Public Relations Guidebook and Resources Complied by the 2011-2012 Public Relations Committee Winter Edition_

K E Y C L U B New York District 2011-2012

Published by the New York District Key Club

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced in any form or by any means without the

prior permission of the New York District of Key Club

International or the expressed written/verbal

consent of District Secretary Daniel Ivan Lin.

© 2011

Table of Contents

Public Relations Committee

New York District

Key Club International 2011-2012

Daniel Ivan Lin, Committee Chair

Nickolas Boroda, Committee Member

Emily Gicewicz, Committee Member

Amber Lee, Committee Member

Oscar Tan, Committee Member

Greetings from Your Committee Chair 4

The Basics of Public Relations 5

Different Mediums of Communication 6

Communications Etiquette 7

Templates- Advertising Key Club 8

- Member Recruitment -

- Meetings -

- Events -

Resources 20

Contact Information 21

Greetings from Your

Committee Chair

Hello New York District,

My name is Daniel Ivan Lin and I am

your Public Relations Committee Chair for

the 2011-2012 service year. As simple as the

two words may seem, public relations is an

art on its own if utilized properly. This year it

is my honor to serve not only as your district

secretary, but also your committee chair.

This year in the New York district, we have

five members on our committee and for the

past few months since being placed on the

committee, we have been working hard to

come up with innovative ideas and ways to

help your clubs improve through a stronger knowledge on how to properly

communicate on the behalf of your KEY CLUB. All members of this committee

are qualified to run Public Relations workshops and answer any questions or

concerns you may have. The contact information for our committee has

been included in this packet.

The role of the Public Relations Committee is to provide information

and promote knowledge on how to communicate correctly and strengthen

your KEY CLUB. The general aim of the various district committees is to assist

and help better the clubs in the district. Therefore, the purpose of the Public

Relations Committee is to help clubs improve, specifically in terms of

productivity and activity through an increased sense of the importance of

effective public relations work. This promotion of goodwill between you, your

members, your community, and whatever else will prove to be extremely

beneficial to your Key Club.

All this being said, this is the reason why the Public Relations

Committee has created this publication. Please use this to your advantage as

it will help your club in one way or another. Thank you all so much! On the

behalf of my committee, I wish you good luck in all your endeavors this year!

Yours in the spirit of service,

Daniel Ivan Lin, Committee Chair

4

The Basics of Public Relations

Public Relations – PR for short – is an essential part of a club’s development and success and refers

to any form of outreach or communication made for purposes that include but are not limited to:

- Recruiting members to join your school’s Key Club

- Promoting a club activity or event to your members,

lieutenant governor, etc.

- Looking for assistance from your school administration,

your club’s sponsoring Kiwanis club, etc.

- Showcasing your club’s achievements

- Many more

As you can see, PR is utilized in many situations that are common

in not just a Key Club setting, but in your everyday life as well. Today

in many Key Clubs, aside from the traditional officer positions, you

may also have a Public Relations Chair, or committee, or something along those lines. In a club, while the

club president, vice-president, and secretary may use more direct communication, the club editor,

webmaster, and public relations officer may use more forms of indirect communication. Regardless, there

are many things to keep in mind.

Public relations involves the promotion and maintenance of your goodwill to others. It is important that you

are consistent and strong with your efforts. Here is a list of people and groups that you should contact and

why.

Club level: The club level should be the group you communicate most with.

- Your members are the ones that make your club possible and it is your responsibility to provide them

with whatever information necessary.

- Your club faculty advisor and sponsoring Kiwanis club are always there to help you and for this

reason you should always be respectful towards your faculty advisor/ Kiwanis advisor, letting him /

her know about your plans and activities.

- And of course you should constantly be recruiting members. While posters may be for club members,

they can also attract prospective members to the club in your school community.

Community level: The community level is extremely important for the development of your club.

