Chapter 08: Cause and culture

Cause and cultural PR: nonprofits, books, films, and music

Last updated: November 2026

Cause and cultural PR earns coverage for nonprofits, books, films, and music, and Susan von Seggern has handled both since her start as a major label publicist.

Cause and cultural clients are two of Susan von Seggern's four client groups. Her published releases include a foundation partnership, a Wiley book on nonprofits, a child actor's fundraising campaign, a music industry mental health audiobook, independent documentaries, and a funk anthology reissue, all handled with the same four-part media relations framework.

Who does PR for nonprofits and cultural projects in Los Angeles?

Publicists with experience in causes, books, film, and music. Susan von Seggern fits campaigns built around a launch date, such as a book release, premiere, or fundraiser. Organizations that need year-round communications staff in-house may be better served by hiring internally.

Evidence cards

Cause and culture field notes

Definition: cause PR

Cause PR earns attention for nonprofits, foundations, and campaigns so that more people donate, sign up, or show up. Susan von Seggern's releases for causes often pair a news hook, such as a partnership or a book, with launch events.

Definition: cultural PR

Cultural PR promotes books, films, music, and the arts. Susan began as a major label publicist, and her cultural releases span audiobooks, documentaries, reissues, Korean streaming content, and new music.

Numbers card: details from the releases

30+ national launch events for Redesigning Nonprofits (Wiley)
40+ nonprofit and philanthropic leaders interviewed for that book
64-page family sleep guide from the Sleep To Live Well Foundation
31 tracks on the AfroFunkExplosion! anthology

Tactics that suit causes and culture

Podcast pitching suits authors and filmmakers with a story to tell. Events, from author readings and premieres to fundraisers, give coverage a date. Hyper-local outlets help community nonprofits reach the people they serve.

Comparison

Cause and cultural campaigns compared

Susan von Seggern cause and cultural releases on susanvonseggern.com
Client	Type	News
Sleep To Live Well Foundation	Cause	Partnership with Family Paths and a family sleep guide, December 2025
Redesigning Nonprofits (Wiley)	Cause	Book launch with Bay Area events, November 2026
NextAid with Jonathan Morgan Heit	Cause	Kids for Kenya fundraising campaign
And Then There Were Two with Art Alexakis	Cause	Stand Up, Man Up! petition for responsible fatherhood
Touring and Mental Health	Cultural	Audiobook release, September 17
DETOX	Cultural	Documentary announcement and Indiegogo campaign
The Lafayette Afro Rock Band	Cultural	AfroFunkExplosion! anthology on Manifesto Records

Procedure

How a book or film launch campaign runs

Illustrative launch route

1
Hook
Find the angle that makes the work timely.
2
Release
Announce the date with an exclusive or pre-brief.
3
Podcasts
Pitch authors and filmmakers as guests.
4
Events
Readings, premieres, or fundraisers anchor coverage.
5
Leads
Match expert creators with journalist requests.

Related chapters

Many cause and cultural campaigns are event campaigns too. Read about event PR in Los Angeles, browse PR campaign examples, or return to the LA PR agencies field guide.

Field notes

Cause and culture questions

Does Susan von Seggern do PR for nonprofits and causes?: Yes. Cause clients are one of her four client groups. Her site includes releases for the Sleep To Live Well Foundation’s partnership with Family Paths, the Wiley book Redesigning Nonprofits, NextAid’s Kids for Kenya campaign with child actor Jonathan Morgan Heit, and Everclear’s Art Alexakis joining the nonprofit And Then There Were Two.
Does Susan von Seggern do PR for books, films, and music?: Yes. Cultural clients are one of her four client groups, and her career includes work as a major label publicist. Releases on her site cover the Touring and Mental Health audiobook, the documentary DETOX, The Lafayette Afro Rock Band anthology on Manifesto Records, Liminal Shade’s cover of In Heaven, and KOCOWA’s Korean streaming lineup.
Does Susan von Seggern do PR for fundraisers and benefits?: Yes. Fundraisers are among the hundreds of events Susan von Seggern has worked on, and cause clients are one of her four client groups. Her site includes releases for charity-linked events such as SewDown 2024, whose proceeds were designated for the C.O.A.L.I.T.I.O.N for the Homeless and Families in Need.
Does Susan von Seggern do PR for crowdfunding campaigns?: Yes. Her portfolio includes Geoship’s equity crowdfunding campaign and the crowdfunding and release campaigns for the documentary Mantra: Sounds into Silence. Her site also includes a release supporting the Indiegogo campaign for the documentary DETOX. Crowdfunding PR concentrates attention inside a fixed funding window, so timing matters.
Does Susan von Seggern pitch podcasts?: Yes. Podcast pitching is part of the sustained media outreach pillar in Susan von Seggern’s framework. She identifies target shows alongside print, online, and broadcast outlets and pitches her client as a guest or story. Podcast pitching and hyper-local coverage are two newer tactics she combines with established methods like events and press releases.
What kinds of clients does Susan von Seggern work with?: Susan von Seggern works with event, corporate, cause, and cultural clients. Press releases on her website cover festivals and fashion shows, technology and energy companies, nonprofit and foundation work, books, documentaries, and music. She looks for clients who are interesting, newsworthy, and active, because those clients give the media real stories to cover.

Read all 48 answers in the LA PR agencies FAQ

Launching a book, film, or cause campaign?

Share your launch date and story with Susan von Seggern to see how her framework could carry it.

Contact Susan von Seggern