There are a couple of widely held views about charity campaigns. The first is that, these days, consumers are buckling under the sheer volume of appeals and have become fatigued or, worse, cynical. The second is that, according to both agencies and clients, response rates are falling. These two interlinking views are proffered with such regularity that they have become accepted "fact". But the reality is rather different.
The thing is that, as with so much in life, it's all about quality. Look closely at the market and you'll see that great work still gets strong response rates and very creditable return on investment. What has changed is that the same old "will you give £2/£3/£5 per month to support cause X?" no longer cuts the Colman's. The familiar pleading adult/child, donor/cause relationship has been usurped by a more equal adult/adult relationship. Today donor and cause are made equals - partners involved in reaching a solution to a problem.
Offer something to the donor
The secret here is to deliver something that demonstrates the cause has something to offer the donor. Oxfam Unwrapped, created in-house by Oxfam, is a great example of a tangible offering. A worthy winner at last autumn's Direct Marketing Association Awards, this was a catalogue with associated mailings, inserts, off the page and web work. It provided value to donors by solving their Christmas present problems. It accrued impressive volumes of both donors and income, alongside great return on investment, and generated response rates to die for.
Less tangible, but equally effective, was the first-ever national survey into autism run by the National Autistic Society. By offering to measure knowledge of and attitudes towards autism in the UK, and then using that information on behalf of those with autism, the organisation demonstrated its value to potential donors. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the campaign, through Watson Phillips Norman (WPN), generated 55,000 responses in a single day - rates 10 times that of normal direct-response radio.
Time and space is vital
Among the most reliable response-lifting techniques is to seek apposite positioning (in other words, finding the right space and the right time) in order to address donors. If the editorial environment you select is relevant both to your donor and your message, then response rates will usually soar.
A great example of this is the work Action Aid (again, through WPN) undertook on the day of the 2005 G8 conference. It commissioned Emma Thompson to record a two-minute "as live" message from Africa, and then placed it in a specially created centre break of Channel 4 news. C4 cut live from Gleneagles and coverage of G8 to Emma in Africa. And the two-minute spot accrued a greater response than a month-long advertising campaign.
Say 'thank you'
A final technique worth mentioning is to try saying, "thank you". I greatly admired the spot by WWAV Rapp Collins for the NSPCC this past Christmas. No ask, no plead, just a celebration of the achievements of the organisation and a tribute to its supporters. Sadly I don't have the results, but I would be willing to bet that response, on every metric, was wonderful. A great example of adult-to-adult creative thinking.
Mike Colling, managing director, Mike Colling & Company
MY FAVOURITE CAMPAIGN: ASTHMA UK
Another great example of the tangible offer to donors is the asthma attack card campaign from Asthma UK. Around 5.2 million people suffer from asthma in the UK. Each year, 1,400 people die from asthma attacks, yet 90 per cent of these deaths are preventable. Asthma UK was, however, finding donor recruitment tough. Greater awareness of the seriousness of the condition, as well as its scale, was required.
The centrepiece of the campaign was the "Asthma Attack Card". Designed to be carried in a wallet, the card explained what to do in the event of an attack. With a small budget, a combination of PR and DRTV advertising was chosen, targeting families of sufferers via 21 kids' TV channels. A stark execution was created by Claydon Heeley to convey the message. Beginning in total silence, a series of lines appeared on a blank screen - "an asthma attack can be like a silent struggle for breath"; "would you know how to help?" The lines then continued, explaining how deaths can be preventable, and warning of the dangers of underestimating the condition. The silence was a fantastic way of achieving cut-through, especially in the chaotic environment of children's TV.
Around 47,000 cards were distributed, more than 23,647 callers (90 per cent) opted in to receive further communication, and 2.296 per cent became new cash donors over the phone - 17 per cent over target.