Last year was a doozy for both the fierce advocates pushing people-powered policy and the communications practitioners adapting our work to an ever-shifting media and digital landscape.
Scroll on for a roundup of our 10 most-read resources from last year. We hope these insights will help your communications and storytelling.
Water messages that bridge divides
Last year, we joined the Environmental Polling Consortium and American Rivers Action Fund for a conversation on the state of public opinion on water. The TL;DR? Center safety and thriving families in your messaging, describe specific projects and benefits, and localize your language to reach your intended audiences. Get our tipsheet here to put this work into practice.
What do we do now? Water communications in Trump times
At the beginning of the year, our Managing Director, Nicole Lampe, shared her thoughts on how we can ground and focus in the wake of the election. She reminded us that water is a unifier, and we can still advance awareness and care with the right message, shared values, and belief that a better world is possible.
National voter poll on resilience, infrastructure, and drinking water
In 2024, we released polling on how voters feel about drinking water protections and the importance of investing in our infrastructure. Some gems included how water and sanitation topped the list of voters’ infrastructure investment priorities, and that 82% of voters believe the U.S. should protect our land and water. While this polling data may not be our NEWEST, it still ranked as a favorite with our readers. Check out the memo to learn more about our findings.
Water utility-community guide for communications
We partnered with Rogue Water Lab and the Junction Coalition to release a new tool for both water utilities and community members to improve communications. Growing trust is a must for better water systems and projects. Read our guide and webinar recap on our blog for best practices and case studies.
Issue briefing: AI, data centers, and water
Data centers are a hot topic for climate and water advocates, and with good reason. Our colleague, Sussan Garcia, wrote up an issue briefing explaining the water impacts, community concerns, and the opportunity for transparency and regulations as we navigate this new technology revolution.
5 takeaways from #TeamWater’s $40M influencer campaign
YouTubers, MrBeast and Mark Rober launched the #TeamWater crowdfunding campaign (benefiting organizations including our friends at DigDeep) last year to deliver clean water to communities, engaging thousands of influencers around the world. Water entered the chat sometimes for the first time, reaching audiences interested in food, Disney, cars, and many other niches outside the echo chamber. Mainstream media also picked up the campaign, including The Today Show and Newsweek, elevating the work. Learn more on our blog.
10 water solutions stories to celebrate
Hope over fear. That’s what we need to win. Solutions stories in the news invite people to see water as life-giving and worth fighting for. Some of our favorite pieces included a Superfund cleanup effort, solar panels shading crops and saving water, and a free Klamath River. Check out the full list on our blog.
Defusing disinformation: How false water and climate facts spread
We hosted a roundtable with Media Matters’ Abbie Richards and Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition’s Phillip Newell to learn how to spot and respond to disinformation before, during, and after a media moment. Read more on our blog and get the guide for more on how to fact-check, use the fact-fallacy-fact sandwich, and how to protect your mental health (for real – this work is hard!).
Influencer engagement guide
Social media is now the #1 source of news in the U.S., taking over the top spot from TV for the first time. We also are struggling to reach people as 75% of “rigorous” journalism lives behind a paywall. At the same time, our opposition has flooded digital communities with misinformation designed to divide. Movement spaces haven’t kept up with the changing media landscape, but it’s not too late. As we already shared above, working with influencers is a powerful strategy to educate people traditionally underserved or disengaged by legacy media. How to get started? We have a guide for that! Check it out and learn more from one of our past campaigns here for a deeper dive.
State of resilience: Media, field, and opinion research
Buzzwords like “resilience” can be tempting to use as a catchall in our communications, but there are differences between how the term is used by big greens, who tend to lean on technical language, and community-based organizations, which more often focus on justice and joy. In this report, we share our research from combing through 25 websites, 22 months of media coverage, and various polls. Learn more in our full report here.
What's next?
Sign up for our Water Cooler newsletter to hear about our trainings and resources and follow us on LinkedIn, Bluesky, Instagram, and YouTube.