WES Social Impact Blog Strategic Brief

 

Introduction

 

External communications play a vital role in WES’s success as a leading social enterprise. Across all of our communications channels, the Social Impact Division aims to advance systems change and expand efforts to shift power to the organizations and communities closest to the issues on which we work. Our Social Impact Division house blog is a critical part of this effort, as it offers our staff and partners a platform to share their work and perspectives with a wider audience. As part of the broader Social Impact Alignment process, we have been evaluating our existing blogs and developing a new strategy for the content we publish there. This document is intended to synthesize our findings and provide clear guidance to blog writers and other internal stakeholders on how—and why—to produce quality blog content. 

 

ONE SOCIAL IMPACT DIVISION, ONE BLOG

One of the major goals of this undertaking is to streamline and organize our blogs so that we can better integrate the diverse range of perspectives within WES and communicate a more unified narrative about our work. To that end, we are combining the Mariam Assefa Fund “Insights” blog and the Global Talent Bridge “Partner” blog. By establishing clear topic categories and content types, we hope to avoid redundant, overlapping, or contradictory content while giving project leads and blog writers clearer guidance on how to use this channel. 

 

Internally, these changes will foster greater collaboration and visibility across different parts of the WES Social Impact Division, so that we are sharing clear, consistent, and impactful content. Externally, they will provide readers with a simpler navigation experience and provide a more unified, comprehensive vision of all that WES does to drive change through advocacy, programming, philanthropy, research, investment, and other initiatives.

 

STRATEGIC CONTENT FOR GREATER IMPACT

Alongside this reorganization of the Social Impact blogs, we are also adopting a more strategic approach to content on the channel. In practice, the Social Impact Communications and Marketing (SICM) team will work closely with departments across the SI Division to determine what to publish and why. SICM will also work with designated writers to refine how blog posts are written. Based on interviews and conversations with internal stakeholders from across WES, there is a clear sense that in the past, blog posts were published without an overarching plan. The result has been wide variability in substance, tone, frequency, and quality. Moving forward, SICM will work with Departments to set clear strategic priorities for the blog. These will be in line with our broader Social Impact goals—in particular with priority issue area strategies—so that both the communications team and project leads are able to identify promising topics and stories. For 2024, Social Impact blog content will align with the Social Impact Division’s three strategic issue areas: international student success, strategies for the inclusion of forcibly displaced people, and employer engagement. 

 

The SICM team will convene project leads on a semi-quarterly basis to discuss updates and set priorities for publication during the following three months. These discussions will become the foundation of an ongoing content calendar (discussed in the next section). Given the nature of the issues we work on, there will also be a need for reactive, timely content that engages with the world around us. While we cannot always plan for this type of content, we can establish clear guidelines for when and how to develop it, so that we maintain consistent values and vision in a changing world. 

 

The Social Impact blog plays an important role in our broader communications strategy, as it is a forum where we can showcase the insights of individuals within WES. One of the goals for the refreshed blog is to identify a specific group of authors with experience and expertise in the issue areas on which we work. By featuring their perspectives on the blog, we hope to establish them as trusted sources of information and insight in the minds of our readers—an audience that has the potential to expand well beyond the many partners with whom we now work closely. Authors’ bylines will be showcased more prominently on the blog page so that, over time, readers may begin to look to a particular writer for content on a particular topic. This increased emphasis on authorship can also benefit our ongoing PR and media efforts, as authors become more established experts in their areas of interest. 

 

 

Audience

 

UNDERSTANDING OUR AUDIENCE

A publication’s first responsibility across all of its published content is to the reader. Readers must find the content accessible, engaging, and worth their while. Given that our work is intersectional and global in scope, our readers represent many different audiences; each blog post should speak to one or more of these primary audiences.

 

Various audiences may include: 

 

• Government, Policymakers, Licensing Boards, Civil Servants – Official policies and procedures exert significant influence over the economic and social inclusion of  immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement). While politicians are the public face of government, the details that dictate everything from national immigration policy to an individual’s ability to work at the profession they have trained for are determined by a large group of individuals behind the scenes. The expertise that WES and its partners bring to bear on these issues can be a vital resource for those working to set policy. Both detailed analysis and human storytelling are critical to educating, engaging, and influencing these audiences so that they support policies and systems that benefit the inclusion of immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement).

