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KDPaine & Partners and ASPCA earn Golden Ruler Certificate of Merit

BERLIN,NH -- October 13, 2008,  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and KDPaine & Partners have been awarded one of the PR industries most prestigious awards. The Institute for PR’s annual Jack Felton Golden Ruler of Measurement Award is awarded to the most significant measurement project each year at the Measurement Summit in Portsmouth NH. This year, KDPaine & Partners and its client the ASPCA were awarded the Certificate of Merit for "Defining PR's Role in Achieving Organizational Goals for the ASPCA." The team established strategies to systematically measure and evaluate the newly established communications program while building a proactive external media relations function.

Before 2005, the ASPCA had virtually no pro-active external media relations function. With the hiring of its first PR person in 2006, it began to build the communications function relying heavily on research to help guide its growth. In December 2006, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) engaged KDPaine & Partners (KDPP) to systematically measure and evaluate its media relations and communications function, and its effectiveness. The ASPCA and KDPP designed a scalable, Web-based dashboard that combined communications research with organizational performance indicators in order to provide leadership with real time information about the relationship between the efforts of the Media & Communications Department. Starting with a traditional media relations measurement program in 2006, they have moved to an analysis of consumer generated media, as well as conducted several traditional survey research studies to guide their actions.

At the same time as they were setting up a strong communications foundation, the ASPCA media and communications team was also presented with a number of opportunities that required fast response and proactive action. They further measured these tactics to determine what worked best in a crisis.

“Ultimately, we found that beyond simply helping define and build a successful communications strategy for the ASPCA, this research program provided valuable lessons in best practices that can be applied across the non-profit sector. In fact, Mothers Against Drunk Driving recently launched a similar research program based on the ASPCA model,”  said KDPaine & Partners CEO Katie Delahaye Paine

 “We see this model as having widespread beneficial implications for non-profits everywhere. Functioning within a cost-effective budget, their  integrated approach to public relations evaluation has helped to align internal understanding of public relations as a vital, strategic management function that has become more, not less, important in the digital age,”. “This  contributes to the growing case histories of the influence between social and traditional media, and provides evidence of the role that public relations plays in driving web traffic in the non-profit sector. As the web becomes a primary source of information, as well as the place where interaction with a non-profit organization may well begin (e.g. becoming a volunteer or donating), this research is critical to promoting the understanding of public relations as a relationship management function that is independent of medium,” Paine said.

The Commission on Public Relations Measurement & Evaluation exists to establish standards and methods for public relations research and measurement, and to issue authoritative best-practices white papers. The Institute for Public Relations is an independent foundation dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™, bridging the academy and the profession, supporting PR research and mainstreaming this knowledge into practice through PR education.

About KDPaine & Partners
KDPaine & Partners is a Berlin, New Hampshire-based consultancy that provides plans, products and services that help Public Affairs and Marketing professionals measure their success and make better, more informed decisions for their organizations. For more information about KDPaine & Partners, go to http://www.kdpaine.com.

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177 Main Street, 3rd Floor  I  Berlin, NH  03570  I  603.319.1055  I  kdpaine@kdpaine.com