Door-to-door appeals now going upmarket to get the most money

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 17

Door-to-door appeals now going upmarket to get the most money

It’s big business raising money nowadays. And while being woken up by a collector at 9 o’clock on Saturday morning may not make you feel very charitable, most of the bigger organisations seem to be doing very well. That is surprising; when you consider' there are 26 national envelope, appeals a year, and; that 20 street appeals were approved by the Christchurch City Council for 1984.

In times when money is tight, and people are supposedly becoming more materialistic, how do voluntary organisations ■ stay afloat? . ' J;' ‘ -

Communication, targeting, .your market, and new concepts are key factors, say the fund raisers. If it sounds somewhat -removed from good, old-fashioned philantropy, it is.

“Many charities are competitive for the charity dollar,” says Mr Robert Mitchell, secretary-mana-ger of the Canterbury/Westland branch of the Crippled Children’s Society. “A charity has to be run on the same basis as any company — efficient, creative, and innovative, to produce an income.” To get a share of the charity dollar, most of the large voluntary organisations employ advertising agencies and public relations firms. The Salvation Army has had its own P.R. department for several years. The need for advice and discussion has prompted the formation in Canterbury of a branch of the Australasian Institute of Fund Raising (T.A.1.F.). Fund-raisers who have been in the business for at least five years can become full members. Workshops are run on topics such as “The role of the computer and word _ processor in fund-raising” and “Capital fund-

raising through life assurance.” “We all slowly realised we have gone through the same pattern of experience, learning from our own mistakes,” says Mr Alex Clark, secretary of T.A.I.F. “The dollar for charities is shrinking, but a growing group of New Zealanders has a disposable income. It’s the organisations with the best approach who get a full share of that money.” Communication seems to be one of the most important factors in wooing and winning donors. “It’s clear that people appreciate knowing a lot more about how . their money is to be used,” says Mr Clark.

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A common way of keeping; in touch is with. a newsletter/THbse come in a variety of styles. For example, the personalised newsletter from the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind which begins: “Dear Mr Smith, When you make a donation to the Foundation, your generosity sets bff a chain-reaction of human happiness and achievement . . .” Later on in the letter, Mr Smith is told that he would be spreading twice the happiness if he doubled his previous donation of $l5; The Christchurch City Mission sends out a circular where you may jearn about an alcoholic who has dried out and be asked to make a donation for the Mount Grey Downs Centre at Rangiora. Speaking to community and church groups is important to the City Missioner, the Rev. David Morrell. “We’ve tried to tell the community that we can’t do our work without support. It makes us relate to the people who are helping us. I would rue the day we went for a glossy, swept-up image,” he says. The people at the Christchurch

JOY STEPHENS,

a member of the

University of Canterbury post-graduate journalism, course.

National Marae are now aware of the importance of communicating with people. Their June appeal was a failure; it brought in $6OOO and cost J 6070 to hold. . “This is the first multi-cultural marae in New Zealand,” says the chairman of the marae trust board, Mr Peter Heal. The lack of knowledge and understanding about the multi-cultural intention of the marae makes fund-raising difficult. "It’s a big undertaking. Because we are so busy in building the marae, we haven’t had the time or money to do the P.R.,” he adds.

The Mayor of Christchurch, Sir Hamish Hay, who is a member of the trust board, is concerned about the marae’s fund-raising, says Mr Heal. At the instigation of Sir Hamish, a consultant survey has been done, at a cost of $7OO. About 20 Christchurch people were canvassed and asked what they knew about the marae. “The consultant’s firm will write a response. They will say, ‘Get your P.R. right, get the community behind it’,” says Mr Heal. Door-to-door appeals will be the main source of .income for . charities for the next five years, says Mr Clark, of T.A.I.F. “In Australia, however, children go out in the morning before school' and extract money from shoppers and people going to work.” At present, with an average of one envelope appeal a fortnight, it is likely people have reached saturation point. “People will give to a maximum of four or five charities a year. If you’re not one of the seven most common door-to-

door appeals you Won’t be effective,” says Mr Clark. Electronic technology is playing an increasingly large part in fund raising. Word processors are used to personalise the letters in direct mail appeals. Computers keep the names of donors on file.

