An initiative of: 1вЂ†| How-to Guide 2вЂ†| How-to Guide whatвЂ™s inside From Marc and Craig 3 Getting started 4 Get the word out 5 вЂў Blog about your experience вЂў Host a travel-themed fundraiser вЂў Top ten fundraising ideas вЂў How to set up your personal fundraising page 10 вЂў Celebs who were inspired by their Me to We trips Stay connected 11 вЂў Get involved with our campaigns вЂў Use social media for social good Start fundraising Celebrity stories вЂў Give a gift with real meaning 7 Your next step 13 3вЂ†| How-to Guide from marc & craig welcome home, globetrotters Your experience on a Me to We trip has likely opened up a new world of culture and traditions, adventure and self-discovery. More importantly, youвЂ™ve made a difference in a developing community. Best of all? Your support doesnвЂ™t have to end just because your trip is done. By sharing your travel story, you can inspire others to become involved with Free The Children and stay connected to the community that changed you. This guide will give you the tools you need to create a message that will make a difference. Together, we are storytellers. Get ready: your journey is just beginning. Craig Kielburger Co-founder, Free The Children Marc Kielburger Co-founder, Free The Children 4вЂ†| How-to Guide getting started You saw what it could be like living in a world where there is little promise of health care or education. Where food can be scarce and access to clean water can be miles from your home. You now understand the everyday struggles that people face in developing communities around the world. You also understand what needs to happen in order to break the cycle of poverty and what communities need to sustain themselves and thrive. Tell your travel story. Share the challenges and successes youвЂ™ve witnessed in developing communities with your family and friends at home. Tell them about the children you met and the school you helped to build. TheyвЂ™ll be inspired to share your passion and commitment to changeвЂ”either by supporting your efforts to raise awareness and funds or by embarking on a journey of their own. You are a storyteller, and you can make a difference. 5вЂ†| How-to Guide get the word out 1. Blog about your experience Your Me to We trip changed youвЂ”itвЂ™s time for you to change the lives of others. Share your life-changing travel experience on your personal blog. If you donвЂ™t already have one, create it from scratch. Visit wordpress.com for some great tips on getting started. You can also submit a blog entry for possible posting on Free The ChildrenвЂ™s website. Your story could resonate with like-minded people looking to take action overseas, just like you did. Keep these tips in mind for a successful entry: В•В• The best stories are simple, concise and evocative. A story between 250 and 500 words will give you more than enough room to describe your adventure. В•В• Some of the best stories are personal; donвЂ™t be afraid to talk about what youвЂ™ve learned from your experience. В•В• Photos are a great way to draw readers into your story. Photos for use in blogs should be at least 640 pixels wide. Most digital cameras will produce images at this resolution, if not higher. Looking for ideas or inspiration for your trip story? Visit www.freethechildren.com/ftcblog. If you have any questions on how to submit a story, email digital@freethechildren.com with the subject line вЂњWe are StorytellersвЂќ. 6вЂ†| How-to Guide get the word out 2.use social media for social good Relive your trip through your photos and videos. Sharing the moments and memories with others is easy: post your photos on facebook.com/freethechildren or tweet your photos @freethechildren and show us what a Me to We trip looks like through your eyes. Download Facebook cover photos from the We Are Storytellers webpage and post these on your facebook page to help spark your friendsвЂ™ interest in your trip. You might even encourage someone else to go on a trip of their own! Here are some suggested posts to spread the word about Free The Children initiatives: Tweet this! 1. On my @metowe trip I took an unbelievable water walk! Now help me provide 100,000 people with clean #waterforlife metowe.com/waterrafikichain 1. My @metowe trip changed my life. Join @freethechildren & change the lives of others. Collect pennies and take action for clean water. freethechildren.com/createchange Facebook posts! 1. I took a life changing trip this year with Me to We and saw first-hand the impact that clean water has on a developing community. Their stories inspired me to take action. Be a part of someone elseвЂ™s story and provide them with clean water for one year. Purchase a Water Rafiki Friend Chain for $10 here: metowe.com/waterrafikichain 2. I learned so much on my Me to We trip this year! One of the things that changed me most was discovering that their community lived on less than $2 per day. IвЂ™ve decided to collect my pennies and support Free The ChildrenвЂ™s We Create Change campaign. Small actions make big change! Join me: freethechildren.com/createchange 7вЂ†| How-to Guide start fundraising! 