New Findings On How Communications Fast-Tracks Policy Change

The boldest funders are willing to use their brands, their power and their political capital in support of the issues they believe in. From polling to paid media buys to documentary funding and journalism grantmaking, national, regional and community foundations are increasingly using strategic communications to raise awareness of issues and to change policy outcomes.

website_cover Hershey Cause Communications partnered with The California Endowment to identify how strategic communications has recently driven policy change—as illustrated through nine case studies—to inspire funders to apply innovative strategic communications to their work. Over the past year, we’ve researched examples of real policy outcomes for social issues that had largely been overlooked. Through the research, we’ve identified 10 elements of success critical to driving change through communications.

We are partnering with Media Impact Funders to share these findings, which they previewed earlier this week at the Media Impact Festival in Washington, D.C., through the release of our first case study, spotlighting “The Invisible War.” This documentary on underreported sexual assault in the military used a policymaker education campaign that helped lead to Department of Defense policy change and more than 30 Congressional legislative reforms.

Read more at MediaImpactFunders.org/FastTrack.