In today’s chaotic media environment, a solid communications framework is more critical than ever for mission-driven organizations. Through an effective communications strategy, impact organizations can meaningfully connect with the right audiences, share their mission, and, in turn, scale their work.
In a recent webinar, “Scale Your Impact: Building the Communications Infrastructure Organizations Need to Grow,” moderator Chris Marquis, University of Cambridge Professor and author, spoke with 1% for the Planet CEO Kate Williams, B Lab Global Director of Marketing and Communications Charlotte Levitt, and Bark Media Founding Partner James Duft. The panelists shared strategies for connecting with audiences, building trust, and using communication to drive change.
The conversation covered how organizations can:
- Develop a strategic infrastructure to communicate the impact of your work, build and keep trust, and successfully scale.
- Uplift authentic voices and storytelling within an intentional framework that supports your broader organizational goals.
- Apply lessons and inspiration from storytellers and organizations doing this work well.
- Control your narrative so others don’t fill in the gaps and define you.
- Use your communications as part of a movement for a better world.
- Set up reporting systems to help define what is working, how to expand, and stop doing work that doesn’t serve you.
Review the highlights and main themes of the conversation below!
Watch the full webinar to hear all of the insights from Kate, Charlotte, and James on building trust, telling compelling stories, and creating the communications infrastructure needed to scale impact.
Scaling Impact Through Communications
James discussed the importance of scaling communications capacity alongside the other work of impact organizations. If the work grows but the communication doesn’t grow with it, then awareness and effectiveness also do not grow. Strong communications capacity not only supports the success of an individual organization — it is essential to the success of the impact movement .“We have to start reaching out to a bigger, deeper community, and using our communications to do that,” James says.
Kate shared how 1% for the Planet built its brand to drive impact by equipping members with clear brand guidelines and marketing tools. “We would build the consumer recognition … which would build the business awareness, which would build the overall value, which would drive impact,” she says.
Charlotte Levitt discussed B Lab’s growth over 20 years and the importance of creating a consistent yet relevant brand across different cultures. “It’s also about how we make the kind of work we do continually relevant to the conversation,” Charlotte says.
Trust in Certifications
Charlotte introduced the “Green Shouting Guide,” which encourages companies to communicate their sustainability efforts openly and accurately. “We defined Green Shouting as the practice of communicating sustainability efforts openly, accurately, and courageously grounding claims and evidence, acknowledging challenges, and ultimately strengthening a transparent information ecosystem,” she says.
Kate explained that 1% for the Planet focuses on equipping members to communicate clearly and effectively, especially in a low-trust environment. “This is the power of equipping, encouraging, and articulating the value to a global network of thousands of stakeholders in telling a story that has a shared core, even if there’s a lot of differentiation,” she says.
Communications Infrastructure
James defined communication infrastructure as the system that drives outputs across channels. The setup includes establishing a clear narrative foundation, developing firm internal alignment, identifying audience stakeholders, and mapping the best messages and stories that they will relate to best. “Before you can start really effectively communicating with others, you need to be able to effectively communicate within, so you need to first have that internal alignment,” he says.
He emphasized the importance of knowing the audience and defining clear communication goals to effectively reach the intended audience. “You need to understand who your audience is, understand what you want them to do, and then build your communications structure around that,” he says.
He also discussed the need for a holistic approach to communication, including measurement and evaluation of communication efforts. “Coming at it with that holistic approach and all the unsexy stuff that’s built underneath, it means you’re putting all the measurements in place so you understand what exactly you’re doing and why you’re doing it,” he says.
Challenges and Successes in Communications
Charlotte shared the challenge of prioritizing which issues to communicate about and the importance of focusing on areas of expertise. “It’s very easy to get distracted by shiny objects and start chasing the latest metric that other people think matters, and so you have to really start from principles,” she says.
Kate discussed seeing stories as the currency of communication. “[It’s about] picking the right stories for the right audience, distributing them through the right channels, and knowing the relevant data points you can use to pin down credibility,” she says.
Key Actionable Takeaways
- Tell stories, not just statistics. Turn impact data into messages people can relate to.
- Give supporters the right tools. Clear branding and marketing resources can boost engagement and support.
- Be open about sustainability efforts. Transparent communication helps build trust.
- Know your audience. Tailor messages to the people you want to reach.
- Measure what works. Use data to improve communication strategies over time.
Scale Your Impact
At Bark Media, we partner with mission-driven organizations to create and execute communications and marketing strategies that advance their goals. Your communications shouldn’t just talk about your mission. It should be a core mechanism for advancing it.
Want to learn more about building the right system to support your goals? We’d love to talk. Contact us, and we’ll get back to you shortly.