Last week, I had the opportunity to attend PR News’ Measurement Conference & Social Media Workshop at the National Press Club.

The conference featured presentations from speakers representing large businesses with access to measurement tools and resources that are mostly unaffordable for small nonprofits. Which got me thinking: How can you measure PR efforts when you don’t have a big budget? Below are three ways to get started with PR measurement that won’t break the bank.

1. Get to know and love the Barcelona Principles. They are the closest thing the PR industry has to standardized measurement practices.
2. Focus pitching resources on what moves the needle; don’t worry about volume. For your next press release, pitch five well-researched reporters and start building relationships, rather than focusing on one-time communication and mass mailings.
3. When measuring social media, use free in-platform tools like Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics. Avoid using (and paying for!) third-party tools unless they are a preferred partner of the social media channel you seek to measure.

Want more PR measurement insights? Browse the best tweets from #measure16!