Case Study Directory, by Tactics:   Poster Child

Donation requests are often immediately preceded by heart-wrenching portrayals which create empathy for the victims and a sense of urgency to solve the problem. The classic victim portrayal focuses on a poster child — originally a child afflicted by disease or circumstances whose picture was used on posters as part of a campaign to raise money or enlist volunteers. The definition of “poster child” has since been expanded to refer to a beneficiary of any age who is emblematic of a cause.