Are we telling the right stories in INGO communications?

Are we telling the right stories in INGO communications?

Earlier today, I read a very interesting blog from Mike Mansfield in Plan Ireland. It confirmed what I have known to be true ever since I first visited Ethiopia in 2013 with VSO Ireland to see the work of our volunteers first hand – development assistance does work. It is making a difference and African communities have improved and are continuing to improve.

So why do the Irish public still think that nothing has improved or changed? Whose fault is it? It’s not the Irish people. Maybe it’s our fault in the NGO world?

Are we telling the wrong stories for the wrong reasons?

We all remember the harrowing scenes from Ethiopia during their famine in the mid 1980s. They were truly shocking images that caused the globe to convulse in anger. And rightly so! But why are these types of images still being used across the INGO sector in 2015? Yes famine occurs to this day but it’s not the big killer it once was due to the progress made by governments and INGOs.

Why aren’t we talking about the fact that over 95% of children attend primary school in Rwanda or Tanzania or that we have met targets in Ethiopia to increase access to clean water supplies?

Are we so lacking in confidence that we think the Irish public, and other donors, will stop funding our work if we think that progress has been made?

Should we not be making the argument ‘Look at what has been achieved – Help us fix the problem for good?’

For the last three years, I have been working in development communication, and intend to work in this sector for a good while to come. It’s time that we start telling the right stories from Africa and Asia- stories about the remarkable progress being made; stories about the changes that are happening and stories showing that supporting charities makes a difference.

Our objective should be to show that we can make ourselves redundant and that there is an endpoint in sight.

Patrick Kalisa

HEO at Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE)

8y

Good point Donnacha Maguire. My point of view is that ONGs never go pinguin wise to see the blind spot of poverty and that's what tides them back. They never tell what they were not able to achieve and why but they indirectly communicate it by the next interventions appeal.

Like
Reply
Emma Kendon

Fundraiser/Copywriter

8y

Active, lapsed and prospective donors to charities that have good fundraising specialists and effective comms colleagues do get these messages, Donnacha.

Like
Reply
Paul S.

Seeking New Challenge

8y

Great piece Donnacha. I think NGOs can only really get the full story out to the people if the Media, Papers, TV Organisations report the full story and not just the bad, negative story all the time. Media Organisations only seem to want to report the negative stories all the time and not the positive stories, and some media groups have an agenda like only picking stories that make a certain political position sound and look good or bad.

Like
Reply
Rob Munnelly

Digital Strategy Lead | 085 8716 157 | robert.munnelly@gmail.com

8y

Great post!

Like
Reply
Philip Mudge

Excellence… is always an act of subversion

8y

Well said Donnacha

Like
Reply

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Explore topics