“Our website feels outdated.”
“Our messaging feels stale.”
“We’ve changed, and our brand hasn’t caught up.”

At first, those observations can sound like straightforward communications or design challenges. But as you start unpacking what’s behind those concerns, a bigger strategic question emerges:

Is the issue how your organization is showing up, or has your organization itself evolved?

In other words: Do you need a refresh…or a full rebrand?

It’s a question we hear from organizations navigating growth, leadership transitions, shifting political landscapes, or evolving audiences.

And while “refresh” and “rebrand” are often used interchangeably, they address very different challenges and require very different levels of strategy, investment, and organizational readiness.

Tool Offering:  “To Rebrand or to Refresh” Decision Tree

If your organization is debating a website redesign, a messaging update, or a full rebrand, this tool can help you clarify the problem you’re actually trying to solve.

What’s a Refresh

A refresh is an evolution.

Your core identity remains fundamentally accurate and trusted, but the way your organization presents itself may need modernization, greater clarity, or more consistency.

A refresh is often appropriate when:

• Your mission and strategy still hold true
• Audiences already understand and trust your organization
• The challenge is primarily aesthetic or messaging-related
• Internal alignment already exists

A refresh might include:

• Updating visual identity elements like colors, typography, imagery, or layouts
• Refining tone and voice
• Polishing messaging
• Improving website UX and content
• Updating collateral and communications materials

In other words: the foundation is sound. The expression just needs work.

What’s a Rebrand

A rebrand is a transformation.

It becomes necessary when your organization has fundamentally changed—or when the way people understand it no longer serves your goals.

A rebrand is often appropriate when:

• Your mission, strategy, or audiences have shifted
• External confusion is persistent
• You’re entering a new phase of work
• You need to reposition in a changing landscape

A rebrand may involve:

• Revisiting brand strategy and positioning
• Renaming or developing a new tagline
• Creating a new visual identity
• Developing new messaging architecture
• Reworking your website and communications ecosystem
• Aligning staff, leadership, and partners internally

In other words, a brand is a promise. If the promise has changed, the brand’s gotta change, too.

What’s Really Driving the Conversation?

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is assuming every branding challenge requires a new logo or assuming a visual refresh alone will solve deeper strategic problems.

That’s why we created this decision tree to help you diagnose the root issue before jumping into design work.

The process starts by identifying the underlying pain point:

• “Our visuals feel outdated.”  → This often points to aesthetic fatigue, not necessarily a broken brand.
• “We’ve changed who we are or what we do.” → That may signal the need for a rebrand rooted in organizational transformation.
• “We’re not reaching or resonating with audiences.”  → This could be a positioning issue, but the key question is whether the problem is clarity or identity.
• “There’s confusion or misalignment internally.”  → This usually signals a deeper strategy challenge that visuals alone won’t solve.

Before You Redesign Anything, Ask These 3 Questions

Here are a few of the diagnostic questions we encourage organizations to explore:

1. Has the organization fundamentally changed?

• Have your mission, strategy, or key programs shifted?
• Are you serving different audiences or geographies?
• Have you merged, restructured, or entered a new phase of work?

If yes → you may be looking at a rebrand.

2. Is there a positioning problem?

• Do audiences understand what you do?
• Are you consistently mischaracterized or overlooked?
• Is your messaging motivating action?

If the issue is how you say it → a refresh may help.

If the issue is what you stand for → that points toward rebranding.

3. Is there internal misalignment?

• Are different teams telling different stories?
• Is there disagreement around organizational identity or positioning?
• Have staffing changes created gaps in consistency?

If yes → starting with a brand strategy reset may be more important than jumping straight into visual identity work.

A Rebrand Requires Readiness, Not Just Desire

Even when organizations clearly need a rebrand, timing matters.

A successful rebrand requires:

• Leadership alignment
• Budget for strategy, design, and rollout
• Change management capacity
• Internal buy-in

Without those pieces in place, a phased approach may be more effective:

• Start with narrative alignment
• Clarify messaging
• Refresh communications systems
• Build toward a larger rebrand over time

A refresh and a rebrand solve different problems. This decision tree is designed to help you identify which challenge you’re actually facing—and choose the right path forward.

Thinking through a refresh or rebrand? At LightBox, we help organizations clarify their strategy, sharpen messaging, strengthen their brand, and build communications that move people to action. Whether you need a focused refresh, a full strategic rebrand, or support tackling another challenge, we’d love to help. Get in touch. 

Want media coverage of your event? We hear this request all the time from clients—so we thought, let’s make a tipsheet and share it here.

This simple, practical Media Alerts tipsheet will help you get journalists to show up when and where they need to be to cover your story. 

