📚 Rebuilding Your Foundation | Content in a Consequential Year

Welcome to 2024! 👋🏼

I hope everyone had at least one nourishing moment this holiday break. I did some work (building our new media hub) but held my space for rest. I’m glad I took that rest. 😰 If the first few weeks of January have anything to say about the year!

We are zooming towards a consequential election year. 2024 is the biggest global election year in history. Global elections will not only impact candidates but all organizations and movements that are working toward sustainable change. We can all play a role in messaging for the moment and I’m excited for us to be a part of that movement together!

On Tap This Week
🔬 Refocusing Content Goals deep dive
🌱 RSVP for Building Accessibility into Practice
🌱 Social collaboration tips
🌱 Radically honor MLK Jr. in your messaging
🧰 Resource of the Month: New content strategy & calendar hub!

We are in new territory this year. The media and tech landscape has flipped on its head and disinformation, deep fakes, AI, and shadow banning are common occurrences now.

To be heard in this reality, organizations need to build consistency in their communications. Consistency includes regularly releasing communications, but more broadly it is about establishing a foundation where you can build your communications on top of. If your foundation is not fully set or some stakeholders aren't holding up their end of the foundation, the ability to share communications consistently falters. At the end of the day, that's really what a strategy is designed to do. A foundational strategy is about assessing the landscape and making decisions on how and where to spend energy.

For many organizations in 2024, the ability to build consistency in their communications has faltered. And it's not because they don't have good strategies. It's because the ground has literally shifted beneath their foundational strategies. The disruptions in tech and media that accelerated in 2023 are not going away. It's time for many organizations to re-evaluate their foundation.

🔬 Refocusing Content Goals

With the shifts in the media landscape, it’s important to not just set and forget your strategy. We are building a foundation for your content so that it can withstand the weather in media & tech (sorry for the pun, I couldn't help myself).

It became clear that this was a systemic problem. This trend was everywhere. In my client's work, my activism/volunteer circles, and in my own experience on social media. When I see a systemic problem, I can’t help but try to find a solution. Naturally, I decided to build a content hub in Notion for my communications planning that is away from all the platforms. I am now able to strategize, plan, create, and document all of the content my clients will be sharing in one place... Scroll to the bottom to get a customizable hub for you or your organization.

🌺 Flowering & 🍋 Fruitful Member Zone
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🎟 NEW EVENT SERIES: We kicked off our 1st official lunch & learn for social change communicators with DidJuno’s Brit Holmes last week! We talked about micro and macro ways to set our communications up for success this year and hosted a communications Q&A in just 30 minutes. Make sure you RSVP to catch next month’s on Building Accessibility into Practice.

RSVP & join us on February 14th @ 12:30 EST/9:30am PST

• 📚 Collaborate & Grow Together on Instagram - Buffer has a great rundown of Instagram Collab posts and how organizations can use the feature in your social media strategy.
  • 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Collaboration and cross posting are impactful and free ways to grow your engagement and reach to new audiences when organic social reach is down. See also our amplification toolkit.
• 📸 Honoring MLK Jr. in Your Messaging - The Intersectional Environmentalist has a great IG on how to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. without co-opting his legacy to promote toxic positivity.
  • 🤓 The Root 🌱 - “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an agent of radical change. As we reflect on his legacy, let’s not forget that his profound impact has been watered down + weaponized to market products, police⁣ “unacceptable” forms of protest AND uphold narratives that support oppressive systems⁣.” - @amirachandni
• 📚 Are Twitter Ads Worth It? - as the 2024 election heats up, there’s a renewed debate over if organizations and candidates should run advertising on Twitter?
  • 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Save yourself the time and trouble and just don’t. The privacy concerns and lack of content regulation will only hurt brands who are trying to create positive change.
• 🎟 Strategies for Social Impact in a New Digital Era - The Center for Digital Strategy is kicking off the year with a look at digital, tech, and social media in 2024.
  • 🤓 The Root 🌱 - Founder Brad Caldana will host a panel discussion on the changing landscape of digital strategy. RSVP for their free event on January 25th at 2pm EST/11am PST.

Not yet a subscriber? Join today for a resource library, a new resource each month, and extra storytelling insights.

2024 Content Calendar & Strategy Hub

Built in Notion, this 2024 Content Strategy microsite is custom-built for non-profits, grassroots organizations, and campaigns to create and activate a strategic content plan that reaches your goals.

Get Your Customizable Hub

And that's a wrap on this week’s newsletter! We hope you found this newsletter helpful in your work. If you have any topics you want covered or have any questions, please reach out to let us know.

In Solidarity,
Sam Chavez
the roots of change agency

🌱 about the roots of change agency

The Roots of Change Agency was founded to support nonprofits, campaigns, and activists to avoid burnout and tell empathetic stories to cultivate connections that empower social change. We were founded in 2020. Learn more.

💸 shouldn't be a barrier to social change! 🌍 We believe that the work of social change is for all of us. We aim to have our resources accessible and affordable to anyone who may need them.