Public Relations Manual

20 Pages·2013·1.61 MB·English

Public Relations Manual
Technology/Public Relations Committee
2013-2014:
Jasmine Bains
Public Relations Chair
Akhil Sarikonda
Technology Chair
Graham Novak
Committee Member
Alex Pauer
Committee Member
Natalie Walgren
Committee Member
Mr. Echols
Committee Advisor
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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Table of Contents
Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 2
What are Public Relations? .............................................................................................. 3
External Public Relations ................................................................................................. 4
Role of a Club Editor ....................................................................................................... 5
Suggested Newsletter Topics ........................................................................................... 6
Graphics ....................................................................................................................... 7
Fonts ............................................................................................................................ 7
Graphics Standards ........................................................................................................ 8
Creating a Scrapbook ..................................................................................................... 8
News Releases ............................................................................................................... 9
What to Publicize? .......................................................................................................... 9
Submitting Articles to Iolian and Keynoter ....................................................................... 10
Keynoter Magazine Report Form .................................................................................... 11
Role of a Club Webmaster ............................................................................................. 12
Technology Handout ..................................................................................................... 13
Being Recognized as a Distinguished Editor ..................................................................... 14
Appointed District Positions ........................................................................................... 15
Running for Iolian Editor ............................................................................................... 17
Frequently Used Acronyms ............................................................................................ 18
Additional Resources .................................................................................................... 18
Contact the Technology/Public Relations Committee ......................................................... 19

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Purpose
This manual will help you determine the effectiveness of the
public relations in your club. You will also obtain many
different methods of public relations. More topics include
working with the media, how to make a newsletter, and
how to make Key Club known at you school and in your
community. The main goal of this manual is to teach you
the common theme of “Making Key Club a Household
Name”.

Mission Statement Key Club is an international student-
led organization which provides its
members with opportunities to provide
service build character and develop
leadership.

Vision To develop competent, capable, and
caring leaders through the vehicle of
service.

Core Values The core values of Key Club
International are leadership,
character building, caring, and
inclusiveness

Motto Caring… Our Way of Life

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

What are Public Relations?
Public relations are the internal and external communication to inform or influence specific
publics using writing, marketing, advertising, publicity, promotion, and special events. There
are two types of public relations: internal and external.
Internal involves encouraging members to get involved, getting them excited about Key Club,
and to have pride in their organization. Internal Public Relations tips include:
 Share all key messages with your members
 Conduct a new member training. Make it like an informal party rather than a stuffy
training session. Make it fun!
 Submit club success to the Iolian or KEY CLUB magazine
 Help the club realize its’ importance. Compliment and thank your members. Remind
them that they make a difference.
 Appoint a public relations chair or media spokesperson
 Invite a Kiwanis member of Circle K member to come talk during your club meeting

Methods
 Banquet: Hold an end of the year banquet to recognize the hard work of Key
Clubbers. Be sure to include awards!

 Club Bulletin/Newsletter: create a newsletter to let your members know what has
happened and what will be happening with your Key Club. Check out the How to be
a Club Editor page for tips!
 Key Clubber of the Month Award: Give encouragement to your members by giving
out this award.
 KEY CLUB Magazine and the Iolian: Show off your club’s success at the district level
(the Iolian) and the international level (KEY CLUB Magazine. Look at “Iolian and KEY
CLUB Magazine Articles” for more tips on submitting articles.
 Club Meetings: At club meetings, be sure to recap past projects as well as promote
future ones.