If you’re planning a press conference, rally, protest, town hall, or community event, a media alert is one of the most useful tools you can deploy.

A media alert is decidedly NOT a press release. It’s faster, tighter, and built for one thing: helping reporters quickly decide, Is this worth covering?

If a journalist can open your alert and immediately see the who, what, when, where, and why, you’re already ahead of most of what’s landing in their inbox.

A strong media alert won’t guarantee coverage, but it does make it much easier for a reporter to say yes.

In a hurry? Make sure your media alert includes these essentials:

• Keep your media alert to ONE page
• Send it 2–3 days ahead and follow up the morning of
• Include clear, easy-to-find media contact information
• Highlight any key spokespeople, strong visuals, and/or moments of action

For more guidance, check out the full tipsheet below.

MEDIA ALERTS 

A Quick-Action Tool for Advocacy & Organizing

A media alert is a short, punchy invitation that tells journalists the who, what, when, where, and why of an upcoming event or press opportunity. Think of it as a calendar notice or event pitch—not a full press release.

When to Use a Media Alert

• Inviting Media to Attend or Cover:
  • Press conferences
  • Rallies, protests, or public demonstrations
  • Community events or town halls
  • Direct actions or civil disobedience
  • Cultural or commemorative events tied to a campaign
• Situations Requiring Visual Coverage:
  • If the event will be visually compelling (marches, signs, art, performance), media alerts help attract photojournalists and videographers.
• Short-Notice Events:
  • For rapid response or breaking news moments, when timing is tight and you need to get the word out fast.

What Media Alerts are Good For

• Securing On-Site Media Coverage: They help get reporters, photographers, and camera crews to show up in person.
• Getting Listed in Community or Political Calendars: Many outlets track events via alerts.
• Providing Essential Event Logistics: Ensures media know where to go, who to ask for, and what time to show up.
• Generating Pre-Event Interest: Some reporters may reach out in advance for interviews or background.

What Media Alerts are NOT

• They are NOT press releases. Media alerts are not for storytelling or providing full context—just the essentials to entice coverage.
• They are NOT post-event recaps. Use a press release or statement for summarizing what happened afterward.

Bonus Tips

• Send 2-3 days ahead of the event, then follow up the morning of.
• Keep it to 1 page.
  • Start with this handy template (with thanks to National Women’s Law Center). 
  • Peep this sample media alert (with thanks to the Afterschool Alliance). 
• Include contact information for your organization’s media relations point of contact or event contact.
• Highlight key spokespeople and noteworthy visuals that will be available.
• If it’s a protest or direct action, consider noting photo ops or moments of peak action.
• Submit it to the local bureau of the Associated Press, all relevant AP Daybooks,  assignment desk or assignment editors at local TV and radio stations, and print reporters covering your issues. 

Bottom Line

A media alert is your tool to get press in the room—or on the street—when it matters most. Use it to drive visibility and amplify your message at the moment of action.

Want a copy you can save or share? Download our Media Alerts Tipsheet.

This past school year, California reached a major milestone: free Pre-K for all 4-year-olds. Built on more than a decade of expanding what the state calls transitional kindergarten, the effort created the largest universal preschool program in the country.

For tens of thousands of families who previously had few affordable options, the promise of free, high-quality Pre-K suddenly became real. But it may not be the best option for all families and four-year-olds, who still have other affordable and appropriate early learning opportunities.

New options came with a basic question from parents: Where do I even start?

We partnered with the Alameda County Office of Education and the Alameda County Early Childhood Education Planning Council to help close the gap between availability and access and make it easier for families to enroll.

The Challenge

County Offices of Education are structured to communicate with districts, not families. Their websites naturally reflect that structure.

Families, meanwhile, are searching for answers about age, eligibility, cost, and location.

California’s early learning system is also built on a mixed-delivery model. Pre-K programs are offered through school districts, child care centers, family child care homes, Head Start programs, and other providers.

This approach expands access and gives families more choices. But it also means there is no single place for families to start.

Families often encounter a maze of websites, program names, and unfamiliar terminology. Many assume Transitional Kindergarten is their only option. Others worry that if they choose a different program, their child might lose a spot in kindergarten later.

In reality, families have more options than ever. But the system lacked a clear, family-friendly way to explain those choices.

Strategy Sprints: Clarifying the Real Goal

We began by bringing county leaders and early childhood partners together for focused strategy sprints.

At first glance, the goal seemed straightforward. Build a website about Pre-K options.

But as we worked through audience needs and system realities, it became clear we were dealing with something else.

We needed to help families navigate a mixed-delivery system that was never designed with a single front door.

Through surveys of more than 180 providers and 350 families, the message was clear. Families needed:

• One place to see their options
• Plain language without acronyms
• Multiple languages
• Clear next steps

Clarity became the strategy.

Designing for Families First

At LightBox, we often ask clients to consider what their communications are organized around.

For Alameda County, the question was simple. Are we organizing around internal structure, or around audience experience?

Shifting that frame changed everything.

Rather than embedding content inside an existing government website, we helped launch a standalone, family-facing resource: AlamedaCountyPreK.org

We built the site around how families actually browse.

Mobile-first design was essential. In fact, 75 percent of early visitors accessed the site on a phone.

Navigation also needed to reflect family questions rather than agency categories.

We wanted parents to understand the different types of programs available, think through what matters most for their family, and identify the questions they should ask when exploring providers.

Throughout the site, we kept language intentionally plain. We avoided jargon and insider terminology and focused on information families could use right away.

The result is a clear entry point into a complex system.

Early Results: Families Are Finding the Door

Even the most thoughtfully designed site can’t help families if they don’t know it exists.

As part of the broader outreach effort, the County supported the launch with paid promotion and community outreach. This included:

• Paid social and digital ads
• Streaming placements
• Mall advertising
• Bus ads across the county
• Outreach through local networks and trusted partners

Community-based organizations and early learning providers also helped spread the word. They shared the site with families who were already asking questions about preschool options.

Early traction shows strong momentum:

• 11,000+ unique visitors in the first six months
• Approximately 400,000 digital impressions per month
• Approximately 140,000 impressions from bus and digital placements
• 50 percent of traffic driven by social media
• More than 41 percent of visits from direct traffic, suggesting strong partner and offline visibility

The website has also been featured as a statewide example for helping families explore care and early learning options.

Reminding Parents: You Got This!

Choosing a Pre-K program is a big decision for families–and while a website can’t make that decision for them, it can help families understand their options, clarify their priorities, and take the next step with confidence.

By shifting from institutional language to family-first design, Alameda County created a clearer entry point into a complex system.

Families and children deserve to understand all their options so they can pick the best location, environment, and learning style for their family. Parents know what’s best for their kids, but they can need a confidence boost when having to choose between many–maybe unfamiliar–options. By bringing these various systems together on one site, families can weigh pros and cons and take their next steps with confidence. 

Being a parent is hard! With the support of the ACOE and ACECEPC, we hope we have made at least one parenting challenge a little easier.

Is your organization ready to make your programs easier to find, understand, and use? Get in touch: info@lightboxcollaborative.com

The administration’s attacks on nonprofits and “DEI” have led our sector to seriously reflect on—and reckon with—how we operate and how we find creative ways to continue the work. 

We’re seeing funders shift money, resources, and energy away from public relations, particularly media engagement, because it feels risky to draw attention to organizations serving marginalized communities during this moment.

Protection for our organizations is paramount. At the same time, the push toward silence and invisibility is exactly what opponents want. We are beyond a tipping point. 

This moment demands not less investment in communications, but deeper, more strategic investment in narrative power building.

The Limits of Campaign-Based Communications

For most nonprofits, communications has long been funded as part of a campaign—a policy push, research project, or program deliverable. Because general operating support is scarce, communications must be justified through finite, campaign-specific outcomes.

When communications is framed this way, it becomes narrowly focused and time-bound. The campaign ends. The grant ends. The narrative thread disappears. This framework undermines consistency, underutilizes strategic communications’ power, and stunts its potential.

Strategic communications goals should support an organization’s overall strategy. That means weaving communications into all aspects of the organization, not treating it as a party trick to pull out when attention is needed. 

Communications staff, often departments of one, are bombarded with last-minute requests while foundational work like brand guides, evergreen talking points, and audience strategy gets pushed aside.

Narrative Power Is Not Messaging

As interest in narrative shift has grown, the word “narrative” has increasingly been used interchangeably with “message.” They are not the same. 

Narrative is a collection of related stories articulated and refined over time to represent a central belief. 

Messages are the individual stories and ideas that build that narrative. At LightBox Collaborative, this is often described as a mosaic: messages are the tiles; narrative is the full picture.

Or think of it as a song. Narrative is the drumbeat, the steady rhythm that holds everything together. Messages are the melody, instruments, and vocals. They come in and out, but the drum stays steady. Too often, organizations are singing runs and playing trumpets without keeping the beat.

Narrative shift is a long game that requires consistency. 

When communications is funded through short-term campaigns, temporary positions, or external consultants without internal capacity, narrative power building becomes nearly impossible. Institutional memory disappears. Relationships must be rebuilt. Systems are recreated from scratch.

Playing Offense Instead of Feeding the Outrage Machine

The right has invested in narrative and technical infrastructure for decades. They are organized, persistent, and well-funded. They thrive on fear-based tropes and outrage cycles designed to distract and exhaust.

