benefit
TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 6 8 9 10 11 14 16 18 19
Project Overview Strategy Target Audience Secondary Audience Tone Community Perspective Psychobiological Perspective Economic Perspective Consequences Reflection
BRAND IDENTITY 20 22 23 24 26 28
Logo Typography Color Palette Visuals Deliverables Information Included
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Sources
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Benefit is a process packet that gives you the tools to put on your own benefit events. Benefit events have multiple advantages and can raise money for beneficiaries in a community and in a more involved way.
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WHY?
Lately there has been an increase in charitable giving websites, like ‘Go Fund Me’ or ‘Just Give’, where you can share a link with your social networks and people can donate to your cause, as well as strangers who can find your fundraising campaign. These are great and can be helpful, but there is a certain connection lost within the people donating and the beneficiaries. Benefit events involve the community coming together to raise money altogether for one cause. Not only is this better for the community and more personal, there has been a lot of scientific research on the vagus nerve and how it responds to make us want to do good. Humans are wired to want to donate more when there is a more intimate interaction rather than through the screen of a computer. “The mere act of witnessing character, virtue, beauty, and truth tickles our vagus nerve, which stimulates oxytocin production and evokes in us, among other empathic behaviors, the desire to be better people living better lives.” (Mark Matousek). In other terms, you can activate the vagus nerve within people just by showing them acts of good/kindness. Benefit events help bring people
together and in turn, people will be activating each other’s vagus nerves through their behavior, which will result in better results. “…compassion isn’t simply a fickle or irrational emotion, but rather an innate human response embedded in the folds of our brains.” (Keitner)
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STRATEGY
Create a process packet that can be used to organize benefit events, which results in substantial donations for beneficiaries and helps the community build in the process. This will be done by giving useful tips and backing them up with research showing their effectiveness.
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WHY?
The mere idea of putting on a benefit event can seem intimidating to some, as they don’t even know where to begin, which Benefit can help with. Putting everything into a process packet makes it organized for the user. Another hope behind organizing everything into a laid out manner is that the information will be more straight forward and less open to interpretation from one’s own habitus. The information should be unambiguous and the point is not to let everyone take their own meaning. The process packet will help be more beneficial because of tips (p. 28) included in it, such as: “Use positive photos if any, as research is shown that “…overexposure to such pictures [negative photos, “horror” pictures] has seemingly led to desensitization or “aid fatigue,” perhaps lending further support to claims that negative emotions can have complex effects and that fear arousal is often negatively related to persuasion.” (Dyck & Coldevin).”
Using scientific research (like above) to give helpful tips and seem credible, and examples of past successful benefit events, a process packet is the
clearest and most beneficial course of action to take. The research also helps show that the community will help benefit events and vice versa because the more involved people are in a community, the more their individual giving is effected. All of this research will be underlying the reasoning included. People are more likely to give when they are involved in a group, like a community. As Eckstein puts it, “As group involvements tapered off, people’s social networks thinned. In this changed context, volunteerism became more individuated, fragile, and sporadic…” (Eckstein 830). So, in turn, community involvement helps give people a social network, and that social network also helps to motivate donations by making them more of a group effort and ensuring they will be more consistent.
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TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for Benefit is the people putting on the benefit events. Within this, there are two levels. There is both the corporate side (organizations, non-profits, etc.), as well as the personal side (people who have a closer connection with the beneficiary).
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WHY? Benefit is aimed to give people the tools to put on their own benefit events, which in turn makes it aimed at the people putting these events on. The whole process is designed to help them. The people putting on the benefit events are the ones who will be able to use this research to its fullest potential. There is the corporate side because often times, businesses, organizations, non-profits, etc. will put on benefit events, and typically to a larger scale because they have more funds. The personal side is necessary as well because often times, the people putting on the events are people who know the beneficiary and are more well aware of their needs and want to do something to help them.
SECONDARY AUDIENCE
A secondary audience that has to be considered is the community members that will be joining these events.
WHY? A main aspect to having a benefit event is having people there, and trying to set things up so that they will donate more. They are the people who will be donating their time and/or money, making it essential that we understand how people work and what makes them want to give. If you cannot reach out to the people donating, then there is no point to hosting a benefit event.
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TONE
Benefit will take a direct tone, while having a friendly undertone.
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WHY? People need to respect the research that has gone into this project, and that it is valid. No one is going to take anything seriously involving money if it is not direct and does not have evidence backing up everything. There will be evidence from scholarly sources giving confirmation that substantial research has been done. This is all within reason. There is such a thing as too direct, and there still has to be a friendly undertone with the rhetoric, as benefit events themselves are intended to be friendly and personal.
COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE
As previously mentioned, there is a heavy sense of community within benefit events, and encouraging the community aspect cannot only be favorable for the beneficiary, but the community as well.
