Frameworks · Trust Condition Index

The Links Global Trust Audit

A Diagnostic Instrument for Communications Planning

Developed by Links Global · Based on Narrative Stewardship Infrastructure and Epistemic Re-Regulation Architecture

Read the framework · Part One: Self-Assessment · Interpreting your score

The method at a glance

How the Trust Condition Index is reached

The self-assessment below produces the same four-dimension reading our practitioners reach in a facilitated Trust Audit.

Illustrative readings cycle through the four published tiers. This is not a client result.Pause motionResume motion

01 · Evidence

Gathered by people

Facilitated audit sessions and the public record. A practitioner collects and weighs what the organization and its audiences say and do.

02 · Four dimensions

Scored by judgment

Institutional History, Opposition Characterization, Defensive Prior Strength and Information Environment, each scored against written criteria.

03 · Index

One number, 10 to 50

The Trust Condition Index sorts the reading into four tiers: Strong (40–50), Moderate (28–39), Low (16–27) and Severely degraded (10–15).

04 · Route

A recommendation

NSI, NSI with ERA elements, or ERA first. The practitioner writes the recommendation and stands behind it.

Part One: The Short Self-Assessment

For prospective clients | Estimated time: 20–30 minutes

How to Use This Assessment

This self-assessment is designed to give you an honest picture of your organization’s current trust condition before any communications work begins. It is not a test. There are no passing or failing scores. The goal is diagnostic clarity — understanding where you actually are, so that the work you do next is calibrated to the environment you’re actually in.

Answer each question based on what is true, not what you wish were true or what you intend to make true. The value of this instrument depends entirely on the honesty of your responses.

When you are done, your scores will produce a Trust Condition Index (TCI) — a score on a 50-point scale that indicates which communications framework is most appropriate for your current situation.

Take it now

Choose the description that is true today for each question. Your answers stay on this page. Nothing is sent or saved, and your Trust Condition Index appears when you reach the end.

01 Institutional History

These questions assess your organization’s track record of promise-keeping and disclosure reliability with the communities or constituencies you serve.

1.1 When your organization makes a public commitment — a timeline, a deliverable, a follow-up action — how consistently does it follow through publicly and on schedule?

1.2 When your organization discloses information to the public — about costs, timelines, impacts, risks — how proactive and complete is that disclosure?

1.3 How would the communities or constituencies you serve characterize your organization’s history with them?

02 Opposition Characterization

These questions assess whether current opposition or skepticism is about specific issues or about your organization itself.

2.1 When people oppose your initiatives, what does that opposition most often look like?

2.2 Have you run a similar initiative before that was rejected? If yes, how did the opposition compare across attempts?

2.3 How would you characterize the language your opposition uses?

03 Defensive Prior Strength

These questions assess how deeply communities have formed protective prior expectations about your organization.

3.1 When you announce a new initiative, what is the typical initial public reaction before any detailed information is shared?

3.2 How do community members respond when you correct misinformation about your organization or initiatives?

04 Information Environment

These questions assess the health of the information ecosystem in which your communications operate.

4.1 How would you characterize the current information environment around your organization or initiative?

4.2 How much do independent, credible voices — outside your organization — currently speak positively or neutrally about your work?

0 of 10 answered. Your index appears when you finish.

Interpreting Your Score

TCI 40–50: Strong Trust Condition

Your organization retains solid baseline credibility with your constituencies. The conditions for deliberative engagement are generally intact. Narrative Stewardship Infrastructure (NSI) is the appropriate framework — audience architecture, predictive insight integration, sequenced narrative design, and crisis-ready governance will produce meaningful results. Begin with a full NSI engagement.

TCI 28–39: Moderate Trust Condition

Your organization has working credibility but it is under stress. Some constituencies may be in a defensive prior state while others remain open. NSI remains the primary framework, but ERA elements — particularly predictability-first disclosure sequencing and pre-attached verification — should be integrated into your communications program. A facilitated Trust Audit is recommended before campaign design begins.

TCI 16–27: Low Trust Condition

Significant trust deficits are present and are likely affecting how your communications are received. A portion of your key constituencies may be operating in chronic defensive prior states. ERA intervention is indicated before communications campaign design. The work that needs to happen first is not messaging — it is trust-condition repair. A full facilitated Trust Audit engagement is strongly recommended.

TCI 10–15: Severely Degraded Trust Condition

Chronic, deep institutional distrust is present. Your communications are likely being received as confirmation of existing suspicions rather than as information to be evaluated. ERA is the primary intervention. A standard communications campaign will not close this gap and may widen it. Begin with a full ERA diagnostic engagement before any public communications work proceeds.

What Comes Next

Whatever your score, this self-assessment is a starting point, not a verdict. Trust conditions can be repaired. The right framework, applied to the actual conditions of your environment, produces different results than the standard approach applied universally.

If your TCI score is 39 or below, or if any of your individual responses gave you pause, we recommend a facilitated Trust Audit engagement with Links Global — a structured two to three session diagnostic that produces a full qualitative trust profile alongside the quantitative TCI score.

Schedule a conversation with Links Global →

Licensed edition

The Trust Audit is licensed material and is not offered as a download. The self-assessment above is yours to use for your own organization, on this page. For the facilitated Trust Audit, or to discuss use of the instrument beyond that, request a conversation.

Request the licensed edition

Ownership and use terms

Internal use only. No resale, sublicensing, copying, adaptation, translation or teaching others. No use to train machine-learning models. Brief quotation is welcome with attribution to Links Global and a link to linksglobal.org. The ownership notice must stay intact.

Read the full Terms of Use · Version 1.0 · 9 October 2026