2024-09-19
Symptom 1: Limited digital presence and online engagement
Forus members brought to the networks’ attention the little visibility their platforms has online. In an era of overflow of information and disinformation, civil society organisations with a local, national, regional and international relations are urged to ensure their digital presence is up to date and in a clear, concise and inclusive way . The connections, reputation and credibility they aim to ensure with their members, partners and potential funders or governments strongly connects with the quality and engagement of their digital presence.
Causes : Primarily the lack of sustainable funding and dedicated staff, hinders the ongoing work of a non-profit organisation to develop and maintain its digital communications platforms. Together with funding, challenges as connectivity and dedicated staff members in the areas of web development, graphic design, video making, journalism, editing, content creation and storytelling create an obstacle to NGOs’ visibility objectives – particularly online.
Specifically:
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Lack of human resources
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Lack of funding
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Technological challenges especially in sub-Saharan Africa including power cuts, internet shutdowns, limited infrastructure, access and equipment
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Competing priorities and challenges to keep created websites updated
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Limited resources and time to create creative content
Potential cures
Long-term:
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Review and/or develop a digital communications plan identifying the resources needed and the potential volunteers who could support in each task.
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Include communications expenses in all your funding requests.
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Review and update your organisation’s publications and messages internally, before publishing. Determine what is most important and valuable and when. Not everything needs to be published (or not at the same time).
Medium-term:
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Explore online courses and share them with the team of volunteers in the NGO curious to upskill themselves in that domain and feel more equipped to contribute to the organisation.
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Explore free or affordable website creation platforms such as What the Web, with a specific focus on capacity strengthening tailored to civil society organisations.
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Share responsibilities when it comes to content production and storytelling. Involve and share communications knowledge with other colleagues – for instance those working on specific projects and carrying out community visits – to encourage them to take pictures or carry out interviews
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Co-create digital content with members and partners in the spirit of collective narratives. This can take the form of rotating editorial responsibilities with network’s members or by hosting writers from the network over 1 year.
Short-term:
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Download and access free tools for Web Development such as Just the Web,; and for graphic design such as Canva or Pixlr Designer. Each of them have tutorials and FAQ to guide you in using them for the first time.
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Share more free tools with Bibbi and Clarisse to contribute to the Forus network resource list.
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Create mailing lists and invest in member-management softwares to share information and keep members and partners up-to-date. This can include periodic newsletters or updates.
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Encourage members and partners to activate communications solidarity mechanisms, with stronger platforms volunteering some hours in setting up digital communications tools and platforms.
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Engage partners and members of your organisation by including their names and logos to showcase your organisation is not operating alone. Working as a network and standing in solidarity increases credibility and visibility.
Healthy experiences from the Forus network and beyond:
