SC HCGOP Public Relations Committee
(Food for thought)
** The 5 Ps of PR: Purpose; Planning; Positioning; Promotion; Performance. **
A Public Relations (PR) committee typically consists of a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and secretary, alongside other members who may include staff representatives and/or board members. Standing committees should have a representative assigned to the PR Committee to insure Leadership correlation. Larger committees might have more specialized roles like a media liaison or communications coordinator. The committee’s structure and size will depend on the organization’s needs and the scope of its PR activities.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Leadership:
Chairperson: Facilitates meetings, leads the committee’s work, and advises on new and existing projects.
Vice-Chairperson: Assists the chair, takes over in their absence, and may have specific responsibilities.
Secretary: Maintains records, takes minutes, and handles administrative tasks.
- Members:
Board Members/Officers:
. (The committee should have a majority of board members/officers.)
Staff Representatives:
(Having staff members on the committee allows for a more direct link to the organization’s operations and provides valuable expertise.)
Non-Board Members:
(Some committees may choose to include non-board members like volunteers, representatives from partner organizations, or additional staff, depending on their needs.)
- Specialized Roles (for larger committees):
Media Liaison: Manages relationships with media outlets and handles press inquiries.
Communications Coordinator: Oversees the organization’s internal and external communications.
Social Media Coordinator: Manages the organization’s social media presence.
Event Coordinator: Organizes and promotes events.
- Committee Size and Subgroups:
Small committees (3-6 members) are often effective.
** The 5 W’s in PR: Who, What, Where, When and Why of a story. If you can’t identify what makes your story unique and interesting, chances are nobody else will either. **
Standing committees should have clear tasks that don’t overlap each other; But if they do there should be clear hierarchy defining decisions. just saying.
A project management chart helps to prevent duplication of efforts.
Imagine a group of farmers trying to irrigate the same field—but each digs their own canal from the same river. On one hand, the competition pushes each farmer to dig faster, build stronger channels, and deliver water more efficiently—that’s the benefit of competition: innovation, accountability, and energy.
But as more canals appear, the water starts to split, weakening the flow in each. Some crops thrive, others wither—not because the farmers lacked purpose, but because their efforts weren’t aligned. That’s the downside: fragmentation, duplicated effort, and diluted resources.
In the end, the harvest would be far greater if they worked together on one well-engineered system—dividing the labor, not the cause.