 

• Universities/Colleges – While much of WES’s work with universities and colleges focuses on our credential evaluation services, these institutions are critical to our social impact work and desired outcomes as well. Quality, affordable higher education is essential to fostering social and economic inclusion for newcomers, so we can use our blog to highlight ways these institutions can play a role in fostering a welcoming environment. We have an opportunity to build on our credibility as a credential evaluation expert while broadening the way WES is perceived among universities and colleges by sharing more about our social impact work. 

 

• Think Tanks/Researchers – Our social impact priorities and strategies are grounded in research, both internal and external. We are both influenced by outside research and, as practitioners and researchers ourselves, have the potential to influence researchers working in the field. Researchers in more technical or academic contexts may lack the direct experience WES has with, for example, programmatic or philanthropic work, so their own research can benefit from the insight we are able to provide. WES’s research teams are also making valuable contributions to their fields of study, and their work exists in dialogue with research happening in other contexts. The blog is a venue for ongoing explorations of important, complex topics, so we should be engaging with researchers at Think Tanks, institutes, media outlets, and other similar institutions.   

 

• Immigrant and Refugee Serving Organizations, Grantees, Immigrant Leaders – As a social enterprise, we have always put immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement) at the center of our mission. While our communications often target other communities (e.g. government officials, funders), we will also maintain and deepen our engagement with the communities experiencing the issues we aim to address. Through our partnerships, programs, grantmaking, impact investing, and other activities, we work closely with immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement), so our blog content should also speak to organizations and leaders from those communities. We will also seek to identify people with lived experience to contribute to the blog.

 

• Employers/Employer Associations – In order to promote the economic inclusion and mobility of immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement), it is essential to influence the perceptions and behaviors of employers across a range of industries. Topics like inclusive hiring practices, workforce development, skill underutilization, and recognition of international credentials are highly relevant for employers, and WES has the expertise to be a trusted resource. Through our storytelling and sensemaking, we can enable employers and employment associations to recognize not only the value of immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement), but also the strategies that are most effective in ensuring inclusive hiring and effective retention and upskilling.    

 

• Foundations – Since its founding, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund has aspired to support organizations and leaders working to build inclusive economies and to ensure that all immigrants and refugees can achieve their goals and thrive. Our trust-based approach to inclusive philanthropy is also important, as we strive to adopt and articulate strategies that reflect and drive the evolution of the field. By sharing stories and perspectives about how and why we fund, as well as what we learn in the process, we hope to influence other foundations. Co-funding is also a critical component of our strategy, and our blog is an opportunity to showcase our work to potential partners. By being active participants in conversations about funding for social impact, we can continue to improve our own practices while helping to advance a more impactful, inclusive approach to philanthropy.
   

• Impact Investors – As WES deepens its commitment to mission investing, the blog offers an optimal forum for ongoing conversations about how inclusive mission and impact investing enable sustainable finance and the ability to incubate effective solutions and take them to scale.

 

 

Content Architecture 

 

OVERVIEW 

In order to streamline the content creation process—from scheduling to drafting to organizing it on the blog—we have established a set of content types, categories, and tags. 

 

• “Content types” refer to the form of a blog post.

  • Content types are relevant for internal planning and drafting; each content type has a clear format and template, to assist writers in drafting consistent content. 

 

• “Content categories” refer to the substance of a blog post.

  • Content categories are the public-facing mechanism by which readers can sort content on our blog. 

 

• “Content tags” are more specific labels applied to each individual blog post, providing an additional layer of sorting around a particular topic or theme. They help readers narrow down the content they are looking for and find related posts..

 

Each blog post will be designated one “type,” one “category,” and 3-5 “tags.” The examples below illustrate how a sample of recent social impact blog posts would be labeled using the new system. 

 

CONTENT CALENDAR 

The SICM team will use a content calendar to plan out what will appear on the blog, with the goal of ensuring that the full spectrum of WES social impact activities is covered on a consistent basis. Project leads and blog writers will collaborate with the SICM team to ensure the content calendar reflects the strategic priorities and milestones of each team, as well as the Social Impact Division’s overarching goals.

 

CONTENT TYPES (INTERNAL FACING)

Based on an audit of existing blog content and discussions about future content, we have identified 3 basic content types. Every new blog post will follow one of these 3 formats (best practices and templates for each content type can be found in the Format section).
 

