Fundación Multitudes have created and delivered training for civic tech organisations in how to get stories about their projects and successes into the mainstream media. Funded by our fourth TICTeC Labs subgrant, the initial training took place from December 2022 to February 2023, with ten participants from Indonesia, Macedonia and the Philippines.
At our fourth Civic Tech Surgery, we discussed storytelling and reach — the challenges of amplifying our successes beyond the civic tech community —identifying that communications can be difficult for civic tech organisations. Organisations are often small, work is complex and full of jargon, and communications are sometimes seen as a luxury or an afterthought. One impactful solution suggested was training, and the Action Lab commissioned Fundación Multitudes to create this eight-week course.
The organisations joining the training wanted to:
- develop attractive campaigns for their organisations
- meet and share experiences with other organisations
- learn about storytelling tools and strategies
Their needs were met by modules on:
- Media mapping and media tracking
- Press kit and media management
- How do we elaborate our discourse, editorial line and expressions on contingency?
- Design of a micro action plan for a specific programme or campaign
Participants really valued the opportunity to share experiences and learn how other organisations had met the challenges of sharing their stories. They are continuing to engage with the programme via a mailing list which connects them so they can exchange information, share experiences and build partnerships, plus a follow-up newsletter with relevant information on storytelling and reach, grant opportunities and success stories.
Fundación Multitudes plan to continue to develop and deliver this training – view the course content here (PDF).