Do you ever wonder why some nonprofit organizations get media coverage and some don’t? Attracting media attention to your organization and the important work it does seems like an impossible-to-solve mystery. It’s not about your qualifications, your knowledge, your mission, your story or your ability. It’s all in your approach.

Here's 101 ways you can become irresistible to the media:

1. Build relationships with reporters that report on your area of interest months in advance of pitching
2. Connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or in real life more than three months in advance of pitching a reporter.
3. Monitor the Twitter hashtags of your community. Often reporters chat with the public on Twitter, and you can respond to comments they make.
4. Compliment a reporter via Twitter, Facebook, or email on a story he or she did.
5. Introduce yourself to reporters at big public or chamber of commerce events. Pass along your card, but don’t try and sell them the idea on the spot. Just be helpful.
6. Invite reporters out for coffee, and ask a lot of questions about them.
7. Leave a comment at the end of the online version of a story a reporter did, which you genuinely liked.
8. Congratulate them on their birthdays, anniversaries or other personal news they post.
9. Write a positive post on your blog highlighting a story of theirs, and email them the link.
10. Respond regularly to posts they’ve written either on their blog, or on a local community blog you’ve noticed they post on.
11. Visit city council meetings in your town. Typically there’s a reporter sitting around bored, that you can build a relatiionships with.
12. Scout publications with smaller and more targeted readerships, such as a local business weekly publications. These media outlets are often run by just two or three people, and they’ll jump at a guest column or article by you because it’ll save them the time of tracking down a story on their own.
13. Listen to AM radio stations, especially on weekday mornings or on Saturdays. Befriend one of the regular show hosts. Often they’ll highlight any business that is doing something interesting the public might find interesting.
14. Say “yes” without fail if a reporter wants to interview you that day, even if it has to be over the phone or while you’re on vacation or, refer them (along with their contact information) to someone who could provide the same or more indepth information.
15. Offer occasional suggestions of story angles you think would make great follow-up stories, especially if don’t have anything to do with your organization. Nearly all stories are parts of a long-running issues, so reporters always need additional story follow-up ideas.
16. Offer to connect reporters to experts you know. If the reporter sounds interested, follow through with the offer.
17. Be a source for stories that fall within your expertise by letting reporters in your industry know you’re available when they need a source. This can lead to regular spots on the news.
18. Point reporters to blog posts you genuinely think they’d be interested in – whether on your blog or others. It validates you as an expert.
19. Treat journalists with respect. You’ll set yourself apart just by being friendly.
20. Keep a camera handy for “spot news” photo opportunities, and then pass along to the media outlet. This can be anything from a deer crashing into a department store while you happened to be there to a good shot of an event or store opening.
21. Offer to write a column on your specialty for the online website of a media site, or for a print publication in your area.
22. Define the story in just one sentence, so you can easily explain it to the media in 10 seconds.
23. Include people in your story pitch. Many organizations try to pitch their achievements, but stories that sell normally have people involved, not just the organization.
24. Focus on selling the benefits to viewers, listeners or readers first. It’s about their perspective of what you’re promoting, how do they benefit, how are they impacted by your stories, why should they care?
25. Think visually. When can a media station shoot video and pictures? If that’s not possible, are there video or pictures you can provide?
26. Hold an event where you’re actually doing what you’re talking about, and invite them to come, whether it’s to write a story, or just take a picture or video. Take pictures and videos yourself and send them to the reporters with a summary of the event and some photos or videos.
27. Post your video online for easy viewing and sharing.
28. Seek permission from the individuals in a potential photo shoot ahead of time.
29. Highlight trends in which your organization is just one of several examples. Nearly every trend can be turned into a story pitch, and it has the added advantage of letting you not hog the limelight, which reporters often appreciate.
30. Provide actual users of the services your organization offers for the media to interview. Their testimonials will boost your credibility.
31. Offer to review the facts or your quotes if you feel nervous the journalist misunderstood you. Don’t try to pressure the journalist into letting you review the entire article before publication, though, because media oulets normally don’t allow this and journalists find an insult.
