Donor responses to the voice of your story
Who owns the story, and why does it matter?
In this workshop, you will learn how donor audiences respond financially and emotionally to stories of poverty developed and told directly by the image subject in their own words, as opposed to so-called professional fundraising materials designed from within an organisation. Participants will discover how fundraising appeals led by the people they intend to help can raise more money and be more effective than those created by the charity itself.
The workshop will build on the ‘Who Owns the Story?’ research conducted by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and University of the Arts London (UAL) in 2022, in cooperation with Amref Health Africa. This pioneering piece of research saw two different appeal packs distributed to supporters and positioned them against each other, tracking live financial responses – the first time this has ever been tested by a charity.
The first pack was created by Patrick Malachi, a community health worker in Nairobi, Kenya, who controlled all editorial decisions, shot and selected the images, and told the story in his own words. The second was created by Amref with the help of a professional photographer, with copy created in the voice of the INGO. Guess which pack won?