1. Budgeting
Public Relations
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2. Introduction Budgeting is important for the following reasons:
To learn what it will cost to carry out a PR programme.
Alternatively, to learn what sort of programme can be carried out for a given sum of money.
The budget provides a checklist of tasks which have to be performed. These can be organized in the form of a timetable.
The budget sets a discipline for both expenditure and over- expenditure, for it is necessary to spend as planned as it is to control excessive expenditure.
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3. Introduction
e. After completion of the campaign, results can be measured against the budget (as well as against the programme itself) to consider whether enough, too little or too much was spent and whether individual allocations for particular activities were correct.
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4. PR Department & Consultancy Budgets
The only difference between budgets for PR departments and PR consultancies is that the latter must include profit.
Four elements of a PR budget are:
1. Labour. This includes the salaries not only of PR practitioners but those of all supporting staff such as secretaries, clerks, accountants, receptionists, messengers and others in either a PR department or a consultancy. Since PR is labour intensive, this may be expected to be the biggest item in the PR budget.
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5. 2. Office Overheads. These are mostly the fixed costs of rent, rates, insurance, air conditioning, lighting, and cleaning, but also include variable costs such as telephone and client liason. 3. Materials. All physical items are included here such as stationery, postage, print, visual aids, mobile exhibition stands, photographs, slides and audio-visual aids.
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6. 4. Expenses. Out-of-pocket expenses such as fares, hotel bills and hospitality are included here, together with the special expenses to do with organizing PR events which may involve catering and various hire charges for microphones, TV sets, screens, vehicles, chairs, umbrellas and so forth.
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7. Budget for a PR Consultancy programme
12 progress meetings…………………12* x hrs * $x 12 news releases………………………..12* xhrs *$ x 2 interview tapes for radio…………. 2* xhrs* $x Estimated material costs: Expenses: _____________________
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8. Use of budgeting by management
Budgeting will show what can be made before the work begins.
For example, it is no use recommending the production of a house magazine unless someone has both the time and the ability to edit it. This could be a case where it may be economic to augment the in- house PR department with the part-time services of a PR consultancy which has a design studio and desk-top publishing computer equipment.
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9. Let’s Review! Why is it wise to budget a PR programme?
What are overheads?
What are the four elements of a budget?
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