Taking people into your world
My daughter’s brownie troop gave a Build-a-Bear to a major in Afghanistan, and he has chronicled the bear’s life.
There are variations on this—Flat Stanley being a popular one—but the consistent, sound idea here is that people like to be able to picture themselves, or something personal of theirs, in places far away. It makes the world a little smaller, and their life experience a bit larger.
What is your nonprofit doing to take people into the world where you work? What personal ties are you helping them establish to the people you help? Are you blogging photos and stories from foreign countries, showing where their dollars went? Can you come up with a Flat Stanley donors can send and see in action, amid your work? Transport people with pictures or stories (thanks Beth) so they get the pleasure of seeing their mark in the world. It’s what we all want before we die - to know we made a difference and that someone, somewhere will remember.
Syndicate
Not a nonprofit story, but when I got my son from Cambodia as a baby, someone gave us a gift of a pair of red sneakers. We photographed the shoes all over Phnom Penh and at angkor watt. It was part of my webblog (albeit by hand) from 2000. The story helped lots of other people who were in the process of adopting children from foreign country - helped reduced some negative perceptions
http://www.cambodia4kids.org/shoes/index.html