How to Write Your First Nonprofit Press Release

If your nonprofit has never issued a press release, you are not alone. Most small and mid-sized nonprofits skip media outreach entirely, not because they lack newsworthy stories, but because the process feels intimidating.

The good news: press releases follow a predictable structure. Once you learn it, you can produce them quickly and consistently. Here is the anatomy of a nonprofit press release.

Start with a strong headline. Your headline should communicate the most important fact in under 10 words. Avoid clever wordplay. Journalists scan hundreds of headlines daily. Clarity wins. Example: "Hope Foundation Launches Free After-School STEM Program in Detroit"

Write the dateline. This tells journalists where the news is coming from and when. Format: CITY, State (Month Day, Year). Example: DETROIT, MI (March 3, 2026).

Lead with the news. Your first paragraph should answer who, what, when, where, and why in 2-3 sentences. Do not build up to the news. State it immediately. A journalist should be able to write their story from your first paragraph alone.

Include a quote. Every press release needs at least one quote from organizational leadership. This is where you add the human voice. The quote should express why this news matters, not restate the facts. Bad: "We are excited to announce this program." Better: "Every child in Detroit deserves access to STEM education. This program removes the financial barrier that keeps 60% of local students out of after-school programs."

Add supporting details. Use the middle paragraphs for context: program specifics, partnership details, timeline, and impact projections. Use concrete numbers whenever possible.

Close with your boilerplate. The boilerplate is a standard paragraph about your organization that appears at the end of every press release. Write it once, reuse it everywhere. Include: founding year, mission, key statistics, and website.

Add the contact block. List the name, title, email, and phone number of your media contact. This is the person a journalist will reach out to for follow-up questions.

End with ###. This is the traditional marker that signals the end of a press release.

Common mistakes to avoid: writing more than one page, burying the news below the first paragraph, using internal jargon that journalists will not understand, forgetting to include a quote, and sending the release without proofreading.