CDA Best Communications Practices

8/7/2019 CDA Best Communications Practices

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By Dana Cronyn, National Communications Director & the Communications Team of Michael Worley, Seamus Campbell & Jim Sheppard

COMMUNCIATIONSbest practices 2010

+ checklist & intro+ press+ new media+ campus publicity


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+ checklist & intro+ press+ new media+ campus publicity

+ Communications Checklist(What every chapters/state should have and use)

c Logo |c 2 Fonts |c Signature Colors |c Letterhead and yer template |

c Website |c Facebook Fanpage |c witter Account |c Extra Credit* Blog, You ube, Flickr |

c Email Banner |c Press Release emplate |c Press List |

+ A Note on Etiquette

As a chapter or Federation o the College Democrats o America, you are a representative o the Democratic Party. Formany students, you will be the rst, and perhaps ormative, contact students will have with the Democratic Party. Reachingout to students, through on campus publicity, in the campus and local press, or online is an exciting and important part o educating and organizing around Democratic causes. Tis exciting task comes with a great deal o responsibility.

In any interactions with the press or ellow students it is important to always beon message.What does this mean? Ask yoursel i your event, press release, and even novelty t-shirts are supporting and advancing the goals o the Democratic

Party. Mastering respect and appropriateness is the rst step to communicating e ectively.

CHECKLIST& INTRODUCTION

Setting yourself up for communciations sucess.

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES


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YOUR IDENTITY

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PUBLICITY Make sure people recognize

your image across the campus,state, and region.

LOGOS

Every organization needs a logo. Te best College Democrats logos combine traditional Democratic imagery (the color blue, donkeys, etc.) with yourcampus, state, or regional identity. Tis can take many di erent orms depending on your pre erences. For example you can include your schoolspopular mascot, school colors, buildings or seal.

Remember, that your logo should be recognizable big or small in color or in black and white. Additionally, read up on your Universitys air use poli-cies be ore you mimic elements o campus. O en, campus symbols and seals will be under very strict copy right protection.

Create an Identity

On campus and around the state its important that people recognize your work through its uni ed visual cues. By using these consistently over timepeople will begin to associate certain colors, onts, and design styles with your organization and its work.

+ Make sure your organization has two signature onts, one a seri the other a sans seri . Use the sans seri as a header, the seri or body text. ry toavoid decorative onts that can look childish and unpro esional (Comic Sans, Curlz).+ Pick speci c colors and hues that will be used on all materials.+ Tis image (logo + onts + colors + message) should be present on everything you do. Tis includes:

Sign in sheets at meetingsOn banners, yers, and quartersheetsOn merchandise: t-shirts, button, stickers

Emails, undraising letters, business cardsWebsites, witter backgrounds, etc.Anything else your organization produces!

MAINE FEDERATION OF COLLEGE DEMS

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF COLLEGE DEMS

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

PENNSYLVANIA FEDERATION OF COLLEGE DEMS


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FLYERSExamples of consistent branding. Repetition

of colors, fonts, logos, and bars of color.

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PUBLICITY

Flyers are an essential component in getting the word out about candidates, rallies, meetings and other importantevents. However, on many campuses, publicity space is limited and o en croweded with dozens o organizationsand corporations competing or the same advertising space. Heres a couple o tips to make you a more compeitivecampus communicator.

Tile Flyers

Using your printer settings or a pro essional printing operation like Kinkos, expand you image to print on multiple

sheets. Ten care ully tack these sheets together, creating your orginal image only larger. (See next page or example.)

Use Zones

Map out the areas on campus that are e ective or advertising. Where are the kiosks, postings walls, and dormato-ries located on your campus? Divide these areas up equally into zones. Te next time you gather members to yer,equally distribute each member to a zone based on where they live. Tis system ensures that members are maximiz-ing time and supplies by covering maximum space with minimal overlapping and retracing o steps.

Design Guidelines

In a per ect world, every College Democrats operation would have ree and unlimited access to a pro essional de-signer or student. I youre not so lucky, not to worry--your yers can still be attractive.