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

External Public Relations
The other type of public relations is External Public Relations. This includes advertising key club,
its mission, and its activities so that your community can have a better understanding of what
Key Club is, as well as its importance’s.
External Public Relations tips include:
 Determine your target outlets. Identify every newspaper, magazine, and radio station
that reaches your community.
 Determine other outside ways of publicizing Key Club in your community.
 Work with your club webmaster to help create unique flyers!
 Talk to your Principal or Student Activities office to see how other organizations at your
school are publicizing their own clubs
Methods
 School Daily Announcements: Make certain that your message has all the right
information and the right date and explanation of the event.
 Posters/ Flyers: Do not place too much information on the flier/poster. Make sure its
appealing to the eye and contains the general information! Also, make sure the font is
legible.
 Brochures: An attractive an interesting brochure on your Key Club can be made and
distributed. This is great for club meetings and future Freshman night!
 School/ Community Newspaper: Since Key Club is a nonprofit service organization;
oftentimes newspapers and school newspapers would gladly publish an article about
Key Club activities. In your press releases, make sure to answer the questions on who,
what, when, where, why, and how. Be concise and put the most important information
first.
 Television: To draw a large crowd from outside your immediate community, try
contacting a local television station. Make sure to give the station all the information
about a project. Be 100% sure that your film spot looks professional.
 Scrapbook: Put together clippings from newspapers and pictures of Key Club members
from your club doing service projects.

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Role of a Club Editor
Editor’s Duties:
A Club Editor is important to Key Club because he or she is responsible for all the printed material the club receives.
The club editor serves as the advertiser, the communicator, and the general publicity person of a club. This role
requires time and knowledge on dates and happenings of district and international events as well as to the current
club projects and plans. The editor must be knowledgeable of the programs and structure of Key Club International.
The role of the club editor is that of a public relations officer. The editor makes sure the public is informed about
what Key Club is and upcoming events hosted by the local Key Club members. The club editor should publicize
key club by using newsletters, fliers, bulletins, and publicity stunts. Club editors have the role of making Key Club
a household name within the community and the schoolCreating a Newsletter
 Pick a publishing program (Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft
Resources
Word, Adobe Indesign)
 Pick a layout. You can use a premade template found at
www.iikeyclub.org
http://www.keyclub.org/fad/cm/prtools.aspx
 Assign people to write articles for yours newsletters. (Ex:
www.keyclub.org
Ask your Treasurer to write an article about the
importance of dues). The Iolian
 Create a catchy title to hook readers in!
The Key Club Magazine
 Always include the Key Club Logo, the Illinois-Eastern
Iowa District Logo, and the Key Club pencil (shown
Public Relations Manual
above).
 Check for spelling and grammar errors. These errors make Graphic Standards Manual
it look unprofessional.
(Available at www.keyclub.org)
 Use pictures of events to catch the reader’s eye. Blurry
pictures are a definite no-no!
 Remember to include the following in every newsletter:
Iolian Editor:
Date, School name, Volume number, and Issue number.
 Use a variety of different size fonts. The smallest you can
Jasmine Bains
use is 10 pt.
 Try to make the newsletter fun! Include quizzes too! ([email protected])

**Hyperlinks will take you to
respective link**

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Suggested Newsletter Topics

August—September—October
Things to Know as Editor:
 Information on district mailing
 Theme/Major Emphasis Program (MEP)
 International Convention Summation (District
 Youth Opportunities Fund
Awards, new International Board)
 District Project (Spastics Paralysis)
 Information on dues
 Kiwanis-Family
 Information about the District Project
 Our Service Partners (UNICEF, March of
 Information on Fall Leadership Rallies
Dimes, the Children’s Miracle Network
 Information about the Youth Opportunities Fund
Hospitals)
 Promotion of upcoming club and district events
 Updates from club officers Contact Me! I’m always here to help!
 Member of the month
Jasmine Bains
November—December—January
Illinois-Eastern Iowa District Iolian Editor
Key Club International
 Key Club Week and planned activities
[email protected]
 Holiday service Projects
Cell: 630-345-0833
 District Convention Promotion (include location,
Find me on Facebook too!
dates, cost, and what it is)
 Circle K Holiday Embrace
 Details on new Lieutenant Governor elections Going Above and Beyond
 Information about our service partners
 Member of the month
One way of exceeding the requirements as a