1. Host a travel-themed fundraiser WHY: On your trip, you saw the impact of Free The ChildrenвЂ™s Adopt a Village development program with your own eyes. Now that youвЂ™ve returned home, you can continue to be part of the change. Start off by hosting a travel themed get-together as a fundraiser for the Adopt a Village pillar or community closest to your heart. Tip: Make your travel story shine: Storytelling is a powerful way of engaging your audience and allowing them to share in your experiences. So rather than simply listing off everything you did on your trip, try telling a story with a beginning, middle and end. Here are a few tips to get you started. вЂў HOW: Use stories from your overseas experiences to inspire your friends and family to support Free The ChildrenвЂ™s work by donating to Adopt a Village. вЂў Follow these steps: вЂў Select a date for your event. It should be within one to four weeks from your return from your trip. вЂў Send out e-vites for your fundraiser to a group of at least 12 people. вЂў Set up a slideshow of pictures from your journey. вЂў Make it a cultural event by serving dishes from the country you visited. вЂў Share your fundraising goal with your friends. Have information on hand about how they can adopt a village and support sustainable community development. Pick a few highlights: Choose the most interesting, memorable and emotional stories of your trip that anyone can appreciate. These can touch on anything, from the hardship and struggle you witnessed, to a connection you made with another young person overseas. ItвЂ™s all in the details: Details are what turn ordinary stories into captivating ones! Paint a picture for your listener by including sensory details of what it was like to be there. вЂў A day in the life: Take your audience through a typical day on your trip. What did you eat? How did you travel? Who did you meet? How did you have fun and relax? вЂў Relate it back: If youвЂ™re having trouble explaining part of your trip, try relating it to something similar back home. We may have different ways of doing things, but peopleвЂ™s hopes, emotions and relationships are universal. Get in touch with one of our youth programming coordinators at Free The Children, and theyвЂ™ll not only give you everything you need to get started on a fundraising event, theyвЂ™ll also be there to support you along the way. Call us at 416.925.5894 or email youth@freethechildren.com. 8вЂ†| How-to Guide start fundraising! 2.top ten fundraising ideas Now that youвЂ™ve shared your travel story with your friends and family, telling them about the amazing community you met and some of the challenges they face, ask them to join you in your efforts to raise funds for the community or the Adopt a Village pillar closest to your heart. Fundraising events can be fun, rewarding and a great way to publicize your cause throughout your school and community. There are hundreds of ways that you can fundraise, such as doing odd jobs, selling donated items and hosting theme parties. Be creative! Here are some ideas to get you started: 1. Have a bake sale. Food is the quickest way to a personвЂ™s heart! 2. Organize a neighbourhood car wash. 3. Create a play about a social issue and sell tickets to a performance at school. 4. Collect donations by helping out your neighbours. Offer to do seasonal chores, like mowing lawns, raking leaves or shovelling snow. 5. Hold an вЂњa-thonвЂќ. Collect pledges and test your endurance for singing, dancing or any number of sports. 6. Host a school dance or a karaoke night. 7. Sell funny, seasonal or thought-provoking hand-made greeting cards to students and teachers. 8. Hold a round-robin sports tournament in your community. 9. Host a coin driveвЂ”one of the most effective fundraising campaigns! 10. Organize a marketplace. Ask your friends, teachers and neighbours to bring in gently used toys, clothing, or books for sale. TIP: Set up a personal fundraising page to help you collect pledges and donations. See the next page for details. 9вЂ†| How-to Guide start fundraising! 3.Create your Fundraising Page A Personal Fundraising Page is a great tool for sharing information about your fundraising events, inviting others to support your goals and keeping track of your fundraising successes. 7. You can make changes to your profile or fundraising details at any time. PFPs can stay active for any amount of time and there is no minimum fundraising amount required. Follow these easy steps to set up your Personal 8. For tips on how to maximize the usefulness of your PFP or if you need any assistance, please send an Fundraising Page (PFP): e-mail to sonja@freethechildren.com. 1. Go to freethechildren.com/fundraising and click on the link to the вЂњYouth Personal Fundraising PageвЂќ. 2. Create an account with Free The Children by clicking on the вЂњSign Up NowвЂќ button and filling in your personal contact information, choosing a username and password and answering the survey questions. If you have a pre-existing account, you can use the same login information to access your PFP. If you are fundraising in the United States, scroll down for a link to a U.S. PFP page. 3. Choose which of our Adopt a Village countries, communities, development pillars or projects you would like to support, or simply choose to start a general fundraising initiative. If you decide later on that you would like to support something specific, you can make those changes on your PFP in the вЂњFundraisingвЂќ menu under вЂњEdit Your Fundraising DetailsвЂќ on the left-hand side. 4. Once the registration process is complete, youвЂ™ll have full access to your PFP. Share your personal URL with your friends and family to allow people to donate toward your efforts. 