How Social Innovators Promote Their Activities

Promoting a project is an important part of social innovation, but not every audience can be reached in the same way. Before planning any dissemination activity, it is important to understand its purpose and identify who you want to engage. Different audiences require different approaches, and effective dissemination depends on matching the right message to the right people.

The Social Innovation Match database is itself a dissemination tool. It helps social innovators connect with one another, but it also highlights the importance of engaging other stakeholders, including potential public and private funders, partners from different sectors or regions, and the beneficiaries themselves.

Engaging with beneficiaries

When the target audience is the beneficiaries themselves, successful engagement often depends on creating opportunities for direct participation. Rather than simply promoting a project, social innovators need to give people a reason to get involved.

For its project Herojaus kelionė (Hero’s Journey), the NGO Domus Solis uses a variety of events and workshops designed specifically to appeal to young people. These include Slam Poetry – a high-energy workshop where teens turn their stories into fearless poetry; Reel Voices – a creative filmmaking camp for young people with migration experiences; and Disco-19 – a surreal, humorous theatre journey that turned the chaos of the pandemic into art. Participants co-create characters, scripts, and scenes before presenting a live performance.

Ubuntu Schools promotes participation by ensuring that activities remain relevant to young people’s everyday lives, including school, relationships, and community. The project also involves educators and the wider school community through a whole-school approach. As Rui Nunes da Silva explains, “Meaningful participation does not result from external mobilization, but from internal and progressive engagement of participants…. an experiential and participatory approach, based on non-formal education dynamics (sharing circles, role-play, collaborative challenges) and a safe and relational space…promoting trust, active listening, and a sense of belonging.”

proBUDI VJEŠTinu engages participants through practical activities that allow them to directly repair, reuse, and upcycle wooden and textile products. Participants can see tangible results from their work through repaired items, newly created products, and services delivered to the community. The project creates an inclusive environment that encourages participants to develop skills and contribute ideas. Participants are not simply attending activities; they are actively involved in creating products, developing skills, and providing services. This not only increases engagement but also turns participants into ambassadors for the project, helping to promote activities through their own involvement.

Engaging specialist audiences

Some social innovations need to reach highly specialised audiences. The Hungarian National Social Innovation Laboratory’s tool to automatically identify metaphors in online texts about suicidal ideation is one example.

The project draws on scientific developments and technical innovation, particularly in the specialised field of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. As a result, a significant part of its audience can be found at academic conferences and workshops. At the same time, professionals working in suicide prevention are important potential users of the tool and play a key role in its social impact.

The challenge for the team was therefore to balance promotion of the project as a scientific endeavour with its practical application. As Dr Simon Gabór from the METALAID Research Group at Eötvös Loránd University explains, the process was phased across different stages: “the first results and the know-how in academic fields, then releasing the prototype of the tool for a broader audience, and finally demonstrating its application for the prospective practical users.”

International engagement

International partnerships can significantly increase a project’s visibility and reach. They can also help transfer successful approaches to new contexts and create opportunities for international funding.

Herojaus kelionė (Hero’s Journey) is a Lithuanian project working with partners in Sweden and France to transfer its proven methodology to other regions.

The Reminiscence with Museum project gains international visibility through the JADE Health project. This expands its audience and strengthens its efforts to promote cultural heritage as an officially recognised part of healthcare infrastructure. The project’s visibility has also been enhanced through public recognition, including the SozialMarie Prize for Social Innovation, the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Health Literacy Award, and the Museum Education Excellence Award. These accolades have helped increase awareness among policymakers and international peers.

Recognition and support from the French Minister of European Affairs has similarly strengthened the work of Collectif pour un service Civique Europeen and its ALMA project. International funding for transnational initiatives can help transform local actions into wider European efforts that contribute to systemic change.

Wider public engagement

Some projects need to engage a much broader audience. This often requires a combination of communication channels, including websites, blogs, social media, traditional media, and public events.

The Reminiscence with Museum project provides a strong example. It promotes its work through World Alzheimer’s Month campaigns, which aim to raise awareness, reduce social stigma, and encourage active mental well-being.

The project also partners with medical experts, including GPs, neurologists, and psychologists, to offer on-site mental health screenings and consultations. Collaboration with art and movement therapists helps demonstrate holistic approaches to care and strengthens cross-sector cooperation.

Alongside these activities, the project maintains direct engagement with families and frontline caregivers through Alzheimer Cafés, where people can access advice, information, and emotional support. The project also provides accredited training and has successfully integrated its methodology into formal university curricula for students of ethnography, museum education, museum studies, and rehabilitation environmental engineering.

Reaching your target audience

Dissemination is an essential part of social innovation, but the most effective approach depends on who you want to reach. The projects featured in the Social Innovation Match database highlight four main target audiences that shape both the channels used and the content shared.

• The beneficiaries themselves – crucial not only for participation but also for long-term engagement.
• Specialist audiences – particularly where scientific or technological expertise helps establish credibility and supports adoption.
• International partners – to extend reach, build complementary partnerships, and attract transnational funding.
• The wider public – to raise awareness of both the social challenge and the solution being offered.

Successful dissemination is not about reaching the largest possible number of people. It is about engaging the right audiences in meaningful ways.