 And again, it's another episode of the nonprofit show. We are thrilled that you are here, but I'm even more thrilled because I get to get, have one of the rock stars of the publishing sector, Andrea Evans with us today. She is the publisher of front doors, media and the co-founder of the center for positive media. So I can't wait to delve into these things, exciting things and new doors that she's opening. Andrea, this is going to be a super, super cool conversation because this is at the heart of the success for so many nonprofit events. So I can't wait to hear what you have to say and to have you share your wisdom. If we haven't met before, I'm Julia Patrick, CEO of the American nonprofit Academy. My intrepid co-host, Jared Ransom, if you've been watching us for the past two days, bless her heart. She has been at the AFP conference in Las Vegas, broadcasting live doing our very first remote and she's exhausted. So we gave her the day off. She didn't get back to our home state until late last night, but she'll be rejoining us tomorrow. Again, we want to thank all of our presenting sponsors without them. We would not be here. Blumerang American nonprofit Academy, your part-time controller, nonprofit nerd, American Academy, the nonprofit Atlas, nonprofit thought leader and staffing boutique. We also want to make sure that you know, we have nearly 600 episodes from our archives on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire TV, and Vimeo. But wait, there's more. We also just started putting all of our current episodes onto streaming platforms for podcasts. So queue them up wherever you get your content and you can take us with you. It's pretty exciting, but better than anything, the most exciting thing is we have Andrea Evans with us publisher of front doors media, the red book and the center for positive media. Welcome my friend. Thank you. Wonderful to be here. I'm so excited in the green room chatter. I told everyone that when I see your name pop up as a viewer, a live viewer, I get all excited. I always have to like step it up. Oh, I love popping in whenever I can. It's on my calendar every day. If I, you know, don't have a meeting or an obligation, of course. Well, you are, you're a rock star. I'm going to brag on you a little bit. You know, Andrea, you're as one of the leaders, leading publishers of a society publication. Really, you know, the leader in our community, but really one of the leaders in the nation. I'm going to talk to us about what. And how you engage with the nonprofit sector, because we're going to be talking about media partnerships. And so talk to us a little bit about your publications. And then I'd love for you to share with us about the center for positive media, because that's a new endeavor. That is, it's our latest endeavor. And thank you. Well, front doors media is both a print and digital media company. And we have a mission. And the mission at the core of it is to share stories of inspiration in our community. We are based in Phoenix, Arizona. And we cover all of Maricopa County. When it comes to our editorial. And really our way to introduce ourselves to nonprofits in the community is through our calendar. We have a very robust. calendar on our website. And it, it has, you opt in to what type of event that you are looking to promote. So of course it's the, you know, elegant gala dinners, fundraisers, luncheons, breakfast events. But also we have a tab for 5k runs and walks and outdoor events. Golf tournaments is another tab. As well as community. So when things like the festival parade. You know, we have a lot of, you know, We have a lot of, you know, We have a lot of, you know, We have a lot of, you know, We have a lot of, you know, The need of volunteers that can post, you know, That type of activity of on our calendar. And so, and, and we use that calendar entry system to ask some questions and get some more information about the organizations. And we always say that being invited to attend your event. Is a way for us to get to know your organization. And it always turns into a story, And it always turns into a story. And it always turns into a story. And it always turns into a story. Our leading method of getting to know an organization is our online calendar. It's really amazing because as the leader and social coverage. In the fifth largest city of America in America. I would imagine that you were bombarded morning, noon and night. People pitching you stories, people trying to get into your publication. Can you talk a little bit about. The center for positive media. Absolutely. So we do have a beautiful glossy publication called front doors magazine. Our amazing editor in chief is Karen Warner. And she really, you know, We're traditional in the sense that we, We have a full editorial team. And they really do that the pitches I am on the editorial board. So I contribute. But I, you know, they're an amazing team of writers. And I think we're a really good team of writers. And I think they've done a really good job of having a good group of people who help us. Um, them in their decisions. Um, and, and people, we do put out their editorial calendar. So people do. Uh, know what to pitch us and when to pitch us, at least for the magazine, But we have a weekly newsletter that is for any. Breaking news, special announcements, funding. Um, stories. Getting to know new leaders in the community. through, oh I'd say, I mean on some days there's over a hundred pitches in our editor email box to go through. So yeah, so for five years I've been the publisher and you know we've been building up these things, the calendar, the weekly e-newsletter, the magazine and during COVID like most people my lease was up and so I moved home and was running you know my business on Zoom just as you were starting the show and I went and looked for new space and it was really difficult and I know you've probably talked about nonprofits and the expensive offices and all those things but we did finally you know rent two desks in a co-working situation. I knew it wasn't the answer but it was a short lease and it was with another community entity so it was great and it got me out of the house while my kids were still on Zoom doing homework and then I got a phone call and I have a video production partner called Inspired Media 360 that helps us produce our video series Front Doors TV and we got a call to come look at a space that somebody had invested in it's right in the middle of town and we came well it's an old lighting store and it has an old warehouse behind it and it is perfect for filming things and for hosting things and we looked at the person who had just bought the building and we said no no we don't want to tell you who else to have over here we want to be here and Carrie Penya my co-founder she named it the Center for Positive Media and we mean that in every sense of the word people pull over and come in and go what does this mean like we're trying to sneak some sort of like political agenda no every business that's housed in this building and it's a 10,000 square foot building with a fully working studio for filming green screen, psych wall, everything you can imagine and every business that was invited into the extra space that we the two of us did not mean it is collaborating with us so our photographer has moved in that shoots our beautiful covers the common sense media from the Arizona office you know the amazing rating system for children and family media their headquarters here so it's pretty cool and February was our grand opening it's home we have a home now. Awesome I love it well I'm so proud of you it's really exciting to see and I think that you are in the swim that so many of us are afraid of we want we know that we want to get positive media you know attract positive media for our nonprofits or organizations or events and yet there's a lot of fear and so I'm really interesting interested in knowing from your perspective what do media partnerships accomplish like what is the byproduct of all this so media partnerships I wrote down three key elements that in my mind when we go in our approach to do a media partnership with with a nonprofit especially you know at the at the core you're creating awareness of the organization and in some cases awareness of the the media company and all that they have to offer to the community branding you know having a partnership with a media company or a magazine or a newspaper or an online you know social media strong social media effort that's a way to extend your branding that you've worked so hard to establish and get out there and it's also a great way to boost your cause with your stakeholders your board members your committee members your volunteers they feel another sense of pride when they see your organization in the news if you will and whether that's earned media or you know an arrangement like a media partnership like we're talking about today okay I love that you use a word and I would love for earned media before I ask you the next question and I have so many questions I just got to warn you will you define earned media for us sure earned media is when you reach out to a media outlet with and you're pitching a story something has happened at your organization that is amazing news you've received a you know really significant grant that was a very competitive process you have a volunteer that has accomplished you know 10,000 hours or something like that and you you know you're you're you're doing a little campaign to to surprise or celebrate them you have an amazing celebrity coming to perform at your event and you and get that out the old way was a press release right and people used to sit at fax machines and fax out press releases it's a new way and what we try you know we actually kind of do a hand holding with organizations that are not used to pitching stories show them how to do it with us and then say take that same exercise and go reach out to other companies we can't do it all we we love being first we love you know being the one to to help teach these things but so you get that information out to a writer a producer and they do a story and you didn't pay for anything that is earned media I love it and you know it's such a powerful thing it can be a little frightening because you don't always have control and there are some tips and tricks that you can do we've talked about it on the nonprofit show a lot like how do you help the reporting team cover you cover you accurately and what are some of those tools but that's for another day because those are that's a huge discussion it is that's a whole another show a whole other ball of wax sister hey I want to ask you how are you valuing your media partnerships and what does that look like I mean you're you're not going to make a business decision to give up valuable real estate resources time and energy on something and not have it be a value what is it that is a value to you yeah we only have a very few slots where we're able to do this both financially as well as entities and other organizations that are you know qualified to really do something that benefits both parties equally that's what I'm after the give and the get are our it's fair it's fair for both and it's a big win for both parties and so a few things that we look for when when discussing a media partnership we need really great content we need things that when we get them up on our website we know you know the clicks are going to come this is this is this is great material this is something you know our readers want um are going to want to consume and click away um we also want stories that are not being told by other media outlets right they are right in our wheelhouse and you know every media company you can figure out pretty easily what they're what they're after so um we are looking for things at the core are they're not only giving back but they're just it's a really awesome notable you know story um and then one of the biggest things um you need to have a plan for photos and or b-roll video to come with um your pitch to to you know have a media partnership with um again