32. Send relevant documents for the reporter, to provide at the interview, or prior to it.
33. Create a list of key dates and facts relevant to the story, along with potential quotes.
34. Write a couple paragraphs describing the process in simple terms, ideally with a drawing if the story is complex.
35. Write a killer press release in the form of a ready-made story, if submitting a story to a weekly or a daily in regions of fewer than 50,000 people. You’d be surprised how often a newspaper will print almost exactly what you sent.
36. Give reporters two weeks’ notice for an upcoming story or event and send a reminder or Media Advisory two days before the event with more specific details.
37. Remain flexible. Reporters have days that are jam-packed with breaking news, and other days that are slower and more open to a less-urgent story like yours.
38. Choose to meet in person if an option, because the journalist will then get to know you better, and you’ll have more time with him or her.
39. Travel to where the story actually happens for the interview – whether in your office or an hour away at a gravel pit.
40. Muzzle the natural urge to provide stacks of background research. Most reporters don’t have the time or interest in looking through it.
41. Leap on breaking news relevant to your industry as a chance to put yourself in the local news.
42. Pitch local stories to local reporters. National attention typically springs from local attention first.
43. Call ahead and pitch a story, if you’re presenting at a trade show or convention or other major event typically covered by the news. Otherwise reporters just walk the aisles and randomly choose businesses to speak with.
44. Watch the calendar, and pitch a story that would ideally run around major holidays, when things are often really slow in newsrooms.
45. Act enthusiastic. If you don’t seem excited about the idea, neither will they.
46. Express why this story is of value to their listeners, viewers and readers. If it’s a story you wouldn’t bother watching or reading, don’t pitch it.
47. Show an image that encapsulates the story you’re trying to tell.
48. Link your underlying story pitch with some basic human emotion, like love, fear or hope. 
49. Forget about giving up. Don’t be a pest, but keep trying every few weeks to pitch an idea, until a reporter gives a straight yes-or-no answer to your idea.
50. Write very short emails to reporters. Three or four sentences total. Your email is much more likely to get read by busy reporters if it’s short and to the point. Embed links to background materials on your website.
51. Devote lots of time on email subject lines to reporters. You can apply the same techniques for writing magnetic headlines for blog posts – they make both readers and reporters want to know more about what you have to say.
52. Explain things chronologically if possible.
53. Speak slowly, so the reporter has time to take notes and mentally process what you’re saying.
54. Tell the story twice. The first time give the sweeping overview, and then return to the start of the story, and fill in all the details. The second time around you’ll remember more and fill in gaps in the narrative, and the reporter will be able to ask more informed questions.
55. Respond to a reporter’s phone call or email immediately, or as soon as humanly possible (although it's wise to take some time to clear your head, think about the topic and call them back or have them call you back). Reporters love dependable, helpful people. 
56. Provide information from most to least important if time is irrelevant to the topic.
57. Allow the reporter to lead the interview if he or she comes with questions.
58. Wear a company logo, and dark, solid colors on camera. Clothes with stripes or checkered patterns look bad on television.
59. Don’t waste time. Assume you won’t have more than half an hour to speak to the reporter.
60. Answer the obvious questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How and So What.
61. Ponder how you will answer every potential question, and don’t assume there won’t be any difficult ones.
62. Stay on topic.
63. Offer to return as a regular guest either weekly, monthly, or as needed, once your first interview concludes.
64. Send an email or note a day after the interview talking about how you appreciated the reporter’s time, or how great the story was.
65. Provide a clear call to action, if there is one.
66. Ask the reporter to summarize what you said every few minutes during an interview. This typically gives you a better chance to clarify and reiterate key points.
67. Repeat your key couple of messages, so it’s more likely to make it in the story.
68. Refrain from saying “no comment” if you can’t answer a question. Explain why you’d prefer not to answer and bridge to one of your key messages.
