Posts Tagged ‘NGO’s’
Posted on September 22, 2008 - by Frank
Compassion Bloggers (with video)
Marketing is a huge factor in what many NGO’s do. PR and marketing are integral in what such organizations do as they live off support from the public, giving the public the opportunity to be involved in what they do.
A successful marketing and PR tool that has been used by some organizations is the use of bands/musicians to spread the message of their work. Many organizations have bands/musicians aligned to them that promote their work at gigs. It’s a worthy method of promotion.
Compassion International has found another tool that follows very similar lines - it has entered the world of blogging.
Compassion International has adopted a program that brings on board Compassion Bloggers - bloggers that align themselves to Compassion and promote the work done by the organization. They organize trips for bloggers, taking a few people along to different areas it is involved in, thus giving selected bloggers first hand experiences that they then write about.
The potential for a high impact and an increase in awareness of their work is significant. Blogging allows for thoughts to be processed extensively rather than relying on sound-bites from a stage at a music gig where everyone is there primarily to hear the music and the organization hopes to capture some of the audience in the process. When a blogger writes about a given topic, there is nothing else the reader is hanging around for - reading the bloggers writing is the primary reason for being there. The promotion of the work of an organization like Compassion is not a distraction from the main thing (like the music at gigs), if the blogger chooses to write about such things then it is the main thing.
Blogging often also allows for conversation. It allows for the reader to process their thoughts in the community that interacts with the given blog. Thus the participant is given more opportunity than just hearing a musician express their support for a cause, with the organization hoping they will walk away and do something with that, they’re given the chance to engage, ask questions and process their thoughts with others.
Blogging presents a great way for NGO’s to promote their work and create awareness amongst the online community, in a way that provides a deeper engagement than what can take place at a music gig, though I see high value in that in today’s culture as well.
Compassion International has taken a great step by moving into blogging and getting popular bloggers alongside what they do and in so doing, experiencing and endorsing what Compassion does.
Compassion Bloggers & The Dominican Republic
November 27, 2008 Compassion International will take a group of bloggers to see their ministry to over 40,000 children in the Dominican Republic. Known for its resort-speckled beaches, theres another side to this Caribbean nation unknown to most vacationers. Our bloggers will visit a city dump where families scavenge for food and clothing. Theyll tour a neighborhood where drugs are trafficked and children live beside open sewers. And bloggers will also see firsthand how Compassion International and child sponsors are bringing hope to children living in these places by releasing them from poverty in Jesus name.
Posted on September 4, 2008 - by Frank
Humanitarian Jobs
With the ever growing awareness of humanitarian issues around the world related to aid and community development, there is a corresponding desire growing amongst many people to get themselves directly involved in humanitarian work. Because of this, many people are specifically looking for humanitarian jobs.
Because the aid and development sector is so large and growing at an alarming rate with new organisations popping up all the time, many people have no idea where to start to get themselves involved.
There are many options available involving different skill levels.
First and foremost, volunteers are always wanted. Most organisations have volunteer programmes that involve advocacy positions and sometimes, direct work amongst the peoples that such groups specifically work with. This is a valuable port of call for anyone seeking to engage in humanitarian jobs, but with no experience or specific education in this area. It can act as a testing ground for whether the desire to pick up a humanitarian job is simply an emotive, untested, romanticised ideal, or something more grounded. You never know though, even a romanticised ideal can be developed into something more cemented via volunteer work.
If you are looking to volunteer, decide first whether you want to engage in hands on work or act as an advocate for an organisation. If you decide for hands on work, you need to decide whether you want to offer your services to a local organisation (city missions, food banks etc) or be more global - there are organisations whose work abroad is completely based around what volunteers have to offer. Good examples are Unite for Sight and their Volunteer Abroad system, Cross Cultural Solutions and Global Volunteers.
If you wish to engage in a humanitarian job locally as an advocate for an organisation whose work is overseas, just get in touch with them and see if they offer any sort of advocacy programme where you can engage in helping to raise awareness of what they do and help to raise money for their work.
Paid humanitarian jobs can be found as well. Much humanitarian work abroad now involves skills and knowledge in the area of community development. There are specific courses that can be taken for this. Other areas that are often engaged by humanitarian organisations are management and marketing. Volunteer and advocacy bases need to be managed and promotion and awareness raising are key to the survival and growth of such organisations. Events management is an important role as well. Upskilling in these areas can be extremely valuable for those seeking humanitarian jobs.
For those seeking paid work in the humanitarian sector the best thing to do first is research. Research the organisations engaged in the work you are interested in a find one that aligns with your values. Find an organisation you can be passionate about and then contact them - find out if they have any work on offer and if not, ask them to keep you up to date on any positions that become available.
If you’re not fussy and simply want to find something, there are places on the internet you can look to find available humanitarian jobs around the world:
International Career and Employment Weekly - International Development and Assistance
Those are some good places to start. If you’re looking, never forget that Google and the telephone are your friend. Happy job hunting.
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