“Organisations will try to pinpoint a specific group likely to be sympathetic. The most expensive part of a promotion is getting the initial name on to your list,” says a spokesman for a Christchurch advertising agency. “Once an organisation has got donors, they are likely to receive repeated requests.” This is not to say New Zealand fund-raisers will go the way of their American counterparts, who send out an appeal in the form of an account as often as 12 times a year. “I wouldn’t see Ourselves sending out appeals too frequently. You’ve got to be careful how many times you do bother people,” says Captain Keith Hampton, public relations officer for the Salvation Army in Christchurch. Television has already begun to play a part in raising money for charities. There have been seven telethons since 1975,- but Mr Clark of T.A.I.F. says fund-raisers have not seen telethons as effective tools. “They believe the telethons have been counter-productive. The causes are too general,” he says. However, the recent World Vision mini-telethon was viewed with interest by voluntary organisations. As a pilot fund-raising programme put on by one charity,

it did remarkably well. More than 51 million was raised in four hours.

World Vision is acknowledged as a fund-raising leader in New Zealand. “We run as a professional business. It’s the only way you can successfully raise funds. We present the need in a way New Zealanders understand,” says Mr Grahame Marshall, South Island manager of World Vision. Part of World Vision’s success is due to the variety of moneymaking schemes they have run, and also their marketing. “Agricultural projects, in Asia and the Pacific are promoted to farmers. ; The 40-hour famine appeals to teenagers,” says Mr Marshall. You can also sponsor a child, or become a life-sharing partner or a feed-a- | child partner. Mr Marshall says ? that World Vision will probably j make ?7 million this year. “You f must be trying new things. World s Vision , does that. We stop them if * they don’t work,” he adds. ; The type of image a charity has is as important for the charity as for prospective donors. Part of the job is already done for some charities — such as the Foundation for the Blind or I.H.C. People have, an immediate sympathy for these groups. Charities which have been around for a long time do not have to do as much spade work as “newcomers.” The Salvation Army has 100 years of credibility behind it. That makes the job of publicity easier, says Captain Hampton. “People give to the Salvation Army because they like the things we do with their money.” New charities haye trouble breaking into the market, especially when the image they project is unclear — or when', people do not like what they stand for. As well as losing money, the Nga

Hau E Wha appeal received 40 or 50 envelopes with no money but with racist messages written on them, says Mr Heal. A generous tax rebate of 50 cents in the dollar used to be an incentive to donate money. Today, donors can claim 31 cents in every dollar for 55 or more, to a ceiling of 5646. , ' Some charities are approved by the Department of Inland Revenue for tax purposes — for example Save the Children Fund, Volunteer Service Abroad, the Sir Walter Nash Vietnam appeal; some are not — the National Save Manapouri Campaign, the Royal Society of Arts, S.P.U.C. »■ ' Does all of this mean that the;, larger; well-known charities will become richer and the small ones stay poor? To compete, it seems that money must be spent om promotion. The Salvation Army spends 17 per cent of its total earnings on promotion and administration, the Crippled Children’s Society spends less than 25 per- cent, and World Vision spends about 25 per cent on administration and advertising — 12.7 per cent of this on fund-raising and promotion. “Those organisations who do not adopt sophisticated marketing poll-. cies will find it harder to get money,” says a spokesman for a Christchurch advertising agency. “There’s a relationship to the expertise an organisation has. It gets back to marketing. — one of the most important subjects for a voluntary agency,” says Mr Mitchell.

The City Missioner, David Morrell, disagrees. “A pure business view is too simplistic. Everybody who gives some money makes a decision. People not interested in others would not give money.”