The Girl Effect
Global Giving, founded and run by brilliant social entrepreneur Dennis Whittle, is one of my favorites. Dennis left his cushy World Bank job to raise a little social hell and do a whole world of good.
Check out Global Giving’s latest flash/splash animation "The Girl Effect" for a lesson in how to do things right –and wrong.
I’m sure that this will be a viral marketing ‘winner’ with both women and men –especially women. Powerful. Energetic. Poignant. But sadly, like some hunting dog ranging out and about on the scent, it takes too long to get to the point — assuming the point is putting some bucks in the treasury of Global Giving on behalf of women.
But, you be the judge. My point in passing this along is to both recognize and praise creativity ( and this deserves praise), but to also point out that too much ‘warm up’ can prove fatal. I love this piece. I only hope that all the brilliant foreplay translates into fundraising action.
Of one thing I’m sure. This piece will certainly make the viral rounds — big time. But will it come back home laden with cash? Please let me know what you think.
Roger
P.S. And Dennis, please let us know how "The Girl Effect" worked from a fundraising standpoint. Big bucks or not, for your consistent pushing of the envelope and Global Giving’s constant efforts at innovation, YOU DESERVE A RAISE!
7 responses to “The Girl Effect”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]
Read Full Answer
I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]
Read Full Answer
Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]
Read Full Answer
Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]
Read Full Answer
There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]
Read Full Answer
I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]
Read Full Answer
Love the animation, but I’m not sure people will respond to a “method” of making the world a better place that is clearly over simplified. That whole bit about the girl becoming a successful business woman and the village men respecting her and inviting her to the village council for example… how much work did it take in our own society to come even close to that?
I agree Roger – it’s a great animation which I just forwarded to my sisters and my Mom. But I don’t see an easy way to give at the end of the show. And if we want to raise money, we certainly have to make it easy. I’d love to combine Dennis’ animators (and budget) with some talented DM fundraisers!
I like the concept and the music was perfect. I found the “imagine the girl” intro part a bit…weird. Where the problems besetting this hypothetical girl were flies, a baby, a husband, hunger, and HIV (all apparently equally bad). And removing these five things is the beginning of the turnaround.
The beauty of the idea is that it tells a story. Story telling activates the emotional brain and that is where we want giving to come from. The analytical brain always reverts to the check book, which is bad for giving.
I think that the layout of the story should have been altered. It gave me the task and then the mission. It should have given me the mission and then my task. It lost me when it went from small scale to large scale… it reactivated the thought that the problem is much bigger than anything I can do to help.
Boiling things down to a scale that we can get our head around is a wonderful way to make us feel like we have influence — like we can make an impact. We don’t say that we need to raise money for 100,000 mosquito nets. We ask you to imagine a football stadium with a 100,000 seats and the number of seats you buy for the big game equals the number of people that you save from a life-threatening disease. Oh, I get it… I’ll take 4 seats. Emotional, scaleable, personal give.
Where’s the call to action?
Roger…
Cynical old one that I am, I think they put more effort into creating the video than they did giving people the opportunity to participate. And yes, I know people need a reason, but it’s not as though the reasons aren’t there to begin with.
Hugely creative effort, as far as vids go, but from a funding standpoint, I’m underwhelmed. Like you, though, I’m curious as to the final word on this. I could be way off base.
Greg Wallace
This is not an attractive video to those of us bothered by the strobe effect. Flashing black and white dots feel bad to me on a physiological level. I would have just closed the video but I wanted to see it because of your email so I had to keep covering it with my hand.
And maybe I’m too old and linear-minded, but I hate those collections of words jumbled together, with their implication that there is some relationship between them that is never defined. It’s the same kind of appeal as a picture of a child running through a field in a political ad: very nice, but so what?
Judy K. Warner