Loyola University / Communication Internships

Public Relations/Marketing: Give a Gift to Make a Difference

GIVE A GIFT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

SERVICE LEARNING INTERNSHIP PROGRAM


INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this presentation is to invite schools and colleges nationwide to participate in the Give a Gift to Make a Difference internship program at UltimateRegistry.com.

This program allows students to receive hours by contacting local charities and asking them to create a gift registry at UltimateRegistry.com. Students will also be required to contact the media (local newspapers or radio stations) to advertise the program. Advertisements will encourage people to visit UltimateRegistry.com and give a gift to their favorite charity.

The Give a Gift to Make a Difference internship program greatly helps local charities by giving them the opportunity to inform their community of exactly which items or products they are in need of.

This program also helps students by giving them valuable lessons in business, marketing, negotiating, public relations, and, of course, charitable giving.

With the help of intern students throughout the United States, we expect to make Give a Gift to Make a Difference the single most successful program that interns can participate in to help their local communities.

This program will enable student interns to truly make a difference in their community while gaining useful job experience and learning valuable business lessons.


ABOUT THE COMPANY
UltimateRegistry.com allows users to create a registry for any occasion; i.e., Weddings, Baby Showers, Birthdays, Holidays, New Homes, etc.

UltimateRegistry.com features millions of products from many of the nation’s top merchants; i.e., Wal*mart, Target, Macy’s, Sears, Best Buy etc., and some of the most popular websites, such as Amazon.com.

UltimateRegistry.com enables people to compare products and prices from multiple stores and register for gifts from multiple retailers in one convenient website.

UltimateRegistry.com is powered by it’s parent company, WS Publishing Group, perhaps the most successful independent publishing company in the United States. WS Publishing Group has published over 80 best selling titles and has sold over 3 million books in topics such as weddings, health, children's, parenting, home buying/selling, home improvement, self-help and cooking.

WS Publishing Group also publishes HYPERLINK "http://www.WeddingSolutions.com" www.WeddingSolutions.com, one of the most popular wedding planning websites in North America.



ABOUT THE PROGRAM

GIVE A GIFT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Give a Gift to Make A Difference program allows local and national charities to create their own gift registry page at UltimateRegistry.com. On this page, charities can register for all the items they need to run their charity; i.e., books, furniture, toys, blankets, computers, etc.

Users will soon be able to visit UltimateRegistry.com and click on the banner labeled “Give a Gift to Make a Difference” which will be located on the home page, and then select the registry page of their favorite local charity. They will then be able to purchase gifts from the list of items which that charity has registered for. All gifts purchased will be shipped directly to the charity.

Users will have the option of either purchasing a gift outright, contributing cash towards a gift, or simply donating cash towards the charity.


BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY
The sad reality in today’s world is that people are giving fewer donations to charities each year. This is not because we are becoming less generous as a nation. It is because people are losing confidence that the donations they make are truly getting to those in need. With only 10-20% of the money donated to some charities reaching those in need, it is no wonder that people are losing faith in charitable organizations.

Because 100% of the gifts donated to charities through the Give a Gift to Make a Difference program will reach someone in need, UltimateRegistry.com is helping charities restore the confidence of the people who make donations. We expect that people will be much more generous knowing that their contributions will not be wasted in unnecessary overhead expenses.



BENEFITS TO STUDENTS
Participating in the Give a Gift to Make a Difference program is a great learning experience for students wishing to enter the fields of marketing or public relations.

Successful candidates will help the PR department of UltimateRegistry.com promote the Give a Gift to Make a Difference program to charities and the media nationwide.

In addition to contacting local charities, students will work with print editors as well as radio and television producers to spread the word about the Gift a Gift to Make a Difference Program to the general public.

Students participating in this program will learn:

how to communicate and sell their ideas
how to overcome objections
how to write and distribute press releases
how to get others excited about their ideas
to use their service hours towards a great cause
how to identify and find decision makers
various approaches to present and sell their ideas
how to approach various members of the media

Being part of the Give a Gift to Make a Difference program will provide students with the basic skills needed to contact important people and organizations in their community, from directors of various charitable organizations to radio talk hosts, newspaper editors and television producers.

Students will learn how to develop relationships with these community leaders. They will learn how to market and promote a worthwhile program. They will learn and have the opportunity to set goals and see results.

Participants in our program will have the opportunity to make an immediate and important impact on the community around them.


STUDENT REQUIREMENTS
Minimum Qualifications:
--  Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills
--  Must be self-motivated
--  Must have strong interpersonal skills
--  Must be comfortable in a corporate environment
--  Must be comfortable speaking on the phone
-- Must have access to a quiet place with a phone line or cell phone
-- Must have a computer with internet access
-- Must be familiar with Excel




STUDENT TRAINING
UltimateRegistry.com will submit a package to the interns that will teach them how to perform the tasks necessary to complete and get credit for this internship program. This package will include how to contact local charities and the media as follows:

Local Charities:
How to search for and contact local charities
How to find the decision makers
How to sell the program
How to help charities select products that will benefit their organization

Local Media:
How to search for and find local newspapers and radio & television stations
How to ask for the correct person to present the program
How to write and submit a press release to the media
How to follow up with the media
How to track sales calls
How to create a progress report



STUDENT EXPECTATIONS

At a minimum, we expect student interns to perform the following tasks:

8 Activities per hour
Find the correct decision maker at each charity
Explain the program and follow up with an e-mail
Get at least one charity to a create a registry page for each hour worked
Get at least one local newspapers, tv station or radio station to do a segment on the program
Send an easel sign to the charities to advertise the program to their supporters
Send an e-mail describing the program so charities can advertise it to their supporters
Document each call and make progress reports using an Excel File




PROGRESS REPORT
There will be one progress report for each major city and the surrounding areas.

A progress report may contain activities from a previous intern who worked on the same city. Students will be responsible for following up on work performed by previous interns.

Students will be expected to fill out a Progress Report which will contain the contact information and account activities for each intern who has worked in that area. It will also contain the “Total Number of Hours worked,” the “Total Number of Activities,” “The Total Number of Charities that have created a registry page,” the “Total Number of Signs Shipped to Charities,” and the “Total Media Segments” that the intern has secured.

The Progress Report will contain the name and activities of each charity. Each activity will contain the name of the intern who made the call, the date of the call, any comment or feedback about the call and the follow up date.

See the enclosed Excel file for an example of the Student Progress Report.

Intern students will send the Progress Report sheet after every 8 hours worked to the PR department at UltimateRegistry.com. Once this report has been confirmed, UltimateRegistry.com will send a “student report” so the student can get credit for his/her hours and activities.

CONCLUSION
We would like UltimateRegistry.com Service Learning Program to be certified for the community service learning program at your school, college or university.

We would like our community service learning program to be offered and advertised to all your students.

We will answer any questions that your students may have regarding the program

Students will be able to perform their duties from their home or from any quiet place. All they need is a phone and a computer attached to the internet.

Student internship efforts and progress report will be carefully monitored and evaluated by UltimateRegistry.com

UltimateRegistry.com will issue a complete evaluation for each intern that completes the required numbered of hours.

For more information, please contact Holly White by phone at 619 489 1919 x 110 or by e-mail at Holly@UltimateRegistry.com