The various stages of the public relations process involve combinations of a variety of activities.

• Advertising
  Preparation, purchase and placement of purposefully planned and executed messages in selected media to further the interest of an organization or person. Persuasive material that is presented to the public as the acknowledged appeal of an identified party who has paid to have it appear.

• Corporate Philanthropy
  Recognition of corporate obligations and responsibilities to communities by making monetary and other contributions to charitable organizations.

• Corporate Sponsorship
  Providing support to an event or a cause by devoting corporate resources in exchange for an opportunity to enhance good will, product image and sales.

• Development
  Fundraising activities and membership drives designed to influence an organization's relationships with various publics.

• External Communications
  Controlled and uncontrolled messages disseminated in the mass media as well as other communications media, including pamphlets, brochures, non-broadcast videos, speeches, etc.

• Internal Communications
  Planned messages disseminated to employees through a variety of communications channels, including newsletters, bulletin boards, payroll stuffers, posters, etc.

• Lobbying
  Direct attempts to influence legislative and regulatory decisions in government. In Canada, there are two tiers of lobbyists. According to the Lobbyists Registration Act, Tier I is for an individual (government relations consultant, lawyer, accountant, etc.) who, for pay, provides certain types of lobbying services on behalf of a client. Tier II includes employees whose jobs involve a significant amount of lobbying for their employers.

• Promotion
  Using techniques such as events, promos, ads and stunts to create and stimulate interest in a person, product, organization or cause.

• Publicity
  General: Information about an organization, person, issue or cause published or broadcast in the news media because of its value or relevance/importance to the community or the media outlet's audiences. Public Relations: Dissemination of purposefully planned and executed messages to selected media to further the interest of an organization or person without specific payment to media.

• Public Relations Research
  The term public relations research does not describe specific types of research methodology such as content analysis, public opinion polls or readership surveys. Instead, the term refers to any type of research that yields data for use in planning and evaluating public relations efforts. Four basic categories of public relations research activities are most common: environmental monitoring, public relations audits, communication audits and social audits. Public relations research can be formal or informal, primary or secondary, qualitative or quantitative, etc.

• Special Event Management
  The use of a project, program, action or happening, generally involving public participation, to meet overall organizational goals. Special events often are designed to obtain publicity or other exposure.