Charities seeking help to improve their news releases now have a new resource at their fingertips thanks to a new Web site created by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in Miami.

The Knight News Release Workshop offers step-by-step instructions that show nonprofit writers how, and how not to, craft an effective release.

Marc Fest, vice president for communications at the Knight Foundation says the site evolved out the foundation’s work with its grantees.

“Collaborating with grantees on news releases is one of the things we do, and we noticed some basic opportunities to help them,” he says. “So we realized, why not offer it all in one place?”

The site, which allows users to leave online comments to post their own ideas, includes examples of well and poorly written headlines as well as tips on using good quotes. Among pitfalls highlighted to avoid, the workshop discourages writers from the use of jargon and offers a checklist and other tools to guide the drafting and editing process from beginning to end.

“There is an increasing need to communicate clearly about what nonprofits do,” says Mr. Fest. “Many people in the public don’t understand all the good work they do, so to communicate about that good work in clear and concise language is more important now than ever.”

(To learn more about the reasons charity executives should avoid jargon see Putting Clarity in Charity, an article from The Chronicle’s archive.)