Offensive Charity Advertising?

Given my blog entry just last week it's timely to see some research on this front.  A report on offensive advertising issued just this month in the UK by ASA and Ipsos MORI provides the hard numbers behind the sense that charities need to "break through" the media noise, but can sometimes go too far.

The key stat for me?  Only 16 per cent of adult respondents said they had been offended by an advertisement in the previous year.  Perhaps that's too high, but when balanced against the need to ensure vital charitable messages get heard it seems a fair price to pay from my point of view.

The Science of Making the Ask

In case you're wondering, the "Ask" is fundraising-speak for closing the deal or putting your offer on the table.  It's when all your cultivation efforts to understand the interests and motivations of your prospective donor come together in one place.

My experiece, and all the training I've ever received, indicates that it's always best to go with another person to the meeting for the Ask.  If you're staff, the thinking is that you should go with a volunteer or contact of the prospect.  The logic is that:

• One person can be watching the body language while the other speaks
• Two people make for more accurate memory of the meeting and any points raised
• The staff person can handle any "technical" questions, and the volunteer or contact reinforces the personal nature of the relationship
• Since the volunteer or contact has also already made a gift this puts the Ask on a more authorative level (e.g. I've given and I invite you to do so as well)
• Since "like gives to like" the volunteer or contact is assumed to be at the same "level" as the prospect

It turns out however that there is another, more important reason to have a second person present.  A variety of studies have shown that people are more likely to give, and feel better about their giving, when they are being watched!

The most recent issue of Advancing Philanthropy has an article that summarizes several examples where even having a pair of eyes printed on a poster asking for a donation generated higher giving.  And another example where the pleasure of giving is measurably higher for the donor when done while being watched.

So next time you're ready to make an Ask, be sure to bring a friend!