
These awards are the result of many conversations with nonprofit communicators in the last two years. While nonprofits have had a significant presence in our employee communications and PR awards contests (several taking top honors), we concluded it was time we offered public-service entities a competition of their own.
PR Daily's Nonprofit PR Awards were built for you—philanthropic foundations, government agencies, professional associations, charitable organizations, academic institutions and the agencies that represent them. You've proven your work is every bit the equal of the work of your for-profit counterparts. This time, it's all about you!
These awards offer contest winners unparalleled international attention for their organization and cause. A Special Edition of PR Daily devoted to readable news-story summaries of the winning entries gets months of worldwide circulation. Tens of thousands of your peers will scan the winners' work. Winners will also receive free admission to a Ragan conference, classically beautiful trophies, and bragging rights to the title of "best of the best."
We have compiled 23 categories geared to nonprofit organizations and their campaigns. And it's so easy to enter. Submit your entry by following the links below, or snail-mail us your entry.
Enter Online
Who Should Enter?
These awards are open to in-house and agency public relations practitioners in the nonprofit, academic and government sectors. Enter your work, the work of your in-house PR team or submit entries on behalf of your client. Awards are open but not limited to:
- Academic institutions
- Community boards
- Government agencies
- Healthcare organizations
- Nongovernmental organizations
- Philanthropic or charitable groups
- Professional associations
- PR agencies/firms, media relations/publicity agencies, sole practitioners or freelance consultants representing any of the above groups
Eligibility Requirements
This program is open to work executed between January 1, 2012, and April 5, 2013. If you aren't sure your project qualifies, contact Tyler Landry. You can reach him at 312.960.4303, or email him at tylerl@ragan.com.
Categories
| Winners will be awarded in the following categories: |
- Best Advocacy Campaign or Lobbying Effort: Tell us how you took a cause and creatively promoted it, bringing greater public attention and media coverage. If this is a long-term cause for your organization, show us why your results improved this year.
- Best Blog: Does someone on your team write and maintain an excellent blog—one that is original, insightful, inspiring? We want to see it. Please include a link to the blog and a minimum of three posts.
- Best Branding/Re-Branding: Did you used smart branding to increase the visibility of your nonprofit, improve its reputation or reposition it? Tell us how you positioned your organization strategically and what you achieved. If this is a re-brand, we would love to see the previous branding and hear it's weaknesses.
- Best Corporate/Nonprofit Partnership: You formed a partnership with a corporation that went beyond mere donations in your corporate-nonprofit efforts.
- Best Community/Nonprofit Partnership: How did your nonprofit efforts contribute to causes in your home community, the nation, or worldwide? Describe your initiative.
- Best Crisis Management: It's what every organization dreads: a crisis that threatens to damage your reputation. Tell us how you beat it back—and perhaps even came out ahead. Evidence and examples, please. Tell us what went wrong, how you prepared, and how you held it together and shaped the narrative.
- Best Digital PR and Marketing Campaign: Success! You pushed a nonprofit campaign or initiative. You launched a new service, and you saw positive results. You built it all around digital platforms and online elements. Explain clearly what your goals were—and prove it was a success.
- Best Email Newsletter: Concision and punchiness rule here. We will be looking to see how much you get done in a limited space and time. Please include a link or multiple screen shots.
- Best Employee/Internal Communication: How do you communicate internally with your staff? How do you keep them engaged with your nonprofit's mission? Tell us your goals, strategy and the results.
- Best Event PR: A good event or stunt can grab the press's attention like nothing else. Tell us what you did, and what it accomplished.
- Best External Publication or Report (Digital or Print): We'll be looking to see whether you integrate a strong connection with your nonprofit and readers in every article. We're looking for great headlines, ledes, design, and strong storytelling. Please include a PDF or send in hard copies.
- Best Fundraising Campaign: Did you surpass your fundraising goals? Was your campaign exceptionally creative and incorporated a multimedia approach? We're looking for campaigns that increased awareness and boosted the bottom line.
- Best Green PR/Marketing: This is one corporate fad that's not going away. It's a fact that U. S. corporations set the example for the rest of the world. We want to hear in detail what your nonprofit has done to green itself, its workers and its community.
- Best Media Relations Campaign: Show and tell us how the media picked up your story and ran with it.
- Best PR on a Shoestring Budget (<$5,000): Who ever said you needed a big budget to do the right thing? Did you have a low-budget triumph? We want to hear about it. Tell us about your campaign and its results.
