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Anne Gregory

VII. Translate the following text from English into Russian.

Charities are non-profit organisations, so profit is not at stake as with other businesses. What is at stake is much more important — survival. Whether they are devoted to finding missing people or helping children, charities need to do all they can to continue their good work and PR can help achieve that, harmoniously.

Good PR can work wonders in enhancing fundraising efforts of charities and can help them in overcoming the growing competition. If there is a continuing need for funding, and a specific purpose for the PR activity then redundancy through success is not a situation charities should find themselves in.

Charities do not offer donors tangible goods which benefit them directly and there is also vast scepticism over how funds are used and whether they are actually benefiting the cause. It follows that a key role for PR is to communicate to both potential and current donors how donations are being spent and to highlight past successes. By publicising the information, charities can seek to gain this mutual trust.

A charity’s status of being in the business of helping people rather than increasing profits can be used to its advantage but that alone is not enough. PR can enhance, broaden and communicate this status, and improve perception. It has been said that “perception is reality.” Whether that is true or not, perception is vital to any business, and even more so for charities who heavily rely on their publics for funding.

Charities must be cautious when using PR and have a specific purpose for it. The outcome should be sufficient success to achieve the charity’s aim, but not so much that the status as a charity becomes redundant. There should be a harmony between the two, and an understanding of the level of success desired.

PR seeks to grow and improve an organisation and ultimately it wants to achieve success for it. But charities must always be seen as being in a position of need, otherwise donations will cease. After all, who would give to a charity that has more money than it knows what to do with? Public trust is a key area to PR, arguably the most important.

(Amy Martinez. Why charity should begin in PR. Behind The Spin. http://publicsphere.typepad.com/behindthespin/2006/06/)

    1. Translate the following text from Russian into English.

Широкая сфера работы в области связей с общественностью включает некоммерческие институты. Цель этих институтов – не получить коммерческую прибыль, а разнообразными способами улучшить условия жизни человека.

Диапазон некоммерческих институтов поражает: от маленьких городских музеев до гигантских международных фондов. Одну категорию составляют членские организации, такие как профессиональные ассоциации. Другой сегмент формируют социальные, культурные, религиозные учреждения и организации здравоохранения. В третью группу попадают образовательные учреждения.

Как бы сильно они ни различались по своим целям, у всех некоммерческих организаций общие проблемы и потребности. Они освобождены от уплаты налогов, при этом в целом перед такими организациями стоит бесконечная задача сбора средств на оплату своих расходов и финансовых проектов.

Роль связей с общественностью в поддержке этих организаций и оказании им финансовой помощи существенна.

(Аги У., Кэмерон Г., Олт Ф., Уилкокс Д. Самое главное в PR. – СПб.: Питер, 2004. С. 252-253)

    1. Summarize the article “Public relations for non-commercial organizations”.

    1. Solve the following PR problem.

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, a lot of people with epilepsy are under age eighteen. But research shows that the majority of today’s youth knows very little or nothing about the disorder – and those who do cling to outmoded myths and misinformation. As a result, teens with epilepsy are often teased, shunned or otherwise treated differently by their peers, affecting self-esteem and school performance.

As a PR practitioner develop a campaign to educate teens and overcome misinformation.

Unit 8