Create a hierarchy o in ormation| Decide all o the crucial in ormation or a yer and choose which in ormationneeds to be displayed more prominently.

Keep it simple| Use your set indentity to determine a simple color and ont scheme.

Use space wisely | You want your yer to be neither too crowded nor too sparce. Make sure that white space is usede ectively to create interest and make sure text and images are o di erent scales.

ake advantage o blacks and whites| While its important to design your posters in color or Facebook & witter,

printing in color can o en be exteremely pricey. I you are going to print in black and white, consider using largeeld o black with reversed type to attract the eye. Tese contracts between big and large, black and white, empty and ull will create visual interest.


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OTHER MARKETING IDEAS

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PUBLICITY Use your creativity and better judgementto present Democratic ideas in new and

exciting ways.

Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is an eye catching and inexpensive way to advertise orevents or elections. Make sure to target high trafc areas on campusand use catchy slogans or obvious visual cues (Obama O). I youre

eeling ambitious, buy spray chalk and create a stencil using an exactokni e and cardboard.

Tabling

In a prominent location on campus, host a day o phonebanking, quarter-sheeting, or publicity stuntery. Tese events can be a great way to nd newmembers, make connections with other groups, and generally establishyoursel as a campus presence.

o encourage others to stop by, try projecting a video, passing out candy and buttons, or having an interactive eature. For example, one CDA chap-ter had a ll-in-the-blank board asking students to write why they supporthealth care. Another, advertised ree buttons in exchange or phone calls.

Publicity Stunts

Publicity stunts are usually big public statements that are designed to getmaximum attention rom those passing by. For example, paint a campuslandmark (make sure thats a tradition rst!) or make a mascot. Even acardboard Barack Obama ( aux Secrety Security optional) can be a bigdraw on campus.

Use your creativity and better judgement to present Democratic ideas innew and exciting ways.


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Well-written press releases are an excellent way or your chapter to receive earned media coverage. Press releases are similar to news stories, providingall o the key acts--who, what, when, where-- or reporters. Teyre intended to alert journalists about upcoming newsworthy events . Possible eventscould include:

+ Student sponsored rallies+ Out o district campaign trips+ A undraiser attended by local elected ofcials

In general, press releases should ollow the ollowing guidelines:

+ Keep the release short, always less than a page+ Use proper ormatting (see example on next page)+ Pick an angle, a particular element o your story that is interesting+ Dont write the story or reporters: tell them they key acts and people and how they can attend or cover the event+ Include interesting quotes rom key participants+ Email releases at least 24 hours prior to the event+ arget your releases to certain outlets based on the storys intended audience+ When possible, time releases or the morning to catch the reporters attention early + When appropriate, ollow up on releases with a call providing more in ormation

I you ever have any questions about a particular press release, do not hesitate to contact Dana or a member o the Communications eam.

Take time to craft tactful pressreleases that put your event in

the best light possible!

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PRESS

PRESS RELEASES


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For Immediate ReleaseOctober 22, 2009

Contact: Dana Cronyn - (269) 290 - 273 0 - [email protected]

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

CONCERNED COLLEGE STUDENTS TO DELIVER MOPS TO REPUBLICANS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, WILL ASK REPUBLICANS TO HELP CLEAN UP THE

MESS THEY MADE OVER LAST 8 YEARS

Watch President Obama Invite Republicans o Grab A Mop And Work With Democrats o Clean Up Teir Mess: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPSxDe-ae3I

Groups o concerned College Democrats will deliver mops to Republican ofces across the country today and tomorrow to ask Republicans to pitchin and help clean up the mess theyve made over the l ast eight years. Recognizing that we are all in this together the President has been hard at work to create jobs, ensure stable and a ordable insurance, and better secure the country. But he has been met by Republicans with knee-jerk oppositionand partisan obstruction to every n ew idea. Last week, the President suggested that rather than simply saying "NO" to e orts to help put the country back on the right track, the GOP should grab a mop and help clean up the mess we're in to move the country orward.

oday and tomorrow the College Democrats o America will ask Republicans to take the Presidents advice: either grab a mop and help clean up themess, or get out o the way.

