While on my hunt for something to blog about, I came across The Jubilee Project. The Jubilee Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to tell stories that inspire change. They do this through the creation of PSA's, short films, and documentaries that are made in collaboration with non-profit organizations. These first goal of these short films is to draw attention to issues that need to be solved and organizations that are working to solve these issues. The second goal is to spotlight ordinary people doing extraordinary things, in the hopes that it will inspire and empower others to do the same. The belief of those working at The Jubilee Project is that doing good is contagious.
The organization got it's start when the founder, Jason Y. Lee, got to thinking about viral videos. There are viral videos that hundreds, thousands, even millions of people have seen - and let's face it, they're all pretty silly. The goal of the Jubilee Project became to create videos with a purpose, that would gain the attention of the masses in the same way. According to the website, 100+ videos have been created to date, with over 8million views.
My question to you is this - would you consider donating money to an organization that works to raise awareness for a cause over an organization that is working to make a direct impact?
Here are links to two of the videos made by The Jubilee Project. They're about six minutes each, and I highly recommend watching them.
http://jubileeproject.org/Home/skidrow/
http://jubileeproject.org/Home/fireflies/
Personally, I would consider making a donation to a group like The Jubilee Project. (This is being said without any financial information being taken into consideration, as I couldn't find any - I'm focusing more on the mission of the organization.) In order for change to occur, people need to first be aware of the problem. In order for an organization to raise funds, people need to be aware that the organization exists. The Jubilee Project exists to address both of these issues.
I think that The Jubilee Project is pretty great for a few reasons. First, they have come up with a creative way to draw attention to widespread issues - such as homelessness and autism awareness, which are the issues addressed in the two videos that I linked to. The goal of the videos is, very clearly, to create an emotional connection with the viewer. I definitely think they succeed in engaging the viewer on an emotional level. As we learned early in the semester when we watched two comparable videos back to back, an emotional response can be a powerful tool used to gain donations. This response by cause a person to donate to a cause immediately, or at the very least, look into the issue further and educate themselves.
Second, the founders of The Jubilee Project have combined their inherent skills and resources to create something that can inspire change in the world. I think that they've done an excellent job of creating this organization, which allows them to turn their individual passions into a philanthropic endeavor that spreads awareness about key issues.
For me, this was one of those situations where I had to differentiate between my heart and my head. I think, on an emotional level, the Jubilee project is great. They create cute, inspiring stories that generate sympathy. On the other hand, is this organization necessary?
ReplyDeleteEssentially, they are functioning as the advertisers for the nonprofits. A question we have to ask ourselves here is, are we simply creating a middleman? A large part of the job of nonprofits is spreading the word and making connections with the public. They have to do this regardless of the existence of organizations like the Jubilee Project. I wonder if it’s better to invest in larger non-profits with the intent of boosting their advertising and fundraising capabilities. An idea that was discussed in the TedX talk from last week addressed making a nonprofits pie bigger. In some regards, this might be better than supporting many little pies.
In Jubilee’s case, my number one concern is not the lack of financial information (I’m assuming that the costs for this project are comparatively low); it is the impact of those 100+ videos. I turned to Facebook and Twitter to gather some statistics to help me evaluate success. Admittedly, these are not a great source, however, they can provide reliable insight into an organization that thrives on social media. I uncovered that the Jubilee Project only had about 17,000 likes on Facebook and 6,400 followers on Twitter. This is a decent amount but extremely small relative to the 8 million views they received for their videos.
A comparison might be helpful. Humans of New York, while it isn’t a non-profit, is a project that thrives on social media and raises awareness about human diversity. The difference is just that this awareness isn’t necessary a vehicle for social change. In looking at Facebook, it is obvious that this is a large-scale endeavor, which has 4,211,989 likes. In addition to gaining recognition in other places around the world, it recently had a book published. If a non-profit geared toward awareness was of this magnitude, I believe it would be worth supporting.
Thus, I think this matter should be taken on a case-by-case basis. It is undeniable that awareness precedes change so we should, of course, have a means to “spread the word.” Yet, we need to know whether the non-profit that deals with awareness is absolutely necessary and whether the job would best be left to fully functioning and comprehensive non-profits.
(https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork)
I disagree with Kaitlin in regards to the popularity of the The Jubilee Project (and would say Humans of New York is exceptional). Eight-million views is notable, while a small amount of followers and likes is pretty understandable. I would presume that a decent amount of the followers are people supporting the organization because they are connected with someone tied to the organization (or are affiliated with it themselves). Personally, I don't tweet, but on FB I've only liked two charitable organizations or causes out of the many that I support, and one of them was only because it's led by my girlfriend's dad! On the other hand, the Fireflies video did go viral in my school for like a month or so. Teachers were showing it in class - and no they didn't then go and like or follow a page. This also means that for each of the views from my school, roughly 25 people had actually been watching it. Now the next thing issue is: did we actually do anything? Not as a school, no. However, this brings me to the point of this type of organization (after a quick story:).
