1. R E L A T E
Relate is a fairly common word, but its use is uncommon enough to put it
somewhere between a penny and fifty cents. Its Latin root means brought or
carried back, and we recognize this meaning immediately in its sense of to tell.
Relating a story is the way we bring back what has happened to us as individ-uals
and groups. We also use relate when we speak of connection, association,
interaction, family, and response. A relationship is the result of what we carry
to each other out of our individual past experiences, as well as current hopes
and plans. Relating is reciprocal, a joining of purposes.
We relate best when our communication is clear, open, and focused. We
remove obstacles to a relationship by sharing our comparable histories and
highlighting our allied goals. Identifying, describing, and linking ourselves to
our audiences is how we achieve this combining of missions. The quality of our
relationships determine how well we mutually succeed.
My mission is to advance how you and your organization relate. It may be
by telling your story compellingly. It may be by better connecting you to your
audiences, or your audiences to you. It may be by forming partnerships with
organizations that share your mission and have the resources to help you promote
it. In these and other ways, I can help you with perfecting your communication
with your audiences so that each will improve how it relates to the other.
Contact me to begin a productive relationship.
Phone: 716.854.4816
Fax: 716.239.4373
doug@DougLevyRelate.com
Suite 603
600 Main Street
Buffalo, New York 14202-1917
www.DougLevyRelate.com

2. W R I T I N G + E D I T I N G
Relating your story is the start of any relationship. Telling it with verve,
clarity, and persuasiveness breaks down skepticism and drives home
your message to the mind and heart of your intended audience. I am a
skillful and inventive writer as well as a scrupulous editor. I write and edit
newsletters, annual reports, advertorials and articles that hold interest,
even entertain, while they inform and persuade. I produce compelling
speeches and presentations that inspire and motivate your listeners. I
author histories and biographies that vividly tell the subject’s story and its
significance. I create ad copy, brochures, pamphlets, and other collateral
that express your mission and focus attention on the benefits of your
services and products. I have done this for publications such as Artvoice,
Buffalo Rising, and Business First. Organizations that have used my writing
and editing talents include Boyd’s Publications, M&T Bank, ME Stern
Design and Communications, Spada Advertising, Lucy Curley &
Company Grant and Loan Consultants, Media Pros, Kevin Guest House,
Murray Street Enterprise, National Public Radio, Artpark, and the New
Hampshire Symphony Orchestra. In every case, I listen carefully to you,
absorb your mission, comprehend your program, and put it all into read-able
and arresting words that relate your story to your audience’s desires
and interests.
G R A N T W R I T I N G
A specialized subset of my writing is that done
for tax-exempt entities applying for grants.
I describe your organization, its mission, history,
and accomplishments. I research for potential
funding sources from private foundations,
corporations, and government agencies. I write
persuasively about the critical needs that your
proposed program will address. I work with
you in honing the program that will clearly and
precisely respond to these needs. I assist you in
developing evaluative criteria and mechanisms
by which progress meeting goals and objec-tives
will be measured. I ensure that budgets
you develop appropriately cover expenses and
correspond to funders’ expectations regarding
income and sustainability. My goal is to increase
the success you have in relating to the grant-making
world, as I have done for Boys & Girls
Clubs of Buffalo, Town of West Seneca, Rushford
Lake Recreation District and Cattaraugus
Allegany BOCES.
P U B L I C R E L A T I O N S
Fashioning how your organization relates to
your community is the function of public and
media relations – telling your organization’s
story, enunciating its goals and objectives
and spotlighting its successes. I provide press
releases, news alerts, pamphlets, editorials,
and direct contacts that communicate to the
public your exciting news clearly and concisely,
advancing and reinforcing positive percep-tions
your organization’s image. I keep the media
interested in your activities so that your public
profile stays high and focused. I plan, script,
and direct public events, like groundbreaking
and dedication ceremonies, and public out-reach
programs. I have provided Holy Angels
Academy, AIDS Community Services, AIDS
Network,Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County,
Allentown Association, and Western New
York Public Broadcasting Association, among
others,with these relationship-building services.
D E V E L O P M E N T
In essence, development is a collection of activities that
determine how the community you serve relates to your
organization. I give voice to the needs your organization
addresses, and the ways you meet these on the commu-nity’s
behalf. I do this by facilating strategic planning,
orchestrating annual support campaigns, developing
marketing strategies, maintaining public and media relations,
researching and writing grants, identifying resource
opportunities, and creating informative publications and
collateral. Beneficiaries of my efforts in this area include
Musicians United for Superior Education, and the Buffalo
State College Performing Arts Center. I shall help your
organization energize and strengthen its relationships
with the community you serve and whose support you want.
For more information, contact Doug Levy at 716.854.4816