Making Moments Matter: How Nonprofits can Harness the Power of Earned Media

Turning Media Moments into Long-Term Engagement

Conference presentation, delivered by Jessica Bryant, Head of Media, Communications, Brand & PR, Save the Children Canada

You don't need a deep background in journalism or media strategy to use earned media to advance your organization's fundraising, advocacy, and brand awareness goals. The key is understanding how media can help you leverage the work you're already doing and then being prepared to act when opportunities arise.

Earned media can generate trusted, long-term engagement with audiences because people often turn to third-party sources for information. It can raise awareness, build credibility and authenticity, and continue driving attention long after the original interview or story. It is also cost-efficient because you're not paying for the media placement itself; you're investing your time and resources in understanding what makes your organization newsworthy and building relationships with journalists.

Save the Children Canada's Media Journey

When I joined Save the Children Canada in 2017, the organization had a huge global brand but very little brand awareness in Canada. We hadn't invested significantly in brand, fundraising, or marketing, and approximately 95% of our funding came from one source—the Government of Canada. People didn't necessarily know our name, what we did, or who we were. I had a very small team of two people overseeing communications, PR, the website, social media, and media.

We started with research to understand what Canadians cared about, what issues they wanted to support, and where those interests aligned with our work. The research showed that Canadians cared about supporting children in crisis, so we focused our brand positioning around becoming the go-to organization for Canadians who wanted to support children in crisis. From 2017 to 2020, we focused on building that position through earned media, becoming a thought leader and a reliable source for journalists covering children in crisis.

Media moves quickly, so you have to be ready with spokespeople, messaging, and a clear understanding of how you can respond to an opportunity. We prioritized broadcast media because we knew we could achieve significant reach through major broadcasters. From 2021 to 2023, while still operating with a team of three, we focused on our stories and relationships with journalists and became the number-two share of voice among our competitors and peers in the Canadian media space. At the end of 2023, we hired a full-time media manager who was able to build on that groundwork, and Save the Children Canada became the number-one share of voice in the Canadian media market.

Today, we've started diversifying beyond our core focus on children in crisis and reaching more niche media audiences. We've generated nearly 5,500 earned media mentions across online, print, and broadcast, with a reported reach of 2.1 billion and an almost $20 million equivalent media value. We've also increased brand trust by 12%. Those results have helped demonstrate the broader value of the investment in earned media.

Turning Media Coverage into Fundraising Impact

One of the best ways to understand the value of earned media is to look at what happens when a news moment and an organization's response come together quickly.

During the Kentucky floods in 2022, our U.S. team already had people on the ground responding to the crisis. Some of our colleagues were personally affected by the floods, and they were able to share their experiences while helping communities assess their needs. In a disaster, you have to be ready to get out ahead of the story, and those firsthand experiences gave the media a way to humanize what was happening. We typically might get 90 to 100 media hits for a disaster like this, but we generated more than 200. Jennifer Garner, who is on our board and is a strong advocate for our work, also went to Kentucky and secured a spot on the Today show, which drove significant coverage and traffic to our website. Fundraising for that crisis was approximately three times the average for a crisis of that type.

The opportunity didn't end with the initial news cycle. Six months later, Jennifer worked with the Today show to return and look at what had happened since the original crisis. She was able to talk about the impact Save the Children had made in supporting children and families, which again drove significant traffic and funding. Having a celebrity can obviously help create a media hook, but you don't need one. The local stories and firsthand experiences of colleagues and community members can provide the human element journalists are looking for.

Earned media can also support corporate partnerships. During the crisis in Gaza and the region, Save the Children Canada was one of the first organizations in Canada to speak publicly about what was happening to children. As an impartial humanitarian organization, we were able to speak from our values and share stories from colleagues, children, and families on the ground. We aligned that media visibility with strategic outreach to places where we knew potential corporate partners and their employees would see the coverage.

Over approximately 18 months, we maintained a 39% share of voice around the crisis. Six new corporate partners proactively approached us, referencing the media coverage they had seen and the stories they had heard. Those partnerships generated more than $800,000, including employee giving and corporate matching. The media coverage helped establish credibility and trust, while employees who connected with the issue became advocates within their own organizations.

Getting Media-Ready: The Power of Storytelling

Whether you have a dedicated media person or not, there are some basic things every nonprofit can do to become more media-ready. Storytelling is at the heart of media, just as it is in fundraising and marketing. Your organization may have an important cause, but you still need an angle or hook that gives a journalist a reason to cover it.

There are three fundamentals to put in place. First, have a trained spokesperson who is willing and able to represent the organization effectively and explain what you're doing in clear, accessible language. Second, develop three key messages: What is happening? What is your organization doing about it? How can the public help? These questions are especially important during emergencies and other fast-moving news moments, when you need to be clear and consistent. Third, maintain strong media contacts and make it easy for journalists to reach you. Keep your media lists current because journalists change roles and beats, and make sure the appropriate media contact information is available on your website.

Storytelling is what helps people make sense of an issue and connect with it emotionally. A strong story can bridge the distance between an issue that may not affect someone personally and the action you want them to take. Build a bank of stories and anecdotes that spokespeople can draw on during interviews and weave into your key messages. It's also critical to tell people how they can help and direct them to your website. You would be surprised how often organizations appear in the media without clearly mentioning their name or website. Make sure your spokesperson knows that this is one of the messages that needs to come through.

