Many nonprofit organizations depend on community engagement for relavance.  Community engagement helps organizations make their grant service numbers, keeps the community it serves aware of services and helps to create good press for the nonprofit overall.

These are concepts that new and minority nonprofits begin to learn when they enter the nonprofit space.  Often such organizations will hire a communications professional or the services of a public relations firm.  However, many developing nations and emerging economies need to employ the same tactics when reaching their local populations and also the wider international audience.

Even as an actual force for good in the international community it is imparitive to ensure that your contributions are not only seen but heard–many, many times.  This happens by harnessing word-of-mouth or testimonials on the efficacy of services or resources. Testimonials must be compelling and tell a story that the target community understand and values.  It must also be advertised or promoted often through am aggressive yet pervasive campaign.

A great example of this would be the massive donation of Covid Vaccines worldwide–particularly donation of Covid Vaccines to African States.  A few photo opps, a press release and a couple of news stories are simply not sufficient for a donating country to cement it’s goodwill in the minds of the local people, the international community or even it’s own citizens.  The goodwill must be captured in such a way that it indicates values prized in the local community and the international sphere. Public relations is not merely a good interaction with the public, it is a maintenance and defining of that relationship.

A large donation of any kind requires a campaign, touchpoints in key market’s and buy-in by credible stakehders within that community. Withou understanding how a sincere donation should be rolled out from a public relations or outreach approach, goodwill nations, nonprofits and enterprises run the risk of making contributions that do not increase the overall goodwill of the public toward the organization or help them understand how that nation/or country has invested a considerable stake in their nation and local community.

Unfortunately,  all too often we see developing and emerging economies harnessing the assistance of big name public relations organizations and marketing firms with middling rezults.  These results indicate the disconnect between the corporate style of the firm and the needs of the nation. 

Instead, nations and nonprofits must seek professionals that are open to new ideas and new modes of engagement.  Those who are sensitive to unique market’s and understand and appreciate the nuances of culture and intercultural cooperation without hegemonic tendencies.