52 WWW.AGRM.ORG MAY/JUNE 2018 DAY-TO-DAY O ne key goal of PR practitioners is to influence the opinions of those in a posi- tion to influence the opinions of others. Now as never before, the discipline of influencer PR applies to missions. So following are a few tried-and-true tactics to help you do just that. 1Know who your relevant influencers are. Almost every rescue mission has a profound need to effectively connect with local churches, its city and/or county governments, a few key media contacts, and donors who are enthusiastic about its ministry. Like any other qual- ity relationship, these relationships take time and patience to develop. Identify individuals or teams from each of these influencer groups who are in a position to benefit your mission through their own networks of influence. Then introduce your mission to them. 2Give your influencers the balance they need between stories and statistics. Churches and donors would probably like to hear more stories about people than statistics. For them, statistics simply confirm the stories that move them to action. On the flip side, government entities and media generally need a basis of statistics before they will seriously consider a story as being worth their time. 3Equip your influencers with the messages and materials they need to impact the people they influence. Govern- ment agencies and serious media contacts will thrive on hard information like studies, white papers, and surveys. Find out if they prefer exec- utive summaries of those source materials, copies of complete documents, or links and URLs. (Remember to cite your sources!) Videos and photography are usually welcomed if they con- firm the content you have given them. Churches and donors will appreciate stories with visuals and facts that help illustrate those stories in a clear and simple manner. By giving your influ- encers these materials and messages, you are equipping them to tell your story on your behalf. 4Prepare your social media to function as a resource for your influencers. Make it easy for your influencers to link others to your website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and other social media where you feel you have a solid and positive presence. 5Make sure you give your influencers easy access to your organization through a point of personal contact. Many times, executives need to be available to influ- encers in order to keep the influencers interested in your mission. Sometimes media people are more comfortable with PR practitioners. No matter who the human contact is, make sure that your influencers have easy access to them. Summer might be a great time to build out your influencer PR strategy. Ĩ PR TOOLKIT Steve Wamberg Steve is on staff at Open Door Mission in Omaha, Nebraska. He can be reached at sjwamberg@gmail.com. Influencer PR Equipping influencers with tools to tell your mission’s story