Background and purpose of the assignment

Founded in 2022, aidóni is a newly incorporated company which relies mainly on its Director and volunteers. This French based non-governmental organisation considers journalism to be one of the most powerful and impactful democratic tools and believes that we are at a time where journalism has the opportunity to redefine itself and to do better. Especially when it touches on covering social and armed conflicts.

aidóni aims at connecting journalists and agents of change by fostering conversations and debates on how to better report on social and armed conflicts. The organisation helps journalists inform their audience through constructive and inclusive journalism focusing on human experiences and solutions. It aims at empowering citizens by promoting accurate and inspiring journalistic content showing the diversity of initiatives and voices existing on the ground. aidóni aims to be a home for the people changing the world and the people telling the stories of people changing the world. A place for their community to host thriving and eye-opening conversations. A place for their community to meet, exchange ideas, good practices and advice, learn, debate and collaborate. We want these discussions to help journalists get a better understanding and a better access to the sorties on the grounds.

As part of its engagement with aidóni, a team of consultants at Consult KM International will provide assistance in gaining a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges involved in creating, storing, sharing and making effective use of knowledge within the organisation. They will also provide recommendations on how KM strategies can have a targeted impact on the immediate needs of the client.

The following are the main issues, or challenges, encountered by aidóni which will be addressed through the application of a knowledge management approach:

Issue 1: Fully remote, geographically distributed work environment.

• All the client’s work (individual and team) is done remotely.
• All the client’s communication is based on a common foreign language (English) and cultural diversity.

Issue 2: Anticipation of rapid organisational growth. The client organisation is growing relatively fast and expecting further rapid growth

Issue 3: Resource constraints: The client does not have funding yet but will start to apply for funding

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What we delivered

Working closely with the Founder & Executive Director of aidóni, our team of consultants delivered the following services:

• Undertook a targeted knowledge assessment of aidóni, based on the challenges shared with us and focusing on the established needs of the client, namely how a fast growing organisation can build a knowledge management framework to have an immediate impact on its strategic objectives and be better positioned for organisational growth. A knowledge assessment identified the organisation’s most important knowledge assets, including, but not limited to, the core competencies, expertise and skills of the organisation’s employees and other staff, including volunteers and consultants. The assessment consisted of a desk review and several semi-structured online interviews with the founder of aidóni.
• Analysed and presented assessment findings to aidóni, and provided actionable recommendations for further discussion and implementation.
• Identified best practices in fundraising for small and emerging non-profit organisations in journalism, given that fundings is an important part of an organisation’s work. Collated and presented fundraising options and resources relevant to aidóni and its work.
• Developed a detailed report to serve as a guide book for aidóni and similar organisations in the non-profit sector in implementing the proposed recommendations.

Download the report here.

The assignment was delivered free of charge as part of our annual Pro Bono Programme. To learn more about the Programme and how to participate, please click here.