Make Your Nonprofit Videos Shine: The Power of Icons
Last year, we partnered with the UN Migration (IOM) to create a series of video explainers. These videos explore the concept of "reintegration" and how IOM's platform supports it. Reintegration is helping migrants get back on their feet in their countries of origin. Imagine you move to a new city for a job, but things don't go as planned. You lose your job, rack up debt, and feel ashamed to return home empty-handed.
In short, it's like having a team help you unpack the heavy bags you brought back physically and emotionally. We used icons throughout the videos to help you understand the process more easily.
Why Icons?
Let's face it, sometimes words can get a bit wordy. Complex information can be tough to swallow, but icons break it down into smaller pieces, like delicious bite-sized snacks for your brain.
Fun Fact: Skeuomorph
Ever notice icons like a floppy disk 💾 saving files, even though they're long gone? Those are “skeuomorphs”. A fancy word for something new using an old look. Like target icons for marketing, even though bows and arrows are rare these days.
They might seem odd, but they stick around because they're familiar, like a friendly wink to the past in our techy world.
But that's not all! Icons also helped us:
Keep things concise: Icons get straight to the point, packing a punch of information in a visually appealing package.
Boost memory: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. True! Info sticks better with visuals.
Add a touch of personality: Who says nonprofit videos must be bland? Icons inject a dose of fun and flair, reflecting the unique spirit of IOM and its mission.
How did we use icons in the Reintegration series?
Our first video in the series, “Monitoring and Evaluation in Return and Reintegration Programmes”, explains that M&E is crucial in assessing whether these programs meet their objectives.
While often used together, monitoring and evaluation are different:
Monitoring is like a “real-time check-up”. By using 🔬📊✔️icons, it emphasises the day-to-day activities and outputs of a project or program.
Evaluating is like the “big picture review”. 🔭🧩📈 icons were used since they look at the whole project to analyse its effectiveness, the overall impact and the value of a project or program.
The Reintegration Sustainability Survey (RSS) is a questionnaire used to measure the sustainability of return and reintegration programs.
The video uses the 📋🖋️ to represent the RSS. This survey asks migrants how they're doing after returning home. Covering things like:
Economic 🫴🏻🍎
Social 🔑
Psychosocial 👥
Economic indicators can play a role in how well migrants adjust after returning home by answering these questions:
Are they earning enough to live comfortably? 🐷💰👥🔎
Can they manage their debts? 🏋🏻
Do they have access to enough food? 🍽️
Are they financially stable? 📋✔️
The social indicators are about access to essential services such as:
A safe and secure place to live 🏠🔎
Opportunities to learn and grow 🎓📃
Fair treatment and legal protection 👨🏻⚖️
Good health and access to medical care 🤲🏻❤️
The psychosocial indicators offer insights into the following questions:
Do they feel accepted and connected to their community? 🫱🏻🤚🏻🫲🏻
Can they count on others for help and support? 🧩👥❤️
Are there any challenges or conflicts that might make it difficult to adjust? ⛈️👥
At the end of the video, the RSS is mentioned as part of a comprehensive M&E package available on the IOM's return and reintegration platform.
On the other hand, our second video is about “Development and Sustainable Reintegration”. This video shows how migrants who return home and settle back in can help their country's economy grow, making things better for everyone.
Three key elements are highlighted by using 💡 divided into three parts:
How the project is designed and carried out 📈
Who works together on it ⚙️
How people view the whole process 👥
📈 representing project design and implementation: The video says that reintegration programs can contribute to development if
They address local needs 📉📊
Promote social cohesion 🫂
Supported by political leadership 📚⚖️📢👨🏻⚖️.
2. ⚙️ for partnerships and coordination: The video says that collaboration can help to maximise resources and achieve better outcomes between different stakeholders 👥⚙️ such as
NGOs 🤲🏻🌏
Governments 🏛
Civil Society Organizations 👥
UN agencies 🇺🇳
3. 👥 is for perceptions of reintegration: The video highlights how countries, donors, and other players can impact reintegration success. Stakeholders need to work together to figure out:
What they each want to achieve 🎯
What they're good at ➕➖
What areas need more help ←↑→↓
The video urges stakeholders to create programs that combine reintegration and development and to partner for better results. It calls on countries and others to maximise the impact of both efforts, using a collaborative approach by using just like in the video:
Moving forward, our third video about “Capacity Building” emphasises that reintegration is a complex process requiring a multi-dimensional approach by using 💡 with other icons.
The world of migration, where people face challenges returning home. 🧩 represents:
re-establishing economic, social, and psychosocial relationships to maintain life, livelihood, dignity, and inclusion in civic life.
Governments, NGOs, and communities working together can make reintegration successful.
In the end, IOM helps reintegration practitioners with…
Handbooks: The Reintegration Handbook helps design, run, and assess programs for migrants returning home ✈️.
Training: The Reintegration Training Curriculum offers online, face-to-face, and blended training for practitioners, including a facilitator's guide 📈👥📊.
Monitoring & Evaluation:
A separate training program helps practitioners track and evaluate reintegration efforts 🧩🔭📈🔎.
Capacity Building: IOM trains facilitators who train reintegration practitioners in their countries 🗣🧑💻👩🏻💻.
Collaboration: Regional workshops encourage information sharing and strengthen collective knowledge among practitioners 👥📊📈.
The "Reintegration of Victims of Trafficking" (or the fourth video in the series) talks about the challenges faced by returnees of human trafficking as they attempt to rebuild their lives.
Survivors frequently encounter difficulties:
Becoming self-sufficient 👖💰
Dealing with debt 🏋🏻
Social isolation, stigma and shame 🫵🏻
Psychological trauma 🌧️
But there's hope! Supporting survivors of trafficking in their reintegration process requires:
- Creating safe spaces for healing 🚫✋🏻
- Mapping available support services 🤲🏻❤️
- Empowering survivors to rebuild their lives 🔖
- Providing long-term emotional support ☂️
- Fighting for justice and accountability ⚖️📚👨🏻⚖️
Lastly, our fifth video series focuses on helping kids safely return to their home countries, wherever they are. The U.N Convention on the Rights of the Child has non-discriminatory guiding principles that every child, no matter who they are, has the right to:
Survival 🛟
Development 📊
Treatment in line with their age and maturity 👫
The video emphasises making sure every step of the journey is a child-sensitive approach that can respond to a child’s vulnerability:
Physical 🦠❌❗️🤲🏻
Dependency 🔗
Institutionalised disadvantage ⚖️
The EU partnered with Save the Children and Samuel Hall to create tools for monitoring children's reintegration after returning home.
What it does:
Offers practical tools to monitor how well children are adjusting after returning home 🔭🧩🌎
Who it's for:
Anyone helping children reintegrate, like government officials, aid workers, and community members. 🌎🧩💡
How to get it:
You can access the toolkit on the return and reintegration platform. ⚙️💻
Throughout these nonprofit video examples, we've explored how icons can enhance your message. From simplifying complex concepts to boosting engagement, they've proven powerful tools for video marketers.
However, the true potential of icons lies not just in their meanings but in their flexible and adaptable nature.
Remember, icons aren't static symbols with fixed interpretations. Their context shapes their meaning – the video theme, the surrounding visuals, and even the target audience. This flexibility allows you to tailor icons to your needs, creating a unique visual language that resonates with your viewers.
