In many think tanks and research organizations, communications and fundraising teams work toward the same goals – but often from very different perspectives.
Comms teams focus on visibility, influence, and audience engagement. Fundraisers focus on relationships, positioning, and organizational sustainability. At their best, these functions reinforce one another. At their worst, they operate in parallel, missing opportunities to strengthen both impact and income.
So what do donors and fundraisers actually want from communications teams? How can communicators better support fundraising goals without becoming fundraisers themselves? And what can organizations do to build stronger alignment among messaging, reputation, and resource mobilization?
We'll cover:
- What donors really look for beyond funding proposals
- How communicators shape organizational reputation and trust
- Where fundraising and communications teams most often misalign
- Practical ways to strengthen collaboration between comms and development functions
- How think tanks can communicate impact, expertise, and value more effectively
Coffee, croissants, and comms – what could be a better start to your morning?
Speakers:
Goran Buldioski Senior Fellow, Hertie School; Former Director of the Think Tank Fund, Open Society Foundations
Claudia Wessling Director Communications and Publications, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS)
Moderator:
Wiebke Ewering Senior Communications Associate, More in Common, Germany
Please register by July 3 here.
If you cannot join us for this session, don’t worry – there will be further WonkComms Breakfast Clubs hosted in Berlin in the coming months. Please follow Soapbox and Think Tank Lab on LinkedIn for announcements and feel free to get in touch with suggestions for future topics and speakers.
For any questions, please contact John Schwartz (john.schwartz@designbysoapbox.com) or the Think Tank Lab team (hello@thinktanklab.org).
We look forward to seeing you soon!