The Society has its own TV series on Eternal Word Television Network. EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world. Click here for ways to tie into the TV series to promote your Council or Conference. 

When Catholic Life Channel 15 was established several years ago on the Cox Television Network in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Don Broussard had a vision of a St. Vincent de Paul program which would bring the story of the Society to the public. We get a lot of media coverage, for which we are extremely grateful. The Baton Rouge media cover the work of the Society because of the newsworthy activities we are involved in every day. But, in addition to that great coverage, Don saw a need and an opportunity to tell some of the stories in a 30-minute television program that would capture the ministry and mission of the Society. Of course, Don knew that we had no budget for such an activity. Recently, however, Don and Michael Acaldo contacted Steven Lee, Director of Television Ministry here in our Diocese; and, with Steve’s help and the help of Dina Martinez and all the good people at Catholic Life Channel 15, they were able to come up with a vision for a program entitled Beacons of Light. Steven has worked countless hours to put together a good television program on a shoestring and a prayer. Beacons of Light debuted the week of March 12th. Broadcast times are Sundays at 3 PM, Mondays at 7 PM (after April 17th), Tuesdays at 1 PM, Wednesdays at 9 PM, and Saturdays at 8 PM. Each show will highlight something about work and life in the trenches at St. Vincent de Paul and will allow us to share examples of faith. We would like to thank Bishop Robert Muench, Father John Carville, Steven Lee, and Dina Martinez for the support and hard work that have gone into making this program the hit we know it will be. As the first St. Vincent de Paul group in the country to have its own television program, we thank our local Catholic television station for being on the cutting edge in bringing our remarkable work into the homes of our community.

-- Michael Acaldo, Executive Director
Diocesan Council of Baton Rouge

 

It’s 3:00 o’clock Sunday afternoon in Miami and you’re tuned to Radio Peace Catholic Radio Station: The Saint Vincent de Paul Program is about to start read more ...

Local art students have created works of art based on photographs of people eating meals at St. Vincent de Paul Dining Room. The top 20 works in “Windows to the Soul: Putting a Human Face on Poverty in Marin County” will be displayed around the county at the county fair, banks, churches, and elsewhere. “It’s a great way to get the message out,” said Steven Boyer, executive director of the Marin County St. Vincent de Paul Society. The exhibit was created after volunteers snapped photos of people eating at the dining room and provided the images to officials at various local schools. Art students and their instructors used the photos or portions of the images as the basis for art projects, all of which touch on the unifying theme of poverty. (Marin Independent Journal, May 7, 2006) read more ...

We have made available to all of our Vincentians armbands to wear whenever we are at a function where we would like others to know that we are the “Society of St. Vincent de Paul.” We wear our SVdP armbands when we participate at ministry fairs, when we recruit members for our Conferences, and when we attend mass together as a group -- especially when we attend a funeral mass to support the family of a deceased Vincentian. We feel that it is important that the family members and friends of the deceased Vincentian know that we are there to support and honor our brother or sister that has passed. The armband is royal blue, with the SVdP logo of white and blue. Our Vincentians wear their armbands with pride, and they are a good topic of conversation and recruitment.

-- Catalina Miller, Council of Los Angeles, Inc.

 

Until recently, the Conference of St. Mary Help of Christians in Aiken, South Carolina used a variety of phone numbers to receive calls for assistance, including the parish office number and a voice mail system with a recording 

Project CARE offers those in need a permanent local phone number and voice mailbox, free of charge. Partnering with Project CARE as part of its Bay Area program are the Employment Development Department, St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda, St. Vincent de Paul of San Francisco.  read more ...

One of the best ways for local Councils to garner press coverage is by copying the successful PR efforts of other Councils, which begin with the identification of programs, projects, and personalities that are likely to capture the attention of editors and producers. Most of the items that we post on the homepage and on the Best Practices page have come to our attention through Google Alerts – in other words, they’ve already proven their newsworthiness. By checking these two pages on our site regularly, or subscribing to Google Alerts to track stories relating to “St. Vincent de Paul,” a Council can get a good idea of what approaches are likely to succeed.

Another good and easy idea is simply to pass on to local media the press releases that the National Council sends out regularly to national media and leadership. Even better is to append local Council info to the national releases, or customize them to incorporate or emphasize local efforts.

Several months of Google Alerts suggest that the Councils most successful in their PR efforts go to great lengths to tie their promotions in with annual and seasonal events: Thanksgiving and Christmas, of course, but also beginning and end of school years (uniforms, discarded apt. furnishings, etc.), summer (fan drives), winter (coat drives), etc.

The good news is, the resources are already in place for any Council that wants to raise its profile. It’s just a question of following proven models.

--Bob Duplantier,  Former National Director, Membership & Technology Services  

Excerpted from Section 4 of the Society's Identity Manual 

When trying to get media coverage for your Council's activities, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Call some of your local reporters and ask what types of stories interest them, what’s the best way to submit a story idea to them, etc. Better yet, ask representatives from your local media (the daily paper, the diocesan paper, the alternative weekly, the city monthly, the major TV stations, the most popular radio stations, the Catholic station, etc.) to participate in a workshop for your members.

The people best able to tell you how to capture the attention of the local media are local media personnel. By inviting them to participate, you show that you recognize and appreciate their expertise, you get their attention, and you learn something from them. At least half the benefit comes from planning the workshop. You’ll have to identify the best local media people to invite (the ones you’ve tried to pitch ideas to, the ones you’d like to pitch ideas to, etc.) and then make contact and invite them. Whether they accept or not, you’ll establish relationships that can grow and prosper. If you do manage to get them to participate, make sure they enjoy the experience. That way, the next time you pitch a story, you’ll be pitching to a friend.

--Bob Duplantier, Former National Director, Membership & Technology Services  

Past Cincinnati Executive Director Liz Carter used the forum of a guest column in a local newspaper to request support for her Council's charitable efforts going into the tough winter months

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Take a good long look at something you don't want to see. Marge Hakel knows that's a hard sell for most folks. No matter; her oil portraits of women stricken with fear, children ravaged by disease or hunger and men devastated by poverty are given away. read more ...

The Phoenix Council is soliciting stories from local Vincentians -- of a family visited, a guest fed, a home visit made with a parent, an inspiring volunteer, etc. They're collecting and preserving these wonderful stories to use in their publications, so that others may come to better understand the work of our great organization. read more ...

Vincentians are dedicated and, therefore, busy people. So, sometimes it is hard to convince them of the importance of taking time to read Meeting Minutes. Sandra Baden and All Saints SVdP in Atlanta have developed an ingenious way of encouraging members to read the meeting minutes: the secretary places errors in the minutes for the members to find. Members who attend the subsequent meeting and correct the errors get a prize. Sandra says, “We try to make a small error. We try to change one word so they might overlook it. As for prizes, my group loves dark chocolate so I buy chocolate bars and bags of chocolate. I also buy book markers and refrigerator magnets with religious sayings on them.”
(The Society Page, Atlanta Council Newsletter, January 2008)  

Instead of explaining the desperate plight of the homeless at its 2008 appeal launch, the Society in Australia created a campaign that allowed the poor to speak for themselves, giving disposable cameras to 100 marginalized people in New South Wales and asking them to take a snapshot of their life. read more ...

Madeleine’s advice to the rest of us is to get involved. Life passes too fast. For sure, that advice comes from her experience. read more ...

"In my twenty years as a member of the Society," observes Miami Council President Victor Martell, "I have noticed the lack of publicity that we suffer in our Society, and not only in the United States, where I reside, but in all the other countries of the world. read more ...

Christ’s universal call to build a civilization of love is inherent in the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Day by day, person by person, Vincentians seek to bring that magnificent concept closer to reality. read more ...

The link to De Paul Vincentian materials is: http://stvincentimages.cdm.depaul.edu/ but its quicker and easier to remember and Google All Things Vincentian to get de Paul link. Scroll down to Images and Icons but be sure to see what else is there! Awesome!