Why Positive Charity Media Raises More Funds
We all care. All of us. And turning off a TV ad because it’s so upsetting, does not make you a bad person. It’s good to choose your favourite small charities and donate to them anonymously.
Using easyfundraising is a great idea. Just sign up, nominate your chosen charity. Then anytime you shop for goods or services that have signed up, they give a portion of the profits to your chosen cause, it doesn’t even cost you a penny.
But we must talk about this issue, as it’s important. The ads are now so upsetting, it’s likely the charities that do such wonderful work, get less donations, as people can’t bear to watch.
Whoever told these charities that it’s good to show these ads was given bad advice.
Of course, the truth needs to be told, and undercover investigators do brave and wonderful work, to alert authorities and bring prosecutions (everything from animal to child to elder abuse).
Change of Heart is a really interesting book, that all the charities should read. It was written by an American, who helped to found a charity that helps factory-farmed rescued animals.
Tellingly, it only focuses on positive stories in the media (saving the upsetting investigative stuff for court). As a result, it has way more donations than similar charities, simply because it shows what can be done, instead of giving people nightmares.
Nick also wrote How to Be Great at Doing Good, looking at how charities would earn far more in donations, if they did not show upsetting ads. That cost thousands of pounds, to ask you to ‘donate just £3 a month’.
Examples of ‘bad charity ads’ are:
Animal charity ads. These are awfully upsetting. You know the ones – pictures of severely abused dogs and cats, starving horses, baby bears being ripped from their mothers to go to the bile industry.
All these things happen, and good people are working hard for the said charities to prevent such doings. But it’s far more effective to focus on the rescue stories and what can be done. Sensitive people literally can’t cope half the time, and are more likely to just switch over.
Cancer charity ads that ask you donate to them, despite them only spending a miniscule percentage of funds on prevention (the best way to ‘cure cancer’). And not telling you (like most of the other big charities) that they use out-dated and unkind animal tests.
Just turn these ads off, and donate to humane medical research charities instead (that do far more good, but get no government funding, and don’t spend your funds on free pens and TV ads).
Child abuse ads. The same. Very upsetting, but why not focus on the good that is being done, instead of making people think that there are child molesters on every corner?
Starving people ads. These are not just upsetting and often have the opposite effect (there are many charities helping local people to grow their own food on fertile land, far more empowering).
But many people say in Africa are angry, that they are seen as handing out ‘begging bowls’, when the real issues are more politics, than money.
Many of us often also wonder, why the cameraman filming a baby with flies around its face, does not just put the camera down, and go over to help. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
Olive was a kindly widowed lady in Bristol, who spent time giving some of her pension to good causes. Anytime told her a sad story, she had to give something.
What she did not know was that a lot of the big charities were selling her name on. She already had depression due to other factors. But at the time of her death (she jumped off a bridge in her 80s), it was found that she was getting donation requests from over 100 charities.
Uplifting Ways to Encourage Charity Donations
This intelligent blog post makes a great case for compassionate-drive charity that educates, rather than induces guilt. Here are some examples we thought up:
Instead of posting print or media ads of pigs in factory farms, why not educate the public on how pigs live in real life (they are clean, social animals and excellent mothers). Then focus on how tasty vegan bacon is, or give out free simple recipes.
Instead of guilting people into donating to charities that help rescue bears from the bile trade, show images (there are many) of wonderfully happy bears that have been rescued from the bile trade, explaining how donating to them helps their undercover work, so all the bears presently imprisoned, can be free.
Instead of showing ads of people being bombed and starving in cities with war, educate on why this is occurring, speak with peacemakers in ads, and encourage people to donate, towards a more hopeful future.
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me: ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. Fred Rogers
