Tell your local newspaper about your Darts Marathon fundraising challenge
Local newspapers love good news stories, so telling your local newspaper about your fundraising challenge is a great way to drum up local interest.
By sharing your experience with local news, you might inspire others to do similar fundraising challenges – and it could even drive more donations.
It only takes a short amount of time to pitch to local newspapers if you take the following steps:
- Write a short list of local outlets – think about your local radio stations, newspapers and websites. You might find some outlets on https://www.localnewsmap.co.uk/ or by doing a quick search.
- Download the press release template, fill in the blanks about your challenge, team and why you’re taking part, and gather together any photos you have that could be used in an article.
- Pick an appropriate time to send your press release out. We recommend sending it a week before you want it published so journalists have time to review the request and chat to you. You will want to think about whether you want to share your story ahead of your challenge – which can drive interest and donations – or if you’d prefer to share a roundup of the event after it takes place – which shows positive action and promotes the cause.
- On the websites of the local outlets choose, you should find a way to submit a story through a link, often in the footer or sidebar and usually called something like ‘submit a story’. If you can’t find that, you might find contact details on the about us page.
- Submit your story via the form or email. If you’re sending it via email, we recommend copying and pasting the press release copy directly into the email and letting them know you can send photos on request, rather than sending attachments. Make sure you share your name and phone number so the journalist can chat to you once they’ve read your release.
- If an outlet doesn’t reply, don’t push them for an answer – sometimes there will be other stories that have to take priority. If you want to follow up, only do so via email a maximum of one time, and at least 72 hours after your first email.
Finally, if you do successfully place your story in a local outlet, please share with us!
