A combination of circumstances and years of experience came together to drive Alina Porumb, strategic designer, Inspire @APT, to develop a much-needed digital learning product for the community foundation field. Moreover, this has been done with joyful creativity, an understanding of the uniqueness of the users own context and journey, and a mind towards interaction. Below, Alina describes the Knowledge Capsule as it is now and how it will be further developed.
International travel may be limited, but in our digital world you can hop on a bike, a boat, an airplane or a kite. For a unique experience, perhaps your means of transportation could be an UFO. We welcome you to the Knowledge Capsule, a unique virtual experience to zoom in and out on the world of Community Foundations (CFs).
This is a self-paced digital learning and reflection space based on 15 years of experience in supporting the development of CFs in Romania and interactions with peers. The Capsule is structured around 20 anchor points – ranging from the context challenges and opportunities for CFs in our times to the role and positioning within a local ecosystem of support, grantmaking and fund development, or how much to rely on outside models versus homegrown versions.
What makes community foundations uniquely positioned to answer to 21st century expectations? And what do they bring to the table in terms of roles, approaches and areas of impact?
Through the Capsule, we aim to clarify the strategic positioning of CFs in an easy and accessible way that can be especially useful for:
● Community foundations support organizations who want to make a case for
why CFs are important in their context, explain their unique value proposition and seek new ways to communicate and foster conversations and learning in their own spaces.
● Community foundations who want to include new high-level participants
and partners into their story, perhaps for welcoming new board members, staff, volunteer experts or donors.
Our learning points on the journey towards digital content
Moving knowledge building experiences from the physical to the digital platforms requires an investment not just in producing content, but in transforming it for various digital spaces and tools. On this journey, we realized we had to develop a visual language, multimedia engagement channels and tools, but also offer alternative options for a variety of cultural expectations, technical capabilities and individual preferences. We took advantage of this set up to provide choice and alternative paths.
We also wanted to break with the linear style of online courses. Instead, we created a visual journey that allows visitors to choose their own way. One such choice you have is to follow a video or a written content. Based on the feedback about visitors’ preferences, we have also added a YouTube playlist option.
Ways forward
Each one of our digital products is an opportunity to learn about how we can all get used to the virtual environment and how we can make it engaging and fun. Even if the learning resources are online, learning itself can still be a social experience.
In our view, the Knowledge Capsule’s greatest value comes from combining it with peer-to-peer exchanges. This is why we invite you into this conversation, where you can contribute in several ways. You could:
- Give us feedback on the topics of the Capsule that you would like to discuss
more in depth in a live conversation; - Explore potential uses of both content and format in live Q&A sessions (you can
pick the date here); - Join us for the Thinkfrastructure Conference, June 8-10, including our Strategy
Challenge.
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