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Exposing Young People to Humanitarian Work

Presented to the International Rescue Committee

Annalisa Galgano ● Samar Alawami ● Vaishnavi Bala ● Vidhu Pasricha

Non-Profit Financial Management

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International Rescue Committee: Created 85 years ago with the help of Albert Einstein

Help people whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future through dedicated teams that provide clean water, shelter, health care, education and empowerment support for refugees and displaced people

GOAL

In 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities

FOOTPRINT

Global

  • Provided 1.6M children with opportunities to pursue education
  • Trained ~24k people on child protection, gender-based violence (GBV) and protection principles
  • Reached 1.2M people through efforts to raise awareness about human rights, protection and GBV
  • Supported ~27k village saving and loan association (VSLA) members who saved more than $1M
  • Supported ~16k schools, education centers, vocational training centers and safe learning spaces

USA

  • Served ~9k people through economic empowerment programs
  • Assisted ~2k children and parents seeking asylum in the U.S. and resettled ~5k refugees
  • Worked with ~8k volunteers in the U.S. who collectively provided more than 200k hours of service

2018 IMPACT

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Financial Highlights

  • Top rating ⟶ Earned Charity Navigator's highest rating of four stars, ranking it as one of the top 1% efficient and trustworthy charities

  • Surplus ⟶ Total operating expenses = ~$745M vs. Operating revenues = ~$744M

  • Able to pay debts ⟶ Assets are larger than liabilities ($373M > $150M)

  • Sufficient spending flexibility ⟶ 40% of assets are unrestricted, 35% are temporarily restricted, 25% are permanently restricted

  • Financially secure ⟶ $ 55M endowment

  • Efficiency in spending ⟶ 87% of operating expenses are program services

  • Lack of diverse revenue sources ⟶ 85% of revenue is contributed, 15% is earned

  • Moderate asset liquidity ⟶ Investments represent the largest asset at 35%, followed by cash at 25%

  • Long-standing donors ⟶ Supported by large globally-recognized organizations that donate $1M+ at an annual or semi-annual basis (e.g. BlackRock, Bloomberg, Citi, Google, Ikea, Pfizer)

  • Independent governance ⟶ Overseen by a board of directors with 31 voting members, 30 of whom are independent

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Client’s Request

One of IRC’s major donors, a mother of six children, is worried that teenagers today seem to have little empathy

She approached IRC about developing a program to expose teenagers to what is happening across the globe and is open to any ideas

IRC hired us to develop a set of impactful and creative ideas to achieve this goal

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Project Guiding Star

Utilize global issues addressed by IRC to foster teens’ empathy for others by increasing

awareness & engagement

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Postcards

Social Media Campaign

Storytelling Through Field Trips

Our Three Ideas

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Storytelling through Field Work Immersion

Program Objective

Immerse students in field experience, motivating them to learn more about the state of the world and develop empathy for others

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Storytelling through Field Work Immersion

Program Details:

  • Open invitation to students in grades 8 – 12 across the country to participate in 1-week, summer field experience program

  • Participation will entail going to 1 of 6 regions that IRC works in (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, USA) to gain experience in 1 of 5 areas of IRC’s work (economic wellbeing, education, health, empowerment, safety)

  • Program will recruit 100 – 150 students from high schools across the U.S. which will be subsidized in order to reduce financial burden and promote diversity amongst applications

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Storytelling through Field Work Immersion

Participation Directions:

1) Submit a 500-word essay on an area of interest (economic wellbeing, education, health, empowerment, safety) to demonstrate how participating in program can increase empathy

2) Evaluation of applications will be conducted by IRC staff who will select 100-150 students to participate in program in a region the organization works in (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, USA)

a. Activities on the field will include organizing educational games, recreational activities, learning through local art and music

3) Chosen students will have a portion of their trip subsidized, in order to remove the focus from the associated financial cost and place it on how participating will increase awareness and improve empathy

a. Cost of trip will vary depending on region the student visits

4) Upon return, students have a 30-day period to submit an article for the IRC’s “Latest” section on the website which will be further shared in online blog and e-mailed newsletter

a. Article must include:

i. Who you are and where you come from

ii. How participation in program impacted views on issue area

iii. How their level of empathy changed

iv. Plans to further relevant work within their community

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Storytelling through Field Work Immersion

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • Direct interaction with IRC students

  • Long duration (one month)

  • Reflecting on the experience through story-writing

  • Subsidizing program costs for students promotes diversity amongst participants

  • Stories can be used by IRC for its own communication purposes

  • Targets a limited number of students each year

  • Will require a grant to subsidize the program for participants

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Social Media Campaign

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30.2 million of U.S. teens (72%) use Instagram

Pew Research Center

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Influencers

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Influencers

Why do teens trust & follow Influencers?

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Influencers

Example: Malala Yousafzai

  • Engaging�
  • Personal�
  • Profiles teen activists & displaced youth

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Influencers

Cost

Reach

$1000 per 100,000 Followers

Stories: 5.8% of Followers

(Roughly 5.8 people per $1)

Could be free!

(ex: Game of Thrones cast� are “IRC Voices”)

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Power of the Crowd

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Power of

the Crowd

Example: VICE “You know you’re a scorpio when….”

  • Engaging
  • Personal & communal
  • Active!
  • Global

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Publications like VICE get 3-4 million views on Snapchat Discover stories everyday.

Based on available data from Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, and Wave magazines

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@theIRC

“The global issue I care most about is…”

“I support refugees because….”

“My message to Hurricane Maria survivors....”

“I’m an activist because…”

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Snapchat Discover

Cost

Reach

Discover page: $50,000 / day

3-4 million

(Roughly 60 people per $1)

Consider partnering �with an existing channel� (Teen Vogue, VICE, etc.)

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Postcard Program

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  • Simple
  • Scalable
  • Low-cost
  • Direct engagement with IRC
  • Can be digital or in-person

Postcard Program

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Cost: Postcards, Social Media Campaign, Field Trip

Immersion: Field Trip, Postcards, Social Media Campaign

Program Effectiveness: Field Trip, Postcards, Social Media Campaign

Ranking of Proposal Ideas

Ranking of Proposal Ideas (least expensive to most expensive):

  1. Cost
  2. Immersion
  3. Program Effectiveness

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Postcards

Social Media Campaign

Storytelling Through Field Trips

Our Three Ideas