Why Should Charities Have to Play the Marketing Game?
Today I was lucky enough to participate in a focus group for our local branch of America’s Second Harvest/Feeding America, a network of food banks that offers a variety of hunger relief services. They are trying to figure out how to best reach potential donors of time and money. The interview took about an hour and included questions like, “How would you describe people who use food shelves?” (Um…hungry?)
A major part of the interview involved gauging my response to a series of statements. I thought it was extremely interesting to hear what kinds of marketing angles they are developing. Two statements were very bland and sounded like they’d been put together by a PC committee.
The rest were specifically targeted to socio-political demographics and included key phrases like “environmental damage,” “honoring our veterans,” and “fulfilling religious obligations.” I agreed with all of the statements, but it bothered me to see them used as charity marketing.
I’ve never been a joiner, and I don’t have much use for labels or identity politics, so I really bristle when I feel that someone is trying to ‘group’ me. I told the interviewer as much. Also, I just hate that hunger relief agencies need to pander to the socio-political identity (read: egos) of target donors. Seriously, can’t we just help our fellow man because it’s the right thing to do?
So the next time a hunger relief agency sends me a mailer, I’d like to see some slogans like these:
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“Help us feed the hungry…because you’ve already had enough to eat.”
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“Do you see the size of your cheeseburger? Maybe you could share!
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“Donate to the hungry…because you have money, and they don’t.”
Really. Does it need to be more complicated than that?
