Have you wondered how non-profit organizations (NPOs) can plan an effective campaign in a post-pandemic era, when most countries are still deeply plagued by social disconnection and economic downturn? Here, a Taiwanese clown care organization may give you some inspirations.

Dr. Red Nose, just like a myriad of Taiwanese NPOs, suffered from a sharp decline in number of donors and faced volunteer shortage due to the global health crisis and economic recession in 2020. To continue its mission and provide its virtual medical clowning service to around 31,000 children with long-term illnesses, it immediately launched a crowdfunding campaign on Facebook and Instagram named “Smile Donation Scheme” in July with a clear marketing objective: raising 5 million NT to maintain its normal operation.

But when the public is tightening their belts and becomes less willing to spend on NPOs they are unfamiliar with, what format will sound appealing to prospective donors? And what channel is more effective for online promotion?

Dr. Red Nose revealed its strategies on 15^th August 2020: “Emotional Marketing”. It showcased a thank you card from a parent about how medical clowns relieved the torture of her hospitalized child and subsequently videos of patients and nurses being lifted up by these professionals’ musical performance and entertainment after being isolated for a long time. As a result, many netizens felt touched and took action to show their sympathy. Though storytelling is not a brand-new tactic, it can powerfully deliver the NGO’s impact and attract donation during this difficult time, when people are easily emotionally mobilized to support NPOs that bring immediate good to the society, to regain some sense of control in moments of uncertainties.

Apart from connecting target audience with the right format, leveraging updated platforms for promotion is also crucial in post-pandemic planning. Dr. Red Nose founder Ma, Chao-Chi first accepted a podcast interview and later on partnered with Star Clinic to co-host a 45-minute Facebook Live on 9^th December with a view to disclosing the details of job duties and memorable experience of the medical clowns for marketing the campaign. It again receives nearly 300 comments with many netizens endorsing their efforts through buying its LINE stickers and souvenirs. Not only were podcast and livestream videos popular among Generation Z since their consumption of online videos skyrocketed when they had to stay at home, they also effectively boost NPO’s engagement with its audience as they compensate the room for interaction from face-to-face events, building a higher public’s trust towards the organization.

The campaign already witnessed a monumental success with NT 2.8 million raised in 6 months. What’s more, Dr. Red Nose was also selected as “The Charity Activist” in Taiwan in 2020 for their relentless contribution to the underprivileged, which demonstrated that a swift adaptation in campaign planning, from adjusting objective, format to channel, may serve a key to speedy recovery from a crisis.

Reference

1. Amy, C. & Megan, C. & Lori, B. (2020). Three Things Nonprofits Should Prioritize in the Wake of COVID-19. Retrieved from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/three_things_nonprofits_should_prioritize_in_the_wake_of_covid_19
2. Maria, M. (2020). The Top 10 Nonprofit Marketing Trends for 2021. Retrieved from https://bigsea.co/ideas/top-10-nonprofit-marketing-trends-for-2021/
3. 劉嫈楓（2020年10月）。〈危機？轉機？－NPO大調查：疫情下的公益變遷〉。取自https://ubrand.udn.com/ubrand/story/12117/4955623

Lai Ho Ting Kevin

Donations are the key source of income for many charities. Recently in Hong Kong, many international charities are experiencing a significant downfall in charitable contribution. For example, Oxfam’s donation revenue has plummeted by 18% in 2020 (ON CC, 2020). Donors has become more meticulous when choosing which organization they are donating to; particularly, Charities’ brand image and trustworthiness are now in question. Thanks to its recent controversy and questionable marketing tactics, World Vision has set a bad example for us to take as a cautionary tale.

The controversy began with a post made by Ms. Lau, a child sponsor on social media earlier this year. In the post, Ms. Lau shared a few pictures together with the child sponsorship report she received from World Vision. Upon reviewing the previous reports Ms. Lau realized that the photos attached to the sponsorship report was identical to the one she received in 2018 (ON CC, 2021). This has caused Ms. Lau to question whether the person pictured is really her sponsored child. Shocked by the story, many began to challenge the organization’s credibility. Although World Vision later posted a video on its social media claiming that the photo was a simple mistake, many were not convinced (HK01, 2021). The phrase “World Vision, terminate child sponsorship” has become the top 5 World Vision related search phrase on Google HK even till today.

This is not the first time World Vision has been accused of lying to its donors. In fact, World Vision’s advertising strategy has been in question for an awfully long time. In World Vision’s advertising video, Africa was often portrayed as a rural region with nothing but trash and muddy water. Children in Africa were described and shown as famished, sick and thirsty kids in need of help (World Vision, 2020). Although there’s no doubt that some places in Africa are still in need of support, World Vision has been cherrypicking what to portray in their campaigns. According to Global Citizen, one in three Africans are now defined as ‘middle class’ and the numbers are still growing (Global Citizens, 2018). Donors in Hong Kong has also shared that their sponsored children were not as poor as World Vision claimed in their advertisement. World Vision has deliberately chosen to only show its donors the worst and poorest part of Africa to exaggerate the country’s poverty problems. This questionable marketing tactics has raised ethical concerns regarding the organization.

Like many other charities, World Vision has chosen to take an emotional approach when promoting to its donors. World Vision used an empathy appeal in its advertisement, in which the advertisement tried to evoke the emotion of empathy and understanding towards the African children in need, helping the donors to picture the problems faced by them in a more personal way and become more emotionally attached. This high level of emotional attachment cannot be achieved without a convincing and emotionally provoking story (Spiralytics, 2020) Customers love hearing stories that they can empathize with. World Vision tries to artificially create such a story by exaggerating the poverty problems in Africa, making it easier for them to use the story as powerful leverage. However, creating these “fake” stories is like playing with fire. Once the story is deemed as fake or insincere by its audience, the product or the campaign will collapse together with the story.

