Today GLBAL media is excited to announce the launch of THIS GIRL, a nonprofit campaign for WorldServe International. WorldServe International is a nonprofit organization working to provide clean water, sanitation, education, and economic opportunities.
About a year ago they reached out to us to develop the brand identity for a new initiative. After reviewing the program that they planned on implementing in some African communities we recognized that the heart of the program was empowerment for young women who don’t have a voice. This direction on focusing on the girls’ dignity led us to name this new initiative THIS GIRL.
From the beginning, WorldServe International and GLBAL media set out to create a brand that would allow everyone to participate in helping girls thrive.
This is not a topic that should be exclusive to women/girls. We thought that this brand should be represented in a way that everyone feels comfortable sharing the content, championing the cause, and being involved in providing dignity, health, and education for girls.
WorldServe has long recognized that women and girls are disproportionately affected by water scarcity.
When water is present, great things can happen, especially in the area of education for girls. When girls are finally able to attend school, WorldServe International wants to do everything possible to keep them going! A challenge with which many girls struggle is the ability to attend school during their menstrual cycle. Inadequate restroom facilities, a lack of hygiene products, and rampant taboos mean that girls in developing countries miss nearly a full week of school every month. As absences add up, girls may fall so far behind that they don’t return.
The lack of water in many school settings limits the effectiveness of washable sanitary products and other solutions (such as tampons and cups). Further, the economic and environmental challenges inherent in traditional“manufactured” products could result in new difficulties. Ultimately an award-winningcompostable pad production system created by Aakar Innovations was discovered as the perfect solution. With compassion and grace, the girls learn what menstruation is, its role in the lives of healthy women and girls, and benefit from a dialogue where their great potential and self-worth are affirmed.
If this story resonates with you and you would like to join THIS GIRL, here’s how you can get involved:
Text the words “this girl” to 844-928-4123 to join for $12/month
$12 a month provides a girl with dignity, health, and education. WorldServe International distributes 100% compostable sanitary pads (made locally by women employed at a fair wage!), along with a comprehensive menstrual health curriculum, and undergarments. Without this basic dignity, a girl can miss up to 4 days of school each month!
Our role in the THIS GIRL brand, campaign, and website.
WorldServe approached GLBAL media in the summer of 2020 about creating a new program for menstrual hygiene. The intent was to create a program that everyone could have a conversation about because it is not just an issue that affects women.
We spent the next month developing the name and brand for it, then developed a marketing strategy. We created the branding, designed the logos and packaging, edited the video, designed the webpage, created the marketing and overall message, and are continuing to develop new marketing materials for THIS GIRL under the WorldServe International organization.
Learn more about our story-first approach to brand identity, graphic design, and campaign development services for nonprofits.
GLBAL media is excited to share a new nonprofit initiative that was launched at Light The Way Music Festival. We created this fundraising initiative called The Well for WorldServe International. We had multiple roles for creating and executing the launch of The Well.
We consulted on the arrangement and presentation approach at the festival. We developed the concept of the monthly giving program “The Well”. We designed The Well logo and branding. We designed the welcome email that went to all Light The Way Festival attendees. We designed banners for the activation tent at the festival. We designed 4×6 postcards for the festival attendees. We also provided photography and video for the festival recap. You can see our concert photography and video recap on this blog: Light The Way Music Festival.
Winter Jam was our first flight, first concert and first tour bus in nearly 365 days. Following several consecutive years of over 200 days of travel we were excited to get back on the road with some of our favorite artists and closest friends. Check out the video recap we created from week 1 of Winter Jam 2021 featuring Crowder and We The Kingdom.
During WinterJam, Justin served as team lead for ChildFund and oversaw the tour reps and volunteer training. While we were on the tour we also captured photography and video of We The Kingdom and Crowder’s performances as well as the post show meet and greet with sponsors.
GLBAL media also created the on-screen content for ChildFund’s presentation by Jeremy Willet, shown below. It was a cinematic experience where the video content had been filmed previously in Mozambique and Jeremy narrated live on stage.
Those who attended WinterJam and chose to sponsor a child with ChildFund had the opportunity to participate in a meet and greet with Crowder and We The Kingdom. Each night we would take a group photo of all of the sponsors with the artists.
We also designed the banners for their displays and graphics for the campaign.
As a story-first creative agency, we were able to serve ChildFund through video and photography captured on-location in Mozambique in 2020 which we incorporated into video and designs that were utilized at WinterJam for their child sponsorship campaign.
In January 2020, we were invited to travel to Mozambique, Africa with ChildFund(501(c)(3) organization that connects children with what they need to grow up safe, healthy, educated and skilled, no matter where they are.) to document the progress that had been made in the sponsored community. We shared the end results of the project for ChildFund in a recent blog post. In this article, we are going to share some behind-the-scenes photos and the story of transformation that this community in Mozambique experienced because of child sponsorship.
Jeremy originally visited this village in Mozambique in 2018 for the first time because his son, who was 6 years old at the time, decided to sponsor a little boy named Sbsossiso who lived there. Jeremy describes the heart behind his trip:
“I went there for an entire month because I wanted to live amongst this group of people that were living in extreme poverty all the time and I wanted to be immersed into their situation to better understand it.”
