American Legion Auxiliary
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Public Relations
 Kathy Berg, Chairman
email address: roxxykatt@aol.com

PR Handbook I            PR Handbook II            Writing Tips            PR Brochure            PERA Guide

What is Public Relations?
Ask five people of their definition of "public relations" and, chances are, you’ll get five different answers. Many people think public relations and publicity are synonymous. But publicity is just one of the facets of an overall public relations operations. Public Relations include much more.

Since the term means different things to different people, let us define public relations, as it pertains to The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary, as the planned effort to create understanding, favor and support for the Legion’s programs and objectives among the members, the media and the general public.

In essence, the function of public relations is to build and to maintain a positive image of The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary. Public relations includes anticipating benefits for the community and The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary that might result from Legion programs, getting support for these programs, planning them, publicizing them and evaluating them. The key element is that the programs service the public interest.

Why do we need Public Relations?
Every organization has a particular image. It is based on the charter, the integrity and the total performance of the organization. It consists of every contact that the organization has with its various publics. It is a composite of:
                                        The Organization's history in dealing with people
                                        Internal attitude toward members
                                        Eternal attitude toward community responsibility and involvement
                                        News releases and other dealings with the media
                                        Institutional advertising

The familiarity and reputation of its name are two of the greatest assets of any organization. The prominence of a name indicates success because a good reputation rarely can be won without true accomplishments.

An organization’s image determines the "climate" of receptivity toward all its messages - making them more or less effective than their intrinsic merit would warrant. In other words, people will respond favorable to what you have to say if you have a good image. They will respond negatively to the same message if you have a bad image. Therefore, it is essential that The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary have a good image to accomplish its programs and objectives. That is why we need good public relations.

What is the image of The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary?
Overall, the image of the Legion is very good.

A Service Organization Its members served our country during times of war. Now they serve their comrades who need help, and they serve their communities. They also continue to serve their country by advocating and supporting policies and programs that preserve America’s independence and freedoms. Thus, The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary meets the requirements of serving the public interest. It has been successful over the years in its service programs because the Legion has been able to maintain a large membership with many volunteers who raise money and accumulate resources for thousands of worthwhile projects. The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary is a very large organization that means different things to different people, depending on the extent of contact they have had with the Legion - either personally or through the media. Depending on their personal experiences and what they read and hear about The American Legion, people have different perceptions. To some, the Legion is the nation’s largest veterans organization dedicated to serving and protecting the rights of all veterans; To others it is noted for its numerous volunteer community efforts in various Americanism and Children and Youth programs. The social aspects of the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary help to develop camaraderie and facilitate the planning and execution of the volunteer service programs, and these should be emphasized.

Who is Responsible?
Every Legionnaire and Auxiliary member is involved in public relations. Everything an individual member or a post or unit does says something about The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary to someone. But the Post and Unit PR Officer has the primary responsibility for planning, organizing and executing a public relations program. As Unit PR Officer, you must be the eyes, ears and voice of the Unit. As Unit PR Officer, you must know who to get the word out to the members and how and when to get information to contacts in radio, television and the newspapers. Next to the Unit President and Secretary, the PR Officer should be the most knowledgeable person about the Unit activities and operation. As Unit PR Officer, you should be included in the planning of all programs and kept advised of everything the Unit and its officials are involved in that might be newsworthy - good or bad. As Unit PR Officer, you must be able to stand back and look a Unit and its activities, as would a journalist, a prospective member or the general public. The Unit PR Officer must constantly ask questions:
        What should they know about the American Legion Auxiliary?
        What should be important for them to know about  a particular youth program, a patriotic holiday service or some other activity?
        How can the Unit best communicate with people who should know and care about these programs?