Te College Democrats o America are the ofcial youth outreach arm o the Democratic National Committee.

HURSDAY, OC OBER 22nd

Mop Delivery to the South B end Republican Party HeadquartersTursday, October 22nd at 7 :00 PMContact: Caitlin Wurm (574) 910-21 48 or [email protected]

4133 South Main StreetSouth Bend, Indiana 46614-2527

FRIDAY, OC OBER 23rd

Mop Delivery to the exas Republican Party HeadquartersFriday, October 23rd at 9:30 AM CDContact: Melessa Rodriguez - (214) 952-0878 or [email protected]

1108 Lavaca, Suite 500Austin, exas 78701

###

ell reporters when they canrelease the in ormation, in mostcases immediate release will apply

Provide contact in o so thereporters can ollow up!

Include in ormativeheadlines and subheadswith every release

Tis is the body o the release.Short but in ormative. Could alsoinclude a quote rom a participant.

Seperately include detailed in or-mation about events to encouragereporters to attend.

Standard ormating!

Standard ormating. ells thereporter the release is over.

PRESS RELEASES

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PRESSAn example press release--DNC

approved!


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Once youve developed a press release, the next step is distributing it to newspaper, television, and radio reporters. This takes a well-maintained press list.

Press lists are essentially the contact information of all of the reporters in your area that could potentialy run a story. Media contacts should include:

+ Reporters from your campus newspaper

+ Reporters from local, state, and appropirate daily newspapers+ Journalists from weekly newspapers or metro newspapers in your area+ Local radio reporters and producers+ Reporters from TV outlets+ Bloggers from state-level political blogs+ Communications directors and press secretaries of other progressive and Democratic organizations

As you develop relationships with reporters and nd new contacts, update the press list. Doing this will ensure maximum coverage, amplifying theeffect of your efforts. With press, its often best to start local with your campus publications. Even this local exposure can be tremendously helpful inadvancing the goals of the Democratic Party.

PRESS LISTS Update your press contacts listconstantly. Google Docs are agreat ally

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PRESS

Sample CDAPress List


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Monitoring the Press

Monitoring your local and campus press is an important part o any College Democrats communications operation. o monitor these outlets, I would sug-gest regularly reading local publications and searching their online homepage or terms like College Democrats reqently. In addition, subscribe to relevantGoogle Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts). Tis service will noti y you when your search terms are posted on major news outlets or on the Internet. Pos-sible Google Alert terms could include the names o your executive board along with your organization name like u s College Democrats.

Letters to the Editor

I you discover an article about the Democratic Party, Democratic ofcials or your campus organization that is incomplete, misleading, or patently alse you asa College Democrat should use your best discretion to write a Letter to the Editor. Most publications will have an online page or email address or L E submis-sions.

+ Clear & concise| Most papers have a L E word limit o 250-500 words.+ Be timely | Submit L Es quickly, pre erable within 48 hours.+ Proper & polite| Be courteous and use an adult voice with proper grammar and punctuation.+ Show, dont tell| Provide multiple examples that will make your case or you.+ Write multiple letters| Aside rom your organizations ofcial L E, encourage College Democrats in your organization to also write letters. Be care ul that

they write only on behal o themselves not the entire organization.+ Always be on message| I you dont have anything positive to say about the Democratic Party, it is innapropriate to vocalize this to the Press.+ Emphasize the student angle| Your voice as a College Democrat is unique. Publications are more likely to print your work because o this unique perspective.Remember who you represent!

Op/Eds

I you eel that a publications article or editorial was particularly egregious, consider contacting the Opinion Page Editor about writing an Editorial. Newspa-pers o en like to show a variety o opinions on their editorial page, an op-ed on behal o the entire organization gives you more space to ully articulate yourargument and helps to legitimize your case.

