Organization's logo, if available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Name
Contact Phone Number(s)
Contact E-mail Address(es)

MAIN TITLE OF RELEASE [IN ALL CAPS — MOST EXCITING NEWS, BUT KEEP SHORT]

Subtitle of Release [this is optional but can be used as a good way to hook reporters]

YOUR LOCATION, Date [for example: PEORIA, Ill., July 1] — The lead paragraph must include the who, what, when, where and how of the story. If the reporter were only to read the lead of a good press release, the reporter would have everything needed to get started.

The rest of the body of the press release should give further information and some key quotes. Three to four paragraphs should suffice. For example, this paragraph could be further background information. Remember to keep this short; no more than a page!

By the third paragraph you should have a "quotable quote" from someone in your organization about why you are having the event. Keep this quote short! Reporters will not quote an entire paragraph from you — keep them to two sentences maximum, and make each sentence quotable by itself.

Here, you can use some more background information and talk about the goals of the blanketing.

In this paragraph, you could include a quote from an expert or the Ask the Candidates campaign — just contact us and we'll be happy to supply you with one!

The last true paragraph of your press release should say something like: If you'd like more information about this event, or to schedule an interview with [someone in your organization or at Ask the Candidates], please call [contact name] at [contact number] or e-mail [contact name] at [contact e-mail address].

The final paragraph is called "boilerplate" — it's a block of standard text used to describe your organization and what you do. If you are sending out multiple press releases, these are generally the same on each one. You can also include a sentence about Ask the Candidates and its web address, www.AskTheCandidates.org.

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[end the press release with three hash marks, centered]