As I was looking through the potential Fellowship placements with AIF, there was one which immediately stood out to me: Communications Coordinator at Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya. I have previously worked in communications for other non-profits; however, nothing like the duration of time, workload, or size of KSV. As someone who studied transcultural studies in university, I was thrilled to put my academic and prior professional work into practice when I matched with Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya. This was the first time I had the opportunity to see how communications can be used for social good, and the positive impact it has on the non-profit as a whole.
The first step to creating effective and sustainable communications strategy was to meet with the respective head of the performing arts and academic departments and the various members of the fundraising team to see what messaging they wanted communicated across our social media platforms, specifically Instagram. For example, the head of KSV’s child sponsorship program wants to highlight the stories of sponsors and their impact on the kids at the school, while one of the founders of the school wants to focus more on high quality performing arts videos to emphasize what makes KSV different from other organizations. Once this information was compiled, my coworker and I began to work on different video ideas to create clear and concise messaging. One of the biggest obstacles we ran into early on is the fact that the communications team has always been made up of volunteers, meaning there are long periods where no one is running the social media, there is little consistency in social media strategy, and long-term plans have not been developed or implemented. This meant that we were basically starting from scratch. However, this also offered immense flexibility in the work that we do, which we have been able to take advantage of.
One of the most important aspects of communications for social good is the idea of storytelling or translating data and statistics into experiences which people can connect to on a personal level (Mukherji). Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya provides education, residency, and meals for over 150 students, and supports around 50 more in their pursuit of higher education (PUC and undergrad). Without understanding what this actually means to the students it is hard to conceptualize the actual impact of this work. This is where we came up with the idea of doing video profiles of various students, volunteers, staff, and alumni. This way people on social media, our follows and beyond, can see the way KSV has impacted the life of various groups of people. One aspect of these interviews we are cautious about is the exploitation of the individuals we are interviewing. Many KSV students come from socially or economically disenfranchised backgrounds, including broken families. While KSV has helped these students immensely, it does not mean their life stories are the school’s to use to garner sympathy or finances. Because of this, the interview questions we ask focus more on the kid and their interests, what they enjoy about KSV, and their day-to-day life at the school. If they feel inclined to share their stories then they are more than welcome to, but we do not want to pry personal details in a detached and indifferent manner.
The other key aspect of our social media strategy is consistent posting and looking at what type of content is most successful on our social media page. This requires us to engage in data-driven decision making, which helps with messaging and real-time feedback to our strategy (Mukerji). Since the social media was very quiet before I started working at KSV, my first step was to regularly post on the Instagram story. This was important to get the algorithm back in our favor while we figured out what type of content was most successful and started creating new videos. Our data analytics also demonstrate that the most successful format is the video reel format, and the best content is focused on the activities and opportunities available to students. This means workshops, school trips, and programs the students perform in. While this is currently what is performing the best, we must also stay adaptable and flexible in our strategy to adjust to what viewers are most interested in seeing and how that connects to our work.
Finally, the last key aspect of my work at Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya encompasses my final project for my host organization: a communications handbook. This will help whoever comes into the position next get adjusted to the work faster and will fill the gap if there is ever not a communications coordinator. This handbook will not only focus on guidelines and best practices. It will also include strategy, such as how we came up with video ideas, what type of questions we asked, and how we interpreted analytics. It will also focus on technical aspects including: how we edited our videos and how to use the editing software, the different strategies we used to physically shoot our videos, the chain of command for the different comms projects, and graphic design information. This living document will also help KSV with long term strategy, offering a snapshot into what worked, why it worked, and how it worked.
Work Cited
Mukherji, T. (2025, June 19). The Art of Advocacy: How Strategic Communication Drives Social Change [Review of The Art of Advocacy: How Strategic Communication Drives Social Change]. India Leaders for Social Sector. https://indialeadersforsocialsector.com/strategic-communication-drives-social-change/