February—March—April club Editor is to submit and article to the

Ionian. The Iolian is the official publication of
 Club Elections
the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District. It serves as
 Previews for District Convention (theme, speaker, special
an inspiration to Key Club members in our
guests)
district about other service projects other Key
 Lieutenant Governor/ District Executive board results
Clubs have hosted. You can submit an article
and contact information
about a recent service event your Key Club
 International Conventional Promotion
hosted by emailing it to the Iolian Editor. You
must include your name, your school, what
May—June—July
your club did, and picture of yourself as well
 District Convention Summation as pictures of the event. You can also submit
 More information on International Convention an article titled “My Favorite Service Project”.
 Information on all summer projects Encourage club members to this article
explaining what their favorite project is and
why. Another way of going above and beyond

is by sending me your club newsletter.

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Graphics
Graphics and fonts make newsletters and any Key Club related publications look
professional and interesting. Take a look at some of the graphics and fonts that you can use
in your next publication; all of these are available on the keyclub.org!

Fonts
 Century Gothic
 Goudy Old Style
 Verdana
 Garmond Premier Pro
Georgia


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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

Graphics Standards
With nearly 250,000 members, Key Club is the largest high school service organization in the
world! One important way we can let others know about Key Club is by communicating “our
look” to others. That is, by using the same design elements—things like fonts, colors, and
symbols—to express who we are. Keeping our look consistent enables others to see Key Club
in the way we do—whether they are in Colorado or Costa Rica. For the complete graphic
standards manual go to www.keyclub.org and search “Graphic Standards Manual”.

Logo: Word mark:

Never stretch or shirk the

logo or word mark. Make sure

that there is an even amount

of space an all sides of the

graphics. Also, make sure you

include the pencil on the top
of each Key Club publication!

Creating a Scrapbook
Making a scrapbook is a fun way to show off your club’s success. Also, you can win awards
at District Convention for it (look at the awards booklet on iikeyclub.org). Here are some tips!
 Have appropriate pictures with captions and dates to explain the events. Make the
captions clear and preferably typed.
 Make sure that the scrapbook follows the criteria set by international rules (keyclub.org)
 Make sure there is a table of contents and categorize by using sections with tabs
 Pick an interesting theme and stick to it thorough the entire scrapbook
 DON’T make the pages too sparse or too busy
 DON’T do it the night before it is due. Put lots of time and effort into it

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Illinois-Eastern Iowa District of Key Club International Public Relations Manual

News Releases
News releases provide the who, what, where, when, why, and how to the local media. The
most important information should appear in the first two paragraphs. Information of lesser
importance should follow. Consider the following tips:
 Sentences and paragraphs should be short and everyday language must be used.
 Keep the news release to one page.
 Double-check names, spellings, and numbers.
 Mention important individuals who will be at the event.
 Place contact person’s name and telephone number at the top of your letterhead.
 Include the date and release time for the story. Write a short headline, which sums up
the news release contents.
 Include photographs with advance and follow-up news releases. Identify all the
essential facts in a caption that identifies the picture. People in the photograph should
be identified from left to right. Only quality photographs should be submitted. Black-
and white glossies are the best choice for publication.
 Always use the Key Club graphic standards
What to Publicize?
 Key Club International Theme/Major Emphasis Program
o Hershey’s Track and Field
o Children’s Miracle Network
o March of Dimes
o UNICEF—Eliminate Project
 Illinois-Eastern Iowa District Project: Spastic Paralysis
 Kiwanis Family Month (November)
 Key Club International Week (First full week of November, runs from Sunday through
Saturday)
 Eliminate Week (First full week of May)
 Any Kiwanis-joint projects
 Kiwanis/ Key Club meetings
 Any achievements of the club or club member
 Illinois-Eastern Iowa District events
o District Convention
o Holiday Embrace with Circle K
o Fall Leadership Rallies
 Any club project that the community can take interest or participate in.
Go to www.keyclub.org for more information on the following.

2013-2014