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A Case for Content:
Why NGOs Need to Outsource Research and Writing
Central to any NGO’s work is information processing and while the facility of the Internet means it’s easy to register a presence, your NGO’s reputation rests on just what you say and how you say it.
The mass media functions by providing content to consumers. Print publishers and film studios need good content for their readers and viewers. While TV broadcasters rely entirely on the sale of audiences to advertisers, production of mass media content is marked by economies of scale. That means getting a story done for a newspaper costs the same whether it is sold to 1 reader or 500 readers. Which means expanding readerships go significantly towards spreading the burden of cost, breaking even and eventually bringing in reward. So it’s powerful content that sets the ball rolling.
Yet, new trends are emerging where even niche low volume epublishing is finding a strong market and large profit margins. The Internet is able to match the specific demands of the buyers better than bookstores. Also economies of scale are changing because digital publishing does not have print, storage and distributions costs that require large production volumes to keep the cost per item low. Therefore quality niche content is also powerful.
Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from the community-based to the award winning can testify to the challenges of content and communication. From building trust in the local community, drumming up zeal within, and connecting with supporters and stakeholders worldwide, it’s all down to communicating content.
One of the biggest challenges facing NGOs today is delivering content. Organizing, refining and delivering content are ongoing demands. Content works the media to engage public awareness and support, and to improve bargaining power with the business community, government and public, in essence - towards building empowering partnerships. Bridges need to be built to extend to other NGOs working on the same concerns or those unavoidably relevant. And of course, there’s the need to forge links with present and prospective donors.
The identification and articulation of actual examples of an NGO’s impact, success and real competence is particularly vital to overcoming passivity or skepticism of donor supported institutions.
Many NGOs can vouch for a strategy of active engagement to effectively tackle indifference. This may include organizing regular workshops, conferences and seminars that bring together government, business, other NGOs and the media. The sector’s long-term viability depends on public opinion. But the truth is, too many NGOs are resistant to the potential benefits of the Internet, aborting their chances of wider and greater success in their identified mission.
Recently NGOs are considering long term sustainability. They face the inevitability that raising donor support is an ongoing process and thus standing on their own by generating a profit is a viable yet challenging option. Indeed a NGO’s transitioning from voluntary to professional may strengthen its credibility. As advocates advising and assisting citizens in the community’s own development and sustainability concerns they become a model for that sustainability.
A World of Content
With the Web, it’s about getting your message across straight, quick and to the right audience. There’s more to online communication than getting your Web site up and running. For starters, there’s the extensive planning and strategy in deciding what information to present on the home page, to say nothing of the need to regularly update content, e-mail customers (in the case of electronic newsletters/calendars), post to discussion groups and if this is part of your NGO’s reach – to launch and sustain an online community of volunteers. And that’s exactly what online outreach is all about: being proactive, interactive and ongoing - the very same communication demands made on offline transactions.
Inevitably, online outreach and service delivery must plainly and accurately reflect your NGO’s mission and culture, by way of establishing an identity. It helps if programs of online outreach keep squarely within the domain of the same person in charge of communications, if only to ensure a unity and immediacy of message. This same person would also oversee quality maintenance and development of all online activities, which ensures that visitors to your website never have to encounter outdated or inaccurate information. It is vital to take every opportunity to spread the word about the location (URL) of your website with every mention of the organization. Posting to online discussion groups are a good way of actively spreading information about your NGO as well as networking with other groups engaged in shared interests.
Considering Information and Communications Technologies (ICT)
It’s been widely accepted that there’s been considerable waste in resource utilization in the program implementation of many NGOs in the years before ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) spread its net. There are clear indications that IT (Information Technology) is going some way towards improving the resource implementation process.
Using the Internet to communicate has turned out to be a shining weapon in the fight against inequality, rural poverty and environmental degeneration. It has effectively challenged the outdated and often opaque ways of delivering services. But it still continues to be debated whether money should be routed to developing expensive ICT capacities instead of basic infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. But the benefits are too real to be overlooked. The question is: will mobilization of resources through effective communication produce great benefits on the field?
There is a need for mobilization and awareness in both the global and village level. There have been instances of illiterate villagers uniting to confront government functionaries, demanding information on allocation of resources for local schemes. ICT can be used to make such public information available on demand through information access points like kiosks located in the village. Mobilization aside, ICT provides knowledge access that goes to improving such aspects of a rural community’s well being.
NGOs can use new technologies to deliver content to improve:
Work productivity
Health practices
Knowledge of the environment
Knowledge of innovations in farm practices and tool design
Use of indigenous medication
Archiving and dissemination of indigenous knowledge
Case Studies in Empowerment
Two ICT projects in India that are exemplary in their achievements in community-centric knowledge acquisition and exchange are Tarahaat and Gyandoot. In spite of the real barriers of poor infrastructure and illiteracy, both projects successfully engaged the local communities with the empowering benefits of ICT. Employing the concept of haat (market), Tarahaat’s mission is to create wealth for the rural community and its stakeholders in the same way as a market does. Via the Internet, this portal acts as a gateway to pertinent information relating to product and services of rural relevance. Vitally, the service connects the districts of the area to information on commodity prices and government agencies. With a support network connecting rural cybercafes, Gyandoot offers access to information such as commodity prices, local maps and official documents, as well as a redressal system and a service that facilitates submission of applications to public authorities. Real testimonies to knowledge-led empowerment through technology.
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