69. Remain flexible with the reporter, even if he or she decides to take the story in a direction that isn’t ideal in your eyes. Always give positive answers.
70. Assume anything you say will be printed or stated by the journalist. Avoid saying “off the record” unless the reporter verbally agrees to keep what you’re about to say out of the story. (Even then, it is not recommended.)
71. Work with one news outlet at a time on a story. Don’t pitch the same story to multiple media outlets. Select your media outlet/reporters carefully.
72. Talk in short sentences, using simple English.
73. Avoid slang, industry vernacular or abbreviations.
74. Provide a business card with your name, title, and what numbers to reach you at both during and after business hours.
75. Contact the reporter every few weeks, to remain top of mind, and find out when the publication or air date will be.
76. Post on your website and other online outlets footage of you on television. Have someone record or videotape the segment while on television, just in case the station can’t or won’t provide you with a copy.
77. Propose being on a local Sunday show or early morning show, which often gives you 20 minutes to highlight your organization.
78. Pre-write tweets and a blog post, so you can quickly tell friends, family, clients and supporters when the story runs without losing time.
79. Create a resource centre for the media by creating a media page where the media can easily grab your logo, high resolution photos of your key executives and basic facts and figures about your organization and your cause.
80. Be a resource event after your story is covered. Reporters love knowing that they can rely upon someone as an expert source.
81. Give a shout out to the media when they cover your story. While journalists don’t expect thanks from you, remember that the media outlet’s management may want to know that a story made an impact when they decide what to cover in the future.
82. Use bullet points in your pitches so that reporters can easily digest your news.
83. Find the human interest element in your story and highlight it. By producing a case study concerning somebody who benefits, or who would benefit, from your work you will give the media more incentive to cover your story.
84. Include visuals to accompany your story. The media has limited resources. If you’re hosting an event and they aren’t able to show up, be sure to snap some high-quality pictures on your own and embed them in the email (not as attachments).
85. Pitch your story exclusively to the reporter who will do the best job of covering it. Give that reporter time to respond before including the story in a news release or pitching it to another outlet.
86. Write an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor about your issue or cause. The Op-Ed and Letters to the Editor sections of a newspaper are often the most highly read, including by reporters.
87. Post your news releases on your website. They should be written like a news article with an objective tone. You can include opinions in a quote from your executive director. If the media release is well-written, some media outlets may publish it as is, or with minor editing.
88. Pitch your story between Mondays and Thursdays before 11am and ideally between 8:00 am and 10:00am.
89. Create snappy headlines with no more than 10 words
90. Before contacting reporters, make sure you address questions such as the following in your pitch: Why is this story important now? What makes the story or angle unique? Why should anyone care? Is this story the first of its kind? Is the event or development the largest or most comprehensive of its kind?
91. Pitch the right person. No matter how timely or unique your pitch, it will be pointless if misdirected. If you’re seeking coverage on a health-related story, make sure you direct your pitch to reporters who regularly cover health care.

    Some Important Don'ts 

92. Don’t cold call. Warm up the reporter by sending an e-mail first, with a paragraph spelling out the bottom line of the story idea, then follow up with a call a few hours or a day later, depending on the urgency of the story.
93. Don't cold call after 3 p.m.
94. Don’t neglect your headline. Without a good one, it won't get opened. 
95. Don’t try to get an editor at the dailies. Their mentality is often to help reporters eliminate mediocre story ideas. Reach out for reporters instead – they’re looking for material.
96. Don’t show up in the newsroom unannounced.
97. Don’t mail information in unsolicited.
98. Don’t include attachments, instead post attachments on your website and link to them from within the body of your email message.
99. Don’t waste the reporter’s time with media releases or pitches that are outside his or her location or area of interest.
100. Don’t follow up with a phone call and ask “did you receive my media release?” Instead, hold a nugget of information back from the release so that when you make follow up calls, you can expand the story with more news.
101. Don’t spray and pray. Instead, determine the top 10 reporters most likely to be interested in your story and focus your time, energy and attention on them.