Operation Shoebox (South Africa not the US troops version) has me sold – because they’ve understood that if you’re going to give to a good cause for reasons other than tax benefit or corporate responsibility, some of us like a little story. There’s a little more excitement in making a difference in one person’s life, than the usual guilt/sympathy donations filling up a big blobby charity fund unsure of where your money really goes.. especially when you read hairraising bits from Green, Inc.
World Vision got it right decades ago, instead of throwing out staggering stats that human minds have difficulty conceiving, they took pictures and told the stories of individual children caught up in a big complex mess, and asked not for you to donate, but to sponsor one child, whose story & pics could be shared with friends. You got reports and pictures of their progress and you could send stories and pics of your own back. It is still rolls on as a massive success even through the recession. Never underestimate the compound interest of social currency. Or our interest in heroic tales, particularly if we get to play the hero.
Animal rescue groups like African Tails or DARG know the conversion power of painstakingly telling each animal’s story. Habitat for Humanity is so moreish for volunteers because they’re on a mission to build one house at a time for families they’ll meet and can follow up on. [More on trackable giving with the stroke-of-genius Broccoli Project to come].
Unwieldy stats that aren’t contextualized into real-life promote monomyths and unfathomable problems that we have no human-scale connection to. Colouring in the context makes a world of difference. Single stories though can open doorways for surprise and engagement that crunch prejudice faster than any factsheet could ever do.
If you have the time for a little worthwhile distraction (18mins) Chimamanda Adichie’s TEDtalk is beautiful & potent on mythbusting through storytelling:
PS. the Heath Brothers (of Made to Stick) on skilling up to create gripping statistics, data takes on new life and utility when it’s nested in stuff regular human brains can make sense of. If you haven’t read the book at least read this. It’s well worth learning to wrap scary numbers in compelling tales to help others tap a little of their heroic alter-egos occasionally too.
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