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WHY?
Bennett writes that “…a sense of belonging to a community generated feelings of sharing in the benefits accruing to the group, and hence a desire to contribute to its general welfare.” (Bennett 13). Belonging to the community has its perks for beneficiaries because the community will feel as if they are really assisting the general well-being of the community as a whole by assisting a beneficiary within the community. This helps build the community as well because of the need to take pride of your community, and it will build stronger relationships. Communities are a lot smaller than nations, but some research on nationalism is also valuable to look at because nationalism, in a way, is a community at a much larger scale.
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“Benedict Anderson, another well-known theorist of nationalism, provides a very different definition, suggesting that the nation is “an imagined political community—and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.” By “imagined,” Anderson does not mean “unreal”; he simply means that nations are communities in which people believe there is a connection between them and the other members of that nation, even if they have never actually come into contact with those others (as, indeed, most people in a nation never will)… More importantly, Anderson’s definition highlights that national identity is not simply racial or territorial or economic or political; it is also psychological. People identify themselves with national groups, and that is part of what makes those national groups real. We envision connections between ourselves and the rest of that national group. These connections do not have to be historically “true”; they simply need to be psychologically real.” (Searle-White 52, 53).
This quote takes another turn and looks at how we don’t even necessarily need to be directly involved with our community, it is more of an ideal that you envision yourself being a part of. Your involvement does not have to be direct, it could just be that your definition of community is living in the same area, going to the same schools, going grocery shopping at the same store, etc. It’s simple things that people tend to psychologically identify with, and this is all a good thing. It’s a positive thing that people feel like they are a part of a group, and that they will feel more confident donating their time or money to someone within the community.
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PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
There has been extensive research done on how humans are made to want to be compassionate. There are certain triggers that can activate someone’s compassion and empathy.
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WHY?
People want to be compassionate, it is within us and there are ways to activate it. “Compassion and benevolence… are an evolved part of human nature, rooted in our brain and biology, and are ready to be cultivated for the greater good.” (Keitner). We can activate our compassion in multiple ways, and once it is stimulated, people can connect with one another more and the need to donate is increased because you can sympathize with the beneficiary and want to help them. It is essential to look at how these feelings can be created. Keitner writes how taking the perspective of another being is one of our most human capabilities and “When we take the other’s perspective, we feel an empathic state of concern and are motivated to address that person’s needs and enhance that person’s welfare, sometimes even at our own expense.” (Keitner). What you could take from this is that if you show what the beneficiary is going through, and why they need donations, you are more likely to let the event participants take a look at life through the beneficiary’s perspective and feel empathy towards them.
Once someone feels empathy or compassion, it is likely to continue. Keitner also wrote, “…when people perform behaviors associated with compassionate love…their bodies produce more oxytocin. This suggests compassion may be self-perpetuating: Being compassionate causes a chemical reaction in the body that motivates us to be even more compassionate.” (Keitner).
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ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
Though it is not the main focus, money is a crucial piece to benefit events, as it is the goal to raise money for the beneficiary.
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WHY?
A glance into how people spend their money, and why, can help understand why someone would want to donate. Happiness comes into play with most research comparing prosocial and personal spending. There’s a misconception that personal spending makes the individual happier than prosocial spending (spending money on a gift for someone else or a charitable donation). Science Magazine conducted an experiment where they first asked a sample of people to “…rate their general happiness, to report their annual income, and to estimate how much they spent in a typical month on (i) bills and expenses, (ii) gifts for themselves, (iii) gifts for others and (iv) donations to charity.” (Dunn, Aknin & Norton). The results from this found that greater happiness was found with higher prosocial spending, meaning that people who spent more money on others were happier. A new sample was afterwards asked which kind of spending they thought would make them happier, finding that “…participants were doubly wrong about the impact of money on happiness.” (Dunn, Aknin & Norton) It is important to know
that people find spending money on themselves will make them happier, even if that is not the case. Knowing this, we can incorporate it into the planning of benefit events. Giving people things to purchase at benefit events, where the proceeds go to the beneficiary, combines prosocial spending and personal spending. It can be a attraction to the event, and once they are there, because of already thinking of their psychobiological views, they will then see the perks of prosocial spending.
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CONSEQUENCES
POSITIVE There are a couple positive outcomes that could happen with Benefit being successful, those of which are the following: —More people who are in need of help can have the resources they require to make it happen. —Communities can become closer through the experiences of benefit events. —Beneficiaries become involved and build more personal connections to their communities.
NEGATIVE It is harder to think of negative outcomes from giving people the tools to put on their own benefit events, but necessary to think about the implications. Possible consequences include: —Giving everyone the tool to put on their own benefit events could lead to too many benefit events and therefore, events would be less successful each time. —Slight chance that the wrong people could get their hands on these tools and take advantage of others and their compassion.
