© Jabulani Dhlamini | Dhlomo, Putswastena, Sharpeville II, 2015.
This image is from Recaptured, where Jabulani interviewed and photographed people who traced their movements and emotions on the day of the Sharpeville Massacre.

Services

The Third Sector services are geared for volunteer groups, collectives, informal alliances and coalitions, as well as formally registered non-governmental or community-based organisations.

Campaign strategy

A well thought through strategy is necessary to implement impactful campaigns. It becomes the basis on which to make decisions, it outlines activities, and it anchors you, your partners or teams in a common process towards a common goal.

The campaign strategy service includes:

Goal formulation
Message development
Target audience identification
Formats / approaches / mediums to reach target audiences
Risk assessment and mitigation measures
Impact monitoring and evaluation
Strategy optimisation

Strategies can change and should adapt in response to external developments. Groups often get stuck in the strategy-building phase because of the sense that there is only one correct approach.

The way we handle strategy development, is to develop informed ideas, test them in a real-world context and then make enhancements where necessary.

Political analysis

The power dynamics surrounding the context in which civil society acts can be overlooked or not intentionally analysed. As a result, the impact that campaigns can have is undermined or reasons for ‘failing’ not well understood.

The political analysis service can include:

Information on how power and resources are distributed and contested
Insight into underlying interests and institutions active in various contexts
Stakeholder maps, input-output models and visualised diagrams

Information can be derived through a workshop process. Analyses are presented in the form of a report. This service informs effective and politically feasible communications strategies, ensures realistic expectations of what can be achieved, and outlines the risks involved.

It’s a good idea to incorporate this service with Workshop facilitation and / or Campaign strategy.

Workshop facilitation

Workshops that last for hours and are a series of poorly designed PowerPoint presentations are not productive and not engaging.

The workshop facilitation service includes:

Customised workshop programmes that are creative and interactive, online or in-person
Participant pre-assessment (likes, dislikes, energy levels, team dynamics, needs, expectations)
Programme development
Venue selection and procurement of materials
COVID-19 safety protocols if workshop is in physical presence
Documentation of workshop proceedings
Workshop evaluation

Writing and editorial

In Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing, he wrote, “To write is human, to edit is divine”. His message was simply that all of us can write, but that good writing requires editing.

In today’s busy world, we often don’t have time to write, let alone edit. The Third Sector contributes to and sustains the content generated by civil society.

The writing and editorial service can include:

Writing long-form articles in various tones and styles, to short blogs or opinion editorials
Editing services to make sure that written work is accessible, within word count and easily understandable for the intended target audience
First-line review and editing of research reports / studies
Design briefs and layout reviews of research reports / studies (design editorial)