The content types include:

 

• Spotlight — These are “features” style blog posts focused on a specific organization, individual, or point of view related to our work or that of our partners. Spotlights are our main avenue for storytelling on the blog, and by sharing compelling narratives about specific individuals, organizations, leaders, or communities, we can highlight priority issues and promising practices.
  
  Spotlights may focus on:: 

  • Global Talent Bridge partners, programs, or campaigns 

  • Mariam Assefa Fund Grantees 

  • Leaders of partner organizations

  • Policy updates (i.e. priorities for the coming year, rather than in-depth analysis)

  • WES team member activities (e.g. features about new team members or thought leaders within the organization) 

  • Event recaps from a partner or individual perspective with “sensemaking” insights about what was learned at or from the event

 

• Analysis — Analyses offer an in-depth look at an issue, with a greater emphasis on research, data, and technical insight. In general, analysis blog posts will connect to larger, ongoing work happening within WES, serving as a relatively brief, digestible take on a topic that our research, policy, program, or philanthropy teams are working on. The goal of an analysis is to make sense of complex issues and share lessons learned, with replicable insights for readers. 
  
  Analyses may include: 

  • Insight into best practices in philanthropy, programs, investing, etc. and why they work, or lessons learned about promising practices that didn’t pan out

  • Policy perspectives

  • Op-Eds

  • Research insights (or analysis of reports in the field)

  • Other analytical or educational content
     

• How-To — These posts will focus on practical guidance for the implementation of a successful program or strategy. While Spotlight and Analysis posts offer insight into what a program or strategy does and why it is or is not effective, How-To posts should focus on the implementation of successful strategies.

 

How-To posts include:

• Step-by-step instructions for implementing a program or strategy (e.g. “How to start a group mentoring program for internationally trained immigrants and refugees)

 

• Announcement — Announcements are exactly what they sound like. They are used to share news or official statements from WES.
  
  Announcements may include: 

  • Press Release-type announcements

  • Statements (Joint & Single) 

  • Announcements about future events

  • Other relevant news

 

CONTENT CATEGORIES (PUBLIC-FACING)

Content categories are how users will find content on the blog. They function like sections in a newspaper—they are broad yet distinct, so every blog post will clearly fit into a particular category based on the topic. Our readers will be drawn to different categories, depending on their interests, so the goal is to provide a simple, intuitive system to help them navigate the blog. 

 

There are 5 overarching blog categories—three specifically related to social impact and 2-3 related to WES’s other work. All content will fit into only 1 category, with additional “tags” to enable more specific sorting (see next section). 

 

Categories include: 

• Worker & Employer Strategies — This category is for content that discusses issues related to work in terms of its interplay with larger issues of economic inclusion Examples include blog posts on core WES social impact issues like upskilling/professional development, skill underutilization, professional licensing pathways, employer engagement, and inclusive hiring practices.
   

• Funding & Financing for Impact — WES and the WES Mariam Assefa Fund have a wealth of expertise and insight into innovative strategies in philanthropy and mission investing. While these blog posts will often touch on some of the same topics covered in other categories, the focus will always be on funding and financing. The intended audience will likely be foundations, grantees, and impact investors.  
   

• Welcoming Communities in Action — As part of its broader approach to economic inclusion, WES is committed to multiple enablers of inclusion of immigrants, refugees, and international students (and people who have experienced forced displacement). This category offers  perspectives and information on issues such as  immigration policy, workforce development, licensure policy, tuition for international students, relevant national/state/provincial/local policies and programs, and more. 
   

• Global Mobility — This potential category is currently earmarked for WENR content, but could incorporate complementary pathways.

 

• Global Education Systems — This is a potential category that would house WENR content that is specifically related to education.
   

• Credential Advice — This category is earmarked for WES Advisor blog content. 

 

 

CONTENT TAGS (PUBLIC-FACING) 

Tags direct users to other blog posts they might want to read based on the post they are currently reading. Multiple tags can be applied to a single blog post, giving readers a variety of ways to explore the blog and find relevant content (while maintaining a simple top-level navigation system).  

 

Before publication, tags will be applied and managed by the SICM team. Writers may offer tag suggestions for a blog post, but the ultimate tagging decision will be made by the communications team. 