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BRAND IDENTITY
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LOGO
benefit 20
WHY? When creating the logo, I knew that it would need to be simple, clean, and friendly, making a typeface the best option. This typeface, Quaver Sans, possesses all of those qualities. It is clean and easy to read, which is necessary for Benefit because the audience is looking for that within the process packet, so the logo needs to represent the project as a whole.
LOGO EXPLORATION
Benefit
Benefit
Benefit
Benef it
Benef it Benef it
Benef it
Benef it
Benef it
Benef it Benef it
Benef it
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TYPOGRAPHY
Quaver Sans, Reg.
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU VWXYZ ! ? ; &
Adobe Caslon Pro, Reg. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU VWXYZ ! ? ; &
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WHY? Quaver Sans, as said, is clean and simple, as well as friendly. It’s inviting without being too over the top, and while still looking professional and presentable. Adobe Caslon Pro is a standard font and fits in with the identity of Benefit. A serif is easy to read and presents information without taking away from it. The type needs to be straight forward and Adobe Caslon Pro is just that.
COLOR PALETTE
C 100 M 87 Y 33 K 23
WHY?
C 63 M 23 Y 100 K5
Blue is seen as a very secure and friendly color. Dark blue, especially, is associated with power and trust. Benefit needs to establish a trust with its audience that we know what we are talking about and can truly help them.
C2 M 39 Y 89 K0
Green is often used as a calming color, as you find it in nature, so people connect it with balance and harmony. The green goes along with the blue to create a friendly atmosphere for Benefit.
C0 M 49 Y 62 K0
Orange helps warm up this color palette and give it more energy. The orange with the red tint helps balance out the color palette. These oranges are not as vibrant so to compliment the cooler colors and still help accent. 23
VISUALS
Images should be encouraged at all events. The best types of images to represent these benefit events are the less professional kind, the ones that everyone there could take.
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WHY? Images that look like the attendees of the event took them help show the more personal side to putting on your own benefit event. Not only this, but you can get a variety of perspectives. Even if it’s just volunteers going around taking photos, they will capture more candid moments of the event as a whole. The unprofessional photos help give the event more personality, and better reflect the atmosphere at these sort of events, which is more uplifting. If there is a way to get group shots, then that’s always a positive. Pictures that show how large the community is for these events only encourage more benefit events and better turn outs.
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DELIVERABLES
BOOKLET
WHY? What better way to make a process packet than to actually make a booklet with the information included in it. When planning, it is often easier to have actual hard copies of your resources instead of only referring to digital copies. This also makes it easier if there becomes a need for graphic organizers or anything of the sort.
E - BOOK
WHY? Not everyone likes to have printed versions, and having an ebook option makes it so that the information is more easily accessible and across all platforms. Not only this, but it also could be an easier way for some to find ‘Benefit,’ as a lot of people now look for ebooks first.
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WEBSITE
WHY? Websites are great at giving a place for people to go in order to get general information. There also has to be a place for people to go in order to purchase the booklet and e-book. Ideally, I think it could also be a great place for people to share success stories and helpful tips.
PAMPHLET
WHY? Another great way to establish branding and to promote the booklet is with pamphlets. There are lots of public spaces where people leave pamphlets and they could reach a larger population of people. The pamphlet would just give an overview of what Benefit is, and give some examples of how it could be helpful, and maybe a preview of the booklet, or one of the tips within it. 27
INFORMATION INCLUDED
The information included will have tips, such as the following, which are in no particular order. They are written in a way following all previous information. There is the tip, and then there’s some light reasoning behind why, as it will need to look neat, and not overwhelm the audience. There will also be visuals to compliment the information, along with more examples, as these are just the key ideas.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK PEOPLE TO VOLUNTEER
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WHY? When it comes to putting on benefit events, there is little room for shyness. Don’t be afraid to ask anyone and everyone to volunteer, because you will need help setting up and running the event. In a study done, out of 671 people, “...80 percent of those who were asked to volunteer actually volunteered their time.” (Bryant, Slaughter, Tax).
USE POSITIVE PHOTOS
WHY?
SOCIAL MEDIA
WHY?
Photos are helpful in showing people who the benefit event is for. It is better to show them being positive or what they could do with the money, for example. Research is shown that “…overexposure to such pictures [negative photos, “horror” pictures] has seemingly led to desensitization or “aid fatigue,” perhaps lending further support to claims that negative emotions can have complex effects and that fear arousal is often negatively related to persuasion.” (Dyck & Coldevin).”
