11.12 Skills needed by an NSO for dissemination and communication

Developing comprehensive communication strategies is a new approach for many NSOs and it is a challenge to build expertise in this area. This may require training staff across NSOs and the development of a network of professional communication experts.

A typical communication team would combine skills in dissemination, infographics and graphic design. Other skills include developing and maintaining communication tools such as videos, social media, blogs, data visualisations, and infographics/motion graphics. The communication team should be able to correspond on high-level issues, organize events and product launches, run NSO social media accounts, manage the web site and other digital spaces, and finally assess the impact of NSO’s communication initiatives. With the huge increase in social media use and its importance as a communication tool, it is becoming common practice for NSOs to recruit communication staff who specialise in the use of social media.