Scrambling to respond to every provocation is antithetical to narrative power building. The opposition thrives on our fury. 

The modern information ecosystem is designed for distraction, chaos, and outrage—but organizations do not have to participate on those terms.

Narrative power asks us to affirm our vision for the just world we want on our own terms. To reinforce values within our communities so they ripple outward. To provide aspirational stories people can believe in—and places to belong.

Rethinking PR as Strategy, Not a Metric

Press hits and social stats became a popular metric because they are tangible and easy to measure. But media attention is a poor proxy for impact when disconnected from strategy.

Now is not the time to divest from communications. It is time to redefine it. 

Media is more than legacy outlets. Trusted information flows through independent journalists, local and ethnic media, podcasts, newsletters, and content creators embedded in community.

Media relations today means building long-term relationships with ethical journalists and creators, not outsourcing those relationships to large firms and losing them when contracts end. It means prioritizing the right audiences, not just the biggest platforms.

What This Moment Requires

We truly have culture and creativity (and human decency) on our side, yet our comms professionals can’t tap into it when they are overworked, often misunderstood, and tasked primarily with tactics. 

Our narrative infrastructure needs attention, resources, and commitment. Investing in media relations, as part of a broader narrative strategy, is critical to our movements’ power building.

Funders must support communications as strategy, not just tactics. 

Organizations need time to plan, to define audiences, to develop narrative, and to build relationships that outlast campaigns.

We want to win and we need to win. It is beyond time. Let’s go.

Janna A. Zinzi (aka jaz) is a strategist and storyteller uplifting cultural changemakers in the arts and social justice. With over 20 years of experience, she’s provided media strategy, spokesperson training, and capacity building to thousands of nonprofit leaders. Janna co-founded WanderWomxn, a travel agency connecting women and gender expansive people of color with cultural, sustainable adventures. She’s also a travel journalist with bylines in Conde Nast Traveler, Essence, AFAR, and more. A lifelong student of AfroDiasporic dance, Janna is based in New Orleans.ler, Essence, AFAR, and more. A lifelong student of AfroDiasporic dance, Janna is based in New Orleans.

Read time: 4 min

I’ve always believed the future of nonprofit communications is being shaped not just by today’s leaders, but by the students getting ready to join the work. So when Professor (and LightBox collaborator) Erin Malone invited me to speak with her Communications in Public Service class at The City University of New York for an AMA-style conversation, I was thrilled.

The students went straight to the hard stuff:

How do we break through the noise?
How do we shift narratives shaped by corporate power?

Their questions gave me a pretty clear insight into how the next generation views the field and what they’re looking for.

Here’s what stood out.

1. Messaging is shifting from “telling” to “listening.”

I shared something I tell clients all the time: messages fall flat when they’re built around what an organization wants to say instead of what audiences actually care about.

The students didn’t even blink. They were already there.

They instinctively think about communication as a relationship, not a broadcast.
And that perspective sets the table for a more empathetic, more effective era of nonprofit messaging.

2. Information overload is reshaping how we reach people.

When one student asked how nonprofits can break through nonstop media noise, I kept it simple:

“Go where they are. Don’t expect people to come find you.”

In other words: meet your audience in their daily habits, not yours.

My answer seemed to land with them, perhaps because it’s exactly how they engage with information. And if that’s how they navigate the world, it’s a safe bet your future supporters do, too.

3. Story + data isn’t a ‘nice to have.’ It’s the baseline.

These students didn’t need any convincing that data only works when it’s wrapped in story.

For them, story-driven, values-forward communication isn’t a cutting-edge strategy; it’s just common sense. That’s where they see field headed: toward messages that connect emotionally first and back it up with facts second.

4. Narrative change takes practice…and time.

One student asked how to counter powerful narratives pushed by corporate interests. I didn’t sugarcoat it:

“Narrative change is generational. Even some of the ‘fast’ wins took 15 years.”

That answer sparked curiosity. They wanted to understand the long game: how movements stay aligned, how organizations stay motivated, and what progress actually looks like over time.

5. Goal clarity is the underrated driver of strong strategy.

I shared a moment that plays out in almost every planning process I’ve ever led: leaders insisting, “We’re all aligned,” when… they’re absolutely not.

The students were interested to hear how often this happens and how much work it takes to fix it.

They’re walking into the field with their eyes open to something many of us learned the hard way: unclear goals create busywork, burnout, and confusion.

And they’re eager to do it differently.

6. This generation wants real tools, not just theories

If one theme ran throughout our conversation, it was this: these students want concrete, practical skills.

They asked about things like how to get local media to actually pay attention, how to craft an ask decision-makers won’t dodge, how to listen across differences, how to navigate power and alignment inside organizations.

They weren’t looking for abstractions; they wanted the messy parts, the human parts, the strategic parts.

Why I show up to conversations like this

For me, this was a chance to hear what future practitioners are curious about, see where their instincts already align with trends shaping our field, and share some hard-earned lessons from decades of doing this work.

Most of all, it was a reminder that this field keeps evolving, and the next generation is already pushing it in smart, thoughtful directions.

Huge thanks to Professor Malone and the CUNY students for bringing their candor, depth, and curiosity. The future of nonprofit communications looks bright.

Holly Minch is a strategist, facilitator, and co-founder of LightBox Collaborative. If you would like Holly or another LightBox collaborator to join your class, organization, or learning space, we would love to help you hold your good ideas up to the light. Get in touch: holly@lightboxcollaborative.com

We communicators love creating content. We craft it, polish it, send it out into the world…and then? We know our work is making a difference, but are the stories we’re telling seeding the conditions for the change we seek? We won’t really know unless we put our ear to the ground and listen. 

Listening is the most underrated superpower in the narrative strategist’s toolbox.

It’s also the most underdeveloped skill in our sector. Admittedly, I got into this work because I’m a natural talker with a lot to say. I believed that if I could just get other people to listen to my excellent points backed by data and logic, I could convince them to join my cause or change their behavior. This is what the Center for Artistic Activism calls magical thinking, which is “characterized by lack of knowledge, or even concern, of the relationship between cause and effect.” 

Magical thinking is not a strategy

Narrative Listening is the antidote to magical thinking. It means paying attention to real-world signals that show whether your narrative intervention is gaining traction and moving in the right direction. It sounds pretty straightforward, so why aren’t more social justice movement organizations doing it? 

Social change work is complex, non-linear, and long term and it isn’t always possible to fully trace the effects of a single campaign. We have to keep track of our progress over time, which takes patience, effort, collaboration, and resources. Time and resource constraints are real. Especially right now. So, what’s a narrative strategist to do? 

Think like a tiny scientist

The concept of tiny experiments is an awesome way to think about tracking narrative change. It replaces linear goal-setting with small, time-bound actions to foster curiosity and continuous learning. The core idea is to conduct low-stakes experiments that make uncertainty exciting instead of scary. (By the way, we can conduct tiny experiments for any aspect of our lives, including reducing stress and being happier.) The cool thing is, the more tiny experiments we conduct, the better we will get at it. 

There is one critical catch: a genuine commitment to measurement and assessment means we have to prepare to be wrong. We have to work as if learning, experimentation, and curiosity are just as important as outcomes. This might sound like a wild idea, but it’s been proven over and over again that when we increase our mistake tolerance, we get better results. 

GPS or rearview mirror?

The narrative change cycle isn’t about perfection; it’s about iteration. It’s about looking in the review mirror to see where you’ve been, then plugging the address of where you want to go into the GPS. 

Formative listening is the GPS in the narrative change cycle. It helps you form a hypothesis, develop a strategy, and plan your next narrative interventions.

Evaluative listening is the rearview mirror. It’s where you assess whether your strategies and tactics took you where you expected to go, what you learned, and how to recalibrate for the road ahead.

The more you stay curious and treat communications like an experiment, the more motivated you are to get creative and try new things. The key is making sure you’re tracking what you’re learning with every turn around the cycle. 

Four Ways to Measure Narrative Traction

When you start listening for narrative traction, it helps to have a dashboard. Here’s the one I use, inspired by the Four-Part Framework for Measuring Narrative Change. This is one useful way to tell where you’re gaining ground and where you might be spinning your wheels. The key is to find a framework that works for you, start tiny, stay curious, and remember that the dots you connect today, no matter how small, can lead you toward shifting the narratives that change beliefs, behaviors, culture, and institutions. 

Ride: Message & Messenger

Determine how you will track if your messages and stories are clear, memorable, and being repeated; if the right people are carrying it forward; and if it’s generating the emotional spark necessary to connect deeply with your intended audience. 

Road: Reach

What indicators will you use to determine if you’re reaching the right people and if your stories are being amplified by key audiences, influencers, and partners? Are you getting new media attention? Are people snapping, sharing, tagging, or otherwise signaling they saw it on social media?

Riders: Audiences

Likes by the already converted don’t change the story. How will you know if key audiences’ perspectives are shifting? Are they talking about the issue differently? Are they following through with actions (sign-ups, donations, turnout)?

Rules of the Road: Culture & Structures

This is the big one. Changing the rules takes patience and perseverance, which is why tracking progress is critical. How will you know if your narrative is showing up in public discourse? Are media outlets adopting your frames? Is the opposition arguing on your terrain? Are art and culture echoing your ideas?

