Communication strategy for scientific organization. Presented by John Colmey Managing Director, Global Landscapes Forum Director of Communications, Outreach and Engagemenyt, CIFOR-ICRAF

1. Ten steps in Building a Science
Communications Program
CGIAR COMMUNICATIONS COP ROME 2020
John Colmey, Managing Director, Global Landscapes Forum
Director of Communications, Outreach and Engagement, CIFOR-ICRAF

2. • In 2009 25% of publications cited;
in 2019 80%
• Growth across platforms for ten
years
• 20,000 + media hits
• Raised 30+ million dollars
• 80% of program is project funded
CIFOR Comms 2009-2020

3. STRATEGY: KEEP IT SIMPLE
CIFOR has developed a “highly sophisticated digital communications
delivery system that could be a model for DFID projects.”
David Talbot, founder of Salon.com and a pioneer of online journalism

4. 561% increase in clicks on Twitter
with followers up 15% at 53k
5.2 million reached with 2,000 posts on
Facebook. Fans increased 8% to 60k
9% increase of views on SlideShare with
a cumulative total of 1.5 million
23% increase in YouTube views at 242k
contributing to 1.7 million lifetime views
5% increase on Flickr with 3.4 million views
contributing to 18 million lifetime views
8% increase in website users to 436k,with 1.1 million
views including an 18% increase in library views
1,823 media articles about CIFOR, up 12%
with potential reach of 1.3 billion
42% increase in Forests News views to 972k,
Averaging 2.7k views per day
1.3m publication downloads, down 17% (corresponds
to decrease in publication production to 317).
100% increase in LinkedIn followers
to 22k with engagement up 40%
Domain Authority rank at 64, up from 62
5.4% increase in email subscriptions,
at 45k up from 43k
DATA, DATA, DATA

5. Subscribers/Customers not Users
Distribution by sector
Academia 4.232
CSO 5.980
Private sector 3.280
Research institute 1.959
Youth 4.286
Government 3.029
Media 2.070
Other 27.209
Distribution by region
Asia
14.882
Africa
12.393
Europe
10.018
North America
7.032
Latin America
4.981
Others
2.383
Australia
1.164
Oceania
275
Subscribers and email sent
Subscribers 53.144
Email sent 210
Open rate 31%
Click rate 8%

6. Publishing: Focus on the Best
Open access 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Total Open access Total Open access Total Open access Total Open access Total Open access Total Open access
Publications 511 393 (77%) 474 364 (77%) 411 301 (73%) 409 327 (80%) 398 327 (82%) 317 262 (83%)
Citations 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Google 9,999 9,896 11,156 11,194 10,932 10, 947
Web of Science 5,544 6.,243 7,388 8,604 10,026 8,356
Downloads 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Total PDF 868,067 988,521 1,540,634 1,479,959 1,541,721 1,281,498
If you think we are paying you to sit around and write publications for
each other to read, please think again: Norway Donor Rep at CIFOR Science Meeting

7. Journalistic approach;
Forests News
2018 2019
Subscrbers 440,222 668,073
VIEWS 722,748 968,651
ARTICLES 379 281
Traffic source
Users, views and articles
80,000 views per month

8. Take Risks, Innovate, Innovate, Innovate
Fourth website in 2020 will surface content more
effectively and add interactive features.

9. Leverage Conferences
GLF EVENT PHYSICAL ONLINE
Kyoto 418 2,000,000
Bonn 862 14,700,000
NewYork 763 25,000,000
Accra 795 17,000,000
Luxembourg 192 6,000,000
TOTAL 3,030 65,000,000

10. Traditional media hate PR
BBC, Deutsche Welle, Inter Press Service,
Kompas, Los AngelesTimes, Mongabay,
Reuters, SciDev.Net,The Conversation,
Economist, Jakarta Post, StraitsTimes,
CNN, Al Jazera…
(Meltwater)
From fire and haze coverage 20157000+ on media list, 150 countries
600+ journalists trained from 65 countries

11. Digital marketing:The New Frontier of Science Communication
Customer funnel
ACTIVATE GROW

12. Budget: How much is enough? (ROI,ROI,ROI)
20%
80%
Funding type Amount
Unrestricted $655,442
Project $2,563,935
Total $3,219,377

13. GLF: Join us
World’s largest knowledge-led forum on
integrated, sustainable land use
GLF has connected more than 4,900
organizations, 55,000 youth, 90 Governments,
190,000 people from 185 countries– reaching
330 million on social media and 411 million+
through global media, 26 Charter Members
The Global Landscapes Forum 2018
 Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
 The GEF 7 Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) Impact Program
 8,000 students registered on the Landscape Academy
 GLF 2020: Bonn, Kunming, Arusa, Glasgow, Luxembourg (5th Investment Case)

14. 73 million reach on Twitter, up 98%
with followers up 38% at 550K
12.5 million reached on Facebook, with
Fans up 36% to 506K
56% increase in website users to 5.9 million
users with 14.7 million views
8,479 media articles
4.1m publication downloads, with 3.4K
publications produced
93% increase in LinkedIn followers to
257K with engagement up 62% at 6.8
million
477 emails sent to 164K email
subscriptions
CGIAR Centers and CRPs by the numbers
11 CENTERS, 5 CRPS AND SMO - 2019
Includes KPI’s from Bioversity, CIFOR, ICARDA, CIAT, ICRISAT, IFPRI, ILRI, CIMMYT, CIP, ICRAF, WORLDFISH,
FTA, FISH, WHEAT, MAIZE, RTB, WLE and the SMO

15. cifor.org | forestsnews.cifor.org
foreststreesagroforestry.org | worldagroforestry.org
globallandscapesforum.org | news.globallandscapesforum.org
THANK YOU