Toolbox

It’s impossible to keep up with the speed of technology and new tools. But it’s always helpful to have a few practical resources at hand. In this “toolbox,” we’ve gathered sources that can support both newcomers and experienced communicators.

We also believe this toolbox will grow collectively — so if you have resources to add, please share them with us!

  • Plan Inclusive and Participatory Events: Event Planning Guide for CSOs

This guide provides the knowledge and tools you need to organize inclusive, participatory, and non-discriminatory events. It includes checklists and notes for every stage, from planning to monitoring and evaluation.

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  • Make Your Events Easier to Manage: Civil Society Event Guide

Prepared for all actors engaged in rights-based civil society work, this guide helps at every stage of event management, from design to implementation.

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  • Struggling with Writing? 10 Steps to Effective Writing Guide

Writing is one of the strongest tools of communication. From advocacy texts to announcements, from news to social media content, organizations constantly need to produce written material. This guide offers practical tips at every step—from defining purpose to crafting titles, clarifying messages, and choosing appropriate language.

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  • Effective and Powerful Writing Guide by CIVICUS

A resource for both beginners and experienced writers, this guide covers different stages of the writing process, from idea generation to drafting and editing.

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  • Engage Audiences with Visual Strategy and Storytelling: See What You Mean

Visuals are as critical as the texts and messages we use, often leaving stronger impressions than words. This guide helps create visual worlds in communication that are strategic, effective, and responsible.

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  • Shoot Your Own Videos: Video Shooting Techniques Guide

Video is one of today’s most useful communication tools, with more than half of people watching two or more educational videos per week. This guide covers planning, filming, and editing.

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  • Create More Impact with Video!

This toolkit demonstrates step by step how to design projects that create impact through video. It’s a valuable resource for documentary filmmakers, journalists, and organizations using video to foster participation and social change.

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  • Build Stronger Media Relations: Media Engagement Handbook

Media shapes how society thinks, understands, and perceives issues. For CSOs, media is a critical tool for driving change. This handbook explains how media works, how to engage journalists, and how to “speak their language.”

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  • For Stronger Narratives: Hope-Based Communications Guide

We live in difficult times, and bad news dominates headlines. But good stories and hopeful narratives matter—especially in civil society. This guide provides a framework for shifting human rights communication toward positive, hope-centered narratives.

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  • From Advocacy to Collective Action: Communication Guide for CSOs

This toolkit strengthens CSOs’ communication capacities, helping them run more effective advocacy campaigns and mobilize communities. It covers strategy, social media, audience analysis, and impact measurement.

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  • Strengthen Advocacy: Evidence-Based Advocacy Guide for Rights Organizations

This guide offers practical knowledge on using communication effectively in systematic and planned advocacy to challenge rights violations.

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  • Advocacy in Restrictive Environments: Advocacy Toolkit

Designed for grassroots, national, and regional organizations working in restrictive contexts, this toolkit offers innovative ideas and strategies for advocacy.

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  • Equalize Our Language: Gender-Sensitive Communication Guide

Language is a powerful tool that shapes gender roles. Unequal language reproduces inequality. This guide provides practical suggestions for adopting a gender-sensitive approach and transforming discriminatory patterns.

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  • From Suna’nın Kızları: Child Rights-Sensitive Communication Guide

In society, children are often perceived as incomplete individuals, which overlooks their needs as rights-holders today. This guide supports representing children as diverse, capable subjects in communication processes.

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  • Data Protection (KVKK) Guide for CSOs

CSOs often collect personal information—participant names, volunteer contacts, donor records. This guide helps understand legal obligations under Turkey’s data protection law (KVKK) and offers practical tips for compliance.

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  • Campaign Design Made Simple: Campaign Toolkit

This free toolkit for individuals and organizations features inspiring campaign examples from around the world and offers practical guidance on advertising, targeting, online safety, measurement, and more.

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  • Communications Toolkit for Civil and Nonprofit Tech

This toolkit offers practical guidance for small and medium-sized organizations on planning communication projects and engaging communities.

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  • Strengthen Your Communications Plan: Smart Chart 4.0

How do we use our voice effectively? How do we convince people to support us? These are tough questions—but a communications strategy helps answer them. This practical guide is a solid starting point for strategy development.

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  • A Tool for Telling the Civil Society Story

Designed to support creating new and effective narratives about civil society, this toolkit provides campaign tips, strategies for countering negative narratives, and inspiring examples.

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  • A Wikipedia for Activists: activisthandbook.org

This site offers over 450 guides and 4,700 external resources—books, podcasts, films, academic articles, and blogs—making it a Wikipedia-like resource for activists.

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  • Commons Social Change Library

The Social Change Library contains over 1,500 resources on campaign strategy, community organizing, group work, creative activism, and more—in diverse formats.

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Other Resources to Explore