- You should aim to work with organizations and not-for-profits in your community. Establish

partnerships and develop relationships with these community organizations. You will be providing

service, bringing in support from your community, and making Key Club a household name.

District level:

- You should keep in touch with your division lieutenant governor. He or she can help you if you have

any questions or problems with your club. If an event requires a larger scale of participation, you can

always look for your lieutenant governor to gather help within the division. Likewise, you can also

keep in touch with your district executive board especially if one or more of the members are from

your division or your home club. This may also provide your club with fresh ideas and projects from

other divisions.

5

Different Mediums of Communication

6

(continued from previous page)

International level:

- Though you may rarely come across international officers, it may be

helpful at times to contact international officers (trustees, vice-

president, and president). They, along with district officers, may help

further establish the legitimacy of your Key Club.

______________________________________________________________________

As you can see, Public Relations is an important element in your

club’s success. However, note that it is not the amount of people

you communicate with but how strong your communication is,

While you build onto your Key Club network, make sure you keep

track of who you are communicating with. It’s never right to leave

someone hanging if they need help.

In having strong communications outreach, it is always helpful to

utilize different forms of public relations. This will help you gather a

larger audience and also allow people to have an option at what

to look at. These mediums include but are not limited to:

o Posters / Flyers

o Newsletters

o Websites

o PA Announcements

o Newspapers

o Electronic mail

o Postal Mail

o Video

o Pins / Stickers / T-Shirts

o Advertisements

o Radio / Television Broadcasts

o Brochures / informational Booklets

o Speaking: Public / Phone

o Many More

With the large amount of communication

mediums, choose wisely which ones you want to

use. Remember that you want to reach out to a

large audience in the most appropriate,

professional, and suitable manner. Again, be

consistent.

Communications Etiquette

7

It is important that you maintain the reputation of Key Club. Remember that your club is in one way

or another representing the entire organization in your community or school. Therefore, you must be

professional with your public relations. Below are some tips for communications etiquette.

ONLINE / EMAIL / WEBSITES / LETTER 1. It’s never wrong to be enthusiastic, but remember that you should be using proper punctuation, capitalization, spelling,

and grammar. Stay away from web language like LOL or OMG.

2. If you are sending out an email, make sure you are sending it from your Key Club email. You do not want to email a

local organization with an email like fairypigs23@gmail.com. Use appropriate salutations.

3. Keep in touch especially after someone has done you a favor. It is a respectful and kind gesture to send a brief

greeting to a person / organization that you haven’t spoken to in a while.

4. Don’t be too aggressive and overwhelming. Make sure that you are not making your audience feel uncomfortable.

Make sure not to carry too much emotional luggage.

5. Maintain a professional tone. It’s your best bet, because remember, what you may want to say may not sound the

same in your writing.

6. While being professional is important, there may be times where you may be asked to refer to someone by their first

name instead of Mr. or Ms. so and so. Be respectful to the other person.

7. Make sure that you provide those you are contacting with a way to contact you.

8. Credit your sources if you are using any, whether it be for images or information.

9. Post information on credible sources and remember not to provide too much contact information. Act intelligently.

10. Keep everything short, sweet, and simple.

POSTERS / ADVERTISEMENTS / MERCHANDISE

1. Avoid overwhelming fonts and too much text. You want the person looking at your poster to get the point

in a small amount of time. But of course, different rules apply to different situations, so act accordingly.

2. If you are promoting something, make sure not to leave your viewer hanging. Provide a way that you can

be reached.

3. Avoid informal or unnecessary word choice. Again, this all goes back to being professional.

4. Try to have a Key Club logo on your posters.

5. This is not required, but try to utilize graphic standards. It’s always a bonus.

6. Make sure that your poster / advertisement / merchandise is visually appealing.

7. Avoid copyright infringement.

SPEAKING 1. Never dominate the discussion. Leave space for others to think and talk.