Necessary Skills
As Unit PR Officer, you should have better than average communication skills. As Unit PR Officer, you should be able to write and speak clearly and concisely and be capable of establishing a good working relationship with news people. Someone in this position must understand their requirements and limitations, and members of the media should learn to count on the Unit PR Officer as a reliable source of information. So, while every Auxiliary member should help spread the word about the good thing a unit and its members do, the Unit PR Officer has the job of establishing a comprehensive program to collect and distribute information to the people who should have it. The selection of the officer is critical. The PR Officer’s effectiveness could make the difference between a really outstanding Unit operation and a mediocre one. Remember that everything the Unit does requires effective communication - both internally and externally. After the Unit President has selected the PR Officer, the Unit President should provide the essential tools to do the job. These include:

          - A computer, word processor or typewriter, stationary, stamps, envelopes, a dictionary and a handbook on English language usage.        
          - A filing cabinet would be useful to keep news releases, publications and reference materials.
         - A camera is an asset that can save money if the PR Officer knows how to use it. Otherwise, the Unit PR Officer must rely on a member who is an amateur photographer to take pictures of Unit activities. As a last resort, the PR Officer may use a commercial photographer.

How is Public Relations done?
Good Public Relations begin with the Unit President establishing policies and practices that are ethical, honest and in keeping with the public interest. Then the PR Officer can take those policies and practices to the public for acclaim, understanding and, if need be, for clarifying any misconceptions.

The Unit PR Officer is expected to provide four basic services:

  1. Advice and counsel - The PR Officer should advise Unit officers of the PR impact policy decisions will have on the media, on the community and on the members.
  2. Communications service - encompasses the total process of letting the members and the public know via newsletter, booklets, speeches, news media, good citizenship, example and other means.
  3. Public Relations research - means identifying, evaluating and communicating to the Unit leaders and Unit member’s information of community or world events that would help the Unit manage it affairs better.
  4. Public relations promotions - includes a variety of programs and activities designed to gain acceptance for the Unit among members within the community.

Information is Essential!
 To be able to provide these services effetely, the PR Officer must first establish ways to find out what is going on in the Unit. For example:
        What events are being planned for what dates?
        Which important meetings are coming up?
        Is the sports schedule set?
        Who are the committee chairs and when do they meet?
        For which holidays does the Unit provide special reconciliation, or other participation?

Obviously, the PR Officer has to know what is going on before she can tell anyone else about it. Not only does the PR Officer have to know what is going on; this person has to find out far enough in advance to prepare an effective public relations plan.

Developing a Public Relations Plan:
  1. Research-Listening - Have you really listened to the people in your community? What are their positions on the Unit and its programs? Don’t assume that because you believe in The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary that everyone else will, too.
  2. Planning and Decision-Making - Now that you have a good idea of how you are perceived, you can develop a logical, consistent plan to either maintain or improve your image.
  3. Communication - Action - Here’s where you put your ideas into effect, telling your story to the community according to your plan.
  4. Evaluation - Was your efforts successful? The evaluation effort should begin with the planning process and continue through the action phase - a continual effort to keep abreast of things in order to modify your goals or programs if necessary.

Basic research can provide an objective look at ourselves, so we can know ourselves better. It can reveal potential trouble spots before they create serious image problems. And it can increase the effectiveness of your internal and external communications. You will know what to say, how to say it, and to whom you should say it. Meetings, patriotic holidays, sports events, dates for election of officers, social events, blood drives, school medal award dates, Girls State, and other potentially newsworthy activities should be placed on the planning calendar. This gives the PR Officer a look ahead. It tells her when she must prepare news releases, make phone calls to news people, arrange for photography and do other things to support an event. The next step then is designing the program you are going to use. To do this properly, you need to have input from all that will be charged with carrying it out. A well-planned program should be: 
                Sincere
                In keeping with purpose of the American Legion Auxiliary
                Firm and positive in its approach and appeals
                Comprehensive
                Continuous in its application
                Clear containing simple messages
                Beneficial to both Legion and the community 

The plan must consider the money available to accomplish what you set out to do. The most effect public relations plan ever designed is worthless unless you’re willing to spend the money necessary to see that it meets its goals. We’ve been talking about the four planning steps as if each comes in it turn. But building and maintaining a positive image of The American Legion and The American Legion Auxiliary does not always follow the same sequence. You always should be listening to members and the community, developing new plans for new programs and putting those plans into action. And you must always evaluate, during the listening stage you are, in effect, evaluating what has been done before.

While going through all of these phases, remember that there are no overnight public relations miracles. Good Public Relations takes continuous effort.

 

 

 

 

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Send mail to secretary@walegion-aux.org with questions or comments.
Last modified: 09/21/11