- Best Press Release: Have you written a great press release, one that you're particularly proud of? We'd like to see it. Our panel of judges will look at everything: subject lines, headlines and body copy.
- Best Public Service Announcement: Did you stretch your creativity muscles to the max with a public service announcement? We want to know how you developed the announcement, its mission and purpose, and most important—what were the results. How did it impact your nonprofit's bottom line, visibility, etc.?
- Best Social Responsibility Campaign/Initiative: Did you launch a campaign that was focused on social responsibility? Many a survey indicates the public is more inclined to be loyal to brands who are socially responsible. Does your nonprofit fall into that category? Tell us about it.
- Best Traditional Marketing Campaign: We're inundated these days by social media tactics and strategies. But what about good, old-fashioned traditional PR? Successful entries will pivot on the use of traditional, integrated public relations. The campaign could include news releases, events, television, press conferences and publicity stunts.
- Best Use of Social Media: Was there an issue your nonprofit used to rally the community through social media? Maybe you facilitated a lengthy discussion about a current event, your nonprofit's mission, or asked members of the community to submit stories, pictures, captions, etc., on a topic? Show us how you are using social media to increase engagement.
- Best Video/Podcast: You know YouTube isn't just a repository for video. It's one of the biggest search engines out there. Show us how you used video to enhance your communications and extend your reach. Have you created a podcast that entertains, informs and raises the visibility of your nonprofit? We want to hear it.
- Best Volunteer Program: You found ways to get a huge turnout in a good cause, whether it was tutoring or other volunteer work. Tell us about your efforts.
- Best Website: You built a website with a Zen-like beauty and easy navigation that has shown results. Explain what you did. How do you measure its success?
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Prizes
Each category winner will receive:
- Spotlight coverage of your winning entry in a Special Edition of PR Daily. Free publicity for your organization and cause to more than 800,000 visitors each month.
- An elegant Nonprofit PR Award trophy to show to colleagues, clients and your community.
- A free registration to any of our major conferences in 2013 or 2014. Register for the training that will most benefit you and your organization at any of our nearly two dozen major events.
How To Enter
Prepare a thorough synopsis for the judges explaining the purpose and scope of your project. Don't forget to show examples of your work! We ask that the synopsis not exceed 1,000 words.
We strongly recommend that your synopsis include the following sub-headings (when applicable):
- Goals
- Strategy and tactics
- Execution
- Evaluation: success, results or ROI
You may also want to include:
- The staff members responsible for the work.
- Costs or budget information. (Be sure to mark any information that should be kept confidential after judging.)
- Additional information that may help the judges understand your organization or work.
Entering Online:
Entering only takes a few clicks using our easy, online awards portal.
- Click here.
- Complete the required fields.
- Attach your supporting materials.
- Click submit.
That's it!
If you have supporting materials that you can't attach electronically, mail them directly to Tyler Landry at the address below.
Entering by Mail/Courier:
If you prefer to mail your entry, please include:
- A completed entry form. Download the entry form here.
- The synopsis of your project (with sub-headings mentioned above).
- All supporting materials in either physical or electronic format.
- Entry fee (checks made out to Ragan Communications).
Send your entry to:
Tyler Landry
Ragan Communications
316 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60601
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Deadlines/Entry Fees
The deadline for this awards program is Friday, April 12, 2013.
The entry fee is $175 per entry.
FAQs
May an organization or nominator enter more than one entry or work in more than one category?
Yes.
Do you accept entries from companies worldwide?
Yes! We just require that all entries are submitted in English.
How do I increase my chances of winning an award?
Each entry will be given equal consideration by our judges, so make sure your synopsis is a thorough as possible. In your synopsis, be sure to include the results of your work. Also, be sure to use the synopsis to cover strategy, objectives, tactics and implementation.
Is there a limit to how long the synopsis can be?
Yes. Please limit your synopsis to 1,000 words.
Will you return my entry materials?
No.
W-9 Form / Tax ID Number Request
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Questions:
If you have any questions about program or issues submitting your entry please call Tyler Landry at 312.960.4303 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST during the U.S. business week) or email him at tylerl@ragan.com.
Sponsorship Opportunities:
To sponsor the PR Daily Awards, please contact Staci Diamond at 312.960.4671 or email her at stacid@ragan.com.
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Enter Online