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| Menno Simons College IDS grads |
I’ve been asked to create a communications and marketing
course for communications majors by a local university.
The goal of the course is to help prepare them for careers
in the non-profit sector—to acquire some of the skills they'll need to be successful communicators and marketers.
This would include things like writing
appeal and thank-you letters; creating communications and marketing plans; promoting and organizing events; media relations; internal
communications; and crisis communications, among other
things.
As part of course development, the department chair
wanted to know: What other majors could benefit from this course?
It wasn’t hard for me to quickly identify a group: Those enrolled in
International Development Studies (IDS).
In my experience, it is rare to meet anyone studying IDS who
wants to do anything but actual development on the ground in the developing
world.
Communications and marketing is the last thing on their mind.
But it should be higher up in the list of priorities, in my
opinion, for the following reasons.
First,
it is rare that someone studying IDS will actually be hired to do development
work overseas.
This isn’t because they might not be stellar students.
Rather, it’s because most NGOs today increasingly require people with
specialized education and training in things like agriculture, engineering,
agro-ecology, hydrology, nutrition, etc.
In other words, an IDS degree is more like a general BA—after getting it, students need to specialize in something else to be
marketable to an NGO.
At the same time, most NGOs today are increasingly hiring local people to
do the work.
Everyone knows this is important; it's what good development is all about. But it means fewer opportunities for Canadians.
So if IDS students are going to catch on with an NGO, it is likely in the home office doing things like communications, marketing,
fundraising, finance, HR and management—the important
behind-the-scenes work that makes the work overseas possible.
And if that’s the case, what better way to
prepare than studying things that will make them employable?
Things like communications and marketing.
Second, if IDS grads do catch on with an NGO overseas, they will
need to help the organization tell its stories in order to raise support from
the public.
Even just one course in communications and
marketing will help IDS students better understand the challenges of
communications, marketing and fundraising today so they can help their
colleagues achieve their important goals—such as raising enough money to ensure
workers in the fields can keep their jobs.
A working knowledge of that area will help
them be better co-workers, and ensure greater success for the overall goals of
the NGO.
Third, IDS grads could end up working for a
small NGO where staff have multiple roles—including communications, marketing and
fundraising.
Knowing how to write an appeal letter or press
release, solicit media attention, or do effective social media will be an asset—and
make them more desirable at job interview time.
Plus, if they should rise to become the
executive director of a small NGO, they will find that as much as 50% of their time is
spent in communications, fundraising and donor relations—the sector average,
these days.
Some grads may even end up working for agencies
where they have to raise their own support—in which case knowing how effective
storytelling and writing of appeal letters will be critical.
Fourth, at some point they may need to support efforts to secure
government funding.
Getting a government grant is the holy grail
for many NGOs—such support is critical for their success.
In addition to writing effective funding
proposals, successful NGOs also know that visibility and recognition is an
important part of government funding—it is usually written into the grant
agreement.
Being able to effectively tell the story of
how government funding is making a difference through an NGO is key to getting
future grants. No publicity can mean no money.
Fifth, it will help them communicate better with the public.
Public support is key to not only fundraising
success for individual NGOs, but also for ensuring the government feels it has
enough support to continue increasing aid.
If the public doesn’t know what their tax
dollars are accomplishing through aid, why should they want Canada to spend
their money that way?
There are lots of important needs in Canada
that the money could also be used for, as we all know.
The fact is nobody reads 50-page technical
reports about project effectiveness (unless they have to because of their job.)
If we want more Canadians to support the aid
enterprise, we need to share stories in the ways they are accustomed to
receiving them—short, and about people.
Always about people.
Sixth, communications and marketing is a growth area for non-profits of all kinds.
More and more groups realize they need to be better at telling the story of their work, and of the people they serve.
For too long they have starved their communications, marketing and fundraising departments, choosing to spend most of their funds on program.
But as fundraising challenges increase, they realize they need to spend more on storytelling if they are to have a future.
Someone who knows how to write a press release and appeal letter, do donor relations, attract media attention and fundraise will not lack for employment opportunities, in other words.
To put it another way, if an IDS student wants to be
employable; see their organizations succeed; get government funding; and build
public support for aid; they should learn how to communicate and do marketing
and fundraising.
Then again, I'm a communicator and marketer; what would you expect me to say?
