Digital Storytelling Notes:
The team was scheduled to attend an online seminar about the topic.
Topics: Content and Capacity
1.The Hero’s Journey
The Heros in his ordinary world
The call to Adventure
Crossing the Threshold into the journey
Face Challenges
Gets Aid/Help from Friends
Turning Point of Story
Transformation of the Hero
End/Return to the Hero
2. Why Do Stories Matter?
Stories are humanity’s way of interacting and connecting
Ability to have social impact
Steps of a Story:
Status Quo & First Steps
Obstacles & Allies
Breakthrough
Impact & Call to Action
Complete at least 3 out of 4 (i.e. social media, email, videos, etc.)
Examples: interviews of volunteers, employees, people helped, GradPlus students
Have a need and understand the solution
5 Pillars of Digital Storytelling
Strategy - audience & objective
Capacity - compelling & strategic goals
Content - change it up
Platforms - where stories are told (i.e. social media, email, website, etc.)
Evaluation - see what works where
It is not what you do, but why you do it
Use 5 “whys” as a focusing strategy
In a meeting or facing a roadblock, ask “why why why why why” and a solution/answer might arrive
3.Strategy
Who am I talking to?
What’s the overall message?
What should people think, feel, and do?
What does success look like?/ What should my outcome be?
Getting money/donations, acquiring new donors, having an emotional effect?
Make it meaningful
What should a storyteller be?
Diverse voices
Credible & relateable
Consider community norms and ethics
4.Content
Photos & videos
Data & statistics
Short-form of longer stories w/ quotes
Long-form narratives or reports
5.Narrative Framework
People served
40/60 Rule: 40% creating 60% marketing
Who, where, what do I want them to do?
6.Tools to Use
Storytelling for Good
G-suite for Google Photos
Google forms & Surveys (goes into Google Sheets)
Canva
www.squish.com (for pictures)
7.Good Story Tellers
Humans of New York (Instagram)
The COVID-19 outbreak has delayed the team in discussing the development of Raise the Children campaign. Before we had to work remotely we brainstormed ideas.
Children deserve to be children.
Slogan Choice:
Which _____ would you choose? Some don’t have a choice.
“Children deserve to be children”
Child Laborers
Children worrying if they still have tomorrow
Children taking care of other childrens
Embrace Relief’s “Raise the Children” campaign was created to provide children in orphanages with a better quality of life. This project will provide orphaned children with food, clothing, hygienic products, school supplies, and healthcare. Additionally, we can cover the costs of the orphanages’ bills such as gas, water, electricity, and more. Through our work, we can decrease mortality rates amongst children, give them sound mental health, and provide a better and brighter future. This campaign can preserve the innocence of a child by ensuring they are worry free in their living environment. Together we can ensure children the right to be children.
Impact from this project - 5 sentences
Decreased mortality rate of children
A Sound Mental Health -- show the difference of behavior between a child who has a good role model vs a child in a vulnerable environment (animated?)... ACE study?
Better and brighter future
The positive domino effect it can have to the child’s future family (we are not only changing one child’s life but also the life of their future family) -- we can portray this with a child growing up and show how their future unfolds with the donor’s help
Life is like a wheel, it goes round & round, 360 degrees, we’ll never know what can happen. We, or our children, can definitely be in their same position tomorrow.
“Every child deserves a fifth birthday.” -- In 2018 alone, an estimated 6.2 million children and young adolescents under age 15 died, mostly from preventable causes.
The estimated monthly budget for one orphanage is $1,200:
Alimentary - $901
Products for nourishment, including beans, rice, maize flour, wheat flour, sugar, cooking oil, and various spices
General - $180
Coverage of costs for general necessities that benefit the function of the orphanage, including gas, charcoal, water, and electrical bills
Hygiene - $119
Items for personal and overall hygiene, including products such as bath soap, powdered soap, toothpaste, and disinfectant
“Your donation can buy ___”
“You can provide ____”
3 Orphanages have 40/60/20 children
$180 can cover bills for an entire month
$100 for 2 weeks/$50 for 1 week
$$$ can provide water, light, heat
$119 can cover hygiene for all children
$60 for half (20/30/10) of children/$30 for ¼ (10/15/5) of the children
$$$ can provide a toothbrush, soap
$901 can cover food for all children
$450 for half (20/30/10) of children/$225 for ¼ (10/15/5) of children
$$$ can provide a hot meal
Mention that small donations still go towards the whole
**Add statements anywhere to help donors see where their money goes
Add statements like:
Because of you…
With you… (describe great things that are possible)
Without you…
You’ve given hope to…
If you use “we” repeatedly is used it feels less personal so refrain from saying
“Because of you, we can provide a child with a meal” → “Because of you, a child can eat”
Donors want to be the hero of the story, not a rung on a ladder
Project ideas:
Shoot a video showing the orphanage and saying what their donation can be used for ( e.g. a bed, food, desk, clothes, etc.)
Someone on camera pointing out different areas of the orphanage that would be different if they got these items
“Without you children may be worried but because of you they have no need to fear”
(We have a picture of children on a mattress on the ground with 1 blanket) here a child could be sleeping in a bed with blankets and pillows provided by you
Look at this scarce food pantry, you could fill it with beans, rice, maize flour, wheat flour, sugar, cooking oil, and various spices
At these desks, students would be sitting and studying with school supplies provided by you
Because of you, a child can sit at this table and eat a meal
Show the hygienic practices for the children “these children could be brushing their teeth with supplies you’re providing them with” “children can get sick easily, by providing them with soap you’re keeping them healthier for another day” “disinfectant that you provide the children with will aid their health”
Estimated monthly budget should be captured in video and thoroughly explained.
