Bridging the Gaps

More and more, the administrative side of the media sees relationships with and support of not-for-profits as an entree to better relationships with the organizations' corporate supporters. For example, in the '80s, insurance companies, hospitals, and clinics were infrequent local television advertisers. If those companies could be encouraged to participate in a "public service" program (like "Beautiful Babies,") and the program was successful in bringing them increased awareness, one critical step in new business prospecting was accomplished. It's just another indication of the fact that "the press," defined as media, is business. Yet, this fact has led to the first regular coverage of the community sector in The Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ).

Good News/Good Deeds spoke to the PSBJ about its community sector coverage. One way the PSBJ looks at the business of the community sector is in a column by Deborah Prinzing. Prinzing, a journalist by training who became a not-for-profit executive then returned to reporting, began writing two columns per month for the weekly publication in June 1997. The column was initiated following the PSBJ's success in creating two corporate citizenship supplements in 1996 and 1997. Those supplements convinced the PSBJ that there are a great many not-for-profits and a great number of corporations who want exposure in the context of their service to the community. With not-for-profits comprising the third leg of the economy, it was also apparent that the PSBJ had a "significant niche to fill," Prinzing said.

The focus of her columns is two-fold. The majority deal with innovative ways that businesses and not-for-profits "intersect." That usually means examining cause-marketing efforts but also increasingly businesses' involvement in welfare-to-work programs. A second area of emphasis is to explore how not-for-profits are increasingly operating like businesses. For example, economic pressures are forcing not-for-profits to make market-driven decisions such as merging operations with other not-for-profits. The column does not actually cover not-for-profit programs or services.

Prinzing is inundated by nonprofits' response to her efforts. She receives 200 pieces of mail (including e-mail and voice mail) per month. Not-for-profits "think I'm there to help them get publicity," Prinzing said. But at only 24 columns per year, she added, "I can't cover any nonprofit more than once."

Prinzing believes coverage of the community sector "needs to be a beat" because "too many people want to share their news." Short of that, the only way not-for-profits can get improved news coverage is to pressure media outlets to "get newsroom culture to change," she said.