Turn One Media Moment into Multiple Touchpoints

Once you've secured media coverage, think beyond the original interview. If you want to become a go-to organization for journalists, focus your energy on what you want to be known for and consistently demonstrate that expertise. Your website and social channels should reinforce the same positioning so journalists and audiences see that your organization really does have authority in that area. At Save the Children Canada, journalists often find us through social platforms such as X and Facebook, so maintaining an active presence and sharing thought leadership can create additional touchpoints.

You can also extend media coverage across your broader communications and fundraising efforts. Face-to-face teams can reference a recent interview when speaking with the public. Direct mail can incorporate the coverage, and email can use a media moment to update supporters about an issue or crisis. We also share regular media updates with our board, which gives board members opportunities to amplify the coverage themselves. Integrating media with marketing, communications, fundraising, and leadership helps extend the trust and credibility generated by the original coverage.

Leverage Technology to Amplify Impact

Technology can help you understand the news cycle, identify relevant opportunities, maintain media relationships, and measure results. At Save the Children Canada, we use Cision to manage media contacts and monitor coverage, but you don't necessarily need to invest in a dedicated database. Social media, Google Alerts, and other low-cost tools can help you stay informed about news that matters to your cause. The important thing is to use those insights to determine where to spend your time, which journalists to approach, and how to measure the impact of your efforts.

Measurement is particularly valuable when you're trying to demonstrate the value of earned media to organizational leadership. The connection between media coverage and fundraising isn't always direct, so it can take time to understand the relationship. At Save the Children Canada, we look at brand awareness and familiarity through an Ipsos tracker and track where our name appears in relation to issues such as children in crisis, children's rights, and gender equality. We also use Google Alerts, social listening, and media monitoring to understand the quality and volume of coverage.

We also compare our media coverage against several competitors and peers, including Plan International, World Vision, UNICEF, and CARE. This gives us a share-of-voice measurement that shows how much coverage we're receiving compared with other organizations in the space.

Your website is another critical part of the media strategy. When an interview happens, make sure the website is ready for the traffic you're hoping to receive. Have relevant content available, consider using a banner or prominent message, and make sure the messaging is consistent across your website and other channels. Search optimization can also help people find the information they're looking for after seeing your organization in the news.

HubSpot can potentially play an important role in connecting those pieces. While Save the Children Canada does not currently use HubSpot, I've learned that its tools can help organizations understand the user and donor journey when media coverage creates a spike in traffic. Being able to track those spikes, map the donor journey, and automate parts of that process could make it easier to understand the impact of earned media and get more value from the investment.

Recap: Start Small and Be Ready

Earned media can help nonprofits build trust, expand reach, influence policy and advocacy, and increase donations. You don't need a large team to begin. Start by identifying relevant local journalists, understanding what makes your organization newsworthy, and building relationships with the people who cover the issues connected to your mission.

And remember that your organization doesn't have to rely exclusively on the CEO or executive director as a spokesperson. Anyone can have a voice. The important thing is to prepare your spokesperson with three clear messages: What is happening? What is your organization doing about it? How can people help? Then make sure those messages lead people back to your organization and your website.

Media Interview Practice

To demonstrate how this works, we practiced a hypothetical media interview about flooding. The spokesperson explained that the organization was conducting home-by-home needs assessments to understand the damage and determine whether people needed help with debris removal, emergency housing, electricity, or other assistance. When asked what the organization was hearing from people affected by the crisis, he described the fear and uncertainty experienced by uninsured and underinsured families.

The final question was how people could help. The answer focused on donations and explained that financial contributions allow the organization to respond to the actual needs of the community. The spokesperson then provided ways to donate, including a QR code, text-to-give, and the organization's website. The biggest improvement opportunity was simple but important: say the organization's name clearly and repeatedly. The spokesperson had answered the questions directly and humanized the issue, but he could have made the organization itself more memorable by consistently naming it and incorporating a specific quote or anecdote.

The exercise illustrates why preparation matters. Before a media opportunity arrives, think through the three things you want the audience to remember about your organization and practice communicating them clearly. A media interview isn't just about answering a journalist's questions; it's an opportunity to communicate your organization's relevance, expertise, and role to a much larger audience.

Audience Q&A

How does Save the Children Canada measure changes in brand awareness and trust?

Save the Children Canada uses an Ipsos brand tracker to measure awareness, familiarity, trust, and what the organization is known for. The survey is intended to run annually, although budget constraints sometimes mean it happens every two or three years. The team also looks more closely at the issues associated with its media coverage, tracking where the Save the Children name appears alongside topics such as children in crisis, children's rights, and gender equality. Google Alerts, social listening, and other tools provide additional information about brand awareness and familiarity.

How do you measure share of voice?

Save the Children Canada uses Cision to compare its media mentions with those of several competitors and peers, including Plan International, World Vision, UNICEF, and CARE. The resulting data shows the organization's share of media coverage over a given month, quarter, or year relative to those organizations.

Closing

Earned media doesn't have to be an intimidating or resource-intensive discipline. With a clear position, strong stories, prepared spokespeople, consistent messaging, and relationships with relevant journalists, nonprofits can turn media moments into opportunities that extend well beyond a single news story. The goal is not simply to get coverage; it's to use that attention strategically to build trust, reach new audiences, and move people toward deeper engagement with your organization.

This transcript has been edited using AI for clarity and readability, with filler language, timestamps, and audience participation instructions removed while preserving the speaker's examples, terminology, and key points.