Creating Archetypes of Influencer Organizations
The most recent step in my special project is creating archetypes. Archetypes are personas that are based on common characteristics that can be copied or patterned. The three archetypes I have created based on my research so far are the Jack of All Trades, Creator and Educator.
Jack of All Trades
About: Large to Medium organizations that can juggle a wide range of services making them flexible in their partnerships. Influence comes from the amount of work they put out and their reputation.
Channel:
- Main channels: Case Studies, Reports, Webinars/Events.
- Best engagement: Great engagement across their social media, newsletter, events, and publications.
- Thought Leadership: Combination of reputation and publications in their field.
Partnership Model – Who wants to partner with them:
- Who: Approached for partnerships because of their reputation and services.
- Why: They have a strong and established network of all types of partnerships (funding, implementing, content).
- How – Funding: Multiple sources whether from investors, clients, grants.
Partnership Model – Who they partner with:
- Who: Organizational funders, content partners.
- Why: Need content partnerships for their knowledge gaps of niche topics/issues. Funders to tackle their wide range of work.
- How: Finding and building partnerships through their established networks and platforms.
Creator
About: Medium to small organizations that focus on content creation and research that move their field forward. Influence comes from their internal and external publications.
Channel:
- Main channels: Case Studies, Blogs, Webinars/Events.
- Best engagement: From their publications channels where their audience are developed through events and social network.
- Thought Leadership: Use of internal and external publications to build credibility.
Partnership Model – Who wants to partner with them:
- Who: Approached for partnerships but also set their own agenda and seek out partnerships.
- Why: Constant and reliable knowledge production that impacts their field.
- How- Funding: Funders tend to be corporations, government agencies, and foundations.
Partnership Model – Who they partner with:
- Who: Implementing partners, networks partners.
- Why: Need practitioners to carry out research/fieldwork, and platforms to amplify their work.
- How: Finding and building new partnerships from events/webinars they attend or host
Educator
About: Small organizations that focus on training/educational content and services. Influence comes from their educational resources and the reputable education/training they offer.
Channel:
- Main channels: Case Studies, Blogs, Webinars/Events.
- Best engagement: From their publications channels where their audience are developed through events and social network.
- Thought Leadership: Use of internal and external publications to build credibility.
Partnership Model – Who wants to partner with them:
- Who: Approached for collaboration due to their reputation as an educator.
- Why: Offer training and educational content that is reliable and standard in their field.
- How -Funding: Tends to both internally and externally funding. Funding tends to be in the form of grants and internal.
Partnership Model – Who they partner with:
- Who: Organizational funders.
- Why: Need funders to create and share their educational resources and training.
- How: Finding and building new partnerships through their networks and networking platforms.
These archetypes have allowed me to practice my analysis skills because I am theorizing these personas based on data, I have collected on 11 organizations, 2 interviews that I have conducted, and an internal staff survey. Continuing to practice my analysis skills, the last step of my approach is making recommendations on influence and outreach that D-Lab.