A variety of resources on fundraising are available for non-profits to utilize as they attempt to organize a successful (fundraising) event. However, learning avenues are never limited to articles sourced from Google search engine pages or other digital spaces.
People have devoted their time to ensuring fundraisers or non-profits gain more knowledge through other means like watching movies.
Yes, you read that right; there are several movies about non-profits out there, and those can be pretty beneficial to your fundraising cause. You will get to learn one or more things from the experiences of the characters in the movies.
And we think some of these will make your weekend pleasurable – which is why this article has been put forth. So, without further ado, we explore six interesting movies on non-profits.
1. The White Helmets
The White Helmets is a documentary that captures the activities of a group of volunteer aid workers providing relief to people in war-ravaged Syria. The movie was set in Aleppo, and the group’s name is the same as the movie title.
It should not go without saying that this movie aimed to document and make known the efforts of a group that has committed to humanitarian activities since 2013.
In the movie, you will see how thousands of survivors were rescued amidst the continual bombing of several settlements and many deaths recorded. It encapsulates how relief providers tend to bring hope to people in distress, even in the face of profound destruction and losses. The White Helmets movie will undoubtedly enable you to see and understand how important the job of non-profits can be in a war-torn state.
2. Period. End of Sentence – The Pad Project
This movie is set in a rural village in India – the outskirt of Delhi, to be specific. It is about the revolution led by the women of the village as they seek to address the sanitary pad scarcity that has affected them over time.
They have had to fight the stigma people directed at them as a result of menstruation. Their action eventually led to the installation of a sanitary pad-making machine in the village.
With this machine, they were able to manufacture sanitary pads, which were eventually marketed. In addition, an empowerment drive aimed at the womenfolk was birthed. It must be said that the movie was inspired by the efforts of Arunachalam Muruganantham, the inventor of the sanitary pad machine.
Plus, the film is a documentary relating the activities of some high school students that embarked on real-time fundraising drives. These drives were directed at woman empowerment cause and the provision of sanitary pads at a considerably low cost.
3. How To Survive A Plague
How to survive a plague is a documentary about how non-profits can lean their voices to help people attain better health. To be precise, it hints at the activities of two groups – ACT UP and TAG – towards turning around the tides on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
ACT UP, in particular, was vocal in calling on FDA to hasten the approval of the drug used in treating the virus while improving the health outcome of the carriers.
Furthermore, the group was able to protest against the discriminatory action of the United States government that was aimed at preventing HIV-positive individuals from migrating into the country. TAG – which is the acronym for “Treatment Action Group” – also canvassed for more research studies to be conducted on the virus. How to survive a plague will inspire you, as a non-profit executive, to remain a voice for the voiceless in the society. Your strategic efforts will surely yield positive outcomes someday.
4. Mission Blue
Non-profit efforts are not always directed at human beings alone. Animals and even the planet also need to be rescued, and this is precisely what the movie “Mission Blue” depicts. Mission Blue was produced in 2014 and chronicles the activities of a certain character, Sylvia Earle, who sought to protect the ocean. She primarily sought to minimize threats such as climate change, pollution, and overfishing.
In some way, Mission Blue creates awareness about the dangers mentioned above. It even serves as a wake-up call to join the efforts towards building an eco-friendly living space.
The film will help you see non-profit or humanitarian aid from a different perspective. And it’s a great reminder that we don’t necessarily have to wait till it’s Giving Season before committing to a non-profit activity.
5. The Blind Side
The Blind Side may not be an out-and-out non-profit movie, but it does relate some lessons about providing support to the needy. It is basically a story about how a certain family helped a homeless boy.
This family provided him with shelter and some other basic needs of life. More notably, the support given to him paved the way for his American football dream to become fulfilled.
Additionally, he acquired some advanced education and eventually became a man who fends for himself. This shows that we all can go out of our way to try make a huge difference in the life of a vulnerable one. This is the whole essence of championing a non-profit cause – reaching out to that one person who needs some help.
6. Just Mercy
Just Mercy is a movie about a defence attorney, Bryan Stevenson, dedicated to offering pro bono services to death row inmates from poor backgrounds. He was particular about fighting the social injustice meted out against African Americans.
The central plot brings a character named Johnny McMillian into view. He was convicted – albeit falsely – of murdering a white teenage girl.
Though the case dallied, Stevenson was able to get the court to drop the case against McMillian – and some other wrongly convicted persons. This movie points to how one could use his or her skills or expertise to actualize a non-profit cause.
Final Words
Taking some time off to enjoy a couple of movies is never out of order, and it’s even enjoyable to know that you can learn one or two things while watching.
This weekend can be that time, and the non-profit movies discussed above should keep you company. You can incorporate some of the things you pick from the movies into your non-profit activity.