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About Public Relations

Public relations (PR) has a heady definition:

It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its public.

In other words, PR deals with the relationship between your organization and the public. It involves your image and the public’s perception of you.

Public relations differs from advertising in that you must pay to advertise. Yet with advertising, you also control the message. Public relations depends on others saying things about your organization.

You can use advertising as part of a public relations campaign to disseminate information that you think will affect your organization’s image. But in the end, what others say and think about you will still determine where you stand in the public’s mind.

Public relations can get personal. Do members of the public feel that you understand your clients’ ethical, social, and cultural concerns, and that you meet your clients’ needs?

How do people view your agency?

  • As helpful?
  • As approachable?
  • As safe?
  • As a place where their information will be kept private?
The answers to these questions will help you determine your current public image. You can use a variety of tactics to change your public image—or to create an image with a public who has never heard of your organization.

Last Update: December 1, 2010 1:34 PM