New course developed to bring public relations strategies to local nonprofits

In Fall 2018, Lecturer Marshele Carter spearheaded a new section of "MEJO 490: Special Topics in Mass Communication" to directly benefit nonprofits in the local Carrboro community.

Students created public relations campaigns and presented deliverables and strategic techniques through workshops sponsored by Angel Oak Creative. The workshops, hosted by YouthForward, taught key principles of public relations — including sponsorship fundraising strategies and approaches to digital media coverage — to the Triangle's nonprofit organizations that did not have access or funds to impliment professional public relations campaigning on their own.

The students in this course, informally titled "Cause Communications," worked in teams specializing in marketing, logistics, registration and sponsorship and social media. Carter opened these students' eyes to a side of public relations removed from the heavily publicized corporate world, leaving many with open hearts and creative visions for nonprofits' futures.

The course will be offered again in Fall 2019 for those who hope to positively impact the community while gaining real-world skills that can only be acquired out of the classroom.