Reinvestment vs. Retrenchment: Nonprofits Must Own Their Expertise

In subtle and not-so-subtle ways, the communications environment in every sector is changing before our eyes. As communicators, we are accustomed to thinking of our work in terms of written copy or communicating to specific audiences, but in the last few weeks we have seen communications phenomena that are more sociological in nature—impacting the very ways we function in society. The rapid movement of social boundaries and taken-for-granted norms is impacting our interpersonal relationships, our teams and the public space as a whole.

For example, we have observed the overnight transition of a culture of open dialogue on a very wide range of issues, to an atmosphere of threatened retribution, imposed suspicion and association of strong social taboos associated with a wide body of specific vocabulary words, topics, and now professional roles and areas of work. As has been noted elsewhere, this is establishing the same dynamics that reigned in the McCarthy blacklisting era, during the Lavender scare, and in regard to resistance to the internment of the Japanese American population by the US government during World War II because of claims that their heritage made them disloyal and untrustworthy.

What is more, this social fear is mixing with the widespread reflex of “color-blind” behavior among predominantly White populations—the idea that pretending to not see racial difference produces more fair outcomes— and producing the powerful effect of a creeping unspoken question of whether racial, ethnic or multicultural identities are now taboo to speak about, mention or recognize.

Secondly, we are also witnessing the power of the new administration to say clearly untrue things—for instance the Gulf of America—and the cooperation of large corporations and other institutions in confirming those falsehoods, not on the merits of the argument, but as an indication of business as usual led by those in positions of power.

What is the danger of these dynamics?

The nature of participation in collective falsehoods should not be underestimated. It is strategically using everyday communications behavior to compel collective participation in gaslighting. Starting with examples that feel ridiculous—or to which resistance can be painted as wordsmithing by out-of-touch intellectual elites—is the point. By the time that more serious, dangerous or violence-provoking false statements are being made, large portions of the population and critical institutions will have seen their skills of resistance atrophied, and already feel complicit to a certain extent.

Make no mistake: No matter what topic these dynamics are related to, this new and pervasive set of communication behaviors and pressures threatens not only our legal tradition protecting freedom of speech, but robust political and social dialogue, debate, and negotiation in good faith over all topics that matter for the well-being of our country. These dynamics should be named, publicly examined and rejected whenever possible.

How is this related to nonprofits and their communications practices?

One of the contributing factors that can help to explain how quickly democratic social norms are deteriorating is the increasing frailty and brittle nature of traditional media systems and the local press, which has historically served the essential role of holding government actors accountable for their words and actions. For this reason, we know that taking responsibility for helping to drive the critical narratives of our time must be a focus of the nonprofit sector.

As communications strategists, we’ve been thinking a lot about the appropriate response to this moment. How do nonprofits continue to advance an agenda of social change without punitive consequences? How do organizations maintain and strengthen trust with the audiences they serve and those within their ecosystem?

We believe the way to meet the moment is for nonprofits to take greater ownership of information.

We envision nonprofits integrating brand journalism and newsrooms into their organizations to proactively speak on the issues they know best. As such, we have developed two avenues to support the sector in the integration of these tactics during this critical time. We will be talking more about these offerings in the coming weeks, but for now, here’s a bird’s eye view:

The Nonprofit Newsroom Model

What is an Organizational Newsroom?

An organizational newsroom allows your organization to leverage its expertise by operating as a media outlet within your organization. It combines the storytelling rigor of journalism with the strategic focus of mission-driven communications. This model enables your organization to produce credible, fact-based, and engaging content, such as:

By embedding journalistic principles and leveraging digital platforms, the newsroom model allows you to gain distance from the whirlwind of the news cycle, and positions your organization as a trusted source of information in your field.

Why It Matters:

The newsroom model creates a powerful way to build trust, credibility, and influence. It addresses key challenges that organizations are facing, such as:

Who Needs This?

The Value to Your Organization:

Investing in an organizational newsroom delivers tangible benefits:

The Newsroom Model can be combined with traditional PR efforts, such as the pursuit of earned media, or can be implemented on its own.

To learn about the structure and cost to implement the the Nonprofit Newsroom Model, please fill out this form to connect with our team.

Media Digest Subscription

We know organizations find tremendous benefit from a strong stream of suggested entry points into important media conversations. At the same time, we know the process of identifying the right information can be overwhelming and confusing in the ongoing tidal wave of content we are all presented with every day. The intent of our subscription Media Digest is to cut through the noise and provide monthly reports that support organizations through a concise, curated summary of recent events on specific topics, flagging key patterns of relevance that will advance your understanding of the evolving media landscape.

The Media Digest Subscription Service provides:

Who Is It For?

This service is designed for organizations that want to:

With this digest, your organization can:

How It Works:

Click here to view a sample Media Digest on Education that illustrates some of the benefits available to subscribers.

The nonprofit and philanthropic sectors must work together to defend the space for public debate, combat the intentional degradation of our democratic communications norms and strengthen our ability to advance social change. Let’s collaborate to amplify the stories you know are essential to elevate in this historic moment, for our collective future.