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Launching a Stars of David Chapter in Your Community
You really need only a small core group of dedicated persons to get the group going, and it won't seem like such an overwhelming task if there are several of you working together at it.
Your group's initial meeting will probably take one of two forms. It may be a meeting to offcially form the group; or if a core group of families has already been formed, the first meeting might include a speaker on a topic chosen to attract potential new members to the group. Here are some things to consider when planning your initial meeting:
FORMALLY ANNOUNCING YOUR GROUP Once you have a name, goals, regular meeting times and a regular contact for information (or most of these), it is time to formally announce your group. Undertake a new round of press releases to those organizations, persons, etc. contacted earlier, as well as contacting the adoption unit of the state office of human services (check for the correct name of this department in your state) and local adoption information services. State your goals, some of your proposed activities, and offer the services of the group to those you are writing (for example, "we offer information, education, and support to Jewish adoptive and prospective adoptive families"). You may also want to contact local service groups in need of a monthly program to talk about adoption, waiting children (and, of course, your group and why they should donate to it). There are many activities a group may undertake, including:
All of these activities are important and valid activities for an adoptive parent support group. Doing only one of these well would make for a successful group. Just don't get overwhelmed by trying to take on too much as your group is beginning to form. Send news of your satellite's activities to our Newsletter Editor. (See listing of national officers.) What are your group members's specific needs? An interest inventory can help you address the needs of the members of your group and to provide programming that will attract and keep members. Your may plan regularly scheduled monthly meetings, holiday celebrations, or some combination of these. You may have separate programming for adults, families and children. Below are some ideas for each group:
Dated material must be distributed very far in advance, therefore it is best to use an undated, general release at first. After your chapter is established, you may want to plan your calendar well in advance and publicize individual meetings/events. SAMPLE GENERAL NEWS RELEASE (remember to double-space your copy) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information: (Your Name and Phone Number)
A local chapter of Stars of David International, Inc.,a Jewish adoption information and support network, is being formed now in the {Your City} area. (Include specific information; e.g., "Based at Temple Israel, 1234 Main Street, Hometown, the chapter will hold its first meeting on January 15, at 7:00 p.m., babysitting service available, for more information please contact {Your Name} at 123-456-7890.") Stars of David is a non-profit organization providing a compassionate network of adoption information, support and education to prospective parents, adoptive families, adult adoptees, birth families, and the Jewish community. Stars of David was founded in 1984. It is a grassroots organization with board members and chapters across the United States and abroad. It is not an adoption agency. For information on the Stars of David National membership list and bulletin, contact Star Tracks, c/o (insert name, address, phone, fax, and email of the Newsletter Editor - see listing of national officers) If you don't want to publish your name, address, and phone number, use the following standard paragraph: Contact:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is publicity? The Doubleday Dictionary defines publicity as
Your goals will be to let people know about the groups and to design and print some materials that can be distributed to the media, the community, and the members. Places to get information on publicity include your public library, local public relations associations (which publish media directories or hold PR seminars for non-profit organizations), and national (Jewish) organizations. Do as much networking as possible within the Jewish community to get the word out about your group and to reach potential members. There are several forms of publicity, including:
PSA's ("public service announcements") are the simplest form of publicity since most of the media are willing to publicize meeting announcements as a public service, hence their name. Use a PSA to announce the formation of your group and later to list meetings and special events. Before sending your PSA, you need to find out who is responsible, what is their deadline, what information do they need, and in what format. Provide the contact with background information about your group: Who, What, Where, When, and Why (you may use the Sample News Release or write your own). Follow-up after the initial contact. Advertising can be expensive, so try to target the audience you especially want to reach. Sometimes personal contact will overcome a policy which would normally cause your PSA to end up in the trashcan. Check the publications in your community for the type of items they print and write your material to fit their criteria. Local publications will often include your meeting announcements in their Calendar section. You can also get free publicity in the Names and Faces and Social columns. Temple bulletins will sometimes run a standard, continuous notice. (Perhaps your chapter is sponsored by a Temple that will also advertise your meetings.) A feature story in a local Jewish publication would be most helpful. Be sure to send a press release to people in the adoption community and organizations that have information and referral. To get the best PR, be sure to thank your advertisers. Don't forget the importance of PR within your own group. A newsletter is an ideal form of communication. Write your own newsletter if possible and remember that national members are entitled to receive the national newsletter as well. A telephone committee is a good idea and/or post cards may be used as meeting reminders. Feature stories require more homework to achieve, but they are the most rewarding. Identify the media outlets which are most likely to tell your story; e.g., the Lifestyles or Family section in a newspaper, or a TV program or radio talk show which does similar topics. Identify the feature editor, producer, or reporter who would decide on doing the story. Contact this person with a specific suggestion for a story. You must have a human interest or news related angle to get coverage. You are most likely to be successful with a piece that has no set date for publication. However, you could tie it to some scheduled event such as National Adoption Month (November) if you allow enough lead time. Supply background information on the subject such as copies of other newspaper or magazine articles and also provide information about your organization. Have people available to be interviewed and photographed. Make the media contact's job as easy as possible to increase your chances of having a story run. One way to get news coverage is to create your own news. Stage a media event to draw attention to your group. The most common event is the press conference. This will only work if you have something very newsworthy to announce. Most likely this would be a response to some unfavorable action by a bureaucracy; e.g., budget cuts. The press conference could also be a positive event if there is some new program or study to announce. Be aware that good news is not always considered "news." Of course, you can almost always get coverage by staging a demonstration, if that is the kind of attention you want. A positive media event can be staged if you keep in mind the needs of the media and provide what they want. Human interest stories with pretty pictures will get covered if it is a slow news day. Kids, animals, action, and color make for pretty pictures that TV and press photographers love. The human interest story that tugs at the heartstrings gets to reporters. A media event is best held on a weekday morning because this allows the reporters and TV crews to make their deadlines easily. Make it easy for the media by holding your event in an easily accessible location and by providing plenty of advance information and a chapter contact to help them get your story told. (PROACTIVE) NEWS COVERAGE News coverage can be proactive or reactive. The former requires some advance groundwork with the news media. Cultivate a relationship with reporters and news directors, editors, etc. That is, anyone who would need an expert in your organization's field. You need to introduce your organization and state your expertise. The media need a person who can be easily reached, who is articulate and is willing to speak on the record. News bureaus often maintain files on different likely news topics so it pays to get your organization listed in as many of these files as possible, e.g. adoption, search and reunion, foster care, abandoned children, foreign adoption, interracial adoption. (REACTIVE) NEWS COVERAGE Another way to get news coverage is to react quickly to breaking news items. The operant word here is "quickly." Again you will have to have some groundwork done. Ideally you will have already established relationships with news directors or reporters. If not, you should at least know who to contact. Give your media contact a brief summary of what you can offer regarding the news item and be sure to tell them how you can be reached. If you succeed in interesting them in an interview, don't try to make a pitch for your group or go into great detail. They are usually interested in a sidebar if it is a newspaper or a short sound bite if it is a TV or radio station. The most you can hope for is that your group will be mentioned. Keeping that in mind, keep your answers to their questions brief and to the point and you may be able to mention your group if it fits naturally into the answer. Realize that the media will use only what they want and discard the rest. You have very little control over what is printed or aired. Investigative articles by print or broadcast media can be used as the vehicle to obtain issue coverage. A tip to a reporter may lead to an expose piece but not necessarily reference to your group. Writers tend to seize upon the sensational and also to look for an individual to blame rather than the entire system. Since you have no control over the finished story and it may not appear as you envisioned it, this form of publicity is pretty much the last resort. However, it may be necessary to resort to investigative articles in order to rouse public opinion to your side in order to get action. This may be desirable even if your group is not identified, if it increases public awareness which in turn would lead people to seek you out. Another way to let people know that your group exists is to establish a speakers bureau and let other organizations know that you have people who will speak to them about your concerns. Many organizations such as JCC's, B'Nai Brith, ORT, Hadassah, Temples, Temple Youth Groups, Jewish Day Schools, and Hebrew Schools, actually seek such presentations. Schools often welcome speakers on adoption, foster care, and the handicapped in their family life classes. Community groups and even unrelated professional groups are often willing to hear your speakers. Finally, don't forget Letters to the Editor, they often lead people to seek you out.
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