Marc Michaels considers how charities can engage a younger, more charitable donor base
There is a clear gulf in society between those that give the most to charity and those that give nothing. A recent report by the Charities Aid Foundation has highlighted that 66 per cent of the total time and money donated to charities comes from just 9 per cent of the population. Couple this with the fact that only one-third of young people give anything to charity and the risk to charities of losing out on millions of pounds of funding becomes clear.
Unfortunately, charities often miss the mark when it comes to communicating to all age ranges. Older demographics remain the most likely to give to charity, and this has everything to do with the fact that charities aren’t engaging a younger audience, seeing their traditional donors as the foundation of their income and perhaps not putting enough emphasis on the future donors who aren’t as lucrative in the present.
In with the new
It is possible that in these recent, tougher economic times, younger people just don’t have the money to give. This explanation, however, seems over-simplistic. For all but the poorest members of society, a typical donation of £2 or £3 a month is hardly a bank-busting amount and so should be relatively easy to secure – but it will only happen with engaging marketing campaigns. The trick lies in mirroring what successful commercial brands do and producing a creative execution that captures the hearts of the younger consumer. Creating marketing with emotional resonance is no mean feat, but it is achievable if charities understand and tap into their younger audiences’ needs.
The various digital communication channels at our disposal have changed how younger consumers behave. They now want a continuous experience and a constant dialogue where they can engage with a brand in a more in-depth way. Consequently, brands are looking for ways to incentivise their younger customers and create an identity with which consumers can associate themselves. In essence, they are an audience that wants to feel part of a brand before they commit to it.
Charities therefore need to reassess their activity and pay attention to how they are approaching younger consumers, and how they can get them to interact with the brand. Indeed, some have successfully done this; the current trend is for major charity runs or challenges that are often heavily advertised. However, there is a danger that this will cause marketing fatigue, and there is a real need for continued development of fresh ideas to inspire interaction with a younger audience, and to make them feel they ‘own’ the charity as an inherent part of their lifestyle.
Making heroes
There remains a propensity among charities to create marketing that can be too formulaic, and so fails to hold these younger individuals’ attention. This is epitomised by the traditional guilt-inducing adverts that consumers are used to seeing, and many charities market themselves purely along those lines. While this approach is successful among certain audiences, for younger demographics a better balance can be achieved by placing the benefactor right at the centre of the messaging. It’s crucial that the supporter is seen as the hero. Rather than saying: ‘Look what charity X is doing to solve problem Y’, the message instead should be: ‘What you do/give to us enables us at charity X to solve problem Y with you’.
Furthermore, there is an assumption that traditional channels such as direct mail, which bring in large donations from the traditional donor base, just won’t work for a younger audience. However, by focusing on the supporter participation element, it’s possible to reinvigorate these more traditional marketing channels. Younger people do not get that much mail, for instance, so effective pieces can really stand out. Meanwhile, social media, email and SMS can be used alongside direct mail and other traditional channels to extend and promote that participation and connect more effectively with a wider target market.
One charity that has successfully grabbed, and maintained, the attention of a younger audience is WaterAid. It recently partnered with Hunter, the producer of high-end wellington boots, to develop a line of charity footwear. They pitched the product and messaging specifically to a younger audience, enabling WaterAid to generate visibility for the brand among this key demographic. Working with a desirable brand maximised the charity’s ability to engage with younger consumers, because it understood and spoke to their needs.
This doesn’t mean the process is an easy one. There are many issues that charities have to address – not least how best to find the information they need in order to target a younger audience. Charities will often find themselves sitting on a lot of the data from past transactions, which will have pockets of the new audiences that can be used to identify ‘lookalikes’ in other commercially available datasets.
By mining the data and overlaying external information to do with person, place and context, charities can yield insights into the type of people who have a higher propensity to donate, fundraise, and participate. This provides a view of what people do, which can be merged with the findings from research or behavioural psychology to provide an understanding of why they do it. These two elements can combine to inform better creative messaging that speaks directly to the potential donor’s predisposition to act. The most successful charities will craft a holistic experience with eye-catching, relevant creative that engages younger consumers, ensuring that this new donor base is tapped into effectively.
Marc Michaels is business director of public sector/not for profit Lateral Group
This article first appeared in The Fundraiser magazine, Issue 36, December 2013
