Public Relations for Non-Profit Organizations

This is an elective course in nonprofit public relations, designed for students interested in entering the nonprofit communications field. It focuses on research; identification of key constituents and other strategic stakeholders; donor relations; membership recruitment, retention and relationship building; development and fundraising; communications strategy and messaging; earned media planning and tactics; and theoretical and ethical aspects of the nonprofit public relations practice.

Prerequisite: JOUR 291

Course Syllabus [pdf]

Download the course syllabus for full details about expectations, readings, assignments and more.

Learning Objectives/Outcomes

After passing JOUR 333, all students should be able to

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of public relations, specifically nonprofit constituent communications
2. Articulate the principles and theory of basic communications and apply that understanding to an organization’s strategic communications efforts
3. Identify a variety of key publics and stakeholders and understand how they are similar and different
4. Apply basic research methods and analyze the findings
5. Integrate strategy into communications programs to target appropriate audiences
6. Identify appropriate channels for message distribution
7. Demonstrate that comprehensive, cohesive messaging and design can advance an organization’s strategic plan and enhance and elevate its image and reputation
8. Demonstrate the ability to use language to enhance audience perception of an organization

All learning outcomes are equivalent to those in the face-to-face version of this class.