Stories Everywhere: The Power of Equipping Nonprofit Teams to Write

Picture courtesy: Pexels/ Kindel Media

A Case Study of AVSI Foundation

Where it all started

Back in 2012, ICT Creatives was just getting on its feet having recently launched the Knowledge Management Company to support impact documentation for the vibrant and advancing nonprofit sector in Uganda. The goal was to provide high quality, compelling story writing complemented by professional photography to ensure the successes in sub-Sahara Africa were told through a positive lens.

AVSI Foundation had received multiple donor funding and was setting the standard for development work in East Africa but required support to get its impact visible in sub Saharan Africa and the rest of the world.

Regional recognition

In 2013, ICT Creatives started supporting the foundation to document its impact through fieldwork to document success stories and develop project story books. One of those story books became an outstanding testimonial of the great work AVSI Foundation in Uganda was doing.

In 2014 ICT Creatives was asked to design and deliver a custom documentation training for all the regional offices focusing on writing great stories and presenting visually appealing story books. The trainings which were held in three locations supported AVSI Foundation multi-functional teams to write professionally, strategically and present information in attractive and aesthetic formats. We also continued to mentor and coach the communication team at the foundation.

By 2015, AVSI Foundation in Uganda was recognized and awarded as a thought leader in excellent documentation in the sub-Saharan region.

How do good results happen?

• Management goodwill: AVSI Foundation leadership were the champions of skills-building initiatives. Right from the Country Director to the Communications Director and Head of Programmes, there was a professional humility that staff needed help and there was a willingness to invest.

• A culture of learning: All organizational staff were included in the training so much that the rooms were always filled to capacity from morning to afternoon. Staff were fully engaged and participating in all activities, challenging and asking questions that caused the facilitators to dig in deeper to enrich the training. Being intentional about learning built interest, supported information acquisition and skills retention.

• Dare-to-practice: With permission given to unlearn wrong practices and learn new, effective documentation practices, the communications team went into over-drive. They supported field teams to reinforce good practices and continually held them accountable for delivering well-written stories. They no longer called upon us to document stories because they were confident in their skills!

Collectively, these paved the way for building internal capacity for documentation and steered AVSI Foundation towards regional excellence and, consequently, as a pace setter for development work impact.

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To learn more about other organizations we have supported, or how we can support your organization, please email: team at theknowledgemanagementcompany.com