It’s important to think carefully about the way you present your fundraising.
We want all our fundraising to reflect our broader values as a community:
- Totally inclusive to all ethnicities and genders
- Offering support based on ‘doing it together’. We see our fundraising as a form of solidarity among equals, rather than a patronising hand-out
- We’re not here to ‘save’ anyone. Instead, we will use our ears to listen, our voices to amplify and our thighs to raise money that will support solidarity work by refugees and other people on the move
These values are especially important to remember when it comes to using images as these can have a strong emotional impact.
Here’s what MASS Action say about the photos and video they use on their social media:
The photos we use aim to represent the agency and power the people in them have, despite the context.
All the visual content is used with permission and consent from whoever is in frame.
Since children cannot give full consent we will not assume they want to be the face of a fundraising campaign.
We want to move away from existing humanitarian tactics that fetishize migrants and asylum seekers, and we believe the use of children’s innocence and trauma has been a big part of this.
Old-style fundraising campaigns reinforce messages of white saviourism and paternalism. Instead, we ask you to focus on positive messages of solidarity and power.
For more ideas around how to frame your message, see the Mass Action website.
If you’re not sure about something, please get in touch. Nice one!