Communicating in a Polarised Environment – Insights and practical strategies for philanthropy communications professionals

How can philanthropy communicators navigate division, misinformation and declining trust? This practical guide equips philanthropy communicators to navigate division, misinformation and declining trust. It offers strategies to reframe messages, engage diverse audiences and foster dialogue across ideological divides. It invites communicators to critically reflect on how their own practices may contribute to polarisation and how to shift towards empathy, clarity and bridge-building.

Overview

For communications teams working in complex, polarised contexts, this guide provides practical tools, reframing strategies, values-based segmentation and futures-thinking, to navigate with clarity, empathy and confidence. It encourages moving beyond persuasion toward restoration and co-creation, enabling more inclusive and emotionally intelligent engagement.

Drawing on themes like truth decay, affective polarisation and values in transition, it showcases innovative practice for communicating in complex socio-political environments. It fosters shared practices and narratives that help the sector connect across divides. Through team exercises, crisis scenario planning and ethical reflection, it supports foundation capacities to respond to reputational risks, misinformation and cultural shifts, so the sector remains adaptive, principled and united.

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Key takeaways

What not to do when communicating in a polarised context:

  • Don’t reduce complex issues to “us vs. them.”
  • Avoid crisis-only messaging that fuels fear instead of reflection.
  • Resist outrage-driven storytelling—it attracts clicks, not consensus.
  • Don’t mistake online likes for real public trust.
  • Skip insider language that alienates those outside your bubble.

What to do when communicating in a polarised context:

  • Lead with empathy, listen as much as you speak.
  • Create spaces for dialogue: forums, town halls, storytelling circles.
  • Embrace complexity: people can hold multiple truths.
  • Humanise, don’t caricature—show the full humanity of “the other side.”
  • Start with listening, ground campaigns in real evidence, not assumptions.
  • Review your messaging for hidden polarising phrases.
  • Anchor communication in shared values: autonomy, safety, dignity.
  • Use entertainment (humour, drama, creative formats) to make big ideas stick.
  • Partner with influencers, storytellers and peer networks to amplify trust.
  • Rehearse crisis scenarios and monitor shifts in public discourse.
“Communication isn’t about ‘winning’ or changing minds. It’s about building shared purpose, collective agency, and understanding across divides.”

“Polarisation is not inevitable, it is an outcome of communicative choices, both individual and institutional.”

“Communications professionals can contribute to rebuilding the “public space” – that vital, dynamic arena where diverse voices come together in disagreement, collaboration and co-creation.

Background

The report is a product of the Communications in Philanthropy Community of Practice, and was created to support communications professionals with the practical tools needed to shift from persuasion to restoration and co-creation.

Contact

Bárbara Ortega
Programme Officer
barbara.ortega@philea.eu