IJM: Non-Profit Anti-Slavery Organization

On Tuesday of this past week, I had the opportunity to explore different non-profit websites in my Foundations of Social Work class. While exploring, I came across IJM (International Justice Mission). I became very intrigued by the group’s website. Most of the website contains various stories of the successful rescue missions resulting from financial contributors. Sometimes, when donating to a non-profit, it is not easy to see the effect that your giving may have on others; this does not seem to be the case with IJM. Various stories concerning slave rescues, jailing slave-traders, and other facts from their work around the globe are very apparent to all who visit the website. I really like the idea of truly making known to people the effects that simple giving can have on IJM’s mission.

Different topics such as land theft, sex trafficking, police abuse of power, sexual violence, and forced labor slavery are all touched upon when browsing the organization’s website. In addition, there are personal stories within each topic which certainly draws in an emotional appeal to possible contributors. While their techniques may seem nonchalant and simple, they prove to be effective and appealing for growing support and funding. What most appealed to me when checking out IJM’s website was their little use of words and larger focus on pictures. Often, it is easy to come across websites that try to load their websites with many words in order to provide as much information they can. While it is important to give people information, the “language” that the organization does it through may be even more important. For someone like me, I would much rather look at more pictures and less words in order to learn about an organization’s mission. The method by which an organization uses to put forth their information plays an important role when generating support and interest.