Donor, Fund and Community Foundation Recognition

Local news coverage, websites, Facebook, Twitter and other social media provide many ways to publicize your grant award. Sharing the good news of your Community Foundations grant puts the spotlight on your important work and also can spark the interest of other funders and more investments in community projects.

Media Tips

Think visually: Attach high-resolution photos to your press releases. Avoid group photos or groundbreaking shovel shots. Photos of your work in action are the best way to grab attention. Seize the opportunity for publicity if your event or program is particularly visual – would it be interesting for TV or an online newspaper video?

Determine your audience: Make a list of reporters or editors at local newspapers and assignment editors at radio and TV stations who should receive your release.

Know media deadlines: Weekly newspapers may require your release a week or more in advance of an event.

Keep your release short: Limit your press release to 250 words or fewer, with double spacing, a contact name, phone number, and email address.

Think like an editor: Provide a substantive quote from someone involved in the project. Details matter. Answer the “who, what, when, where, and why” questions. Identify someone to be interviewed if a reporter calls.

Quote example: “This grant from the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley will help our food pantry feed an additional 50 people per month. Food insecurity is a problem in our county, where 11 percent of residents live in poverty.”

Please refer to the grant fund named in your award letter: For example, “The agency/org name received a grant from the Anonymous Fund of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.”

Make it easy for the editor: Your email subject line should be the headline of your press release. Attach a Word file of the press release to the email version.

Your communications contact at CFHV is communications@communityfoundationshv.org