Today marks the beginning of International Justice Mission’s summer campaign – 5 Weeks for Freedom.

I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of helping getting the word out and stoked to be the first stop on their blog tour, click for the link. That post was the intensely personal side of the issue of human trafficking and how the awareness to such an issue eventually sidetracked my life in a very good way. It’s important to note that I wasn’t paid in any way for my blog services for this cause.

But over here at the Lab, I thought we’d talk about the communication, the website and some of the technology behind www.5weeksforfreedom.org. This site and campaign of IJM will be tracking the movements of a group traveling from Mobile, AL to Buffalo, NY in the next several weeks.

Highlights:

Multiple Touch Points – IJM has done a great job with social media integration and they’re building on their brand by starting another account on Twitter @5WFF There’s also going to be regular updates via their blog on what’s happening on the road and report backs on successes.

Access – The site allows for the viewer to check in with the riders via GPS. And also they’ll being doing uStream video live when they make certain stops.

Options – There are a lot of ways to get involved with what IJM is doing.

Humanity – I love the option to meet the individual riders (Personally my money is on Deborah Go, gotta represent SoCal!) A quick minute on why each rider is there, with so many stories it’ll be a lot easier to catalyze others in involvement and think about what their doing in their communities.

Time Limit – theres an end. So many times NGO’s aren’t thinking about a natural arc. How are your campaigns flowing? They should be like a good story – a beginning, a middle and an end. IJM’s campaign is a quick one and they’ve already set their day of completion of July 30. Having that end date helps communicate a lot to their audience – to the longtime connections, there’s an understanding that their will be a lot of talk about this campaign over the next 5-8 weeks. To the new connections, a time limit allows for a great introduction to what IJM is all about and as they continue to educate these new supporters who are passionate about making modern day slavery a thing of the past.

Over all marks – there’s no guarantee on any campaign but this looks like a fun time. I’m still waiting for some smart app developing company to make the IJM iPhone app.

IJM worked with Grafik for the creative and Capital Idea Ventures for the development of the site.

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