II. Sustainable Management Marketing and Messaging Communicating to Travelers about the WHY of Voluntourism Programs It is important for voluntourism providers to be able to answer the question on why their mission matters, as well as what makes their project effective, how it is achieved, and who is leading the effort. The messaging about voluntourism programs must clearly communicate project impact and demonstrate why volunteers are genuinely required, and help educate travelers about the social, environmental and economic issues that the voluntourism project aims to address before they begin their volunteer program. The following guidelines focus on recommended approaches for voluntourism providers in the areas of marketing and messaging related to their voluntourism programs.
II-2. Marketing and Messaging II-2 (a) Use messaging strategies that clearly convey the goals of voluntourism programs, why they are important and how they make a difference. ● To create effective messaging strategies, focus on concrete examples of what volunteers can expect to gain in terms of experiences and perspectives, as well as the impact of voluntourism projects. ● When establishing the marketing strategies for the voluntourism programs, it is critical that both the voluntourism provider and the local partners share the same message about why the volunteer projects are needed in the community.
II-2 (b) Avoid all forms of poverty marketing - such as using images or words (e.g. “helping people who can’t help themselves”) which belittle or degrade local people. ● The best way to illustrate this point is by asking (when selecting images to use or choosing words to describe voluntourism projects): “If it was your [child/sister/brother/mother] in the picture, or if those words were written about your family, would you be comfortable?”
Marketing Tips: Utilize both online and off-line tools, as well as interactive platforms, to share stories and to engage volunteers in telling the stories of the projects they are supporting. The voice of the community members who benefit from the volunteer projects will be one of the most important story-telling tools. Highlight their stories about the impact of volunteer projects through video interviews. Sharing videos of volunteer activities is an effective way to tell the stories of communities and volunteers. Take advantage of video sharing platforms (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo) to spread the word. Sharing reviews by past volunteers is an effective way to encourage prospective volunteers to learn about the volunteer experience. This can be achieved by creating a web page with messages from past volunteers, posting past volunteer reviews as blog entries, or providing a link to a travel review site (e.g. Lonely Planet Thorn Tree, GO! Overseas). In addition to reviews, other useful information such as stories from the field, local staff’s updates and destination and travel details can be shared through blog posts to engage your audience. Social networking sites can be used not only to promote voluntourism programs and share updates, but also to encourage travelers to interact with each other and exchange comments and ideas. Social platforms (e.g. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest) can be a powerful tool to engage travelers as active supporters before and after their trips.
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