the future of charities
It’s struck me recently how many of the recent “rising stars” of charity brands aren’t charities in the sense of what people automatically think – namely, that the organisation you donate to does the work. The “charities” that are gaining prominence at the moment are little more than charitable foundations which fund the work they’re focused around.
Charity:water, for example, much praised recently for being the beneficiary of twestival, Hugh Jackman’s donation, and Youtube’s trial of overlays. But it doesn’t go to the actual trouble of getting to Africa and installing wells itself. Instead, it gives the money it raises to other charities to deliver on its promises in its marketing materials, leaving it to focus on raising money and its profile.
Similarly, Help for Heroes, which has been partnered by the Sun newspaper to reach its target of £20 million has had a big boost for the coverage around major Phil Packer. But again, Help for Heroes delivers its work through giving grants, rather than carrying out the work itself.
I think we’ll see more of this. Brands are so important in charity marketing. The diversification that charity:water and Help for Heroes are taking advantage of helps them focus on their brands and their fundraising. By leaving the difficult job of delivering the work to specialists they can avoid having to reinvent the wheel and can make sure they’re able to make a difference straight away.
And a diversification of brands and service delivery can help open up new markets and new audiences. Many charities find it difficult to connect to younger audiences. That’s why charities like Christian Aid have started youth brands like Ctrl Alt Shift. By playing down the charity and focusing on the audience, the ctrl alt shift is able to connect with its audience. With the democratisation of communication tools through social media, I think that we’ll start to see charities focusing on targeted and niche audiences starting up which are simply fundraising brands, giving the money they raise to the organisations that are most able to carry out the work.
Anyone know of any other fundraising brands that don’t do the work themselves?
May 19, 2009 8:39 pm 
Subscribe