As mentioned in my previous post, I spent all last weekend at the Kappa Sigma Michigan District Conclave. This year I presented/facilitated one of the sessions. Thankfully this year it was to one of my strengths, public relations and social media. During the session, it was suggested to compile a list of things that a chapter should do to really make the most of their public relations efforts, so that is what I’ve done. With the help of all of the Brothers who attended the session, and the special guests from our International Headquarters, here are some suggestions for best practices for public relations for chapters.
Have a PR Chair and PR Team:
- A Chairman to coordinate
- A brother for the calendar
- A brother for social media
- A brother for gifts/flowers
Keep a calendar for:
- Birthday of Greek Life Directors
- Birthday of Greek Presidents on campus
- Birthday of key administrators on campus
- Birthday of Brothers and Alumni
- Significant anniversaries of Brothers and Alumni
- National Founding date of each Fraternity and Sorority on campus
- Chapter Founding date of each Fraternity and Sorority on campus
Gifts:
(TIP: to make it even better and more personalized, keep a list of each Sorority’s flower, animal and their colors and make sure you personally deliver these items if at all possible!)
- Give flowers to the Sororities for significant events and dates
- Give flowers to female advisors and administrators on significant events and dates
- Give Birthday cards and work anniversary cards to key faculty and staff
- Bake cookies etc. (or try to) for the Sororities
- Give flowers at the beginning and/or end of each semester
Social Media
- Shout outs for all items on the calendar
- Trivia about the chapter and its brothers
- Promote events
- Promote initiatives
- Promote and share other Kappa Sigma Chapters’ events
- Share out awards (Tip: Break them up to each award is one post)
- Give shouts for:
- High GPAs (Break these up into separate posts)
- Scholarships received (Break these up into separate posts)
- Dean’s List
- Graduation
- Honors and Recognitions
- Participating in philanthropy
- Push out anything from HQ
- Be POSITIVE and PURPOSEFUL
Miscellaneous
- Send and email or even a card to faculty and staff for accomplishments and honors they receive
- Send thank you cards to administrators, advisors, and other key people whenever they attend an event or program.
- Send thank you cards to Fraternities and Sororities who attend your events
- Send a thank you card for an event that the chapter attends, such as a TIPs program, Leadership workshop, etc.
Press Releases
- Send one out before each event and have one consistent person be the contact
- Send one out after each event with results of our program or event with the same contact information
- Utilize both on campus and off campus/community media outlets
Until next time!
Peace, Love and Pandas!
Hello World, Its Me, Brian 