Why won't I give to this campaign?
Howard Lake | 30 July 2012 | Blogs
We all receive lots of marketing and fundraising messages I’m sure and it’s a tried and tested approach to look at our doormats and inboxes to learn what we can from other organisations. But now I need to engage your help because I don’t know why I’m not inspired to give by this campaign from Save the Children. I will start by saying that I do support Save The Children so I expect this is a ‘warm’ campaign rather than targeting cold prospects. But it just isn’t inspiring me…
There are lost of things this email does well:
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- The photos appear realistic – if a bit generic
- It’s signed from Jonny in the team on the ground to bring some realism – although they didn’t carry this across to the ‘from’ box and went instead for the generic Save the Children UK
- The copy is succinct and clear in terms of what I’m supposed to do as a reader
- There are multiple ways to donate throughout the email and the linked page works simply and easily
- The subject line of ‘1,000,000 reasons to open this email’ piqued my interest – could be perceived as spam but links directly to the number of children needing help
- The ask is at a reasonable level given the current financial climate – although the option for ‘other amount’ only appears after you click on any of the donate options
- Technically, the email was created simply so everything opened as it should in my inbox
So there are lots of campaign positives to note… but it still isn’t pushing my emotional buttons enough to make me act. And this is where I’d like our readers’ thoughts. Why do you think this isn’t working for me? I can suggest a few theories but would love to know what you think too as emotional engagement is at the heart of every successful charity campaign. Here are my thoughts so far:
- Is the issue just too big for individual donors to be able to solve?
- Have we seen this message too many times already?
- Is the cause just too big to make it relate to the ask? (a tenner to help a million children just doesn’t seem well-aligned)
Would you give to this campaign? If not, I’d be really interested to know your thoughts. And if so, what’s in there that really makes you want to act?
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.