About Refugees International
Refugees International is a leading advocacy organization focused on protecting and supporting displaced people worldwide. When the Trump Administration halted the US Refugee Admissions and Resettlement program on its first day in office, ending a 45-year bipartisan program, Refugees International needed to know how to effectively mobilize the latent public support for refugees they knew still existed. They partnered with Grow Progress and creative agency Wide Eye to find out.
The Problem
International aid and refugee advocacy have a long history of relying on pity and despair: gut-wrenching stories and images designed to shock people into support. But in a moment of intense polarization, Refugees International couldn't afford to rely on movement-wide conventions and hope for the best. They needed to know which approach would actually build durable support, and whether standard messaging was alienating the audiences they most needed to reach.
The Solution
Refugees International ran a Rapid Message Test with Grow Progress, testing five distinct messages across 2,500 US adults using randomized controlled trials. The messages ranged from economic arguments (with and without cost acknowledgments) to an anti-Trump "shared villain" narrative to individual refugee stories, one focused on contributions and one focused on harms.
On their most important success metric, a positive individual story vastly outperformed everything else. The winning narrative, about a refugee named Fazal and his contributions as a small business owner, volunteer, and soccer coach, increased public support for reinstating the refugee resettlement program by 17 points, outperforming the next best message by 10. When benchmarked against Grow Progress's Persuasion Library, it was more persuasive than 98% of content tested on the platform since the election.
"The results are pretty stunning. Across all of the narratives we tested, it's the human, not the numbers, that moved people substantially."
— Sarah Sheffer, Vice President for Strategic Outreach, Refugees International
Negative framing backfired, especially with key audiences. The "shared villain" message, which called out Trump by name, performed worst overall and caused backlash among moderates, dropping their support by 13 points. It also underperformed with Democrats and Liberals, the very audiences Refugees International most needs to mobilize.
Subgroup data revealed which messages work where. The economic message acknowledging resettlement costs performed best with Republicans, Conservatives, and Independents but barely moved Liberals, Moderates, or Democrats. Fazal's story, by contrast, moved people across party lines and ideology, threading the needle from Moderates to Conservatives.
"Our research found that the case for hope was a greater motivator for connection than fear. It's a good reminder that instead of telling our audience a story that gets a negative reaction, you want your audience to be motivated to ask, 'What's possible? What's possible if I join this cause? What's possible if you achieve your vision for the world?'"
— Elizabeth Bawol, Creative Director, Wide Eye
The Impact
A message strategy built on evidence, not instinct. Refugees International now has tested, segmented data showing exactly which narratives build support with which audiences, and which ones to retire.
Cross-partisan messaging that expands the tent. Fazal's story proved that hope-centered, individual narratives can move Moderates, Independents, and even Conservatives. Fear-based or partisan messaging actively alienates those same audiences.
A playbook shared with partners and elected officials. Sheffer has already distributed results to coalition partners and policymakers looking for effective language on refugee issues during a period of heightened polarization.
"I've shared the results of our test with partners, including elected officials, who are hungry for help on how to effectively communicate about refugee issues in this moment of intense polarization. Newcomers make transformational contributions to U.S. communities when given the chance. It's a story that taps into our shared aspirational values as Americans, and more needs to be done to amplify this message."
— Sarah Sheffer, Vice President for Strategic Outreach, Refugees International