PSAs are brief (10, 15 or 30 second) messages aired at no charge on radio and television stations as a community service. They must benefit the community, not just your club.

Lions Clubs International has a collection of PSAs covering a variety of topics that are available at no cost to clubs, including broadcast quality PSAs in MPEG format for television stations to download.

When writing a PSA, brevity and clarity are of utmost importance since at most you have 10 to 30 seconds to communicate your message. Messages about preventing blindness, serving youth, fundraising events that benefit the community and public events sponsored by your club are appropriate subjects. PSAs need to:

·        Get the listeners' attention.

·        Show how listeners will benefit from doing what you suggest.

·        Tell listeners where to go, what to do, when to do it and where to call for more information.

As a general guideline, a 10-second spot will have approximately 20 words and a 30-second spot will have approximately 65 words.

Contact the news or public service director at your local television or radio station to learn the station's scheduling and format requirements and if they can assist you with production. Often stations have a reduced production rate for not-for-profit organizations.