In our last post we spoke about the power of photos as story telling tools.  Today I am going to take you one step further, and drag you into the story itself.

This is a tool used by the Red Cross to give us a graphic and emotional experience of someone else’s life by putting us in their virtual shoes.  This is an interactive presentation which involves reconnecting families.

“In 2013, 51.2 million people were displaced as a result of war, conflict or disaster and were counted as refugees, asylum-seekers or internally displaced people, according to UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report. An estimated 10.7 million individuals were newly displaced due to conflict or persecution in 2013. During this period, children below 18 years constituted 50 per cent of the refugee population.”

A  Family Reconnected takes you on the journey of a 13 year old girl who was separated from her family as they escaped from the war that killed her father and destroyed her village.

Nadine lived alone in a refugee camp for 10 years before finding safety in Australia. During that time she never stopped searching for her mother and siblings.

Follow the story through.

First:

We are first introduced to Nadine and her family, and describes what her normal life was like.

We are then introduced to the conflict in Burundi, including some horrifying statistics about death and separation.

The next slide tells of the night that the war raged through Nadine’s village and of their immediate flight.

Next:

We are given some “what would you do if..” questions to answer. They are cleverly designed to put us right there in Nadine’s place, wondering what to do and how to get her life back. She’s only 13 when she actually has to make decisions in response to these questions.

Life in the camp

In this stage we learn what life was like in a refugee camp all alone.  We are told about Nadine’s ongoing search for her family.  Again we are asked some “what would you do…” questions to boost our understanding and emotional involvement in the story.

Resettlement

This tells us of Nadine’s move to Australia.  How much further away could she be from her native land?

Red Cross

In this chapter Nadine discovers the Red Cross’ International Tracing Service.  We are introduced to the work that the tracing service does to reunite families.

Reunited

This story ends well. The family is eventually reunited, 17 years after separation.

As if the story wasn’t moving enough, it is supported with photos, interactive maps and videos so that we can immerse ourselves in the tale.

When you touch people this way – intellectually and emotionally – you give them a solid reason to donate to your cause.  Fundraising becomes easy because the story is irresistible.

If your not for profit is only small you may not be able to afford a sophisticated site like this one, but you can take the same principles and apply them to your own campaigns. You can’t separate marketing and fundraising, but you can use one to support the other.   How can you use this concept in your not for profit organisation?