The most successful nonprofits and NGOs are those that communicate regularly with other organizations, businesses, office holders and the media. If others know what an organization is doing, they will refer potential supporters, resources and clients to that organization. It will also allow more and more people to know of the impact your organization has on the community. Online volunteers can help by researching contact information for similarly-focused organizations, government office holders, local business owners, and so forth.
However, an online volunteer should NEVER contact these organizations without the EXPRESS approval of the organization he or she is assisting. If you have not been authorized to contact other organizations for the nonprofit, or you aren't sure if you are supposed to, then DON'T. Most organizations will want you to just gather the contact information, which will be used by a staff person to make the actual contacts.
There are many online resources you can use to help an organization identify others that should receive press releases, program updates, event invitations or other materials. Among them:
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NewsLink
Provides links for newspapers, TV and radio outlets, magazines, by subject area. This is a great way to identify news outlets that might be interested in providing your organization with coverage.
Internet Yellow and White Pages
Another great way to identify regional media outlets, similarly focused organizations, and web sites and e-mail addresses for city, county and state office holders who should know about what an organization is up to. Some of these resources include:
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Yahoo Online Yellow Pages
Databases of U.S. Nonprofit Organizations
U.S. States and Local GovernmentsU.S. Federal Government Offices and Departments
International Government Sites
Embassies, USIA Educational & Cultural Affairs Bureau, etc.
And, ofcourse, web search engines and directories.