 

The SICM team will also own and manage the “Master List” of tags, and review it regularly to ensure that tags are not duplicative and the list encompasses current WES needs—this includes reviewing any new tags before they are implemented. Writers may also suggest new tags on a rolling basis, with the Communications Team making the final decision.

 

For ease of use, we have created a curated list of tags, organized into a few areas (note that these groupings are not public facing, only the individual tags are).

 

• Specific Initiatives — These are WES initiatives.
   

Examples: GTLN, Imprint, Gateway Program.
 

• Location — In most cases, these would be used to indicate whether a piece focuses on the US or Canada and will indicate which spelling is used.
   

• Populations — These refer to communities or groups of people our work involves.
  
  Examples: Immigrant Leaders, International Medical Graduates (IMG), Internationally Educated Teachers, Grantees, Refugees.
   

• Action & Impact — This group includes activities or the impact of our work.
  
  Examples include: Credential Evaluation Recognition, Policy & Advocacy, Wealth Building, Hiring Events, Coalition Building, DEIB/JEDI
   

• Issue — The larger issue areas that WES works within.
  
  Examples include: Licensing & Licensure, Economic Inclusion, Global Migration, Skills Mobility, and Workforce Development.

 

SUGGESTED PROCESS & MILESTONES

The SICM team is responsible for maintaining the blog and the content calendar. To do this responsibly, we will meet periodically to assess different components of the blog: 

 

• Annually — Building a content calendar for the full year 

• Bi-Annually — Checking-in on the content calendar to ensure it’s still accurate and correct 

• Quarterly — Tag reviews  

 

Ideas for blog posts should be developed in collaboration between the SICM team, individual project teams, and blog writers. Regardless of a post’s origin, each writer should be clear on the following pieces of information before they start writing: 

 

• Content Type for the post

• Content Category for the post 

• Tone of voice and formatting guidelines (included in this document) 

 

 

Tone of Voice

 

As noted earlier, our primary responsibility is to our readers. Blog posts should be engaging so that people want to read them, while also providing information and insight to help make sense of complex issues. This guide provides tips and resources for writing engaging, respectful, and impactful content for the WES Social Impact Blog. For general information about writing and editorial considerations, visit the WES Style Guide. 

 

THE WES VOICE

Authors are encouraged to write in their own voice, but this guide aims to establish some consistency across the division. Based on interviews and discussions with WES employees, the WES “voice” should be:

 

• Clear

• Conversational

• Friendly

• Supportive

• Compassionate

• Inclusive

• Confident

• Knowledgeable

• Passionate 

 

Ideally, we want to communicate with simple, plain language. Interviews with WES employees revealed that as an organization, we value clarity and accessibility in our work. Be mindful not to use overly-academic language, but don’t “talk down” to readers either. Strive to reach an inclusive audience made up of a variety of readers. As a general rule, we should aim for positivity—highlight aspirations, opportunities, and things people can do to help. The following sections will provide advice for achieving these goals, and you can use this checklist for plain language for more tips. 

 

WRITE IMPACTFUL BLOG POSTS

When writing “Spotlight” stories about people (individuals, communities, groups), think about how your writing can help your readers understand someone they’ve never met. This section outlines some suggestions for writing about social impact work, based on Annie Niemand’s article “How To Tell Stories About Impact” from the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Refer to the “Format” section for more information about the structure of “Spotlight” blog posts. 

 

• Include narrative elements.

• In order to write a story, as opposed to a vignette or a profile, your writing must have: a beginning, middle, and end; a conflict and a resolution; characters; and a setting. Write about specific moments, experiences, and emotions to round out your story—specificity resonates with readers. 

 

• Include interesting or “telling” details.

  • Help readers understand your subject’s position by including details about the systems that create inequality. Social, political, and environmental barriers in your subject’s life can act as an element of conflict in your story that your subject then works towards overcoming to reach a resolution. Describing how your subject may be uniquely affected due to their race, class, gender, or geography can generate deeper investment from your readers in your plot. (Note: conflict is an important narrative element, but always aim to move beyond defining your subject by that experience. See below: asset framing).

 

• Help readers connect and empathize with your subject by including details about shared human experiences; emotions like love, triumph, redemption, loss, joy, frustration, and fear make your subject relatable. 

 

• Frame wins as your partners’ wins, not your own.