whether it's a tv station a newspaper a magazine um those things are needed and they're and they need to be really good quality otherwise the whole thing's going to flop and and um going to be disappointing for all parties involved I love that you brought that up because I would say in my media career that's been something that has really changed um and back in the day when you were still a high school cheerleader and I was an adult you know if you if you moved forward with b-roll or images you know a lot of media outlets would be like no we take our own and right we can't do that and and boy has it swung for so many reasons again we could talk about that and for another couple hours but if you don't have those tools and if you haven't invested in them and I loved that you brought up the the caliber of what those files are that they're properly identified that they're properly sized and usable you are not going to get the consideration and again you know we're helping teach as well because we are a community publication and media company and so again we're saying we need this but you need to do it all the time it's for you to have you should be using it on your social media and on your website is and your e-newsletters as well it's once something's published you know even if it's an exclusive partnership it's still yours um and and it's valuable it's very valuable well I I'm super appreciative that you said that because I feel like I preached on that morning noon and night so to have an expert come in and and tell us that yay team okay now this is the next thing that I think a lot of people are going to be really surprised by your answer how far in advance are media partnerships secured like what what works for you and what are you looking for we are really looking at six to nine months and here in the phoenix area you know we're wrapping up our social season we don't have much but of community activity in the summer because of the heat here and so I am actually already in discussions with both a renewal of a media partnership that is in november as well as a new partnership that would be in late january and and again I only have so many slots so I am in those negotiations right now and and that'll be it the slots will be gone uh for next for 2022 23 season you really need to if you want it you've got to go get it early and show that you're organized and that you have your ducks in a row so part and parcel to that I got two questions um how are you with exclusivity like how do you manage that and then do you ever do like a multi-year partnership or do you start all over I mean it's okay you know now the the editorial calendar is opening up and we're going to place it out how do you kind of leverage those two those two ideas sure we love exclusivity and actually as our company has grown and our readership has grown that is um what we are requesting of organizations that are uh requesting and sometimes exclusivity for us means we're the exclusive print publication and you know we're okay that there's also an exclusive television um station as well so um we're going to be exclusive in our area and if they're big enough and savvy enough to you know have other media partners uh with other platforms you know that's great just again communicate it's a relationship and let everybody know who all is involved so that we can um we can promote each other as well as media partners and um the exclusivity it's it's it's strength it that's a strength to the partnership that means you know you really are partners in what you're trying to accomplish whether it's promoting an event or giving campaign and we Julia we we put it all in a contract in a document and that document says you know front doors media is going to accomplish the following items and XYZ organization is going to do the following and that way everybody has their checklist and whether it's weekly check-ins monthly check-ins um countdown to the the big day um everybody knows what's expected and what's going to happen and then we do a review once the event is over um and so all the um the media partnerships have been on a you know knock it out of the park on year one if it's a new deal and then um discuss what you know was a hit if anything was amiss new areas that we didn't think of because it was our first time working together and um and is it a is it a renewable you know contract or was it a one-time deal and the relationship is going to change i've had both interesting do you ever ask for um uh contact information for like say people on the guest list or i mean you are a media company and you're trying to build your subscriber base what does that look like and and how do those conversations go absolutely um when that that is what is our benefit from a media partnership it's a it's an opportunity to grow our brand and our viewership and subscriber base um so when there is actual you know guests and tracking mechanisms yes those people are all then invited to become um subscribers and it's a you know the way we do it they could opt out you know we're not forcing anybody to do anything but it is definitely something that um in our uh what we do as a publisher um we're interested in inviting um people that are part of the organization that we work with to become a permanent part of our of our dna um employers for sure well and i think it it goes kind of back to one of the things that you said um earlier and that is is that you know stakeholders and people in the community feel better about their relationship when they see those stories and when they see those things coming back um and in featuring them um i know you do a lot of social coverage um obviously that's one of the cornerstones of what you do including photo galleries things of that nature um and this is somewhat of a curve ball but can you talk to us about how you like to work with nonprofits whether they're a partner a media partner with you or not but just how sharing those galleries or getting those images from events and what that looks like yeah and we're actually um we're finding that