Volunteer your PR skills with PRSA-LA’s Quality Time with PR Minds 2009 event, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and RAND Corporation, which will be held October 10, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at RAND in Santa Monica. Volunteer today via the links below!
What is Quality Time with PR Minds?
Quality Time with PR Minds is a complementary effort to PRSA-LA’s annual Don Perkins Grant. Founded in 2004 by PRSA-LA members Dawn Wilcox, APR, and Victoria Lelash, APR, Quality Time was created in response to the increasing number of applications the chapter receives for the annual Perkins Grant as well as the ongoing requests for pro bono assistance.
Quality Time is a one day event where teams of PR volunteers provide free assistance to local nonprofit organizations that may not have the funds or resources to retain professional PR counsel. Through one-on-one brainstorm sessions, PR teams and the organizations they are matched with identify opportunities and tackle challenges to build stronger communication between the nonprofits and their publics.
Quality Time is about giving our greatest assets – our time and knowledge – to the organizations that are supporting and improving the communities in which we live and work. We aim to inspire, encourage and empower nonprofit professionals to create and sustain successful communication efforts. In the process, Quality Time also provides PR volunteers the opportunity to grow as professionals through brainstorming, networking and mentoring. For many Quality Time volunteers, the event offers the chance to take their strategic and creative thinking to a new level.
Since 2004, Quality Time has become a movement within PRSA. Chapters across the country continue to adopt the event as part of their community service programs. In total, 12 events have been held and more than 1,400 hours of counseling time have been donated (equivalent to nearly $300,000 in professional fees) to hundreds of nonprofits.
How does it work?
Quality Time is a day-long event consisting of a morning brainstorm session, luncheon and afternoon brainstorm session. Nonprofits participate in either the morning or afternoon sessions and, during that time, meet with two PR teams for 75-minutes each. All nonprofits and volunteers enjoy the free networking luncheon.
PR professionals can choose to volunteer for one session or participate the entire day. PR teams are designed to ensure balance in levels of experience and to expose volunteers to new people (in other words, we try to avoid teaming people from the same organization or firm). The teams are then matched to nonprofits randomly, with the utmost confidence that experienced PR professionals can handle any brainstorm challenge.
I’m a PR pro, I want to volunteer!
Quality Time is open to all PR professionals from any sector with at least two years of experience in a communications role. This is an amazing opportunity to give back to many nonprofits, all in one day! The success of Quality Time is directly related to the number of volunteers who register. The more teams we have, the more nonprofits we can include in Quality Time. Volunteers can choose to participate in just one session or stay for the entire day. Please CLICK HERE to become a Quality Time volunteer.
Additional details can be found online at http://www.prsala.org/Quality-Time-with-PR-Minds.
Meet Diane Padilla
Young Professionals of PRSA LA 