Step 7: Publicize Your Event

If you want people to come to your National Cancer Survivors Day® event, you’ve got to let them know about it. Be sure the cancer survivors in your community don’t miss out on this time-honored Celebration of Life – start publicizing your NCSD event several weeks in advance. Here’s how.

Download the NCSD Publicity Toolkit 

The NCSD publicity toolkit is filled with social media post ideas, shareable graphics, official NCSD logos, promotional copy, and printables to help you promote and publicize your local National Cancer Survivors Day® Celebration of Life. All these materials are available for download directly from Google Drive at the link below. Use these resources to spread the word about your NCSD event.

Create a Social Media Campaign

Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your event and building a community around it. If your organization or event doesn’t already have a social media presence, create one! 

Consistently share updates on your social media channels to engage cancer survivors and supporters in your community and get them excited about your National Cancer Survivors Day® celebration. The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation has put together promotional copy, social media posts, and compelling graphics for you to use in your NCSD event marketing and on social media leading up to and on National Cancer Survivors Day®. It’s all available in the NCSD Publicity Toolkit.

Share event details, announcements, photos, press releases, reminders, contests, and more to generate excitement and increase exposure for your Celebration of Life. Get as many people as you can to share your posts and help spread the word. Additionally, use your organization’s website, blogs, mailing lists, and newsletters to share information about your NCSD event.

Work with Local Media 

Start by using our press release template, along with a good photo, to send to your local newspapers, TV and radio stations, newsletters, blogs, community calendars, and online forums, groups, or influencers. Local media may even be interested in coming to your NCSD event to cover the story.

When contacting the media, make it clear that NCSD is more than a party; it is a time to call attention to the issues of cancer survivorship. In addition to covering your event, you may propose story ideas and angles that could capture their interest. These may include the challenges cancer survivors encounter in accessing cancer specialists and new promising treatments, issues related to inadequate health insurance, cancer survivors’ difficulties in securing or maintaining employment, as well as financial and emotional struggles.

Engage the Community

Social media and traditional media aren’t the only ways to publicize your National Cancer Survivors Day® event. Get your local community involved. Contact local cancer-related organizations and support groups to help you spread the word. Religious organizations in your community may let you share a short post in their bulletins or newsletters. Local businesses may let you post flyers or put up signs to help get the word out about your community’s Celebration of Life. 

Word of mouth is often the most effective form of publicity!

Note:  National publicity in the U.S.A. will be handled by the NCSD Foundation. Refer national media inquiries to the media hotline at (615) 794-3006 or email info@ncsd.org. Be sure to register your event using the Registration form. The Foundation will also be responsible for contacting the White House and the National Cancer Institute.