February 22, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Donors who travel overseas with one international-relief group receive a lasting keepsake that not only reminds them of the charity’s work in developing countries — it also helps them persuade others to
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support the group’s efforts to help poor families.
Opportunity International, a Christian organization in Oak Brook, Ill., that provides small loans to needy families in 30 countries, asks supporters who give $5,000 or more annually to participate in an “insight trip” and to pay their own travel expenses, which range from $1,500 to $2,500.
Three years ago, Wendy Cox, the staff member who manages the program, began creating homemade scrapbooks to give to each traveler a few weeks after returning home. She designs them on her laptop and prints and binds each one in the organization’s office, so the costs are minimal.
A typical book consists of a narrative written by Ms. Cox that describes the trip taken by the donors, including the itinerary, pictures of places they visited, photographs of donors with beneficiaries of the charity’s services, and the stories of the people they met. She also includes humorous situations or jokes that come up during a trip, to remind people of the fun they had traveling together.
Opportunity International invites donors to a gathering to present the book and share memories of the trip, and mails the scrapbooks to donors who live too far away to attend.
Anne Collins, a former social worker who has taken three trips with the organization, has, like many others, increased her donations and recruited friends to support the charity after seeing its work overseas. She says that she uses her scrapbooks when speaking with friends about the organization’s work. The books also help her remember her travels.
In looking at one scrapbook, for example, Ms. Collins is reminded of a Nicaraguan family that received aid from Opportunity International. The mother operates a business out of her home, making candies and tamales that she sells at the local marketplace. “After seeing the pride they had in their business, it really made me a believer,” Ms. Collins recalls.
Another donor told Ms. Cox that his scapbook was his “greatest tool to share our work with his friends,” she says. He asked for five additional copies to give to potential donors.
