According to Bridgespan, field building can best be understood as taking a “field- or ecosystem-level view of a problem and funding activities that drive a field’s progress toward equitable impact at scale.” From what we understand, most field building investments focus on strategy alignment, convening, and organizational capacity. What often seems to be overlooked or underestimated is the communications infrastructure that allows a field to actually function as a field.
Much of the field building conversation has been centered on the role of foundations since achieving growth will require financial investments and other supports. While foundations consider how to approach investments in field building, we want to share a few specific ways that communications infrastructure can benefit nonprofits.
While field building as a collective is the preferred approach, nonprofits can implement some strategic activities individually to strengthen their organizational positioning while contributing to their respective field, in order to galvanize others toward a shared outcome. Much of this work is deeply rooted in communications. Field building activities can contribute to organizational visibility and thought leadership, testing of new solutions, and shifting public perception about how audiences understand your issue area.
We have identified three central methods that can be executed independently, or sequenced in a phased approach, to build momentum over time. Together, they reinforce one another, so pursuing them in stages can create a compounding effect that steadily strengthens the overall effectiveness. Each allows for iterative testing to provide feedback from participants in the ecosystem and external audiences.
- Shared Language. Language is the most powerful social construct of human society. Among many other uses, language helps individuals make sense of the world around them. When organizations within a field use incompatible language to describe their work, the current landscape in which the work is performed, and opportunities for change, it is difficult for audiences to make sense of things. Shared language provides organizations with a universal framing of definitions and agreement about how to collectively represent an issue. Language evolves, and some organizations are using outdated language that does not resonate with audiences. With the development of shared language through Lexicons, organizations, partners, and communities build a collective sense of identity, purpose, and meaning-making.
- Innovation. Bringing multiple organizations together with different areas of expertise, messaging, and positioning within an issue area to create a singular vision can be a daunting task. Rather than trying to make square pegs fit into round holes, we recommend creating space for experimentation and reimagining how a field can tackle an issue as a collective. For example, can brand journalism be implemented to educate and build trust with specific audiences? Are there local experts or community influencers that organizations can partner with to enhance their work? Are there approaches to community power building that shift engagement to a shared power model to increase adoption? By approaching field building communications through the lens of innovation, nonprofits have the space to explore how their field is perceived and experienced and examine ways to more deeply attract and engage audiences. This approach enables a broader view of potential solutions, encouraging cross-pollination between organizations and helping to identify how proven practices can be adapted and applied across different contexts.
- Narrative Resilience. Every social issue is feeling the pressure from harmful counter-narratives finding their way into public consciousness. Narrative resilience is the ability of organizations, movements, and fields to withstand, adapt, and respond. Through narrative resilience, organizations can take stock of the stories animating our society’s beliefs around social change and their field, and build on foresight analysis to ensure communications can withstand the challenges emerging from antagonistic forces and rapid change. More resilient narratives among organizations contribute to stronger social change ecosystems and strengthen the overall sector’s ability to maintain trust with audiences and ensure the believability of facts over fiction.
Committing to communications for field building provides a strong defense against provocateurs and those seeking to challenge the advancement of critical social issues.
If you have any questions about the ideas shared here and how these approaches can advance your field, let’s schedule some time for a brief chat.