The Shared Humanity Project
Telling the Story of Poverty’s Impact
Real poverty is almost twice what most people think it is. We helped this organization define its brand and communicate its solution to donors.
Services
- Discovery
- Brand Positioning & Messaging
- Visual Identity
- Donor Presentation
Exploring Poverty
We took a deep dive into the various definitions of poverty, measurement indices, history of poverty, and other aspects of economic need.
Developing Their Message
Donors need to understand why this organization’s perspective on poverty matters. We guided their team in crafting a clear description of their work and its impact.
We are passionate experts bringing decades of experience in programs that address poverty. This includes on-the-ground experience delivering programs in the most underserved and at-risk communities as well as decades of research on safety net and family support programs in public and private think tanks.
We are building a national movement to end poverty in the United States by redefining what “poverty” means, measuring it locally and accurately, and educating and engaging individuals and entities from all sectors to work together to eradicate it.
If it were your child or your parent who lived each day in poverty, with the constant stress that comes with never ending scarcity or the constant danger that comes with living in economically distressed communities, you would feel the urgency to solve it. We started The Shared Humanity Project because poverty is solvable when we bring the commitment, creativity, and appropriate priority. Our plan has specific actions that every person and every organization can take to help solve a crisis that affects every one of us, not just the more than 75 million Americans who do not have the financial stability to get by on their own.
To allow for millions of Americans to live in the scarcity of poverty when we have the knowledge and the resources to solve it is inhumane. To allow this to be the case, decade after decade is worse. Alternatively, when we ensure that every American has sufficient economic stability, we can transform humanity from what is to what can be, unlocking the potential of all Americans.
We aim to transform the way that society views and measures poverty and engage everyone in creating positive change. This effort changes all of us in qualitative and quantitative ways, uniting us and arriving at solutions, together. The long-term impact is a shared experience of life where our potential is realized rather than imagined.
For decades, poverty has been seen as an intractable problem, a “normal” part of American life. Yet it is solvable. We have done the research and built an organization to engage all sectors of society equally to tackle this issue. Our National Plan highlights the extent and depth of poverty in this country. It reveals the number of people living at 50% of median income in each county as a springboard to actions that people can take through our website. It provides an effective answer to the question “What can I do?”
Articulating Their Distinction
And we helped them articulate the core values that make this organization’s approach unique.
Comprehensive
We take a comprehensive approach that cuts across various silos (such as food, wages, housing, etc.).
Interconnected
We bring all sectors together to address this issue.
Practical
We provide a broad array of ways to make a difference and make it easy to take action.
Non-ideological
We offer a range of solutions independent of government support that do not take sides or favor particular ideologies.
Grounded in Research
Our solutions are based on decades of on-the-ground work and research.
Individual Action
We emphasize the shared responsibility of each of us to take action to address this collective societal problem.
Developing the Visual Identity
Visualizing the National Plan
Core to communicating the essence of The National Plan to End Poverty was creating a graphic that shows the audiences, issues, and actions to be taken.
Crafting the Story for Donors
The Case for Support takes donors on a journey. It describes the problem and challenges the norms of measuring poverty, yet it is hopeful. There is a solution.
SELECTED SLIDES SHOWN
We open with an emotional hook and introduce the problem.
Compelling comparisons and graphics help tell the story.
The solution is introduced.
We build the case for supporting a larger vision of societal change.
“Awesome work. Your thoughts and insights are fantastic – and I feel that way every time we speak.”
Mark Bergel, Ph.D, Co-Founder, The Shared Humanity Project
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