Taylor Barksdale
ENG256
Dr. Licastro
We live in a world where the wrongful persecution of humans occurs on an insanely large level. People from countries such as China, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, Syria, Iraq, Nepal. and Somalia are constantly being judged, arrested, beaten and even killed simply because of a part of their demographic composition such as race, religion, nationality or political opinion. Those seeking asylum do not have as many resources afforded to them as refugees being they are not given the same protection as refugees who have applied for protection before arriving to the United States. This being said, any organization willing to aid asylum seekers needs to appeal to the most amount of possible donors.
AWE provides services to asylum seekers such as housing, employment, education, and providing a community for asylum seekers to gain ties to their community and one another. They are specifically targeting members of society who are in a financial position to contribute funds to help those seeking asylum. As many services as they offer, the current “Programs” page lacks in attracting possible donors to actually get excited about what their donations could possibly help with. I think that a revamped version of the Programs page would help to attract more donors, and help get them excited about donating to this cause.
On the Programs page, giving a more detailed account of what services are provided by AWE would help reach readers on a more personal level. With each service, warmer language could be used in order to make AWE sound inviting and not just “another charity”. Detailing the day of an asylum seeker could also complement these descriptions. Writing about an AWE asylum seeker waking up in an AWE provided housing unit, coming down to the center to receive educational classes, eating lunch with other AWE recipients and ending the day at a park with members of their community could be enticing and give people a real want to not only donate, but perhaps venture down to the center as well. Images of women engaged in these activities could give the page a multimedia advantage as well.
One really great example of how a website reflects how a Programs page could be done is Heifer International. They not only offer one Programs page, but several that cover one aspect of their services at a time. Heifer utilizes multimedia by providing images of people who benefit from the work they do, as well as use whitespace so the media on the page doesn’t overwhelm the reader. They also do an amazing job of not only focusing on the services they provide, but also by giving insight as to why those services are really helping the recipients as well as detailing the lives of those being helped by Heifer.
Bray, J.D. Ilona. “Which Countries Do Most People Granted Asylum in the U.S. Come From?” Www.nolo.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
“Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger And Poverty.” Heifer International | Charity Ending Hunger And Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
I think your suggestion for detailing an asylee’s day is a good idea. This could perhaps be used to highlight the struggle that asylees face in their day-to-day lives, or it could be used to show the relative humanity that a day in AWE is like. Additionally, a description of the day could display just how many resources AWE offers, which may seem impressive to potential donors.
This is a really good idea because it gives potential donors more insight on what occurs at AWE and really shows them that their donations are making a difference. I really like the idea of the interactive photos.
I like your idea that a program page needs to help make the donors excited and to show off everything that AWE is doing to help these women adjust to a new way of life. My only suggestions would be to make the page friendly to volunteers as well. They are the backbone of AWE and anything to help them or attain more would be a huge bonus!
I like the idea of detailing a day of someone there. It might be a little too much information to type out so a video might be easier.
Tying in the programs page from the Heifer website to model AWE’s from is a great idea. Your awareness that media should be more prominently featured but shouldn’t overwhelm the reader is important and should help give this work a strong direction! I think that based on the what you described, the AWE website would have a very personal touch and draw readers in successfully.
I feel it is essential in the possible recruitment of new volunteers that they are able to know about what kind of events are going on and how they can actively participate in the implementation and planning stages of them. The page now does not feel very welcoming and in all honesty, could deter people from helping.