The Relation between a Public Relation Agency and an NGO

by Robert Jones PR and Marketing Agency in Sussex| Aneela Rose PR

The past few years have seen a huge growth in the number of NGOs. The change has been so fast that these organisations operating at different national, state and international levels have become influential agents of change. There are many ways in which you can differentiate between an NGO and a business and corporate organisation. The primary point of difference is that of ownership. The second difference is that an NGO is driven by a value motive while a commercial organisation is driven by the motive of profit.

Now, when we talk of the relationship between an NGO and a PR agency then it is important for you to know that this relationship is a very interesting one. It is true that the connection between a PR agency and an NGO are not heard together. However, the first step taken by an NGO is to develop an effective campaign. And the promotion of the campaign involves communication expertise right from the very beginning.

Social marketing relates to the tools that are used for marketing after closely studying individual behaviour in order to promote a cause. Today, the platforms of social media are led too much by the audience and therefore PR agencies relinquish control of this media by giving away just as much information is required to be generated.

To cite an example the campaign named Vision Week had been a great success recently. It was organised from 12^th to 16^th May this year. This campaign was based solely on Twitter and Facebook, two of the most powerful social media platforms of the 21^st century. People were asked to post their image on these two platforms and the followers who wear spectacles pledged to contribute 1 pound to the charity. The aim was to raise around 2000 pounds from the campaign that would be used to cast away poverty by improving eye care access in the less developed countries like Burkino Faso and Ethiopia.

This campaign was organized by the popular international NGO known as Vision Aid Overseas. This NGO had taken the help of a PR agency for this purpose. The agency had performed the job of social media marketing by making people aware and encouraging them to take part in the campaign in the best possible way. The development director Jeremy Jalie of this NGO believed that the campaign was a great one as anyone could have taken part in it. Also, the campaign had been promoted by the public relation agency involved in the most perfect manner.

The relation between an NGO and a PR agency therefore is an unavoidable one. The modern day public relation agency knows all the tricks and techniques to engage a large number of audience and getting them involved in any campaign that is organised by an NGO. However, while working for an NGO, the work of a public relation agency just does not end here. It involves a lot of other work that goes a long way in making any campaign or project highly successful.