Extracts from the CET research
Communicate, Engage, Transform research was done with local youth organizations and its aim was to reveal both challenges and opportunities in their external communication efforts. While some YOs have experience and participate in European projects, significant hurdles exist.
The research report highlighted key findings:
- Many YOs lack clear target audience definition, communication objectives, and strategic use of channels.
- Staff dedicated to communication often lack training, and financial resources for external communication are scarce.
- Developing targeted messages and measuring communication effectiveness require improvement.
- Building relationships with media and influencers for wider outreach presents challenges.
- Satisfaction with social media engagement is low, and data analysis to improve communication is underused.
Despite these challenges, some strengths were identified:
- Several YOs have identified specific youth target groups and their needs.
- Most YOs have a designated person or team for external communication.
- Many YOs develop clear messages and relevant multimedia content.
The report concludes that YOs need support in strategic planning, resource allocation, measurement, community engagement, partnership building, and skills development. Based on all the research findings we drafted this Manual as our contribution to more refined and better placed messages that youth organizations want to put out there calling for youth to join them and engage more into the fight for their own benefits.