The following is adapted from “Beyond the Tipping Point: Funding Strategic Communications When Under Attack” by Janna A. Zinzi, a communications and narrative strategist and longtime LightBox collaborator.
The administration’s attacks on nonprofits and “DEI” have led our sector to seriously reflect on—and reckon with—how we operate and how we find creative ways to continue the work.
We’re seeing funders shift money, resources, and energy away from public relations, particularly media engagement, because it feels risky to draw attention to organizations serving marginalized communities during this moment.
Protection for our organizations is paramount. At the same time, the push toward silence and invisibility is exactly what opponents want. We are beyond a tipping point.
This moment demands not less investment in communications, but deeper, more strategic investment in narrative power building.
| Three Challenges Standing Between Us and Narrative Power These challenges didn’t appear overnight—and they won’t disappear on their own. But if we want to build narrative power that lasts, we have to be honest about what’s holding us back and commit to doing things differently. 1. Communications funding structures limit sustainable movement building. Communications is often tied to a campaign or program deliverable rather than integrated into overall organizational strategy. This short-term framing undermines consistency, stunts potential, and reduces the impact of strategic communications. 2. There is a lack of clarity around what building narrative power actually entails. Messaging and narrative are not the same. Narrative is the drumbeat, the overarching story that builds belief over time. Messages are the individual stories and ideas that contribute to that narrative. Without sustained investment, organizations cannot maintain the rhythm needed for long-term narrative power. 3. PR is often treated as a short-term tactic rather than part of a broader strategy. Media attention is a tangible output, but it becomes a poor measure of success when disconnected from organizational goals and audience engagement. Without strategy and planning, communications professionals are pulled in too many directions, foundational work gets neglected, and institutional memory disappears. |
The Limits of Campaign-Based Communications
For most nonprofits, communications has long been funded as part of a campaign—a policy push, research project, or program deliverable. Because general operating support is scarce, communications must be justified through finite, campaign-specific outcomes.
When communications is framed this way, it becomes narrowly focused and time-bound. The campaign ends. The grant ends. The narrative thread disappears. This framework undermines consistency, underutilizes strategic communications’ power, and stunts its potential.
Strategic communications goals should support an organization’s overall strategy. That means weaving communications into all aspects of the organization, not treating it as a party trick to pull out when attention is needed.
Communications staff, often departments of one, are bombarded with last-minute requests while foundational work like brand guides, evergreen talking points, and audience strategy gets pushed aside.
Narrative Power Is Not Messaging
As interest in narrative shift has grown, the word “narrative” has increasingly been used interchangeably with “message.” They are not the same.
Narrative is a collection of related stories articulated and refined over time to represent a central belief.
Messages are the individual stories and ideas that build that narrative. At LightBox Collaborative, this is often described as a mosaic: messages are the tiles; narrative is the full picture.
Or think of it as a song. Narrative is the drumbeat, the steady rhythm that holds everything together. Messages are the melody, instruments, and vocals. They come in and out, but the drum stays steady. Too often, organizations are singing runs and playing trumpets without keeping the beat.
Narrative shift is a long game that requires consistency.
When communications is funded through short-term campaigns, temporary positions, or external consultants without internal capacity, narrative power building becomes nearly impossible. Institutional memory disappears. Relationships must be rebuilt. Systems are recreated from scratch.
Playing Offense Instead of Feeding the Outrage Machine
The right has invested in narrative and technical infrastructure for decades. They are organized, persistent, and well-funded. They thrive on fear-based tropes and outrage cycles designed to distract and exhaust.
Scrambling to respond to every provocation is antithetical to narrative power building. The opposition thrives on our fury.
The modern information ecosystem is designed for distraction, chaos, and outrage—but organizations do not have to participate on those terms.
Narrative power asks us to affirm our vision for the just world we want on our own terms. To reinforce values within our communities so they ripple outward. To provide aspirational stories people can believe in—and places to belong.
Rethinking PR as Strategy, Not a Metric
Press hits and social stats became a popular metric because they are tangible and easy to measure. But media attention is a poor proxy for impact when disconnected from strategy.
Now is not the time to divest from communications. It is time to redefine it.
Media is more than legacy outlets. Trusted information flows through independent journalists, local and ethnic media, podcasts, newsletters, and content creators embedded in community.
Media relations today means building long-term relationships with ethical journalists and creators, not outsourcing those relationships to large firms and losing them when contracts end. It means prioritizing the right audiences, not just the biggest platforms.
What This Moment Requires
We truly have culture and creativity (and human decency) on our side, yet our comms professionals can’t tap into it when they are overworked, often misunderstood, and tasked primarily with tactics.
Our narrative infrastructure needs attention, resources, and commitment. Investing in media relations, as part of a broader narrative strategy, is critical to our movements’ power building.
Funders must support communications as strategy, not just tactics.
Organizations need time to plan, to define audiences, to develop narrative, and to build relationships that outlast campaigns.
We want to win and we need to win. It is beyond time. Let’s go.
Janna A. Zinzi (aka jaz) is a strategist and storyteller uplifting cultural changemakers in the arts and social justice. With over 20 years of experience, she’s provided media strategy, spokesperson training, and capacity building to thousands of nonprofit leaders. Janna co-founded WanderWomxn, a travel agency connecting women and gender expansive people of color with cultural, sustainable adventures. She’s also a travel journalist with bylines in Conde Nast Traveler, Essence, AFAR, and more. A lifelong student of AfroDiasporic dance, Janna is based in New Orleans.ler, Essence, AFAR, and more. A lifelong student of AfroDiasporic dance, Janna is based in New Orleans.