We work in a highly-engaged, easily-enraged communications environment. We are surrounded by crises all the time; poverty, racism, inequity and injustice are all clear and present dangers. Should we react to everything we see? Are there some situations where that might not be helpful? If we are going to do sustainable work, we must have sustained and sustainable strategies for responding to crises.
At Netroots Nation, I sat down with LightBox Collaborative’s own Anna Castro to delve into these questions and to offer a rubric for folks to determine when to react and how. We’re presenting the recording and slides below as a free resource to our movements — please use and share them!
As a key takeaway from this training, we recommend developing an organization-wide proactive Action Plan. It should include:
- Detailed scenarios, with strategies and approaches
- Established criteria for what’s a crisis and what isn’t
- Roles: who will take the lead on what
- Your different audiences and a strategy to reach them, including messengers
- Draft internal and external messaging
- Outline of ideas for how to deliver messages to audiences.
And be sure to schedule a training for staff and board to share the plan. Get the full rubric with our slides here.
With a proactive plan in place, your public response can build on and amplify your organization’s core theory of change and commitment to justice.
Want to talk more about proactive communications responses? Get in touch: info@lightboxcollaborative.com. And join our list for message strategy updates.
Amanda Cooper comes to consulting with more than fifteen years of experience working with organizations in labor, legal rights, children’s services, and food insecurity. She takes pride in helping her clients reach new heights, whether it’s winning a national campaign, nailing a presentation or interview, or crafting a persuasive message.
Image by DVIDSHUB is shared under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0.