June 19, 2009 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Angelina Jolie, arguably the charitable world’s most persuasive celebrity advocate, is helping the United Nations raise awareness about refugees ahead of Saturday’s Unicef World Refugee Day.
Ms. Jolie, whose charitable foundation recently gave $1-million to the U.N. agency for refugees, has recorded an online video to draw attention to the cause.
But Sharon Schneider, writing on the Philanthropic Family blog, thinks the video falls short.
“Refugees are the most vulnerable people on earth,” says Ms. Jolie, as the screen cuts to images of children in refugee camps and U.N. trucks delivering aid. “They deserve our respect. Please do not forget them.”
“Really, that’s it?” asks Ms. Schneider on her blog. “That’s the big payoff? ‘Remember them?’”
The U.N. should have asked Ms. Jolie to encourage people to take action, says Ms. Schneider. Ms. Jolie could have asked viewers to tell their friends about the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the U.N. agency that oversees refugee programs. Or she could have encouraged them to sign a petition, or become a fan of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees on Facebook. Of course, she could have also asked them to make a donation.
Or, Ms. Jolie could have asked people not to give, as celebrity spokesmen jokingly did in another video that Ms. Schneider highlights on her blog. In a video to raise money for private Oakwood School’s endowment, Steve Carrell, Jason Alexander, Danny DeVito, and other stars tell viewers not to give — unless, that is, they care about little things like their children’s futures.
“The video uses humor instead of dread, inspiration instead of guilt, draws out every possible excuse for not giving, and blows them up when we really examine them,” writes Ms. Schneider.
It includes a link to enable people to donate, and “like every good fund-raising appeal, ends with a ‘thank you,” she says.
What do you think of the two videos? What approach do you recommend?
