CNN’s ‘Impact Your World’ empowers our readers to proactively respond to the catastrophes and hardships in the news. The mutli-platform series answers the fundamental audience question: “what can I do?” It guides our users to vetted organizations where they can volunteer or donate. The invasion of Ukraine sparked a particularly dire humanitarian crisis, one that warranted extensive coverage and raised intense concern among our global audience. As the refugee situation unfolded, CNN’s ‘Impact Your World’ team compiled a roster of aid groups setting out to help. After careful vetting and consideration, ‘Impact Your World’ published an online article that enabled our audience to donate to those organizations.
In the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion, countless groups purporting to provide aid came forward to accept donations. The ‘Impact Your World’ team carefully, but quickly, vetted these organizations. The ‘Impact Your World’ team examined their financial status, efficacy, track records and any political agendas. 43 international aid groups met ‘Impact Your World’s standards. The team setup and maintained a digital article spelling out ways to help. Most importantly, the article included a “button”, powered by Public Good, enabling readers to donate to any, or all, of the 43 aid groups. That’s what ‘Impact Your World’ did. But the true accolades go to the audience who stepped forward with a stunningly massive response.
By the numbers, ‘Impact Your World’s’ Ukraine article directly raised more than $8 million from over than 67,000 donors. The funds enabled refugees from Ukraine to escape the war and settle in the United States. Impact Your World’ engages one audience member at a time, optimizing the power of the individual and producing vast, global results that are generally hard to quantify. But the Ukraine article continues to make a crucial difference, raising funds and critical awareness of people fleeing for their lives.
