• Belief in the value of public relations firms
• Focus on best practices and standards
• Encourage and promote the highest ethical behavior
• Encourage innovation
• Committed to building and defining the market
• Help member firms meet the needs of the market
• Help expand the talent pool  
• Promote the common interests of member firms

Membership
More than 100 of America’s leading public relations firms are currently members of the Council. They represent the premier global, mid-size, regional and specialty agencies across every discipline and practice area.

Advocacy and Standards
The Council is dedicated to strengthening the recognition and role of public relations firms in corporate strategy, business performance and social education; to serve as an authoritative source of information and expert comment and to help set standards for the industry. The Council provides its members guidelines that include the Code of Ethics, a Statement of Principles, which specifically addresses transparency and disclosure, and an ethical-decision making “train-the trainer” program.

Management Programs
To help public relations firm principals and senior managers run their firms more effectively, as well as promote best practices, the Council produces agency management tools such as business benchmarking studies, employee compensation and benefits reports and quarterly member surveys. The Council also hosts periodic webinars and events.

Annual Business Benchmark Survey: This is an unrivaled source of comparative financial data for firms of all sizes. Based on input from nearly 100 public relations firms and managed by the Council’s CFO Roundtable, this report analyzes dozens of financial metrics that provide a perspective on the firm’s financial health and management performance. The Council’s Quick Surveys are conducted quarterly and provide a snapshot of several key financial metrics.

Benefits and Compensation Study, with Deloitte Consulting: A major study conducted every two years that compiles such data as salaries, billing rates and benefits against a wide range of criteria including job title, firm size and geography. This study, which would cost an individual firm thousands of dollars to conduct itself, is free to participating member firms.

Regional Breakfast Roundtables: Throughout the year, Council members in more than a dozen U.S. cities meet to discuss issues uniquely related to the public relations agency business.

Management Leadership Series: Each spring, Dr. Ashish Nanda from the Harvard Business School conducts a two day, case study-driven program for Council members that puts the public relations business into a broader business context. 

Annual Critical Issues Forum: Each fall, industry leaders participate in panel discussions where they exchange opinions and share best practices on top industry issues. Past topics have included: "The Consumer is Control, Now What?";  Conflicts of Interest, Procurement, Search Consultants and Mergers and Acquisitions, to name a few. Past keynote speakers have included: NBC News anchor, Brian Williams; former Clinton press secretary, Mike McCurry; former Bush press secretary, Ari Fleisher; president of Yankelovich Partners, Inc., J.Walker Smith; and Market Space CEO, Jeffrey Rayport. 

Talent Programs
To help Council firms recruit and retain top talent, the HR Roundtable is engaged in a variety of activities addressing the most critical public relations firm asset — its people.

Diversity: The HR Roundtable leads Council efforts in the area of diversity, including sponsoring job fairs for the Historically Black Colleges, participation in the National Black Public Relations Society’s annual conference, and an internship placement program with the Lagrant Foundation.

The Career Center is a leading industry resource for recruiting talent, offering members an easy-to-use and highly targeted resource for online employment connections. The Career Center attempts to connect top talent with great career opportunities at public relations firms across the country.

Council-produced workbooks, recruiting publications and seminars enable members to learn best practices for successful recruiting.

At the undergraduate level, the Council developed a curriculum for universities to use in courses that prepare students to work in agencies. Schools that have taught the curriculum include Syracuse University, Howard University and the University of Oregon.

Business Programs
Find-A-PR Firm: The Council’s popular interactive database offers potential clients an easy way to search among Council membership to find a public relations firm that meets their specific needs. Clients can search by industry and service area expertise, geography and size of firm. This business referral program is actively promoted to a wide audience.

Council Publications address a wide variety of issues of mutual interest to agencies and clients; including: Procurement and Public Relations: Building and Sustaining Productive Relationships; Standards for Conducting a Public Relations Firm Search: Principles and Practices and Working with your Public Relations Firm: A Guide for Clients.

Insurance Program: The Council offers its members cost effective insurance and benefits programs from established providers who understand the public relations business, including: Property and Liability Insurance, Professional Errors and Omissions Liability, Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability; in addition to 401(k) and Profit-Sharing Plans and Group Insurance