  • WES is part of a larger movement. Where possible, rather than writing about WES as the “hero,” write about how WES partners are taking action to drive  change on the ground.

 

WRITE USEFUL BLOG POSTS

Though we want to write blog posts that update readers about WES activities, the blog should not be used as a self-congratulatory space. As discussed in the article “Blog Criteria: 3 Blogging Criteria For Writing Great Posts,” the best blog posts are useful because they offer either a call to action, credible information, or a strong opinion..

 

• Give specific instructions for impact.

  • Chances are, your readers want to do something to help. Let them know how they can have an impact by adding specific calls-to-action or step-by-step instructions for your readers to follow. 

 

• Bolster your claims with concrete evidence.

  • When writing on any topic, include examples, surveys, statistics, quotes, pictures, or any other supplemental information to make your blog post more educational. Ensure your facts are credible, as up-to-date as possible, and well-sourced.

 

• Don’t be afraid to take a stance.

  • WES has a perspective on what solutions are needed to drive change. Let your readers know your perspective, while keeping in mind WES’s organizational priorities and positions on sensitive issues. Your SICM team partner will help you navigate the right level of assertiveness. 

 

FRAME SUBJECTS IN A POSITIVE LIGHT

When writing about social justice issues, it’s tempting to focus on a problem-solution frame.. Sometimes that can manifest as focusing on a subject’s challenges in life rather than their contributions and skills. According to Trabian Shorters, this approach, “deficit framing,” can be detrimental  because it stigmatizes groups of people and creates cynicism about the possibility of change. Instead, Shorters recommends something he calls “Asset Framing,” a narrative model that defines people by their assets and aspirations before explaining deficits. Read below for some ideas for how to use asset framing and why it works. For more information, read “Understanding Asset Framing”. 

 

• State what you want twice as often as you state what you don’t want.

  • Asset framing works by priming the mind with positive associations for a group of people. One easy way to practice asset framing is to state your hopes twice as often as you state your fears. This is because our minds hold on to fear more easily, so we need extra positive reinforcement.

 

• Focus on the system.

  • Though we know in social justice work that groups of people are victims of a harmful system, often the mind will start viewing the group of people as falling into the problem, or as permanent victims. So, it’s important to make the system’s failings clear in social impact writing. 

 

• Include aspirational language.

  • Open a story with a discussion about aspirations, rather than fears or failures. For example, rather than stating you’d like to “address” a problem, state instead your real aspiration – that you’d like to end a problem. 

 

• Example:

  • Deficit Framing –

    1. The Latinx community in the United States has always been, for the most part, on the bottom half of income in American society. The struggle to have access to health and mental care is part of their own history. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has come to intensify the problems. There are some issues that can no longer be ignored especially in California, the state where now this group is the majority with approximately 15 million out of 40 million.

  • Asset Framing –

    1. Since 2014, Latinx people have constituted the largest ethnic group in the nation’s largest state. They now represent 39% of the California population, and in recent years Latinx residents have made significant advances in economic well being as measured by such metrics as reduced poverty rates and growth in business ownership. The number of Latinx people elected to school boards, local offices, and the state legislature also has increased significantly.Despite this impressive social and economic progress, Latinx residents have lagged other Californians in achieving important goals like home ownership and income growth. We can now add to that list the disproportionate harm visited on that community by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

USE NON-DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE

Similarly to the way narrative framing can prime your readers’ minds, the words you use can influence your readers to think and feel a certain way, so be mindful that your language sends a positive message. 

 

• The best way to avoid language with negative connotations is to be as descriptive as possible.

  • Use specific terms when describing race, socioeconomic status, or livelihood. 

  • Use descriptive terms when possible: “property service workers,” “non-seasonal agricultural workers,” etc. 

  • When referring to immigrant and refugee communities, Black and Indigenous communities, and other communities of color, describe them as such. 

 

• In general, avoid loaded terms such as “skilled” when referring to individuals.

  • Rather than saying “low skilled workers,” use “low paid workers.”

  • Do not use “skilled” or “high skilled” to describe college-educated workers.

 

• Use gender-inclusive terms

  • Humans, humankind, people, population

  • Worker, police officer

 

• Participate in a land acknowledgement when appropriate

  • WES participates in a land acknowledgement to recognize the enduring presence and resilience of Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island.

 

HONOR CODE

To run a credible blog and avoid plagiarism, it's important to properly cite sources. Below are some general guidelines for citing and referencing sources in your blog posts. Visit the WENR publication standards guide for complete information. 

 

• Always cite your sources. There is a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism on WES blogs. Plagiarism training is available on request.

• Use quotation marks around word-for-word transcriptions of any length more than 7 words and attribute the quote to the original author. 

• When paraphrasing information from an external source, make sure you understand the sources well enough to rewrite it in your own words without altering the meaning.

• Information from other sources should serve a particular purpose in bolstering your own ideas. When sourcing information, synthesize it in your own writing and then build on it to support your position. 

• Self-plagiarism is generally considered plagiarism. If your work has been previously published, you cannot reuse it without proper citations or permission from the original publisher. 

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Length & Format 

 

Economy and effective formatting can help writers organize their thoughts and improve the reader’s experience. A well-formatted blog will be more visually appealing and attract more readers. According to digital content specialists at Ghost.org, “great formatting prioritizes the human reader by providing them with organized, scannable, media-rich, intent-driven content.” To read more, click here. 

 

LENGTH – A blog post should be about 800-1250 words.

 

• If a blog post is more than 1250 words long, consider editing it down, making it a resource to download, or breaking it up into a series rather than a single post.

  • For example, the blog post “SIIP Best Practices – Using Federal and State Funding to Pay for Credential Evaluations” is long enough that it could be split into a series. 

  • This may look like – “SIIP Best Practices: How Public Funding Can Make Credential Evaluations Accessible” and “SIIP Best Practices: How SIIP Communities Use Federal Funding to Finance Credential Evaluations.”

 

• Paragraphs tend to be more scannable when they are 2-5 sentences long. Anything longer creates a large block of text that may cause the reader to drop off.

 

• Extra whitespace (due to frequent paragraph spaces between paragraphs) has been shown to increase comprehension and reading speed. 

 

TITLES – The title of your post should be clear, descriptive, and offer immediate value to the reader. 

 

• Example: Non-descriptive – "Community Members Are Leading This Participatory Grantmaking Project – Here’s How It Works”

  • The title is vague and offers no details about the location, participants, or intent of the project. 

 

• Example: Descriptive – “Mariam Assefa Fund Announces New Impact Investments to Unlock Homeownership for Underserved Black Communities”

  • This title lets a reader know exactly what this blog post includes.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY AND GRAPHIC USAGE – Whenever possible, use photography/graphics that are directly related to your topic, such as images from the event or of the people and organizations mentioned. 

 

• If original images are not available, use stock photography that looks as natural as possible. Try to avoid overly posed or generic looking images that could dilute the message of the blog. 

 

• When choosing an image, ask yourself, “does this image serve a purpose?” If it does, use it. Otherwise, it’s simply taking up space.

 

• When explaining something more technical, like policy analysis, you can break up text with graphs, data tables, or additional images so that readers will keep scrolling. When they scroll, it makes the reader feel like they are making more progress, therefore keeping them engaged. 

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SUBHEADINGS – If the blog post is over 400 words, use at least 1 subheading soon after the introduction. 

 

• The subheading should appear in the blog post around 100-200 words in (before the reader has to scroll) to keep readers interested.

 

• Subheadings help you organize your central ideas and themes. Most readers don’t have patience when it comes to long blocks of text. This allows for the content to become more digestible and easier to read. 

 

• Subheadings allow for the post to be scannable for readers who want to jump to a specific section.
   

• Effective subheadings can also help a post be ranked more highly by Google and other search engines.

 

QUOTES –  Direct quotes can add detail, insight, and credibility to a blog post by sharing the perspective of an expert or individual with lived experience related to the topic. You don’t always have to use the entire quote, but be careful to provide enough context that the quote accurately reflects what the person was trying to say. Use ellipses to shorten quotes that feel redundant or have extraneous words (e.g. “like,” “you know,” etc.) 

 

If the quote is longer than 3 lines, format it as a block quote (example below). This helps the flow of the post and breaks apart longer chunks of text.

 

CONTENT TYPE SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

 

SPOTLIGHT – This is the main avenue for storytelling for the blog. When speaking about partners or grantees, include a visual (like the organization’s logo or a photo of the subject) to add more substance to the blog post. More details about social impact storytelling can be found in the How to Write an Impactful Blog Post section above. 

