One of the many fact sheets provided by the Special Olympics in their Digital Press Kit.

by Megan Jonas

This is the fourth post in our series on Digital Press Kits. Read the previous three posts here: “Digital Press Kits: The New Essential”, "Digital Press Kits: Where to Start", "Digital Press Kits: With Images, Size Matters"

Do you feel like you answer the same seven questions about your company or organization all the time? Do more than half of your press/marketing calls involve questions like “how many people work at your company?” “where are you headquartered?” or “can you tell me a little about the history of ____?”

Including a Fact Sheet in your digital press kit can help cut down on questions that have basic, factual answers, and free you up for more in-depth questions and interviews.

Fact Sheets are usually one-page, printable documents that use bulleted lists and short paragraphs to tell reporters, bloggers, and others about the key elements of your business or organization.

This might include:

• The location of your headquarters, and other cities, states or countries you operate in
• The number of employees you have and any special employee programs you participate in, such as Veteran’s work programs, Young Adult vocational training, or employment programs for Adults with Special Needs
• The structure and names of your executive team
• A brief history of the company
• Your mission statement
• Other key facts that tell the story of your company or organization (how many widgets do you make a year? who are your key customers? what geographical area do you serve?)
• Charitable and community involvement

When considering what to include, you want to make sure you are telling a positive story. It’s ok to brag a little about the things you do for your community or employees. Anything that can help illustrate the story of your company is fair game.

And remember, you are trying to answer the key, factual questions a reporter, or even just a new acquaintance at a cocktail party, might ask you. Be clear and concise. If you make it easy for them, reporters, bloggers and other writers will find and use this information in their stories about your organization.