Backlash isn’t failure–it’s a sign that your work is making an impact.

Start Where You Are

Chances are, you’re already doing narrative listening. With this checklist, you can determine where you’re already tuned in and where you need to turn up the volume. Only focus on what you can realistically manage. It’s better to track something than to track nothing because you’re overwhelmed.

Listening won’t just tell you whether your narrative is landing, it will show you how the world is changing because of it. And that’s the whole point: to move from talking about change to actually listening to it happening.

Anna Grace, Senior Strategist at LightBox Collaborative, recommends approaching the road to narrative change by listening, experimenting, and learning from the signals along the way.

Updated September 30, 2025

Since we published the below, new developments affecting the nonprofit sector have come fast and furious. We’re offering some updated thoughts to help you keep up.

After the horrifying assassination of Charlie Kirk, right-wing reactionaries took advantage of the public’s sympathy to attack political targets they have been trying to undermine for years. This has taken the form of escalated attacks on the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, including an Executive Order on antifa, a National Security Memo on domestic terrorism, Federal Communications Commission attacks on free speech, and more. In short, it’s been a lot.

Though the Executive Orders targeting nonprofits are definitely stress-inducing, it’s important to keep in mind that the order creates no new law, no new authorities. Nothing can be done now that couldn’t have been done before this memorandum was issued. 

Organizational Considerations: 

In light of these escalating attacks on the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, many organizations are considering whether or not to speak out against these abuses of power. Executives are questioning whether to go on the record for comment; boards are debating whether to sign on to statements (like this Open Letter Rejecting Presidential Attacks on Nonprofit Organizations, released this week, and this Statement on Political Violence and the Fundamental Freedom of Speech, from over 180 philanthropies).  

The guiding questions LightBox Collaborative are offering to clients who are wrestling with this conversation are these:

What is an organization’s right role in the movement ecosystem? What are we for? What’s our purpose in the larger space, and how can we live into that role and purpose? 

Each organization needs to understand its role, and assess the specific risks to its operational, legal, financial, digital, and physical security to make well-informed decisions.

Some resources to inform those choices: 

• Protect Democracy offers excellent resources for nonprofit organizations who are facing attacks and investigations. 

• Progressive Safety Alliance has published updated recommendations.

• Vision Change Win offers a Risk Assessment Toolkit. 

• Activist Checklists offers excellent tools on digital and physical security.  

• Democracy Protection Network can offer tailored solutions for organizations and individuals working across the ideological spectrum to protect and strengthen American democracy.

Overall, our recommendation remains the same: Do not obey in advance.

Especially for advocacy organizations, anticipatory silence does not serve us, our mission, or our people. In fact, failure to speak out when we see our government being weaponized against our people may erode the trust we’ve worked so hard to build. 

Message Guidance: 

Call it what it is: An abuse of power. When any administration weaponizes the government to crack down on anyone who challenges them, that’s a danger not only to organizations working to serve their communities, but also to everyday Americans holding their leaders accountable.  

Invite everyone in. These abuses of power are of grave concern across the political spectrum, for anyone worried about the harmful precedents set by an out-of-control executive. The norms that are changing now can do damage for a long time to come.   

Make it human. Emphasize the people who are harmed: the millions of Americans who rely on nonprofits in their communities for food, healthcare, education, and much more. 

Make it local. These are not Washington DC abstractions; these are attacks on the local nonprofits that serve our own communities. Talk about the local impacts in your home communities, especially when communicating with elected officials.  

*The above guidance is offered with deep gratitude to Americans Against Government Censorship and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (also offering further links to guidance on messaging around troop deployments in our cities), and to those who informed their recommendations. 

Originally posted June 5, 2025

If you’ve been feeling the pressure lately, you’re not alone.

Over the past several months, our sector has been navigating a wave of legislative threats and funding cuts. While some federal proposals have fortunately been blocked or delayed, the underlying agenda remains—and these high-stakes moments are becoming more frequent and increasingly complex.

Earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s DOGE Subcommittee staged a hearing to discredit and defund nonprofits under the guise of rooting out “radical agendas.” And now more than 200 immigrant rights nonprofits have been swept into baseless investigations designed to intimidate and distract.

It’s the latest attempt to discredit and defund nonprofits by framing them as part of a so-called “radical” agenda.

This kind of messaging isn’t just inflammatory—it’s strategic. It’s designed to erode public trust and make it harder for all of us to do our work.

In moments like these—when threats escalate, headlines swirl, and questions come from every direction—having a strong communications strategy is essential.

