Posts Tagged skills
Nonprofits use social responsibility, stewardship, and civic engagement to have successful PR.
Posted by jbarri6 in Uncategorized on March 11, 2013
Businesses can really learn a thing or two about public relations from nonprofits. And businesses really do learn from the nonprofit I’m working with this semester- The Baton Rouge Area Chamber. BRAC takes these three ideas and incorporates them into their everyday communication.
These ideas seem lofty at first, but I’ll break them down for you, and show you how BRAC is successful at using them.
What is social responsibility?
According to Investopedia.com, social responsibility is, “The idea that companies should embrace its social responsibilities and not be solely focused on maximizing profits.”
BRAC uses its investors not to make money for itself, but for the whole Baton Rouge community through promoting the nine parish area it represents to prospective employees and businesses.
Recently, BRAC has not only promoted the economic resources of Baton Rouge, but also its human resources. The Creative Capital of the South campaign shows just what makes this region special- the people. Through this program, you can find events, information about the area and ways you can get involved in creative projects.
This is social responsibility- providing opportunities to people who can benefit from them.
Okay, I get that. Now how about stewardship?
I once had a PR professor that said, “Stewardship is the key to successful public relations.”
I think that’s a true statement, and BRAC puts it in action. BRAC continues to feed information into the community, and maintains two-way communication between themselves and their public. This communication is what will make the Creative Capital of the South campaign successful. BRAC is working on building the relationships it has with the public- a major part of stewardship.
Civic Engagement- how does BRAC get involved?
BRAC created a group called the FuturePAC. With a fun name and lots of ideas, this political action committee finds ways to financially support candidates who care about the economy of Baton Rouge. BRAC has found a way to be involved civically while still supporting their goals as an organization.
I’ve learned a lot from BRAC’s use of these public relations skills, and I think businesses could create better public relations by using stewardship, civic engagement and social responsibility more often.
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