 

Outline – Use this general structure to help guide the flow of the blog post:

 

1. Lede – Story about an individual (or organization) that introduces the topic (e.g. refugee inclusion, barriers to licensure). About one paragraph.

 

1. Problem – Outline the specific issue the article is focusing on, with data and external links to sources that elucidate the scale of the challenge, if appropriate.

 

1. Solution – Program, policy, or strategy that addresses the problem, referring back to the individual story to illustrate its effectiveness in emotional, human terms.

 

1. Recommendation – Takeaway for other organizations and advocates, explaining how this strategy, policy, or program can have an impact beyond the specific geography/context of the article. Strive for “sensemaking” here; what do partners and stakeholders need to understand to implement this practice themselves?

 

1. Close – Return to the subject's story and reiterate the core message about adopting or investing in the strategy, policy, or program. 

 

ANALYSIS – Analysis blog posts offer deeper, more technical or nuanced perspectives on the issues WES and its partners are working on. These posts should be accessible, and should be shorter than a full research report. The blog can also be used to summarize larger research projects and connect readers to the full report. 

 

Key Elements – Because the content of an analysis blog post can vary widely, there is less of a “formula” than for “Spotlight” post. The following elements are important to include, but don’t need to be followed in this exact order:
 

1. Lede – A brief paragraph that grabs the reader’s attention from the outset. This may include an anecdote or surprising statistic that illustrates the importance of the topic. 

 

1. Objective – Explain the challenge that the program, policy, or strategy being analyzed is seeking to solve. Who will benefit? Why does it matter?

 

1. Analysis – Elaborate on and support the insights described in the objective. Use data or other facts to back up the argument or analysis, but not so much that you lose the narrative flow. Use subheadings to break up different ideas or points of information, and charts or tables when possible.

 

1. Solution – Offer practical solutions, including specific examples (either from within WES or elsewhere) that illustrate how they can be implemented.

 

1. Close – Summarize the key points (as bullets or a list) of the post and provide links to additional information or resources if needed.

 

HOW-TO – Posts should be highly actionable and provide clear, step-by-step guidance on how to implement a program or strategy, in addition to providing background and rationale for why the program or strategy is effective.

 

Outline – Follow this basic formula to ensure the post is clear and practically useful.

 

1. The Need – At the outset, provide a short explanation of the challenge the program or strategy is meant to tackle, using data and other details to illustrate the importance of the issue.

 

1. The Solution – Offer a brief overview of the program or strategy you will be discussing. Provide evidence and examples that demonstrate how and why the program has been successful.

 

1. The Process – Outline the discrete steps an individual or organization would need to take to implement the program or strategy in their specific context. Consider adaptations and adjustments that may need to be made to the process based on geography, resources, and other practical circumstances. Numbering these steps will help the reader follow the process and identify what resources will be needed throughout.

 

1. Close – Reiterate the rationale for adopting the program or strategy and provide links to additional resources, if applicable. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT – Announcements are meant to be shorter and more straightforwardly informational than Analysis or Spotlight posts. 

 

Outline – Use this format to help guide the flow of the blog post.

 

1. Purpose – Introduce the piece by sharing the purpose for the announcement and why it matters to the audience. Include relevant information and additional details

 

1. Explain – How the activity or event included in the announcement will benefit partners or communities with whom WES interacts. 

 

1. Call to Action – An action that the reader can take, if applicable.

 

 

Checklist 

 

GENERAL

• Is it clear why WES is saying this or how WES is involved?

• How does this advance WES social impact goals/cross-cutting strategies?

• Is your point of view aligned with WES’s? 

 

CONTENT ARCHITECTURE

• Does it align with the provided  content type? 

• Does it align with the provided content category? 

• (Optional) Do you have any suggested tags? For example, “Canada”, “IEHPs”, “Licensure”, “Policy & Policy Advocacy”.
   

TONE OF VOICE

• Does your post align with the WES “voice”?

• Does it use simple, non-discriminatory language and an asset-framing approach?

• Are all sources properly cited and linked?

• Have you included relevant SEO keywords (if applicable)?

 

FORMAT

• Is your post between 800–1250 words?

• Did you suggest a strong title and subheading? 

• Is there an image/graphic/photo included?