Here’s what we’ve been sharing with our clients who are navigating tough decisions under pressure: 

Start Here: LightBox Tools 

• Is this a Crisis? How to Decide and Respond
  Not every headline requires a statement. This guide helps you assess the situation and choose your next step.

• Should We Make A Statement?
  A helpful checklist to guide your team through the decision-making process—with clarity, not chaos.

• First Question in Crisis Communications
  When the pressure’s on, this foundational question can help ground your response in purpose.

• Less Stress, More Strategy
  A curated set of tips and tools to help you amplify frontline voices, avoid reactive traps, and stay mission-focused.

In Case You Need More

Searching for context or message guidance? We’re also keeping tabs on what others in the field are sharing:

• The latest from the National Council of Nonprofits: Attacks on Freedom of Speech: What Nonprofits Need to Know

• This helpful primer from Protect Democracy places these attacks on civil society in the context of the Trump Administration’s attempts toward authoritarianism. It offers helpful tips for countering them as such. 

• ASO Communications offers helpful messaging to counter the MAGA Regime’s Efforts to Silence Those who Serve Our Communities. 

We’ll keep updating our guidance as this landscape continues to shift.

In the meantime, we hope these tools help you feel a little steadier for whatever may arise.

I avoided calling myself a narrative strategist for years.

I’ve been doing this work since the 1900s. No, really. For nearly three decades, I’ve worked at the intersection of communications, movement building, and strategy. And yet, for much of that time, I hesitated to think of myself as a “narrative strategist.”

Why? Because I wasn’t sure I had the right credentials. I don’t have a master’s degree. I wasn’t trained in neuroscience or linguistics. I didn’t learn narrative in a classroom.

I don’t have a master’s degree, but I’ve had to master a lot on the fly.

I learned by doing. I’ve spent years steeped in story and strategy, working alongside organizers, culture-makers, and communicators who know how powerful narrative can be. Still, I looked around at how the field was evolving and thought, maybe I’m not “qualified” to call myself a narrative strategist.

But I’ve come to see that hesitation for what it was: internalized gatekeeping. And I’m calling it out.

Reminder: the “experts” don’t own narrative.

Over the past decade, I’ve watched the rise of what I now think of as the narrative industrial complex. It’s a world where foundations, institutions, and consultants have professionalized the concept of narrative into a field that can feel highly academic, jargon-heavy, and inaccessible.

All of this can overcomplicate something that is, at its core, deeply human.

Narrative is a human experience, not an academic exercise.

If you’ve ever felt like narrative strategy was something only the “experts” could do, you’re not alone. But that idea is part of the problem.

Narrative is intuitive, human, and strategic.

Here’s the truth: you already know how to “do” narrative.

We all do. It’s how we make meaning. It’s how we understand ourselves and our communities. It’s how we decide what is right, what is fair, what is possible.

We are swimming in narrative all the time. Like a fish in water, we may not always be conscious of it, but it shapes everything around us. Our personal beliefs. Our policy landscapes. Our culture. Our sense of what’s normal or acceptable.

You don’t need a degree to recognize that. You need awareness, intention, and community. And maybe a little permission to trust your gut.

The NOTION of narrative is overhyped, but the WORK of narrative is vital.

Let’s be clear. Narrative is not a buzzword. It is not a brand exercise. It is the terrain we are navigating as we work to build a more just world.

Narratives don’t simply exist. They are made. Crafted. Repeated. Reinforced. Spread through stories, systems, culture, and policy.

Dominant narratives uphold dominant power structures. They shape what people believe is normal or inevitable, and they justify injustice with a convincing story.

So if we are trying to change the world, we must also change the story.

Narrative is not neutral. It is a terrain of power.

Contesting for narrative is about contesting for meaning, for vision, for belonging. If we don’t engage, we leave that terrain in the hands of those who are already using it to maintain the status quo.

Narrative strategy belongs to all of us who are working to shift power and build toward justice.

Trust your lived experience. 

If you’ve hesitated to call yourself a narrative strategist because you felt like you weren’t trained enough, academic enough, or theoretical enough, I want to tell you what I wish someone had told me earlier:

You are already doing this work.

Your lived experience matters. Your instincts matter. Your voice matters.

Start where you are.

We don’t need to wait for an invitation to shape the story. We’ve always been part of it. Let’s claim that. Let’s build narrative power grounded in humanity, sharpened through practice, and focused on transformation.

And if you’re looking for a straightforward, intuitive place to begin, try our simple tool to help you get beyond the buzzwords and develop a greater understanding of the narratives you’re navigating in your own work. 

Because the work of narrative change is not just important. It’s essential.