ReplyDeleteAs a kid one of my mom's friends would babysit me a lot, and whenever we were in the car or walking around he would talk and talk and talk. I never really grew out of that "why? ... why? ... why?" stage of childhood, and I loved having someone who didn't mind answering these questions as best as they can. Pretty quickly chemistry and physics became a common topic, not directly, but one tangent would lead to another (and he had a degree in the stuff so he was best explaining things that way). At one point I told him there was no way I could ever remember this stuff (I'm pretty sure it was something inconceivably small and detailed like how glucose breaks down into ATP and what ATP does in the body); it wasn't the point though. He knew I wouldn't ever remember these things in detail, be able to recite them to others, what he wanted was to help my understanding of the world, and then later in life when the topic comes up in conversation or in class it would ring a bell. By introducing me to the topic and providing me with positive associations and a basic understanding of some topic he was hoping that I would pick it up better and be able to engage with it better in the future. That is the purpose of an organization like The Jubilee Project, and I can tell you with confidence that it works.
Awareness and early exposure to the importance of issues like Autism and Homelessness help youth or even adults to engage in the topic in the future. I don't necessarily think there should be awareness organizations requesting funding, however I would devote funds to awareness. Awareness of an issue primes someone to support an organization that addresses it compared to just hearing about the issue from an organization asking them for money. It gives something for someone new to an issue to bring to the table - maybe an acquaintance is talking about how they are going to a soup kitchen this weekend and it prompts you to share about a hunger awareness video that really touched you, maybe that leads to a bond, a friendship, and another person volunteering at the soup kitchen. Awareness is contagious and a prerequisite for fixing a problem, and thus I believe organizations like The Jubilee Project are essential in order to bring more people to take the first step in bringing change to our world.
I enjoyed reading this blog post for two reasons, Courtney. First, you provide a means of philanthropic giving that we have yet to come across in class/twitter/blogposts/etc. Also, you pose a question that can surely be approached from different angles: this can also be seen in the two comments above provided by Dylan and Kaitlyn.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I would most definitely consider donating money to an organization such as The Jubilee Project, over an organization that is working to make a direct impact. As I've argued many times before, there is no specific cause that you can donate to that is better than another. It is all dependent upon an individual's personal choices and preferences. Why should we be able to decide what and what is not a good cause to donate to? If I feel a specific compulsion to donate to such an organization inspiring to spread awareness then so be it. Also, we should take notice of the endless possibilities donating a cause such as The Jubilee Project may provide. For instance if we donate to such a cause that seeks to spread awareness then it will do just that-- eventually it can be seen by individuals who want to make a direct change. Thus donating to an organization that seeks to awareness can ultimately lead to donating to an organization that causes direct impact.
I watched the first video that you provided a link for. I was extremely surprised and even upset at myself for being so unaware of current situations in America. Having lived in California for two years of my life, I am upset that I had no knowledge of such a city as Skidrow. I am glad I watched this video and would love to watch and keep The Jubilee Project's videos running for the world to see. Hopefully these videos are the videos that can become viral. Change can start by watching a five minute video and The Jubilee Project proves just that.
The Jubilee Project sounds like a creative organization. They are trying to appeal to the masses through social media which is a great tool in today’s society. They are also recognizing ordinary people who make a difference trying to inspire others to do the same. I like the idea of the project and they way they are trying to target donors. Their short films can engage a viewer and create a stronger connection. I agree with Kaitlin though, that I would have to differentiate between my head and my heart because of the emotional appeal. However, sometimes emotions cannot be reliable. What if an organization isn’t using their money wisely but captured you emotionally and you donated to them but your money went no where? I need more information about the organization and wouldn’t be able to donate based on my emotions.
ReplyDeletePutting the emotional aspect aside, is this organization actually making a difference or is it just advertising people who are donating encouraging them to do the same? I don’t think I would donate to this organization because I think its just raising awareness and not really making an impact relating to a cause. If there was proof or evidence that this method was working then I would feel comfortable donating because then I know that the organization is making a difference. I wouldn’t be able to donate without doing some kind of research about the organization because I want my money to make a difference. While I do agree with Heawon, that there is no specific cause that you can donate to that is better than another, at the same time when it comes to two similar organizations I want my donation to go far.
I would love to see the Jubilee Project’s methods used more effectively to make a direct impact. I really do enjoy their videos and they draw a viewer in. I would just need more information.
The way I see it is that there are two types of giving micro giving and grant giving. micro-giving would be giving a very small amount of money to an organization or to a person anywhere from one to 50 dollars. It is the amount of giving that is not worth applying to grants for, and is characterized more by the fact that it is primarily used by people who are going to give on the spot. grant giving is when someone gives to an organization enough money that it would almost never occur other than in a grant. This would be what we are facing as a class. When "grant giving" there is a large need to research and understand completely where the money is going, since it is such a large amount of money. However, when micro-giving there is much less research needed, and required. In my opinion when giving small amounts research is not necessary, and all the work done when giving grants does not need to be done. You need to make sure that at least the heart of the organization is in the right place,but other than that one should be able to give to any organization a small amount. This is where I think organizations such as those these fit in.
ReplyDeletethe organizations that raise awareness and those that try to make people act better to others. Giving large amounts to these organizations is seldom acceptable, because when giving to organizations large amounts there should be a much higher bar to be put in front of them, and organizations that raise awareness or promote acting well without achieving actual results should not be considered. while giving small amounts all organizations an be considered and emotion and gut feelings can be used, but in any other time giving to an organizations which does not act for a specific goal is not only bad but could have been given to an organization which does much more important and specific help.