Planning Starts with a Mission Statement

The best starting point for public relations planning is to review the organization's mission statement and goals. These documents summarize what the organization is and what it's trying to accomplish, and they should provide the focus for every decision the organization -- or any sub-unit within it -- makes and every action it takes. This should be especially true of public relations efforts.

Consequently, many public relations plans start with a copy of the organization's mission and goals. The next element these plans include is a mission statement for the public relations unit which spells out what that unit does and how it assists and supports the organization in carrying out its mission.

The linked page, Planning starts with mission statements. includes an example of an organizational mission statement and that organization's public relations mission statement which shows how the latter parallels and supports the former.