The child sponsorship campaign was particularly popular among donors as it gives them a sense of emotional attachment with the sponsored children. Donors are promised that the donations will be used to support one specific child and donors can build and cultivate a friendship and witness their growth. Making the donation even more personal and emotionally bonded than a normal one-off donation. However, if the story itself isn’t built on honest and solid grounds, nothing can and should grow out from it. As the moderator between the sponsor and the sponsored, it’s crucial for World Vision to uphold an honest and truthful image for donors to comfortably entrust their donations to the organization. However, with the recent controversies and overly exaggerated advertisements, World Vision is having a tough time in rebuilding this image. Marketers must take this example as a forewarning and remember – Honesty is the Best Policy.

Reference:

Global Citizens, Debunking 15 common myths and misconceptions About africa. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/africans-are-all-poor-and-15-other-myths/

ON CC, 政Whats噏：助養兒童照片重複疑欺騙 宣明會為造成混淆致歉. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/news/20210131/bkn-20210131220424220-0131_00822_001.html

ON CC, 疫情打擊經濟及投資環境 慈善機構收入重挫. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/news/20201219/bkn-20201219105655383-1219_00822_001.html

Spiralytics. (2020, October 20). Emotional marketing: What it is and how it works. Retrieved from https://www.spiralytics.com/blog/emotional-marketing-what-it-is-and-how-it-works/

Worldvisionhk. (2020, September 28). Cheru’s journey. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMuiCqyt6FA

朱利安. (2021, February 05). 宣明會為助養童照重複風波再解畫：人為錯貼 網民：錯足5年？. Retrieved from https://www.hk01.com/%E7%86%B1%E7%88%86%E8%A9%B1%E9%A1%8C/583920/%E5%AE%A3%E6%98%8E%E6%9C%83%E7%82%BA%E5%8A%A9%E9%A4%8A%E7%AB%A5%E7%85%A7%E9%87%8D%E8%A4%87%E9%A2%A8%E6%B3%A2%E5%86%8D%E8%A7%A3%E7%95%AB-%E4%BA%BA%E7%82%BA%E9%8C%AF%E8%B2%BC-%E7%B6%B2%E6%B0%91-%E9%8C%AF%E8%B6%B35%E5%B9%B4#media_id=6266147

Yu Pui Ying, Jasmine

The world has enough wealth and resources to ensure that the entire human race can enjoy a basic standard of living. Yet, it is still commonly acknowledged that there is a wealth of underdeveloped places around the globe and people living there are facing a tremendously poor quality of life. Undeveloped traffic networks, poorly maintained houses as well as aged, if not impaired roads are prevalent in these areas. Those who are empathetic might donate money to charities to help alleviate the situation, but AkzoNobel, a leading global paint and coating company headed in the Netherlands decided to take it up a notch by donating litres of paint to lighten up the lives of those from impoverished communities with colours.

To help rejuvenate communities and improve people’s quality of life in the less-developed regions, AkzoNobel took the initiative to launch the Let’s Colour Project cooperated with around 60 of its paint brands such as Dulux, Marshall and Herbol. Believing in the power of how paint can transform lives by uplifting communities, changing behaviours and making living spaces more enjoyable, the project aims to revitalize the impoverished communities with creative colour painting.. Within a decade,  AkzoNobel has carried out more than 2,200 Let’s Colour projects, donated millions of litres of paint and benefited millions of people.  It comes as no surprise that the positive impacts of paint would continuously grow with the efforts of AkzoNobel.

One of the most ambitious Let’s Colour projects was carried out in Kuşadası, Turkey in 2018. The neighbourhood in Kuşadası was once a neglected area: Demolished houses, barren roads and blemished infrastructures around the neighbourhood have hindered its image. . As a result, Kuşadası was considered as a scary dead-end that was avoided by both locals and tourists.

Seeing the situation in Kuşadası, AkzoNobel has cooperated with its paint brand, Marshall, in revitalising the coastal town. Using 50,000 litres of Marshall paint, 20 volunteers and numerous locals helped repainted over 400 homes, benefitting nearly 60,000 residents, over 400 homes. The brightly coloured houses and coating innovations have brought positivity and created happy homes for the local citizens. The transformation brought by Let’s Colour Project has eliminated the thought of moving out among local citizens. Indeed, they now feel proud to live on the Colourful Hill, the new nickname for Kuşadası after the transformation.

The colourful journey advocated by AkzoNobel bears witness to the power of paint which can give fresh impetus, bring positivity and vitality to the community. It is believed that this colourful campaign would turn more places into a striking panorama in the near future.

AkzoNobel has proudly unveiled the magic of paint and colours in revitalising community. It speaks volumes about paint genuinely has more power than we think.

References:

AkzoNobel. (2018, October 7). The Colourful Hill Kuşadas. Retrieved from https://letscolourproject.com/colorful-hill-kusadasi-turkey/

D&D Coatings. (2019, February 28). Kuşadasi Transformed by AkzoNobel. Retrieved from https://www.ddcoatings.co.uk/2215/kusadasi-transformed-by-akzonobel

Domino. (2019, January 28). This Rainbow Village is a Color Lover’s Dream Come True. Retrieved from https://www.domino.com/content/rainbow-houses-kusadasi-turkey/