With you children don’t have to worry about their next meal
This will allow a donor to actively SEE what their money is going towards
Small donations still go towards the whole
Children could draw their dream instead of just answering the question “What is your dream,” take a picture of them drawing their response and of their drawings
Drawing might be an easier way for the children to express their dreams so they don't need to use words as much (they might not know how to put their dream into words)
Ask them a question like “How are you?” and let them answer on their own. Do not fabricate their story. Ask a 5 y.o., 10 y.o., 15 y.o., (available age range at orphanage)
This is a different question than what they might be typically asked and it could show how each child is actually doing
Witnessing these children actively displaying how they feel in their current situation will resonate with donors
Video: “What is it like to live in ________ orphanage?” Ask a child this question and then show the environment of the orphanage where the children are living in.
A day in the life type of video
Show where they sleep, where they practice hygiene, where they eat, where they study, where they play, etc.
This project will allow donors to
Donors can feel empathetic about the children in the situation
Video: Different adults holding a birthday cupcake and they’ll be asked “What’s your birthday wish?”
They’ll all answer with regards to children’s welfare (e.g. children are safe, there are less children in the orphanage, there are less child laborers, etc.)
Switch back and forth to showing the real life orphanage situation between each phrase that relates back to what the adult said (e.g. “there are less children in orphanages” and it fades to a photo of the number of children in one of the orphanages we work with)
One adult saying “children are safe” and it could show children in the orphanage sleeping soundly under a blanket
An infographic based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a pyramid with stairs on the side showing an orphan stuck at the bottom bc their most basic needs are not being met and other children higher up at different levels because their basic needs are met (by age 4 the first two levels should be met already)
This hierarchy of needs is a classification system which shows the universal needs of all people
The levels consist of: 1 physiological needs → 2 safety and security → 3 love and belonging → 4 self-esteem → 5 self-actualization
The lowest level of the pyramid is physiological needs (universal human needs)
These needs need to be fulfilled before other levels can be pursued
If needs are not met, the individual may experience displeasure in life
Physiological needs consist of: health, food, water, sleep, clothes, shelter
An animation of a child growing up and showing how their future unfolds with the donor’s help
Portrays positive domino effect on child and their future (generation after generation affected)
Display a young child receives food, clothing, school supplies, hygienic products, healthcare, access to electricity, etc. and grows to be educated and have a family of their own who they supply these same necessities
Portray the adult donating money to the same orphanages that she grew up in
Portray the original donor as the person who helped this child become the person they became later in life
$10 for 10 days video campaign
Other Video Ideas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=132&v=CdGcfnxskoE&feature=emb_title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=064ipuBiWDg&feature=emb_rel_end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=144&v=L9O8j9QPZc8&feature=emb_title
Maybe we can use the song “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan as background music?
This program provides children with:
Food
beans, rice, sugar, wheat flour, maize flour
Clothing
School supplies
Hygienic products
bath soap, powdered soap, disinfectant, and toothpaste
Healthcare
Access to electricity
Possible concepts for comparison pictures:
1. Food
One child sitting with a full plate, eating happily
One child sitting with an empty plate, looking upset
2. Clothing
One child standing by a closet full to the brim of all types of clothes
One child standing with no closet and just a pair of old worn out clothes
OR
One child standing wearing a brand new outfit (maybe with tags on still showing they are brand new)
One child standing in a worn and ruined outfit
3. School supplies
One child sitting at a desk with a wide array of school supplies (pens, pencils, highlighters, notebooks, etc)
One child sitting at a desk with an old used up pencil and some pieces of notebook paper
4. Hygiene products
One child brushing their teeth at a sink, bar soap and liquid hand soap are there, disinfectant spray in the background,
One child washing his hands in the bathroom with no soaps, no disinfectants, sink might be dirty
5. Healthcare
One child sitting at a doctor’s office with a thermometer in their mouth
One child at the orphanage coughing, maybe with a hand on their forehead showing they’re sick
6. Electricity
One child sitting in the light, happier, the background is light and cheery
One child sitting in the dark, bleak, the background is darker and the tone is sadness
Extra Ideas
7. Celebrating their birthday
One child with a big cake, a big celebration, a ton of candles
One child with something small, maybe one candle
8. Toy Differences
One child sitting surrounded by a lot of toys happy as could be
One child sitting with the dangerous homemade toy that could give them tetanus
9. Safety and Security Feelings
One child sleeping with a night light in the safety of their home
One child sleeping on a tattered mattress on the cement ground, in the dark. (https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KhOsQS9IzubKy6O5uCKEJOtO8i_b9YVk)
10. A Sound Mental Health (based on Bea’s version)
One child standing happy, cheerful, and with their family
One child alone clearly upset, crying
11. Attention Received
One child surrounded by several adults all tending to them somehow, a lot of care and attention
Many children surrounded by one (or only a couple) adults, not much attention to each child
12. Activities for Fun
One child clean and pristine in a soccer uniform with all the equipment needed, a water bottle, and a healthy snack
One child with the worn clothes they wear daily, a worn down soccer ball and no uniform or other equipment, no water bottle,
13. Water Access
One child filling a cup of water at a sink
One child filling water from a hole in the ground (Ref: (https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1XT1AJ-7hCmfzhJssTRENl7yTDu5DhrT8)
Comparison Photo Sketches:
Notes:
Currently working on captions that will capture the situation and leave an impact on viewers.
Finding a way to establish an ER brand and consistent appearance. Here are some well-known billboard campaigns we can draw inspiration from: