Sixteen Tips for Successful Celebrity Recruitment

This guest blog post is written by Scott LaLonde, Vanguard Communications’ Event Manager.

From Whoopi Goldberg, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal helping the homeless with Comic Relief in the ’80s to Zac Efron, Kristen Bell and others putting finishing touches on their “Change the Odds” public service announcement campaign for Stand Up to Cancer this month (see one of the spots below), nonprofit organizations have been advantageously partnering with celebrities for years to bring attention to critical issues.

The glittering world of celebrity can be an intimidating one but with the proper set of outreach tools, your organization can successfully recruit a celebrity participant for your next event or project. Our event planning team has complied the following 16 tips to help open the door to your next celebrity partnership.

1. Get some culture.  Pop culture, that is. To successfully identify, recruit and work with celebrities, you need to know who they are and what they do. Watch TV, read relevant websites or make People Magazine a weekly read.
2. Reach for the right stars. Who are the latest personalities in TV, music and movies who have the most in common with your target audience? Find people aligned with your cause.  Remember, it is much more likely that you’ll get buy-in from a star on a new show than a more established celebrity.
3. Make a list and check it twice. Create a master list of all potential celebrities that you are interested in recruiting for your event or cause. Be realistic and categorize the list into sections such as “real possibilities” and “reaching for the sky.” Use further online research to remove candidates due to background, availability and bad press. Your list will naturally narrow itself down due to the process of elimination.
4. Research, research, research. Research your potential celebrity participants thoroughly, and then some. It’s amazing what you can dig up if you take the time. Conduct searches using numerous key word combinations (such as “arrested” and your celebrity candidate’s name) to identify any potential embarrassing associations.
5. Know who to call. If you are asking someone to appear for free, you’ll get the best response from a publicist. They are looking for opportunities to get additional positive exposure for their clients. If you can offer payment, start with the manager, who will negotiate the deal. Agents are rarely part of cause-oriented deals unless there is a large fee involved or a long-term arrangement being negotiated. Once the celebrity is on the road, they are often accompanied by a road or tour manager, who will be your point of contact for scheduling and security.
6. Use the buddy system.  Have one contact person for your celebrity and his or her people at all times.  Building a relationship will make all the logistical work much easier.
7. Find your new best friends. Websites such as Who Represents?, Contact Any Celebrity, or IMdBPro can start you on the path to connecting with your celebrity and their representatives.
8. Have your five “W’s” ready. Know exactly what you want your celebrity to do, where they need to be and when, who else will be involved and why their participation will benefit both your organization and the celebrity. Better yet, send it in an e-mail first and follow up with a call. Publicists and/or managers are “get to the point” type of folks who do not have time to listen to a 30-minute explanation or job description.
9. Be specific. When a celebrity agrees to donate time and talents for free, they should not be expected to pose for photos, sign autographs or do meet and greets. However, if a celebrity is being paid, a general contract should specify expectations for those items.  Make sure the expectations are spelled out in your agreement so nobody is surprised.
10. Maximize your opportunities. Maximize opportunities with what is happening around your celebrity’s professional life. Is your celebrity opening a movie soon? About to release a book or an album? Offer press support tied to your event around the same time and it could benefit everyone involved.
11. Make it easy. If you really want a certain celebrity to represent your cause, be as flexible as possible about the date and location. If you can’t control those factors, choose a personality that resides on the same coast or will be touring in your area during the time of the event. Research shooting schedules for television and movies before you make your first call.
12. Let’s meet! Check to see if your potential celebrity will be in your area or vice-versa. Meeting face-to-face will pay off big time and increase your chances of a successful booking. Already booked the celebrity? Meet them face-to-face anyway; it will help improve your working relationship throughout the event process.
13. Give and take. Keep the celebrity’s team in the loop but do not give them full creative control. Nothing will kill your budget and time faster than allowing your celebrity and/or your celebrity’s representation to control every aspect of your event.
14. Provide extras. For the most part, a celebrity’s job not only involves acting or singing, it involves looking good and powerful. While you should never assume that a celebrity expects a makeup artist or limo service, don’t be surprised if they do. Often, the most demanding celebrities are up-and-comers who need more attention from media to further their careers.
15. Hot off the press. Get your talking points or an event script to your celebrity as soon as possible. It will help them prepare and advance your overall event and communication goals.
16. Remember, celebrities are people, too. The best way to work with a celebrity is to treat him or her like a person. Don’t gush over their latest movie or song. Don’t be afraid to have a regular conversation about the weather, TV shows or anything else you would discuss with an acquaintance. They and their management will be easier to work with once they realize that you are a colleague, not a fan.