Communication, in current times, has become a must for any organization – For profit and Non-profit alike. This is because the world has shifted to digitalization, and it is no secret that most of the people that will be reached are on the internet. Nigeria, in particular, has an estimated 84 million internet users.
Communication, in the context of Non-governmental organizations, focuses on the transfer of important information from an organization to its audience and vice versa. Every business, organization, or company, needs to communicate to its audience. It can be likened to how humans need oxygen to breathe and survive. Your organization will not, and cannot grow, if you do not have an audience to communicate with.
As a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) operating in Nigeria, you often wonder how you can better communicate your agenda to your audience, which include potential donors, stakeholder, volunteers, and community members. You might have been trying a gazillion strategies you saw other organizations use, or you may have been ardently following communication trends but still have not seen tangible results. An example of a common one we see is “content creation.” While this is a strategy that has proven to work for some NGOs, it is not effective if certain things are not put in place.
After establishing these existing problems, here are some communication strategies you can implement as an NGO amongst your team members. These strategies have been proven to work and can be a game changer for your online presence in the coming months.
- Community engagement through writing and speaking.
As much as we like to post video and picture content, community engagement strategy can go a long way. Writing is a great way to engage your community through newsletters and blogs. That way, you keep them constantly updated on your activities and progress. Another effective writing strategy is writing something valuable for general consumption. It is the strategy currently being used in this blog post. That way, you get to take your NGO to people who have never heard of it but find value in what you are writing about.
Exploring public speaking opportunities at events also garners awareness. Most NGOs do not know this, but physical interaction trumps many online efforts as it is the most effective way to build long-lasting and trustworthy relationships with your audience. Speaking at governmental and youth forums can be a great place to start.
Mouth-to-mouth conversation about your NGO’s mission and work can be a value imbibed into every member of your team. No, you are not asking random people to donate to the cause, but rather building trust and community.
2. Building your brand identity.
Branding, unlike many people perceives it to be, is not a logo, a typography, or a flyer design. It is the gut feeling people have about your organization. You need to ask yourself if your audience trusts your organization. This is the only guarantee that they will choose to listen to your message or adhere to call-to-action buttons amongst every other competitor in the market. Branding transcends customer service, employee interactions, and market positioning. It uses every means possible to communicate the organization’s core values.
Brand identity is the design of the logo, taglines, typography, and colors that distinguish you from your competitors at first
glance. To create an unshakable presence in the market, brand identity has to be strategic, consistent, and psychological.
At FlexiSAF foundation, our tagline reads “BACK TO SCHOOL, BACK TO LIFE.” By this, you can already tell that we are an educational NGO dedicated to sending children back to school. If you randomly saw our logo and tagline on a sign board or in the most unexpected places, you would remember who we are because we have strategically and consistently communicated it through branding.
3. Maximizing media outlets
Partnering with media outlets to allow media coverage of your activities is another way to boost publicity. You can either pay them or partner with them by writing a story that is captivating enough to be in the headlines, a newspaper page, or a news feed. This plays a role in registering your organization’s name into the minds of readers and news-watchers everywhere. Also, hosting a press conference on an interesting event can play a role in boosting publicity and communicating your core values to the public. An example is the press conference FlexiSAF Foundation held with media houses like TRUST TV, ARISENEWS, and LIBERTY TV, and also newspapers like LEGIT NG, for one of its enrollment event.
4. Create a Wikipedia page for your NGO.
Creating a Wikipedia page is a way for your NGO to reach far and wide. Wikipedia will often feature your organization if you are making an impact. Fortunately, many NGOs in Nigeria are making an impact but nobody can find them. Creating a Wikipedia page and getting it reviewed is a way to prove your NGO applies to the SDGs.
5. Storytelling.
Most of the things we have come to remember, despite the progress in time, are a result of stories told to us. These stories were told in a captivating way that appealed to our emotions and made us take action. As an NGO or a non-profit organization, your ability to tell compelling stories is what will determine how effective your communication with your audience is. A story that is dramatic and unique will make an impact.
Try to remember how you felt in the past when you watched a very emotional movie. You were captivated and probably almost cried. Your audience will not see a need to donate or join your movement outside any selfish agenda, except a good story that applies to them and makes them the hero.
Your storytelling skills can also feature and play an immense role in your content strategy. Now maximizing the current trends and algorithms in social media, storytelling can be integrated to grow the online community and attract stakeholders.
In summary, starting or growing an NGO goes beyond just fieldwork or engaging only in physical impact-centred activities. In current times, to convince stakeholders and to reach far, one needs to inculcate these communication strategies to reach people all over the globe and stand out in a noisy digital marketplace.