during covid there's been a lot of um changes in the staff and we have a lot of new people that we are working with when it comes to covering events um but here's a few things that we do so um a the calendar that i mentioned before that is where we make the arrangement that we are being invited to cover the event and um that somebody from our team is um being invited to be present um sometimes we can't get to everything but we just we're not going to do a photo gallery if we're not invited to do so and so if somebody wants to stay you know private and and not do that that's that's fine we make it as clear as possible as we could can what the arrangement is and then afterward we work with that usually the same person that we started with on the calendar entry and um uh and let me back up a second in the calendar entry there's also um please send me information about advertising or event you can pay you know a fee to be um your event to be published in our newsletter you can pay for a banner ad to be added to our website you could pay for um an ad to be in the magazine so again it really is this giant checklist of options um in order to say no you're invited to to any and all of these things depending on what your budget is and what you're what you're after events that are a thousand dollars a person that you know they don't need that but those are those are high level you know donor relationships but you know a food tasting event for $150 for a VIP ticket $100 you know for a festival ticket that those things sell online you know like crazy that that's a really good um you know lead for us um and then we attend the event if we can like I said and it's our honor to do so and I do introduce myself to the photographer and say we're looking forward to using your your photos and then we really prompt the organization to go through and pick out those best photos the most flattering photos of the people that really made the event success or the campaign a success we want their event chairs we want their board of directors um chairman and members we if there was an awesome entertainer of course you know photo them or the honoree but we also say don't put the same people in all this all the photos right exactly a good gallery has the best photo of each of these elements and so this year we're adding a shot list to our our package that once we receive an event invitation and we say you know thank you we've noticed there's so many new younger people involved in the process we say here's the shot list for you whoever staffing the photographer this is what's going to make your coverage shine you know I love it I love it and I think um you know not only are you helping your publishing team and staff to get you know better results and to build you know the credibility and excitement of your award winning publication but you're helping that non-profit get really great coverage that that lasts so long especially I mean I know you do you know your beautiful print work but at the core of it this is a digital world and so those things last they're searchable I mean they they continue to have a shelf life it's and they get shared on social media it's nobody'll be proud that their friend you know with the chairman or the honoree of an event and away it goes on you know facebook and insta and we it's all tied back to us and I love it it's a win win it's a win it is a win win well wow it you know it's hard to believe that our time is coming to a draw this has been amazing I want to make sure to share Andrea's contact information Andrea I'm so proud of you hard to believe front doors 20 years um really an amazing journey that you've taken and the things that you do in our community make a difference and you might not always see that but I see it and I know how remarkable your work is and I also know how hard your work is so I thank you for what you do well thank you Julia for being um one of our biggest cheerleaders you know how much I treasure that and again all these little pearls of wisdom challenge your publications in your communities please to um do this type of coverage but you could give it to them you know in a way that makes it very easy for them to say yes to you right right you know I used to say all the time I have to say no far more than I get to say yes because there's just so much but when there are two things going on people that and missions that I really believe in it's easier to say yes and when you help us along that journey you give us information you give us ideas um and they're not the same as what everybody else is getting it's a little bit more unique or a little bit more of an insight in a certain direction that's magical and that's when things get done so I love that you are marching in that direction hey check out frontdoorsmedia.com it's just an amazing resource I think there are a lot of things to learn about what's going on in a vibrant philanthropic community we are blessed to have that here where we are but it is something that we work on and it is something that people like Andrea Evans and her team work on and cultivate for us each day so thank you so much my friend again I'm Julia Patrick tomorrow you will be back with us and Jarrett Ransom who has been at the AFP Icon Awards doing our very first live remote from Vegas so we'll get to hear about how that went some of the lessons learned from there again I want to thank all of our presenting sponsors Blumerang American non-profit academy fundraising academy the non-profit nerd your part-time controller staffing boutique non-profit thought leader and the non-profit atlas without these sponsors we would not be here and so we are very very grateful hey Andrea my friend thank you for this time I know you have a busy world and I am grateful that you would share with us today now thanks for having me Julia and my love to ransom to Jarrett as well and I'll see you guys tomorrow for your awesome Friday show well thank you we will be there and as we like to end every episode we want to remind everyone and ourselves stay well so you can do well