By Emmanuel Afonne, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
For many small non-profit organisations, communication activities are often placed low on the priority scale.
Storytelling and public visibility usually take a backseat to daily operations like fundraising, administration, and programme delivery.
Nonetheless, communication experts say strategic communication remains central to public trust, donor confidence and institutional growth.
A global communications strategist, Chioma Orji, provided insights.
According to her, many organisations struggle not because they lack compelling stories, but because they lack structures to communicate them consistently.
She said that fragmented communication weakened public confidence, even when organisations were achieving measurable results.
“Communication shapes how communities understand an organisation’s mission, how funders perceive its credibility and how beneficiaries experience its presence.
“When communication is inconsistent or reactive, the organisation’s public identity becomes fragmented, even when its programmes are strong.”
Orji, a former Corporate Communications Lead at Oilserv Limited, who also worked with non-profit organisations in West Africa and Canada for more than a decade, developed what she describes as the “Trust Visibility Model”.
The framework, according to her, is designed to help small organisations strengthen communication systems despite limited resources.
She said that in many under-resourced organisations, communication responsibilities were often added to already overstretched staff schedules.
“The most powerful stories and life-changing impacts remain trapped in staff inboxes because there is simply no time to collect and document them.’’
According to her, the challenge is not a lack of commitment to storytelling, but a structural capacity gap.
Communication analysts say the situation is particularly evident among small and rural non-profit organisations where employees are expected to perform multiple responsibilities simultaneously.
In many cases, staff members handle programme implementation, grant writing, volunteer coordination and digital communication at the same time.
Funding patterns, observers say, also contribute to the challenge, as many grants focus largely on programme delivery with limited support for communication systems and administrative structures.
Orji said the consequence was often reactive communication practices.
According to her, social media updates become irregular, newsletters are issued inconsistently and impact stories are only prepared when donors request reports.
“The organisation’s voice changes depending on who is communicating on a particular day.”
She maintained that public trust was influenced not only by organisational outcomes, but also by how those outcomes were communicated.
To address the challenge, Orji’s Trust Visibility Model focuses on four key areas: voice definition, storytelling systems, repeatable social media workflows and practical metrics.
She explained that organisations must first develop a communication tone that reflects their values.
According to her, organisations focused on equity may adopt transparent and people-centred language, while community-based organisations may maintain a warm and relational tone.
She said clearly defined communication guidelines help eliminate inconsistent messaging and improve audience recognition.
Orji also stressed the need for sustainable storytelling systems.
Rather than relying on memory or last-minute reporting, she recommended that organisations maintain a shared “story bank” where staff document quotes, photos, programme observations and impact stories regularly.
“A story bank becomes the organisation’s living reservoir of impact.’’
She added that simple structures such as documenting the problem, intervention and outcome could help staff members create compelling narratives with minimal effort.
On social media management, Orji advised organisations to create repeatable workflows instead of reinventing content strategies weekly.
According to her, assigning themes to specific days could reduce decision fatigue and improve consistency.
“For example, Tuesdays can focus on impact stories, Thursdays on community resources and Fridays on appreciation posts.”
The model also encourages organisations to focus on practical indicators rather than vanity metrics.
According to Orji, organisations should pay attention to donor retention, referrals, audience engagement and email subscriptions instead of concentrating solely on follower counts or online reach.
“These indicators reveal whether audiences trust the organisation, not merely whether they see it.”
She argued that sustainable communication practices could reduce staff burnout while strengthening public trust and donor confidence.
“Communication on a shoestring is not about doing less; it is about doing smarter and more strategically,” she said.
Orji advised sector leaders to start small by prioritising one impact story monthly, embedding storytelling into programme implementation and focusing on trust-building rather than polished appearances.
Communication experts say the expanding digital landscape has increased expectations for organisations to maintain active and professional communication channels, even with limited resources.
Recent submissions by communication leaders further underscore the growing importance of communication in leadership and governance.
The insights shared by Bill Southard, Chief Executive Officer of Southard Communication and PRGN representative, Dr Ike Neliaku (NIPR President), and Sylvester Nwakuche (NCoS Controller-General) at World PR Day 2025 offer significant value.
Southard, while presenting findings from the PRGN Influence Insights Report during activities marking World PR Day 2025 in Lagos, said social media, digital visibility and earned media had transformed how institutions build influence and credibility.
According to him, 76 per cent of respondents identify social media as highly significant in shaping brand influence, while 78 per cent considered digital visibility essential.
He said earned media remained one of the strongest drivers of trust and credibility.
Observers say the development reflects a global shift from message control to relationship building.
Neliaku, on his part, said effective leadership could not thrive without effective communication.
The NIPR president recently announced plans to establish the world’s first Public Relations and Leadership University in Nigeria.
According to him, the institution is expected to train future leaders in communication, accountability and public engagement.
Analysts say the initiative reflects increasing recognition that many governance challenges, including misinformation, distrust and policy resistance, are also communication challenges.
Nwakuche also described public relations as an essential driver of legitimacy, transparency and public confidence.
Speaking during a capacity-building workshop for Public Relations Officers of the NCoS, he said strategic communication had become critical to institutional reforms and stakeholder engagement.
According to him, investment in media engagement, crisis communication and stakeholder relations is necessary to strengthen accountability and improve public perception.
Experts say the inputs by Southard, Neliaku and Nwakuche highlight three major pillars of modern communication: influence, leadership and institutional trust.
They note that the ideas also align with Orji’s central argument that communication is not necessarily effective because it is expensive, but because it is credible, consistent and human-centred.
Observers further say that in a rapidly changing digital environment characterised by misinformation, declining public trust and social fragmentation, communication is increasingly becoming a stabilising force for institutions and societies.
They maintain that Nigeria’s communication sector is gradually redefining public relations as a tool for nation-building, ethical leadership and social cohesion.
Moving forward, experts say the main hurdle for organisations is walking the talk—ensuring actions match core values, as trust is the most persuasive message.(NANFeatures)
Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo
***If used, please credit the writer and the News Agency of Nigeria.
