The
Ford Foundation Asset Building and Community Development Program
The Asset Building and Community Development Program maintains
a broad portfolio, and its work is carried out in 13 offices
and more than 25 countries. Due to geography, cultural standards,
and the sheer depth of the portfolio, Program grantmakers
faced a significant challenge in communicating the impact
of the Program’s investments. The goal is to convey
the common objectives while honoring the unique individual
efforts taking place worldwide.
LGI Communications (LGI) recommended a holistic approach to
strategy. We began by conducting a systematic assessment of
the Program’s communications products and rigorous interviews
with dozens of staff around the world regarding the challenges
and opportunities of communicating the "assets perspective."
This work revealed many compelling findings about the unique
challenges faced by Program staff—from finding the time
to communicate effectively to determining a literal translation
for the word "assets." Our work informed a detailed
communications/branding strategy characterized as Consistent
Messages from Many Voices. Above all, the strategy makes clear
that the Program is indeed the sum of its many distinct, diverse
participants around the world.
The first outcome of the communications strategy was the widely
distributed and well-received brochure "Building Assets
to Reduce Poverty and Injustice," which provides an overview
of the Assets Program’s fundamental ideas in a way that
is accessible to a broad audience. This cornerstone piece
has grown into a multi-faceted, long-term communications strategy.
The staff challenges we uncovered during our assessment led
to the recommendation of a number of products that Program
Officers could use as resources for effective, consistent
communications.
Among the products we developed as part of the overall strategy:
a photo library—a comprehensive, accessible library
of suitable imagery for all Program staff to use in their
communications products; field statements—summary statements
of the Program’s focus areas to share the complexity
and depth of thinking reflected in the evolution of the assets
approach; brochure translations—to broaden the accessibility
of "Building Assets to Reduce Poverty and Injustice,"
the LGI team also produced the materials in Russian, Spanish,
and Vietnamese.
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