What we offer

What
we offer

We offer a full range of support. From smaller projects like refreshing your practical story production processes, to the development of your comms and fundraising storytelling strategies; and working with you to investigate, design and put into practice inspirational new narrative projects.

Research and development

We can test and implement fundraising and communication methods (and large-scale models) that help you understand how equitable storytelling can have the biggest impact for you.

Good intentions and gut feeling are not enough. Everything we do is informed by our extensive experience in comms, content, fundraising and programmes, and Jess’s groundbreaking academic research into the ethical complexities of storytelling, such as ‘The People in the Pictures’, and ‘Who Owns The Story’.

Guideline and
policy creation

We can review your existing thinking around responsible story capture and use; and help you instigate new structures and plans to operate within industry best practice for equitable content creation.

As a senior lecturer in communication ethics at UAL and co-chair of the People in the Pictures BOND group, Jess is one of the sector’s leading thinkers in this area. Our associates include academic researchers, communications directors, producers and story managers who have researched, implemented and overseen ethical content gathering. They understand the tensions and opportunities that come from wanting to gather memorable stories responsibly.

Storytelling strategy

We can lead you through the process of developing and delivering a content strategy: one that connects your audiences with ethically gathered, powerful stories that help you convert calls to action.

Drawing on our experience working with teams from one-person story functions to huge multinationals at all stages in their storytelling journey, we’ll help you make the most of your resources, budgets and processes to tell your stories with impact.

Training and inspiration

We can provide one-off sessions or a series of workshops to help you and your staff explore the issues that affect storytelling in the humanitarian and development space – and what tangible actions you might take to create positive change.

Your experienced trainer and facilitator will draw on our academic research and lessons learned through our work with clients such as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), Red Cross, Save the Children and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Advice and mentoring

We can support your senior staff at a 1:1 level – to advise and guide you on your journey towards creating equitable content that works, and embedding these working practices into your teams and culture.

Associates include academic researchers, communications directors, producers, country programme directors, and participatory experts. To read more about the experience we draw on, please visit the ‘About Us’ section.

Let's discuss your next project

If you’d like help with a project or just to chat, either fill in the contact form or drop us a line on social.

Get in touch

Examples

British Red Cross

Building on the British Red Cross’ incredible brand and storytelling expertise, I worked to develop a strategy that encompassed their ethical ambitions as well as their desire to take storytelling to the
next level.

The British Red Cross understands the power of good storytelling, and is an organisation that puts ethical working front and centre. This focus was the driving force behind a set of guidelines, consent processes and a strategy that worked within this large and complex organisation to help all staff deliver the same focused approach and quality of content gathering.

DEC

As an organisation working in fast paced situations with multiple external partners, the DEC needed a set of processes to help them make decisions on which images to use and what information was needed to guide those decisions.

By using my years of experience working on humanitarian appeals from a field and office based point of view, I was able to draw together simple and clear guidance to help the DEC select imagery and feel confident that the images they are using are not going to create risk for either the people in the images or the organisations using them.

UN World Food Programme

UN WFP asked me to come in and create a set of storytelling guidelines to help them navigate a pivotal point in their fundraising.

As UN WFP moved into larger scale individual giving activity they found that their existing plans for storytelling and audience engagement needed reviewing, with a lens that focused on contributor led storytelling. Working in collaboration we created a set of practical guidelines for all staff to help them in the day to day business of creating effective, but also ethical, individual giving fundraising materials.