Summer’s Over. Is Your PR Ready for Fall?

Summer is over. Vacations are done. Everyone’s back at their desks.

So, what’s your PR plan for the rest of the year?

If the answer is, “We’ll figure it out,” you’re not ready.

The next few months are packed with opportunities to get your company, nonprofit, college, or organization seen, heard, and talked about. But you have to find those opportunities before they pass you by.

Here are three things you should be doing right now.

1. Find the Stories Already in Front of You

Look at your calendar between now and the end of the year and ask one question:

What are we doing that could be newsworthy or interesting to our audience and community?

Events. Expansions. New programs. Community initiatives.

You’re probably already doing things worth talking about. The trick is recognizing the story before the opportunity is gone.

Don’t wait until an event is a week away and suddenly ask, “Should we invite the media?”

Build your PR calendar now. Identify the stories and give yourself time to pitch them properly.

2. Put Your Experts to Work

You have people inside your organization who know things reporters—and their audiences—want to know. Put them out there.

Your executives and subject-matter experts can become sources for reporters, write opinion pieces, provide commentary and help your organization become part of bigger conversations.

Then look at what’s coming up on the calendar. Holidays. Awareness months. Seasonal trends. Major events. Deadlines. Issues you know will generate news.

Which of your experts can you match with those opportunities?

Don’t wait for a reporter to magically discover your CEO, attorney, doctor, professor or industry expert.

Make the connection before the story happens.

3. Reconnect With Reporters

Fall is a great time to reconnect with the reporters, editors, and producers who cover your organization, industry, and community.

And you don’t need a press release to do it.

Check in. Find out what they’re covering. Remind them about your experts. Let them know what you have coming up.

Media relations shouldn’t be transactional.

If the only time a reporter hears from you is when you want something, you’re not building much of a relationship.

Stay visible even when you’re not pitching.

Bonus: Start Your Year in Review Now

December is closer than you think, so start collecting your 2026 accomplishments now.

What did you launch? What grew? Who did you help? What changed? What numbers demonstrate your impact? What are you proud of? And what’s coming in 2027?

That material can become pitches, social posts, videos, newsletters, and year-end stories.

Most importantly, you won’t be scrambling in December trying to remember what happened in February.

Don’t Coast Into the End of the Year

There’s plenty of PR opportunity between now and December 31.

Find the stories. Position your experts. Reconnect with reporters. Start telling the story of your year.

Summer’s over. Your PR campaign should be heating up, not cooling down.