NATSO Foundation

Press Kit

The NATSO Foundation - Drive to Save Lives

Media and Community Timeline and Checklist

Eight Weeks Before Event

Contact List: Formulate a list of businesses, churches, schools, civic organizations, etc. in your area that you can invite to participate in your event. Over the last six years nearly 40 percent of all donors at NATSO Foundation-sponsored blood drives came from local communities, so this is a population that should not be overlooked. Neighboring businesses and groups that regularly visit your travel plaza and organizations that your sales staff is targeting are ideal to contact.

Seven Weeks Before Event

Media List: Develop a media list consisting of local press including newspapers, television, magazines, and radio. For each publication or station you will need the news contact name, address, telephone and fax number. You will be using this list in weeks to come. The NATSO Foundation can help you in developing your media list, and your media contacts should be added to The NATSO Foundation’s master list of those to receive material from our office.

Marquee Messages: You may want to start promoting your Drive to Save Lives event on the marquee portion of your outdoor sign. This is an important and highly visible tool to let passersby know about the Drive to Save Lives.

Send Out Letters: We provide a sample solicitation/invitation letter on this page to help you notify your targeted organizations (fleets, regular customers, etc.) about your Drive to Save Lives event. You should send a similar letter on your travel plaza letterhead asking them to participate and letting them know that someone will be following up soon.

Advertising/Public Service Announcement: If you are currently advertising in the local newspaper or with a local radio station, or have in the recent past, it would be a good idea to contact your sales representative at this point and let him or her know what you are planning. Because this is a community service event, and because you have been an advertiser, it is quite possible that they would be willing to donate free advertising for your event. The NATSO Foundation can give you a prerecorded public service announcement or with a PSA script that can be read on your local radio stations. You might even suggest a live remote by a radio station during the event. Also, The NATSO Foundation has collaborated with the American Red Cross to produce posters that may be used around your community to advertise your drive. Contact our office for more details.

Six Weeks Before Event

Front Desk Display: Be sure to give the same information to the travel plaza employees so they can answer questions about the event. They could also receive calls from customers and members of the community wanting information about the event.

You can also develop your own collateral materials to meet the specific needs of your event. We will provide Drive to Save Lives logo sheets to travel plazas that schedule blood drives. Please note that the American Red Cross has guidelines regarding the use of their logo. If you have any questions, please consult your local chapter.

Follow-Up: Follow up on the solicitation letters/invitations you sent to prospective participating organizations. If they agree to participate, you will want to follow up with a sign-up sheet for their use. Presentations by blood collection agency representatives are possible and might be helpful as well.

Five Weeks Before Event

Press Releases: In this guide is a fill-in-the-blank sample press release that you can use when you write a press release on your event. If you need help writing it, contact The NATSO Foundation or your local blood collection agency’s public relations officer. You should print the press release on your travel plaza’s letterhead and mail it to your entire media list.

It is important that you get the press releases to the media in enough time for them to gain interest, conduct an interview, write the story and publish it before your event.

The NATSO Foundation will also distribute press releases announcing the Drive to Save Lives from a national perspective and include a schedule of dates and times. This release is intended as a supplement to, not a replacement for, your own release.

Four Weeks Before Event

Celebrities: Send letters inviting any local celebrities or high profile, well-respected people in the community to come to your event. If you get a commitment, you can use their name to get additional media attention. Examples include local television personalities, city council members and sports figures.

Three Weeks Before Event

Media Calls: By this point the press releases should have reached your media contacts. If you make follow-up calls, have a copy of the press release available to fax, as some reporters will have misplaced the original information. Send a press release and an invitation to attend.

Two Weeks Before Event

Review: Meet with all departments involved and review all aspects of the event to be sure you have not overlooked anything. You should address any concerns immediately to make sure your event runs smoothly.

One Week Before Event

Media Advisory: About three days before your event you can issue a media advisory to the local press about your event. You will need to refer to your media list again.

After the Event

Post Event Press Release: Also following your event you should distribute a post-event press release. Again, The NATSO Foundation will distribute information from a national perspective to trade press, national media and selected local media outlets as a supplement. Feel free to call The NATSO Foundation for updated statistics from a national perspective that can be incorporated into your release.

Take a few minutes to look at the photographs taken at the event and choose a couple to send to your local media and to The NATSO Foundation. Please make sure that these are extra copies, so we may retain them.

Thank You Letters: You should mail a personal letter of thanks to everyone outside your travel plaza who made your event a success. You should also send this letter to any organizations that participated in your event. This is a good time to give them the statistics on how successful your event was.

Resources:

Sample Letter of Invitation
Sample Press Release
Sample City Hall Proclamation Request