Te ormating and content will be similar to that o L Es but with an expanded word limit. Individual editors will provide additional guidelines or their spe-ci c editorial page.

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | PRESSMonitor your local and campuspress. Respond when the student

perspective is needed.


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FACEBOOK Two cardinal rules of new me-dia: cross promote & updatefrequently!

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | NEW MEDIA

Facebook Fanpages

As Facebook begins to move away rom Facebook groups we would like to encourage CDA chaptersand Federations to also transition to the newer Facebook anpages.Fanpages are more dynamic, allowinggreater interaction and more varied content than their group counterparts. Message your old group mem-bers that you have made this switch and then begin updating your Fanpage immediately.

Your anpage should look like apro essionaland natural extension o your other communications items.For example, make sure youro cial logo is the de ault image. o encourage users to requently visit your

anpage,consistently updatethe page with a variety o content. Much like your personal acebook pro le,its important to use this as a place tostart conversations. Posting interesting links, Flickr albums, andYou ube videoswill make you an page appear on the news eed o other ans. More posts and the moreinteractions per post will increase your pages prescense on these news eeds. When possible, debut contenton the anpage and add/tag images and videos o your ans rallying, campaign, phonebanking. Peoplealways love to see themselves on Facebook and this will draw trafc to the page.

Facebook Event Promotion

As students, Facebook is a crucial organizing tool. o e ectively market campus events on Facebook it is

important that you invite as many students as possible to Facebook events. Encourage your members to create Friend lists on Facebook . Tese lists will allow members to invite all o their relevant riends with oneclick rather than having members sort through their hundreds o riends or every event.

In the days prior to an event, make members change their pro le picture to your events fyer. As memberspost on riends wall, comment on photos, and tag pictures, your event yer will begin to spread across theFacebook community.

Once youve posted an event or event in ormation to your Facebook anpage,encourage members toshare that item. Sharing is one o the three options available on anpage posts, the other options beingcomment and like. Sharing means the post will appear on a users personal news eed. When multiplemembers (even just a hand ul) share the same item it is more likely to appear in mutual riends news-

eeds. Tis is a surprisingly e ective and easy way to populate a message.

The CDA Facebook fanpage has a profes-sional default image and highlights other CDA social media.

Also, the updates highlight events and pho-tos and have prompted fan interaction.


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TWITTER

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | NEW MEDIAUse Twitter to spread information

and start conversations.

witter has a reputation or being a glori ed status update. However, when used e ectively, witter can be a great way to share links, promote what you are do-ing, and network with other College Democrats in a very public way.Te best advice to those chapters and Federations without a witter account: start one today! With requent updates, you will increase ollowers and learn the ropes quickly.

WEE |An individual status updates is that is less than 140 characters long.

NEWSFEED |Te home eed that displays all o the weets o those you ollow in

real time.FOLLOWING |Re ers to subscribing to the tweets o others. Te tweets o thoseyou choose to ollow will appear in your news eed.

FOLLOWERS |Tose who choose to display your updates in their news eed.Youwant to maximize this number.

@ WEE S |By typing the @ symbol ollowed by a users name, you are able tolink to them on witter and they can see these links.

RE- WEE S (R ) |witter method o orwarding a tweet to others. Tis is acommon currency on witter. I another witter user has tweeted a message youwould like to orward, tweet: R @Nameo User Te message that they origi-nally send out.

HASH AGS |Tese are used as keywords to track certain topics on witter. ocreate a hashtag simply type a # symbol be ore the topic. Previous used by CDAinclude #students4re orm which was used in any tweet about students andhealth care.

DIREC MESSAGES |Personal and private messages rom one user to anotherthat are also limited to 140 characters. o send a DM type d @usersname in thetweet box just like you would any other update. Note: DMs can only be sent topeople who ollow you.