Holly Minch, Founding Partner at LightBox Collaborative, thinks the work of shaping narrative could use more real talk. If you’re already doing narrative work (and you probably are), let’s name it, strengthen it, and build real power. Get in touch: holly@lightboxcollaborative.com

The current climate for justice-rooted communicators is…challenging. 

Funding is being pulled.

 Boards are retreating.

Websites are being scrubbed of words like diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In a moment when “DEI” is treated as a dog whistle, communicators can feel exhausted and unsure about how to move forward.

But here’s the flip side: clear, actionable strategies will keep your values front and center without ceding the narrative. 

Backlash isn’t failure–it’s a sign that your work is making an impact.

3 Ways to Hold Your Ground

1. Don’t Apologize for Your Values.
Self-censorship won’t protect you. Ground your communications in your mission and demonstrate how racial justice leads to better outcomes for everyone.

2. Keep the Long Game in Focus.
Changing the narrative takes time. Every statement you make is a chance to affirm your worldview and plant seeds for the future you want to build.

3. Recognize Backlash for What It Is.
From emancipation to civil rights to marriage equality, every major advance has faced fierce resistance. Today’s anti-DEI attacks are part of that same pattern, driven by entrenched forces. The ground is shifting because your work is working.

Put Your Values to Work

1. Lead with Values, Not Jargon.
“DEI” has become a lightning rod. Research shows that while many are skeptical of the acronym, most people support the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion when clearly named. Use language rooted in fairness, opportunity, and belonging instead of insider shorthand.

2. Flip the Script on Dog Whistles.
Opponents use coded phrases to stoke fear and division. To help you spot these and respond with clarity and courage, here’s a tool we’re excited to share: Dog Whistle Decoder: From Coded Attacks to Constructive Responses. 

This tipsheet will help you recognize dog whistle phrases, decode the fears they signal, and craft values-based responses that reclaim the narrative and build support.

3. Frame Your Work as Forward Motion.
Don’t just defend; inspire. Speak about the world you’re building, not just the one you’re protecting. Equity is strength. Inclusion is common sense. Justice is non-negotiable.

This is the Moment for Brave Messaging 

Though the fear is real, so is the support. Data shows Americans back the substance of equity work more than the backlash implies. Companies like Costco leaned into these values and earned loyalty. Others who self-censored lost both money and trust.

If you’re feeling beleaguered, remember: your voice matters. Lead with values, stay authentic, and refuse to shrink from this vital work. 

LightBox Collaborative’s Founding Partner Holly Minch is turning anti-DEI noise into opportunities to lead with justice. Want to talk about how this would work for your organization? Reach out: holly@lightboxcollaborative.com

There are so few people I can really talk to about the state of the world right now. People I care about are often plugged into the outrage machine—endlessly watching, worrying, and venting—but not doing much to move forward. 

And in too many communications circles, the conversation is stuck on tactics and testing and asking who can be “the Rogan of the left,” with too little focus on the world we want to build and the campaigns, actions, and policies that could get us closer to that vision.

We Need Something to Reach For

If we’re going to get through this tough time, we need something to reach for—something to keep walking toward.

That’s why I’m so proud to be part of Liberation Stories, the new anthology created by RadComms, the community of movement communicators and organizers committed to building narrative power and shifting culture to advance social justice. 

The chapter I co-authored with Tigress Osborn and Pamela Mejia shares the story of how we used a policy win in New York City to change the conversation about body size and reinforce narratives that make way for fat liberation.

This book is a memoir and a textbook, a fairy tale and a documentary. 

It shows a path to building narrative power within and among communities and movements so we can move toward a better future for us all.

Building Power Against the Odds

Liberation Stories is a reminder that we can dream, even when times are tough, and that what we can dream, we can win.

If you, like me, are looking for inspiration and conversation, join us on the book tour! Meet and talk to the editors and authors, and hear what they have learned about building power against the odds. Every time I listen to co-editors Shanelle Matthews and Marzena Zukowska, I learn something new and just feel better!

Come to a Tour Stop Near You

Over the next few weeks, the tour is making its Southern swing through New Orleans, Durham, Miami, and Houston. I especially want folks near Durham and Miami to come out and meet Tigress Osborn, who will blow your mind with her astute analysis and smart strategies

Then the tour heads West, where you can chat with me and my other co-author, Pamela Mejia, in Oakland on July 29. Pamela is not only one of the smartest people I know, but she is also one of the funniest. Don’t miss her! 

Nothing feels better right now than being with people who want to radically reshape this world and have ideas for how we can do it together. 

So get the book, join an event, and let’s get to writing some new Liberation Stories for the next edition!

Amanda Cooper is a Senior Partner at LightBox Collaborative, where she helps teams tap into narrative power, spark shared vision, and craft stories that create change. Curious to explore ideas together? She’d love to hear from you.