It is important to spread the word! Using social media can be an advantage as it reaches a larger audience. Make a facebook event, or even a page if this event will be to a larger scale (where maybe it is put on annually for different beneficiaries, or if there’s multiple events for one cause, for example). You can post photos of the beneficiary, what they will do with the money, etc., and share this on multiple media platforms.
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INFORMATION INCLUDED
WORD OF MOUTH
WHY? Ask local radio stations if they can broadcast when your event will be taking place, and possibly more. The ‘Three Day Stampede,’ which takes place in Vermont every year, raises money to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. The local radio station 98.9 WOKO goes above & beyond and comes to the event and plays music for everyone, all while saying they are at the event and to “come on down,” which was all prefaced with them saying they will be there before hand so word got out before hand.
SOLICITATION IS NOT ALWAYS A BAD THING
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WHY? Solicitation can get a bad reputation, but it is in fact helpful and worthy of your time. Don’t be afraid to ask people, because it increases the chances that they will donate. “...actively soliciting contributions rather than passively presenting an opportunity to give increases the likelihood that people donate.” (Bekkers & Wiepking).
GIVE OPTIONS
WHY? In addition to the main event, there should be more opportunities to give, such as raffles, bake sales, etc. Not only does this give more chances for attendees of the event to donate, but it also gives more options and can reach more people with differing appeals. “...the more opportunities to give people encounter, the more likely they are to give.” (Bekkers & Wipeking.)
CONSIDER COSTS AND LOCAL SPONSORS
WHY? Creating benefit events does require some startup costs to put everything together. Good news is that if you can’t get these covered, and have no other options, the funds can cover the costs. This is a last resort though. Ask local businesses if they would like to help sponsor the event, and you can promote their company as well. Even if it is as small as donating cups that say the beneficiary’s name and the company’s name, everything helps.
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INFORMATION INCLUDED
REALLY GET PERSONAL
WHY?
CHOICE OF EVENT
WHY?
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Depending on their condition, the beneficiary may be able to come to the event. This is valuable in more than one way. First, it can really uplift someone’s spirits when they see how many people came to help them. Second, “Presence of a beneficiary strongly affects the social dynamics and motivations for helping behaviour...” (Bekkers & Wiepking). Even if the beneficiary can’t come, it is nice to have their family or close friends there to show people how much of a relief this is for them.
There are lots of types of benefit events, ranging from yard sales, to dances, to golf, to softball in the snow, and more. Basically any event you can think of can be altered to become a benefit event. If there is something the beneficiary is interested in, which can be used to plan an event, or can become an aspect of it, then that makes it more meaningful and adds another way for people to connect with them.
CREATE COMFORT
WHY? A lot of benefit events are held outdoors, and one thing to consider is that you cannot control the weather. Keeping that in mind, you also have to keep people comfortable. Consider last minute costs of tents to keep people covered, for example. People who are comfortable are more willing to donate. “Physical discomfort also discourages philanthropy. People are more likely to donate money to a charity when weather conditions are better.� (Bekkers & Wiepking).
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SOURCES
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso, 1991. Print. Basil, D. Z., Ridgway, N. M., & Basil, M. D. (2006). Guilt Appeals: The Mediating Effect of Responsibility. Psychology & Marketing, 23(12), 1035-1054. Bekkers, Rene, and Pamela Wiepking. “A Literal Review of Empirical Studies of Philanthropy: Eight Mechanisms That Drive Charitable Giving.” Sage Journals. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 31 May 2007. Web. Bennett, Roger. “Factors Underlying the Inclination to Donate to Particular Types of Charity.” International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing 8.1 (2003): 12-29. EBSCO. Web. Bryant, W. K., Slaughter, H. J., Kang, H., & Tax, A. (2003). Participating in Philanthropic Activities: Donating Money and Time. Journal of Consumer Policy, 26(1), 43-73. Dunn, Elizabeth W., Lara B. Aknin, and Michael I. Norton. “Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness.” Science Magazine 319.5870 (2008): n. pag. Www.sciencemag.org. Web. Dyck, Evelyne J., and Gary Coldevin. “Using Positive vs. Negative Photographs For Third-World Fund-Raising.” Journalism Quarterly 69.3 (1992): 572-279. EBSCO HOST. Web.
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Eckstein, Susan. “Community as Gift-Giving: Collectivistic Roots of Volunteerism.” American Sociological Review 66.6 (2001): 829-51. JSTOR. Web. Keitner, Dacher. “The Compassionate Instinct.” Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life. University of California, Berkely, 1 Mar. 2004. Web. Oct. 2014. Matousek, Mark. “Wired for Elevation: A Survival Tool for Self-Improvement.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Apr. 2011. Web. Oct. 2014. Searle-White, Joshua. The Psychology of Nationalism. 1st ed. N.p.: Palgrave Macmillan, n.d. ProQuest Ebrary. Nov. 2001. Web.
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