1 | This area shows how many people you follow and howmany are following you.2 | CDAs background showcases other social media3 | The pro le photos of those CDA follows4 | A RT of a message from the CDABlack Caucus (RT @

CDABlackCaucus)5 | A hashtag (#MASen) that tracks all of the stories aboutthe Mass. Senate Race

1

2 3

4

5

1


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TWITTER Bonus Twitter tips!


HOW O GAIN FOLLOWERS |o gain ollowers begin by ollowing all relevant andidealogically similar organizations. Tese can include other chapters, Federations,OFA outposts, Senators and Representatives, US Departments, State Parties, newspersonalities, and national organizations like the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC.

In addition to ollowing others, constant updates with lots o R S and @ weets willhelp direct more trafc to your account and gain the attention o other users.

Also, be sure to thank new ollowers and those who R your messages by sendingthem personalized DMs. Tis builds relationships and shows youre monitoring youraccount.

BACKGROUNDS & IMAGES |Many pro essional organizations and groups use theirwitter background and color scheme to highlight their website and other social

media tools. Playing around with the settings o your account can set it apart andadvance your other online presences.

LINK SHOR ENERS |Because witter limits you to 140 characters, many standardURL links are simply too long. Many services like bit.ly or Hootsuite will shrink theselinks to save characters. Some also can track home many people clink on your links,showing which items are most popular and e ective.

HOO SUI E & WEE DECK |As you become a more advanced witter user, con-sider to switching to one o these witter services. Both programs allow you to man-age multiple witter accounts, schedule tweets in advance, track key words, shortenlinks, and ollow your witter stats all in one place. Since these eatures can be a bitoverwhelming, many o these programs come with their own How to guides. Excellent Twitter background examples from

the University of Michigan College Dems(@umichdems) & American University CollegeDems (@aucollegedems)


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Having a website is crucial or any CDA chapter or Federation. Your homepage is your public ace and should provide all o the in ormation and resources aprospective student, donor, adviser, or active members should need.

With that being said, creating and maintaining a website is o en a difcult task that requires a air amount o techincal knowledge.

When deciding to create a website, there are questions that should be considered rst:

+ Is there someone (pre erably, a member) that understands web programming and design and is willing to serve as a webmaster?+ How o en will the website be updated?+ What type o content do we expect to have updated regularly (videos, image galleries, internship listings, event listings)?+ What kind o content will most use ul to active members? Donors? Prospective members?+ How much would a site cost to design?+ Does my school give webspace or student organizations?+ I we decide on buying our own domain, what would a good one be? Is it available and how much would it cost?+ Do we want to centralize all o our tools into the site (mailing lists, blogs, event calendars, photo galleries)?+ I we get our own website, will we have it strictly be H ML or will we use a Content Management System?

WEBSITE

COMMUNICATIONS BEST PRACTICES | NEW MEDIAStarting and maintaining a web-site can be a dif cult task. Make

sure youre up to it!

The Columbia University, Baylor, and Princeton College Democrats all have well-run websites. Check them out for inspiration!


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A er considering all o these actors and locating a quali ed webmaster and content manager, its time to get the ball rolling. I your school o ers webspaceand you choose to use that, you should contact your schools web administrator. However, i you choose to get your own website, a good and low-cost site tobuy the domain and web hosting is HostMonter.com.

Next, you should nd or create a webpage template. You can create your own or download templates or a low cost or even ree rom a number o places onthe web. A er your template and domain are established, its time to develop and hierarchy that best presents the content o your organization. For example,a typical sites hierarchy could look like:

WEBSITE Organizing your website.


Also, make sure to roll out your website with a bang. Promote it on your schools website, acrossmultiple listservs, and o course on Facebook and witter. Its important that all o your contactsknow that this is the place they can turn to or updated in ormation.

+ Home+ A bout Us Executi ve Board Constitution Contact Us+ E vents Ca lendar Past E vents+ Media Hu b Press Re leases Media Mentions

P hotos Videos+ Connect wit h Us T witter Face boo k + Store+ A lumni Create A lumni Prof le W here are t he y no w?+ Lin k s State Federation Co l lege Democrats o America Democratic Nationa l Committee

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