IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR… FOR DONATIONS
Christmas is a time to give, and Australia’s 10,000 registered charities are desperate to receive.
It is that time of year again, when the appeals get louder leading up to Christmas–notably when the population is feeling most generous. Whether by phone, mail or more and more commonly email, most of us are overwhelmed by a seemingly never-ending stream of requests from organisations all asking us to pitch in and help their extremely worthy cause. So how do you convince a business or individual that your cause is the most important?
Charities are perceived by consumers as brands, and as such they need to focus on the messages they send about their brand as closely as commercial brands do.
Whilst your goals and mission may be noble, so were the goals and missions of the last five organisation requests the audience was confronted with. Now is the time people are confronted with the choice between supporting a club dealing with local homelessness or an organisation that aims to solve world hunger? Should they help the animal shelter down the road or the charity that seeks to find a cure for a rare condition affecting the elephant population of Asian and African elephants?
Generally speaking, most people want to help out and make a difference – even just a small one. Most people understand the concept that “every little bit counts”. However, true altruism is very rare in today’s society.
In a materialistic society such as modern day Australia, public donation behaviour is a growing trend. Certain donation behaviour is ostentatious rather than altruistic. The sale of empathy ribbons, wristbands, and visible donations via social media results in public gratification for the consumer. Consumers donate conspicuously with the hope it will improve their standing within his or her social group.
However, personality plays a role, and there are individuals who prefer less conspicuous donations. Hence, charities must have varying appeals to motivate different types of individuals.
Who gives to whom?
The wealthy give for different reasons than the less well off. Wealthy consumers give to initiate longer-term social change and their preferred charities include environmental, educational and cultural causes. Those in lower-income family units are more likely to support homelessness and children’s charities; it could be argued that this is because they are more able to empathise with these charities.
Consumers are complex beings and although motivations can be broken down and identified in sections, in reality, individuals are likely to be motivated by both altruistic and egotistical motives.
Get to know the motivations, perceptions and attitudes of those who are most likely to dontate to your charity, and develop your marketing mix around those learnings.
Here are two strategies for changing attitudes toward donations:
Changing brand beliefs
Recently several charities have been accused of inefficiencies when they have been exposed as donating only a small portion of the total funds received to the cause. The response is simple: provide as much information as you can about your operation, and how money is used. For example the Australian Red Cross website openly cites that it ‘will not deduct more than 10% of any donation for an international appeal to cover its own costs’.
Adding an attribute
Research what you consumers want, and create a donor product that include the attributes most desired. Different consumers want to donate in different ways: whether it be through a charity fundraising event, the volunteering of their time, the involvement in a world record-breaking attempt, or the purchase of a fast moving consumer good with a percentage donation.
An understanding of consumer donation behaviour means charities can raise funds in a more efficient manner and move on to what it is they do best – dispersing these funds to assist those suffering and in need.