5. Please contact Free The Children to notify us of your registration. Email Sonja Marcan at sonja@ freethechildren.com, or if you have a relationship manager, you can contact this person directly. 6. Customize your PFP! Select images and videos from the Free The Children content available on the page or upload your own content. These changes can be made through the вЂњFundraisingвЂќ menu, under вЂњCustomize Your PageвЂќ on the left-hand side. 10вЂ†| How-to Guide Celebrity Stories YouвЂ™re in good company If your Me to We Trip was a life-changing experience, youвЂ™re not alone. Over the years many notable names have travelled to Free The Children communities around the world, returning incredibly inspired by what they saw. Read on to see how Nelly Furtado and the cast of Degrassi have continued their journey long after theyвЂ™ve returned from overseas. Profile: Nelly Furtado In 2011, Nelly embarked on her first trip to Kenya with Free The Children, unaware of the legacy she would be inspired to leave behind. Seeing first-hand the life-changing effect that education has on girls in developing communities, she decided to launch a matching fund to support the construction of a new all girlsвЂ™ high school in Kenya, called Oleleshwa. Named after the resilient Leleshwa plant, which is known for its ability to survive through the harshest of conditions, the school is a symbol of female empowerment and is sure to create a positive impact in the community for generations to come. With NellyвЂ™s commitment to matching every dollar donated toward Oleleshwa, she is sharing her story with hope of reaching a fundraising goal $500,000. Profile: Degrassi For the cast of Degrassi, their journey with Me to We trips has connected them with young people from around the globe. Since 2007, they have volunteered in communities in Kenya, Ecuador, India and Haiti. In 2012, they travelled to Ghana, landing in the small coastal community of Asemkaw to break ground on its first Free The Children school. Not only were they the first to break ground, they were also the first travellers to visit Asemkaw. Having been incredibly moved by the warm welcome they received when working alongside the local people, they continue to share their story in hope of encouraging other young people to take action and make a positive change in the world. Clearly, breaking ground in Asemkaw wasnвЂ™t just a new beginning for the community, it was a new beginning for the cast of Degrassi as well. 11вЂ†| How-to Guide stay connected 1. Join one of our campaigns! Take the next step toward a world of social change. Free The ChildrenвЂ™s awareness and fundraising campaigns cover a range of pressing social issuesвЂ”from local hunger and education to childrenвЂ™s rights and international development. Get involved to create change here at home and help better our global community. Hunger is a daily reality for millions of people. This Halloween, letвЂ™s do something about it. Join the We Scare Hunger campaign (formerly known as Halloween for Hunger) by trick-or-treating for non-perishable food items instead of just candy. Collect canned goods at school and in the community and then drop them off at your local food bank to help hunger disappear. Launched in 2012, We are Love is a Free The Children fundraising campaign. Our вЂ�Love isвЂ¦вЂ™ button and card collection can be used for a creative take on Valentines. Sell each button for $2 to fundraise for the Adopt a Village pillar closest to your heart. To see more visit: freethechildren.com/campaigns In April 1995, 12-year-old Craig Kielburger learned of the story of slain child labourer Iqbal Masih, which inspired him to start Free The Children. This April 18, we will honour IqbalвЂ™s legacy by taking a silent stand for children who are being denied their basic human rights. Join us. Collect pledges for each hour you are silent, up to 24 hours. Then on April 19, break the silence and celebrate Free The ChildrenвЂ™s birthday. Launched in 2012, Free The Children has embarked on a penny drive to help bring sustainable sources of clean water to 100,000 people around the world. Donate your pennies to an important cause: water. Just $25 in pennies will provide clean water to one person for life. Who knew pennies could create so much change? 12вЂ†| How-to Guide stay connected 2.Give a Holiday gift with real meaning This year, choose an alternative gift to show you really care about your friends and familyвЂ”and also about your new family overseas. Free The ChildrenвЂ™s online catalogue has a variety of a meaningful gifts that will give back to the community you just visited. Your gift could provide school supplies for a child, a goat for a family or a loan for a woman to start a small business. Check out Free The ChildrenвЂ™s online gift catalogue and choose the change you want to make. Visit freethechildren.com/donate/giftoptions Here are some examples of our past MotherвЂ™s Day and holiday gifts: Give a Mama a goat for her family Bundle of Baby Chicks Give a mama a school kit for her child Give a Mama a small business loan Farming Tools for a Family 13вЂ†| How-to Guide your next step your journey begins now Put your new knowledge and leadership skills to work and take action on an issue you are passionate about. Continue your journey with Free The Children by joining a campaign for local or global change or by fundraising to support sustainable development in the community you visited. YouвЂ™ll be surprised at the difference you can make. LetвЂ™s get started!