2. Speak clearly with the appropriate volume

3. Address the person / group in a respectful manner.

4. Make eye contact and be confident.

5. Avoid distracting hand gestures.

6. Don’t speak for too long. Even if your content is amazing, the listener can still get bored.

VIDEO

1. Dress appropriately. Though you do not have to be in business professional attire, dress respectably.

2. Avoid informal language. Remember that this is for Key Club and a professional image should be maintained.

OTHER For more complicated items which include but are not limited to the following – newspapers, television, radio broadcasts –

please consult the appropriate Key Club personnel, your club faculty / Kiwanis advisor.

K E Y C L U B

Join the world’s largest

community service

organization today!

Visit our website!

nydkc.org

keyclub.org

JOIN

US

TODAY!

“Caring – Our Way of Life”

The world’s

largest community

service organization

for high school

students.

Visit us on Facebook.

Visit our district website.

keyclub.org

KEY CLUB: THE WORLD’S LARGEST

COMMUNITYSERVICE ORGANIZATION

FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

JOIN US TODAY!

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

KEY CLUB: THE WORLD’S LARGEST

COMMUNITYSERVICE ORGANIZATION

FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

JOIN US TODAY!

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

Visit us on Facebook.

Visit our website.

Making leadership

look easy since 1925.

M E E T I N G !

DATE:

___________________________

LOCATION:

___________________________

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

HOW DO YOU FEEL?

M E E T I N G !

DATE:

___________________________

LOCATION:

___________________________

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

I ♥ KEY CLUB!

M E E T I N G !

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

DATE: ____________________________________

LOCATION: _______________________________

Join us on Facebook!

Visit our website!

KEY CLUB “Caring – Our Way of Life”

M E E T I N G !

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

DATE: ____________________________________

LOCATION: _______________________________

Join us on Facebook Go to our website

\\

KEY CLUB “Caring – Our Way of Life”

E V E N T !

EVENT:

______________________________

DATE:

______________________________

LOCATION:

______________________________

Visit us on Facebook.

Visit our website.

nydkc.org keyclub.org

EVENT:

______________________________

DATE:

______________________________

LOCATION:

______________________________

Visit us on Facebook.

Visit our website.

nydkc.org keyclub.org

EVENT!!!!

E V E N T !!!!

EVENT:

___________________________

DATE:

___________________________

LOCATION:

___________________________

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

BEAVER 1, BEAVER ALL!

E V E N T !

EVENT: __________________________

DATE: ___________________________

LOCATION: ______________________

nydkc.org I keyclub.org

Resources

20

You can also get free material (brochures,

posters, and other PR related items) from

Key Club International.

You can find these resources on the district

website at nydkc.org as well as on the

international website at keyclub.org.

1. Go to

http://store.kiwanis.org/c-145-

literature.aspx

2. Then click on the item you wish to

receive. For example, if you click on the

Key Club poster, it will look like this:

3. Once you’re ready, you can order it! It

should arrive in a few days! Please note

the limits on each item. Be resourceful

and only order the amount you need.

Need to use official Key Club images? Easy! Go to http://community.kiwanisone.org/media/g/kcimages/default.aspx

Navigate around the website to

find more resources and material.

Don’t know about graphic standards?

Access the Key Club Graphic Standards Manual at:

http://www.keyclub.org/fad/cm/gsm.aspx

Click on: Key Club Graphic Standards Manual

Contact Information

21

Public Relations Committee 2011-2012

Committee Chair

District Secretary Daniel Ivan Lin daniellin.sec@nydkc.org

Committee Members

District Treasurer Emily Gicewicz emilygicewicz.treas@nydkc.org

District Editor Amber Lee amberlee.editor@nydkc.org

District Webmaster Oscar Tan oscartan.tech@nydkc.org

Lieutenant Governor Nickolas Boroda nickolasboroda.ltg@nydkc.org

Daniel Ivan Lin Emily Gicewicz Amber Lee Oscar Tan Nickolas Boroda

This is an official publication of the New York

District Public Relations Committee. © 2011

New York District 2011-2012