act3 is a communication strategy and design firm that specializes in telling stories.

This blog is our story laboratory, a way to poke, prod, and take a closer look at the stories we see, the stories we tell, and our own assumptions and knowledge about why stories work (or don't). The goal is to better understand what makes a story connect with people, and how to tell better stories.

Like any blog, it's an evolving concept. We hope you'll follow along.

December 19

Need a last-minute gift? How about a great story

What if I told you that for your Hanukkah gift, I gave twenty bucks in your name to a charity that’s important to me?

You probably wouldn’t complain too loudly, because you’re not a complete Grinch, but I’m guessing you wouldn’t exactly be thrilled, either. Perhaps you’d second-guess the gift you gave me, and reconsider my place in your future gift-giving plans.

But what if I told you a story about Madam Salomey Ameh?

Madam Salomey lives in Dikanya, Ghana, and she is blind. In 2005, she received a gift of 11 ducklings and training on how to raise them. Five of her fellow members of the Ghana Association of the Blind also received ducks and training.

Within a very short time, Madam Salomey’s stock of ducks multiplied, and as her flock grew, she shared with other families in her community. Within just one year of receiving the ducks, the ducks given to the six members of the Ghana Association of the Blind generated more than 30,000 eggs. Many of the eggs were eaten, providing important nutrition to many members of the community; some eggs were hatched; and most were sold for income that families like Madam Salomey’s can use for food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

Ducks!Believe it or not, a flock of ducks, which helped hatch real hope in Ghana, only costs $20. And for your Hanukkah gift this year, I donated a flock of ducks and training in their care to a family in a poor part of the world, in your name.

This gift will help the family earn steady and dependable income from the sale of eggs and offspring. The ducks will put them on the path to self-reliance, and what’s more, as part of the program, the family is required to give some of their ducks to another family in need, meaning that thanks to the one small gift you gave, many families will have their lives changed for the better.

In fact, in Xiang Qian, China, one of the places your gift might be used, ducks are tripling annual income for some families, as they turn a starter flock into hundreds of ducks that let them send their kids to school and feel secure in their future.

Now how do you feel about that Hanukkah gift?

Heifer International is the organization that makes these gifts happen, making a difference in the lives of individual families in some of the poorest countries in the world through the gifts of animals and training in their care.

They raise funds for their projects through storytelling. Personal, tangible, vivid, concrete, authentic storytelling. Human, emotional, compelling storytelling.

Nothing against a big charity like, say, the American Cancer Society, but giving $20 to them seems smaller than a drop in the bucket, so small it’s easy to say, “Ah, my donation won’t make a difference.” Everyone has a personal cancer story, but there isn’t a story you can tell yourself about the impact your $20 to the American Cancer Society will have.

But when you hear a story about what twenty bucks can do when it turns into ducks, and ducks turn into a way to change lives, you can see your donation making a difference. The right story makes you see things in a whole new light.

Happy holidays, everybody.

:: Posted by Eric Ratinoff ::