Club & District Officers Handbook

North Drive Ruritan Club will hold a chicken barbecue , Saturday, June 10 , at the Ballpark to raise money for a local girl who needs a heart operation . After you’ve written the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of the news release, use the second and third paragraph for details, such as how many volunteers will be working the event, how many hours of volunteer time your club members have invested in this project, or additional details about the event: More than 20 members of the North Drive Ruritan Club will prepare 1,000 pounds of barbecue chicken to raise money for Joan Smith. Smith is a fourth grade student at County Elementary School who needs $5,000 for an operation to correct a birth defect in her heart. End your news release with some details about your club’s recent activities, prominent members, meeting time and location, or information about the Ruritan organization. Last winter, the North Drive Ruritan Club raised nearly $8,000 for the town library by holding pancake breakfasts. North Drive Ru ritan Club is part of Ruritan National, an orga nization dedicated to improving communities across America through volunteer service. North Drive Ruritan Club meets the first Tues day of each month at the Fire Station. For more information about Ruritan membership contact Club President John Jones at (555) 555-5555. End your news release with the mark # # # centered on the page. This tells the reporter that your news release is finished. Don’t be disappointed if your news release isn’t published. Many times a story will be put on hold if other news occurs. Newspapers are constantly faced with a limited amount of space to report the happenings of your community. If your news release is not published before the event, send the press release to the media again, just after the event, but include details about what happened that day ( see the bold text ):

North Drive Ruritan Club held a chicken barbecue, Saturday, June 10, at the Ballpark to raise money for a local girl who needs a heart operation. More than 20 members of the North Drive Ruritan Club prepared 1,000 pounds of barbecue chicken to raise money for Joan Smith. Smith is a fourth grade student at County Elementary School who needed $5,000 for an operation to correct a birth defect in her heart. It is estimated that more than 300 people showed up for the event. The fundraiser was so successful that North Drive Ruritan Club exceeded their goal by $500. Although the club’s supply of chicken sold out by 3 p.m., many people at the event contributed donations anyway. Last winter, the North Drive Ruritan Club raised nearly $8,000 for the town library by holding pancake breakfasts. North Drive Ru ritan Club is part of Ruritan National, an orga nization dedicated to improving communities across America through volunteer service. North Drive Ruritan Club meets the first Tues day of each month at the Fire Station. For more information about Ruritan membership contact Club President John Jones at (555) 555-5555. A Little Consideration Goes A Long Way Always include additional information with your news release, such as the “This Is Ruritan” brochure, the “Ruritan Is...” card, or your club’s own brochure. Also include a list of current club officers with your news release. The more information you can provide to the media in abbreviated form, such as one page lists of club activities and prominent members, the better story they will be able to write. If a reporter has to stop and research too much additional information to make the article complete, the chances are greater that your news release will end up in the garbage instead of tomorrow’s headlines. If you have the opportunity to meet the reporter or editor, make sure you mention what your club has done for the community recently. Use the same techniques for selling your Ruritan message to the press as you would for any other person in the community. Also, consider inviting this person to your next club meeting. Your future news releases benefit greatly if the editor or reporter has some personal involvement or familiarity with your club. Remember that all media operate under con stant deadline pressure. Take the time to find out

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Revised 8/2023