Publicity
Getting publicity for your team is a great way to obtain funds. Without publicity, the community will not know of the team’s advancement to Global Finals and, therefore, will not know that there is a financial need. Let them know about your team promptly, and let the community develop a sense of pride in the team.
Contact the publicity person from your school district or one of your publicity-minded parents and ask them if they would contact your newspapers/TV stations right away!
- Get publicity out ASAP! Newspapers and TV stations do not like to report on week-old news. To help you with your publicity efforts, a press release template is available from the Global Finals website.
- Write the article for media outlets. Newspaper reporters and TV news people are very busy people. They will be more likely to use (and sometimes edit) pre-written material than something they have to create themselves. They are less likely to do an article or read an announcement on the news if they have to write it themselves. If you have a hard time explaining Destination Imagination in 25 words or less, just think what it is like for them.
- Point out in your news release that the team needs contributions and let them know to whom and where they can send donations. Let them know to whom the check should be payable. If your team is going to have a garage sale, car wash or sell their time to raise money, say so in the article (with a person and a phone number to call). Newspapers and TV stations will only pay attention to stories that are presented like proper news releases and have contact persons listed at the bottom.
