Asha for Education - PR

1. Asha for Education - PR • Purpose • To present a Unified Image of Asha for Education as as organization that • Promotes Socio-Economic Change in India through Education • Is secular (non-religious ?) and non-political in its activities and projects • Operates with zero overhead • To counter allegations/flames against Asha for Education with regards to our • Activities (esp those of Asha India) • Projects

2. Asha for Education - PR • Guidelines/Requirements for Effective PR • Consistent position - *NO* variation • Rebuttal comes from a central group, not a chapter • Form people’s opinions rather than alter them • Being Proactive rather than Reactive • Not stooping to the level of attackers vis a vis baseless allegations/unsubstantiated claims • Rapid discovery of any article related to Asha • *Quick and thorough* response to any article or inquiry about Asha • Respond to and Highlight Positive Comments on our website/newsletter

3. Asha for Education - PR • We have to • Know the Facts about our Projects/Activities - Facts Always Win • Have knowledge of where/when any Asha volunteer/chapter is going to be involved in any non-educational activity • Acknowledge a Genuine Allegation regarding our projects/activities and Fix It • Provide Correct Information to Counter a Baseless Allegation • Document All Communications and our Response • Identify organizations that support us and work with them constructively to counter baseless allegations

4. Asha for Education - Image • Strengths • Large volunteer base - lots of ideas • Several hundred projects to substantiate position • Mostly positive image • Inherently Good Mission • Weakness • Past/Current Social activism of some chapters • Alignment with non-conforming groups • Corrupt/Non-secular projects • Statements on non-relevant issues

5. Asha for Education - Image • Opportunities • Present articles on Sulekha, newspapers • Regular advertising (see later) • Have a regular Asha column on a website/paper to present our opinion/viewpoint • Continuous Focus on Asha success stories • Threats • Continued social activism from some chapters • People whose sole purpose is to malign AfE

6. Asha for Education - Standards • Volunteers • No chapter, office-bearer or volunteer of AfE should act as a representative or spokesperson for AfE in a forum, activity, newsgroup or event that is organized by a political or religious group • Or make a statement about a religious or political issue that can be construed as AfE’s official position on that issue • Volunteers are free to engage in their own activities as long as they do so outside of their affiliation with AfE. • Events • AfE chapters should participate only in events where there are no restrictions on the participation of any group for any criteria whatsoever • Events organized by AfE chapters should not have any religious or political significance or be organized in association with a religious or political group • AfE chapters may promote their events through/at religious organizations but must clearly indicate that AfE is a secular organization • AfE may promote events organized by religious or political organizations but with standard disclaimer

7. Asha for Education - Standards • Information • No Asha chapter should present information through its website, newsletter and/or events that relate to issues that are not directly linked to either chapter activities or education in general • Information from external sources (news items, links to other organizations etc) should be accompanied by a standard disclaimer that AfE does not endorse the views of the author or the organization • Minutes of meetings should be restricted to Asha volunteers only - not public • Projects • All Asha chapters should conform to the guidelines for choosing projects i.e. non-religious and non-political • Any allegations of misconduct, corruption, religious/political links or such against a project must be investigated thoroughly through a site visit or other means • Prior sources of funding for all projects should be determined and any sensitivities discussed and approved by each chapter

8. Asha for Education - Standards • Merchandise • All merchandise sold by Asha will be both non-religious and non-political in nature • Calendars should mention Govt approved holidays of the countries they are being sold in • Logo/Images • Asha logos should not be altered in any way either by adding, deleting or changing parts or all of the logo including colors • Logos on webpages should be displayed prominently at the top of the page - suggested location is top left corner • Individual chapters may create their own logo, but it should be different from the standard logo • Display of the logo on banners, merchandise, newsletters etc should be done using image formats that are appropriate for the size being displayed • All images on Asha website are (c) Asha for Education and can be used by chapters for their specific activities but only on Asha related material

9. Asha for Education - Standards • Logo Examples • Standard • Non-Standard

10. Asha for Education - Standards • Chapter Logos • Any combination of fonts allowed • “Asha <city/univ>” or “Standard Asha Logo <city/univ>” or “Standard Asha Logo + <city/univ> chapter • Asha <chapter-name> should not use taglines from standard logo • Add chapter specific images to logo - be creative ! • Be consistent with whatever logo you use • Examples Not all caps Remove tagline

11. Asha for EducationDetroit Chapter Asha for Education - Standards • Good !

12. Asha for Education - PR • Remember • Every volunteer is our spokesperson • Our mission is inherently a good one - but we must keep it on track • Don’t get flustered/angry - if we have a good PR strategy, we can be prepared for anything • Constantly communicate about PR issues - no issue is too small unless we decide it is

13. AfE PR - Proposed Structure

14. Asha for Education - Advertising • Goal • To create an image in people’s minds that Education = Asha • To grow the donor base for WAH • Awareness of Education issue, AfE • Message • Poor quality/lack of primary education • AfE efforts for 12 years • Zero overhead organization

15. Asha for Education - Advertising • Ads - What, When • General Ads about Education/Asha (Op-eds) • Case studies about specific projects • WAH, Children’s Day, New Year • Anniversary (15th anniv in 2006) • Ads - Where • Newspapers - TOI, HT, Pioneer, Deccan Herald, Telegraph • Magazines - India Today, Outlook, The Week • Online - Sulekha, Sify

16. Asha for Education - Advertising • Do • Highlight the importance of education • List statistics of education in India • Showcase Asha projects, individual children • Mention Zero overheads • Don’t • Ask specifically for donations • Mention politics or religion

17. Asha for Education - Advertising • Required • High quality (TIFF) images of project sites, children (close-ups) • Images of India, people, personalities • Indian fonts, scripts, historical artifacts of educational significance • People with graphic design/advtg background

18. Asha for Education - Advertising • Questions • Estimated Budget ? • First ad ?