Communications Guidance & Resources

 Last updated: June 13, 2024

Developing a comms strategy

For resources on developing a communications/dissemination strategy, please see:

• Comms Activity Recommendations by Campaign Type (Minimum May Dos)

• Communications priority decision tree.docx

• Communications Dissemination Strategy Template

• Written Products Decision-Making Flowchart_Final

• Dissemination Strategy Workshop

Talking about J-PAL: Key messages & proof points

For instances when you need to talk about J-PAL and J-PAL North America, please refer to:

• External Communications Handbook_Final.docx

• 2023-09-05 J-PAL North America comprehensive message platform

• 2023-09-05 Proof Point North America.docx

Quick links for comms team (incl. liaisons)

General

• Communications Calendar 2024

• Comms Team Rolling Agenda

Quarterly planning meetings

For quarterly planning meetings, please make a copy of the template (from this folder) and save it in your team's subfolder (here).

Website

All members of the communications team and many other associates have access to the website. In general, communications liaisons are responsible for keeping their team webpages up to date (though this may differ team-to-team and is up to the team manager to decide). 

• Sector/Initiative pages are owned by sector/initiative teams

• RFP pages are owned by IFP

• Funded projects pages are now (as of June 2024) owned by sector/initiative teams

  • Adding abstracts to website

Posting specific products (e.g., blogs or eval summaries) should only be done by the designated core comms team member. (Please see the communications calendar for staffing.)

Marketing Cloud

Regular newsletters and ad-hoc announcements are sent via marketing cloud. Current (as of May, 2024) marketing cloud license holders: Erin, Laina, Victoria, Kate, and Sara vN. For questions, please contact Erin.

• Marketing Cloud Basics

Comms product guidelines and resources

Before beginning any comms product, please ensure you (or your team’s comms liaison) has flagged it for the appropriate communications team member (see the comms calendar and/or asana for staffing). When engaging with external media (e.g., on an op-ed, news release, or interview) in any way, please contact Laina and Erin. We may also want to flag the opportunity for our PR firm, Fleishman Hillard.

Please use the communications products asana to track any comms product development.

Blog Posts

Blog posts usually feature evaluation results, partnerships, or thought leadership. J-PAL typically publishes guest blog posts that are 750-1000 words long in the following two formats:

1. Q&A format: In this format, J-PAL North America staff can draft 4-6 questions regarding partnership, study design, research results. Once the questions have been finalized, the interviewee can either respond to the questions via email or over a phone/zoom interview.

   1. Example 1 - Building research partnerships to address wildfire risk in Jackson County, Oregon

   2. Example 2 -  Evidence shows that intergenerational poverty requires multifaceted solutions

2. Narrative format: In this format, J-PAL staff or a guest blogger can draft a piece that tells the story behind or a perspective of a study, partnership, concept, etc. 

   1. Example 1 - The LA Homelessness Evaluation Network: Lessons learned from supporting organizations build evidence and evaluation capacity

   2. Example 2 - Regression to the mean: What it is and why it matters for impact evaluations

If the piece features results, the PI must review and approve the piece. For pieces that feature sector-specific work, the sector lead and author must sign off on the piece.

Across all regional offices, J-PAL may share up to two blog posts per week. For any questions about the blog, email Laina and Victoria.

Additional Resources:

• Asana template for blogs

• 2024 Blog Post Prioritization

Op-Eds

Op-eds are pieces that are typically ~700 words long that offer an opinion. Op-Eds are often ghost-written by J-PAL staff on behalf of an IR or affiliate. Sector managers or members of the leadership team are also common op-ed authors.

Resources:

• Asana template for op-eds

• 2019-12-15 - Leveraging newsworthy angles to increase media coverage.docx

• Op-ed Authorship Guidelines.docx

• NYT: Tips for Aspiring Op-Ed Writers

Op-ed examples:

• Embracing Failure In Health Care Delivery And Learning From Null Results

• New governors can create vital policies by following the evidence

MIT News Releases

MIT news releases are used as press releases to formally capture major announcements and event recaps (e.g. innovation competition calls for LOIs, convening recaps, awards). They also feature study results when there is an MIT PI involved (i.e. an Amy or in-house project). 

Tone: news releases are formal in tone and capture key information on who, what, when, where, and why.

Format: Triangle, capturing the most important details about the topic in the first paragraph of the release. 

Length: MIT news releases are typically 750-1000 words in length.

Required content:

• Feature photo

• Photo caption

• Headline

• Sub-headline

• Article text

Examples:

• Laying the foundation to diversify the economics field and center racial equity in economics research

• J-PAL North America and Results for America announce 18 collaborations with state and local governments

If the piece features research results, the PI must review and approve the piece. For pieces that feature sector-specific work, the sector lead and author must sign off on the piece.

News release resources:

• Press release guidelines

• News release asana template

• MIT News Submission Guidance

Other External Media Engagement

• Preparing for Media Interviews

Videos and Podcast

Coming soon!

Resources to share with external partners

For researchers

The following one-pagers may be a helpful resource to show researchers the kinds of supports we may be able to provide. The comprehensive services document should be shared alongside the new summary link once an evaluation summary has been posted, as well as at the discretion of the team once a study has results. The abbreviated services document should be shared at the start of a funded researcher project, during IR onboarding, or for any other general requests. 

• Abbreviated Research Dissemination Services-102422.pdf

• Comprehensive Research Dissemination Services-102422.pdf

For partners

Please share this guide with all formal J-PAL NA partners.

• J-PAL North America Brand and Communications Guidelines.pdf