The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) seeks an experienced communications or marketing professional to develop a practical global communications strategy that increases organizational visibility, strengthens brand recognition, and builds relationships with prospective funders and strategic partners.
Founded in 1960, IIRR works with rural communities across Africa and Asia in economic empowerment, education, environment, food systems, and health, focusing on women, farmers, children, and youth.
The strategy should increase awareness among private foundations, corporate philanthropic programs, corporate sustainability and social-impact teams, institutional funders, and rural development organizations.
Given limited communications resources and varying country-office capacities, the strategy must be ambitious yet realistic, leveraging existing reports, photographs, stories, and other materials. It should establish a consistent global identity while enabling locally relevant content.
The strategy should assess LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, the website, email, media opportunities, thought leadership, events, and partner networks, prioritizing activities based on impact and feasibility.
The primary objective is organizational visibility and engagement with prospective funders and strategic partners, not individual fundraising.
This is a strategic project; IIRR staff will implement the recommendations.
The volunteer will develop a practical global communications strategy covering:
- Current-state assessment: Review existing communications materials, website, social channels, publications, and content to identify strengths and opportunities.
- Audience and positioning: Define priority audiences and key messages for private foundations, corporate philanthropy and sustainability teams, institutional funders, and strategic partners.
- Channel strategy: Recommend approaches for social media, website, email, media, thought leadership, events, and partner networks.
- Content and storytelling: Identify opportunities to repurpose existing reports, photographs, and impact stories, with simple templates and guidelines for country offices.
- Implementation roadmap: Develop a prioritized 12–18-month plan balancing immediate, low-cost actions with longer-term opportunities.
- Measurement: Recommend practical indicators, including engagement, website traffic, media visibility, partner amplification, and inquiries from prospective funders.
- Handover: Present the strategy and recommendations to IIRR management.
Recommendations should reflect varying country-office capacities, limited communications resources, and the need for consistent global messaging without excessive reporting or content-production demands.
Expected Timeline:
Approximately 6–8 weeks and 25–40 volunteer hours for document review, strategy development, roadmap and measurement framework preparation, and a final management presentation. Timing may be adjusted by mutual agreement.
Desired Outcome:
IIRR will have an actionable global communications strategy to increase visibility, communicate its impact, and strengthen relationships with prospective funders and strategic partners. The strategy should enable more coordinated, consistent, and measurable communications without substantial new funding, dedicated communications staff in every country, or individual donor fundraising campaigns.
