GivingWorks helps clients create a nuanced understanding of the landscape of key stakeholders and develop robust strategies to guide effective interactions.
Communications and Stakeholder Engagement
Strategies may be codified on paper, but their implementation – and ultimate value – is determined by diverse stakeholders, including staff, board members, customers, constituents, funders, beneficiaries, and the public at large. Whether internal and external stakeholders understand, value, and support a strategy depends on how they experience an organization's integrity, communications, and track record. As such, the sustainability of public benefit organizations often depends not only on performance, but also their ability to speak to stakeholder concerns. GivingWorks helps clients create a nuanced understanding of the landscape of key stakeholders and develop robust strategies to guide effective interactions.
Illustrative Experience:
Developed an integrated communication strategy for the World Bank to help it proactively address disconnects with key constituencies. Read More/Hide...
Communications Strategy Development at the World Bank
In response to considerable controversy and criticisms surrounding the World Bank, GivingWorks developed an integrated strategy for the Bank’s External Relations & UN Affairs team. The strategy was informed by a substantive global poll of government, academic, civil society and private sector opinion leaders and enabled the Bank to proactively listen to and consciously address disconnects with key constituencies. The Bank has since made its outgoing communications more compelling, improved dialogue and access to its people and knowledge, and upgraded its professional and technological communications competencies. A major focus of this exercise was to highlight the need to address misperceptions with facts, and to more forthrightly and constructively address legitimate criticisms voiced against the Bank.
Analyzed the World Bank’s engagement with internal and external stakeholders for the development of Nam Theun 2 (NT2), a hydropower project in Lao PDR that was one of the Bank’s most controversial and complex infrastructure projects in recent history. Read More/Hide...
Stakeholder Engagement on Environment and Infrastructure
Nam Theun 2 (NT2), a hydropower project in Lao PDR that took 10 years to design and approve, was one of the World Bank’s most controversial and complex infrastructure projects in recent history. GivingWorks conducted an analysis of the Bank’s engagement with internal and external stakeholders for NT2. Our assessment entailed an in-depth analysis of the Bank’s understanding of, and responsiveness to, project-affected populations, government, academia, activist NGOs, other multilaterals, and private sector investors and lenders. The robust but “invisible” debate on environmental, social and financial consequences inside the Bank was also analyzed. GivingWorks’ critique shed new light on the dos and don’ts of major infrastructure efforts, and is being widely disseminated among practitioners and stakeholders.
Sample Services
- Stakeholder segmentation and analysis
- Situation assessment
- Proactive brand strategy
- Advocacy strategies
- Relationship management tools