Generating awareness of the cause and raising funds are two essential goals that most charity campaigns must ultimately achieve. Naturally, marketing campaigns therefore need to focus on these objectives.
Some key facts:
- As of October 2016, the UK was considered the most charitable country in Europe and the eighth most generous in the world.
- Women are more likely to donate money to charity than men.
- Young people are more likely to give to educational institutions, while older people are far more likely to favour religious charities and hospitals/hospices. The 45-64 age group are the most likely to support animal charities, conservation, the environment and heritage and overseas aid.
- Londoners tend to give to arts causes and overseas aid, people in the East Midlands are the most likely to give to medical research while the Welsh are much more likely than average to give to sports and recreation charities.
- In 2014, the typical amount donated was £14.
- 1 in 5 people claim to give more in the festive season than at any other time of the year.
Formulating a strategy
A little market research can go a long way when formulating your strategy. Establish the target audience, find out where they are, what media they’re likely to use or see and come up with a strong call to action (now’s the time to decide if you’re trying to raise awareness, recruit volunteers, get donations, etc.).
Whatever your end goal, though, we’ve been keeping a close eye on marketing in this sector, and we’ve picked out a few things that are consistently impactful across the board.
Make it bold![crimestoppers]()
Like any other marketing campaign, you want your adverts to cut through the noise. Keep it simple. People are time-poor and they don’t want too much detail in initial messages (if your advert grabs their attention, your audience will be inspired to seek more information on their own). If it takes them too long to ‘get it’, they won’t engage. Make it easy for people to grasp your message and to donate and you’ll see far more returns on your campaign.
Be bold, both in the message and the visuals. Using hard hitting images alongside a short, snappy message will grab attention and intrigue audiences. This petrol station receipt campaign that we ran with Crimestoppers is a perfect example.
Make it identifiable and relevant
Campaigns need to have an element of creativity whilst drawing a connection with identifiable, relevant everyday things that audiences can easily understand.
A great example of this is the Cancer Research UK awareness campaign asking people if they would ignore a rapidly growing mysterious lump on the pavement. Video and OOH were employed to communicate the message that whilst people are busy and preoccupied, they should never ignore changes in their bodies.
Piggy back on trending topics
Make a meaningful point by turning social media conversations into something powerful. Take trending topics and give them a twist to tailor them to the message you’re trying to convey.
The Salvation Army’s ‘Why is it so hard to see black and blue?’ campaign is a good example of this. Building on the viral black and blue or white and gold dress debate, the campaign turned a trivial debate into a poignant question that forced audiences to notice.
If you’re looking for ways to raise awareness of your cause and raise vital funds, don’t hesitate to get in touch to see how we can make a difference to your campaign.
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