Jeremy described the living conditions as challenging at best. They had one meal a day and access to water was a one-hour walk one way. If the well was dry or too far down for the children to reach they drank from the puddle on the ground shown in the photo above.
“Every day in the village there was a funeral, one day there was 3. All dying because of the water they had to drink.”
This lit a fire inside Jeremy. He began sharing the stories of these children on his social media to raise financial support for them through sponsorship.
“Every morning I woke up I would go find another child that was waiting to be sponsored. I’d take their picture and type out a little story and post it on Instagram hoping someone would see it. And all throughout the country people began to respond… It was my greatest joy every afternoon to return back to those homes and tell those children that they had been matched with a sponsor in America that would begin walking with them.”
This is a short video of a little girl who was told that she had been sponsored:
So many children in this community were sponsored that ChildFund was able to put in a clean water well. GLBAL media, was able to return with Jeremy, to the village to document the transformation that took place. Jeremy recalls his return visit in 2020:
“One of the most amazing privileges I had, was earlier this year I had the opportunity to go back… many had been sponsored for a complete year.”
He specifically noted the positive change in their faces, food supply, water, and clothing. GLBAL media was honored to partner with ChildFund to tell the story of this communities transformation through photography and video.
GLBAL media’s role in the ChildFund project in Mozambique:
We were specifically hired for photography, drone filming, camera 2 for an interactive-video campaign, and 360 filming for a virtual reality experience.
“We had no other choice.” Years later I can still hear these words loud and clear.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve had the honor to travel to over 30 different countries as a traveling photographer and humanitarian videographer telling stories of change, challenge, and hope. These experiences have proved invaluable in shaping my personal worldview and how GLBAL media as a company operates as a story-first creative agency serving nonprofits, ministries, and mission organizations.
In the winter of 2019, I was on assignment in the Rio Grande Valley (often referred to as “The Valley”) in south Texas documenting stories of immigrants and refugees who had braved the journey north to cross into the U.S. During this time tensions over border policies were at an all-time high, and I wanted to see firsthand what was happening.

After spending the first 4 days meeting with families in The Valley, our team determined it was necessary to gain perspective from the other side of the border. We grabbed our passports and paid the $0.25 to walk across the bridge into Mexico. Once we crossed the border, we had no contact to meet up with or even a specific destination in mind, but we were on a mission to find a story that would help us understand why people were taking such great risks to come to America.
With the help of a translator, we started asking some of the locals in the market if they knew of anyone who had tried to cross the border recently. We were soon directed to a local church that was known for helping refugees. To our surprise, they greeted us with open arms and were happy to share about their ministry. They then offered to drive us across town to a partner organization that housed immigrants who were recently deported and had nowhere else to go. They provided a safe place for families to regroup and make a new plan.
As we walked into the facility, the looks on their faces told us that our unplanned arrival had raised some concern, and rightfully so. These men, women, and children had been through an array of difficult journeys, and many of them were wary of strangers and scared. Some had been recently arrested. Some had been deported and sent here from the U.S. Others had traveled long distances north only to decide not to go any farther, and some had their plans disrupted in other ways.
It took a little while to gain their trust and prove that we weren’t undercover border agents, but eventually, two teenage boys were willing to sit down and share their story on video with us as long as we promised to conceal their identities.
The Story
As their vulnerable story started to unfold, my preconceptions of immigrants and refugees were starting to shift. This was a story of survival.
Brian and Delmar were cousins who had traveled, mainly by foot, as part of a caravan of people heading north from Honduras. Their journey of over 1,000 miles led them to Mexico where they were kidnapped by members of a local cartel. Through tears they cautiously explained how they had been taken and held for three days, unsure if they would make it out alive, before eventually being released.
After listening to their story of hardship, we asked why they would take such great risks and leave their family and home country behind. Their response was in unison:
“We had no other choice.”
Back in Honduras, their family had lost everything after the local government seized their belongings, including all of their money. They were given the blessings of their parents and then left on the trip north in pursuit of a better life.
Everything they had gone through hadn’t deterred Brian and Delmar from their desperate mission. Even though they had been through so much danger, they were still planning to attempt to cross into the U.S.. Their dreams of the life they could make in America outweighed the peril they knew lie ahead. This journey for them was life or death.
I would have done the same thing
As we left the facility, I kept mulling over the gravity of these two young cousins’ life circumstances. I couldn’t relate to anything they had gone through, but I had an overwhelming feeling that I would have done the same thing if I were in their situation.
You see, after having this firsthand experience in Mexico, my previous worldview had been shattered and new ideas were forming in my mind. Immigrants weren’t just a “those people” label that they had always been for me. Now they had names and faces. “Immigrants” now included vivid images of Brian and Delmar.
And while there is much work to be done surrounding immigration reform and the process as a whole, this experience made it personal. It was like looking in a mirror and realizing that Brian and I were so similar, just born in different places. Our roles could have been reversed just based on where we were born.
