A Case for Communications

Read the guide OVERVIEW and TABLE OF CONTENTS

We’re all neighbors on this planet. We’re all connected to one another.

Everywhere you look, you see this principle in action. A freedom movement surges in one country and inspires people around the world. A disease emerges and turns into a pandemic. A war starts and drives millions of people to other countries and continents. A product is manufactured in one country, by migrant workers from other countries, and is transported via shipping routes that cross still other borders. These connections happen in ways big and small, for good and for ill.

It’s not just all human beings who are connected. It is all life on Earth, and all of creation. Many religions, philosophies, and branches of science have proclaimed the interconnectedness of all life.

Part of the work of social-impact organizations is to reveal our connections. To build solidarity. To unite people in movement for the flourishing of life on Earth. This work happens in large part through communications. “Communications” is another word for “talking.” There are a lot of ideas big and small in this guide. But the basic question is this: How can we communicate—or talk—with one another to live together in greater peace and justice?

THE POTENTIAL OF COMMUNICATIONS

 The better an organization communicates, the better it will do everything else. For example:

• Raise more money and other resources.

• Achieve more in its impact areas.

• Serve more people.

• Become more influential in its policy advocacy.

• Get quoted more often in major news media.

• Build stronger partnerships.

• Equip more young entrepreneurs and other leaders.

• Change public attitudes.

Communications helps an organization unleash the power of its staff and partners. This happens best when communications is properly funded and integrated into the organization’s work.

PUBLICITY: A TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO COMMUNICATIONS 

Here’s a traditional way of doing communications at NGOs:

• Policy analysts write a paper, and comms does graphic design and publishes it online.

• A program does a launch event, and comms issues a press release.

• NGO and its partners train young entrepreneurs, and comms does a web story about it.

• A donor commits to new funding, and comms thanks them on social media.

• A public health campaign is devised, and comms puts it in an e-newsletter.

In this model, comms is largely a matter of visibility. An organization communicates about its work. Communications is left until the end of a project. In the contest between comms and program, program always wins. However, this notion rests on a false dichotomy between program and communications.

ENGAGEMENT: A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO COMMUNICATIONS 

A more effective model is this: communications is the work—or is part of the work—from start to finish. To communicate is to connect with people, and help them connect with each other, in service of a larger cause.

From this perspective, communications has a role in everything an organization does. A health education campaign, a workshop, a policy report—these are not just things you communicate about. They are forms of communication to achieve a goal. The same can be said of peace negotiations, community networks, and development agendas.

NGOs have little money compared to the scope of the problems they work on. Much of an NGO’s power is in its ability to persuade or inform: to persuade donors to support climate action, to persuade policymakers to change public policy, to show young entrepreneurs how to run a business, to educate people about how to prevent disease, to urge governments to rally around shared goals.

In this model, effective communication is a skill that can help anyone at an NGO do their work better.

SIDE BY SIDE: HOW THE TWO APPROACHES COMPARE 

Let’s call these two models of communications “Publicity” and “Engagement.” Publicity is a valuable function. But it’s only one function of communications. Engagement covers a wider array of communications to build support from the ground up. Here’s a quick look at how the two approaches differ.

Communications has a valuable role at every stage of a project—whether it’s a policy paper, a workshop for entrepreneurs, the opening of a community center, a new partnership with government, or a grassroots fundraising campaign.

Communications is something that all staff can do, rather than being the job of just a few people. In practice, here’s what this looks like:

Like most NGO staff, you probably have many demands on your time and budget. Comms might be low on your list of priorities. You may want to do the work, not just talk about it.

At its best, communications is about working together to create and fulfill an exciting vision.

That requires money and time. Good comms more than pays for itself.

Each person in an NGO—and that includes you—brings years of life experience. All together, you represent a combined force with vast resources: languages, expertise, relationships, not to mention the passion and imagination needed to power a movement for change. I hope this guide will help you fire your imagination and put it to greater use for the cause of peace, prosperity, and justice.

“WRITE FOR GOOD” will be published as part of an online learning platform in 2025.
This is the abbreviated introduction.