You Can Win $1,000, Maybe Even $100,000
No, not by completing our Staying Ahead of the Curve survey (see right column, top). For that, you simply earn our gratitude and some insight into how your peers are doing when Agitator reports the results.
For $1,000 or $100,000 in prize money, you need to win Carson Daly's (originator of MTV's “TRL” phenom) “It's Your Show TV” home-made video contest. As reported by the New York Daily News, you enter a video in one the twenty weekly challenges, like “Bald Is Beautiful,” and the winner of each challenge goes into the final, where the grand prize is $100,000 and a showcasing of your video on an NBC Special. Hurry, the contest is already underway!
Good fun. But meanwhile, where are all the nonprofit marketing sleepyheads who are failing to capture the energy of the “consumer-generated content” revolution ushered in by MySpace, Yahoo Videos, YouTube and others?
Why are there no comparable contests for best videos rallying support for action on global warming, human rights, AIDS, child welfare, clean energy, civil liberties, whatever? The surge of interest — no, not mere interest, rather participation — in online video sites underscores is that there is a volcano of creative energy boiling out there, just waiting to be tapped. You don't need a $100,000 prize to do this, just some imagination and a few fun incentives. And you might even be taught how to deliver your message more powerfully!
Instead, most nonprofit campaigners still act as though the cutting edge is asking their supporters to send a canned email to Congress, which is largely ignored.
As Daly says:
“People want to be heard. People want to be seen. They've just never had the ability until now. They can make videos. They can write blogs. Before, when they wanted to read the news, they went and got a newspaper. Now they can become the news.”
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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