I share all of this not to make a political statement or even influence how you may feel about immigration, but rather to encourage you to go see the world, talk with people, ask questions, and realize that we all have a lot to learn.
You may not have the opportunity to travel to another country or sit down face-to-face with an immigrant or refugee, but the next time you’re at the park, the store, or a church gathering, take some time to talk to the people around you. Find someone who may look or act differently than you. Ask questions about their lives, their struggles, and how their life is different from yours. Truly listen to what they have to say. I believe that once we start to remove labels and generalizations, we will see the world start to come together in a new light.
You just may experience a shift in your worldview, too.
Westminster, MD December 7th, 2020 For Immediate Release
GLBAL media, based out of Westminster, MD plans to expand its services to Nashville, TN with the hiring of veteran non-profit strategist, Bobby Lingo as Strategic Marketing Manager.
Bobby joins an already ultra-experienced team of graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and non-profit experts lead by Creative Director and Owner, Justin Willet. GLBAL media is a creative agency serving non-profit organizations and the entertainment industry. Clients include international charities, Grammy-award winning artists, and White House officials.
Bobby Lingo is a communicator, brand/campaign developer and strategic visionary. During his almost ten years at Compassion International, Bobby was instrumental in developing or advancing many campaigns such as One Meal One Day, Water For Life, Live58, Create Compassion and Bite Back. Today, Bobby uses his communication skills as a tour speaker for Thriving Charities Advocates (TCA), where he has represented organizations such as Children International, World Vision, and ChildFund. Bobby also serves as GLBAL media’s Strategic Marketing Manager, building brands, creating campaigns, and helping non-profits, churches, and para-church ministries expand their impact and influence.
In 2016, I met with Vickie at a local tea bar in Westminster, MD to discuss concepts for a new nonprofit website. A fellow Marylander herself, I loved having the opportunity to meet in-person and hear her dreams for creating an organization that would serve both children and adults with disabilities.
We shared stories of traveling overseas and the different needs we had both seen firsthand.
Vickie knew that having a modern website that could accurately convey their cause was a must for communicating their needs to potential donors. We brainstormed ideas and design concepts for the new website and ways that the site could continue to grow with the organization. Focusing on global issues, this non-profit website needed to be user-friendly and accurately describe their mission.
Four years later, while we aren’t able to meet up in-person for a cup of tea because of the pandemic, ECW is still a valued client. In fact, ECW is currently making a difference in Ukraine and Zambia by helping hundreds of disabled children and their families have access to medical equipment, provide special education training and community-based support. They have also supplied sponsorships for orphans with disabilities to attend summer camps. Finally, while working with the local church, they have helped in providing wheelchair accessibility and supporting day/respite programs within the church.
About Every Child is Worthy Ministries: “Every Child is Worthy Ministries, also known as ECW, is a cross-disability national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to promoting health and wellness initiatives for children and adults with disabilities. ECW is dedicated to making a lasting impact upon the disability community with the Message of Jesus Christ.”
Here’s what Vickie from ECW had to say about working with GLBAL media to build their new non-profit website:
“George and I are extremely happy with what you have done with the website. We have had several compliments about it and I will send anyone that needs your services your way.”
A lot of times the majority of a non-profit’s operating budget comes from some form of fundraising. Whether you’re a missionary who needs to raise your individual support, a 5 star rated organization on charity navigator or a brand new organization; you all have one common goal: raise funds to better provide for your cause. Below I outline what I believe to be the Top 3 tips for successful fundraising for non-profits:
1. Visual components
Studies conducted by Psychologist Jerome Bruner show that people only remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read and around 80% of people remember what they see or do.
People need to see what you feel so strongly about. I believe that a good 30 second promo video can be more powerful than a 2 hour speech about your non-profit. One of my favorite quotes is from Dale Partridge who often says “People don’t refer ugly.” You must provide visual content to help equip people to accurately share about your cause.
How are you catering to the visual learner with your fundraising? Are you sending newsletters with professional pictures and informative infographics or are you sending a 10 page document hoping that someone will take the time to read and retain everything you’re trying to share?
2. Personal Connection
The personal connection is what drives the point home for your audience. It’s one thing to talk about why your cause is worthy of donations it’s another to put a face with a name and share how or why you got involved. Building off of point number one, photos and videos are an excellent way to share your personal connection.
People will connect with your vision if they can see it in action.
REMEMBER: 65% of the population – need to see what they are learning – William C. Bradford
3. Why
There is no shortage of crowdfunding campaigns on the internet which means that people are being asked frequently to donate money. This makes your “why” more important than ever before. You should be able to easily explain how the funds or materials that you collect will be used and distributed. A couple questions to help with this process are:
What is it that makes your organization, goal or passion different then work that’s already being done?
How do you plan to use the money that you collect?
What is your focus area? Local, domestic or international?
ACTION STEPS:
Now that that you understand the importance of photography, video and design, it’s time to start implementing them into your fundraising. Do you have an upcoming trip or event planned that you could capitalize on by hiring a photographer or videographer to capture your vision? Contact me today.
