Spotlight on: Festive Giving 2023
With Festive preparations well underway across the Third Sector, we recently explored how festive fundraising might be impacted by macro behavioural trends and shifts in the fundraising landscape. This event was hosted by GOOD’s Senior Planner, Kate Sloan, moderated by Nilesha Chauvet, GOOD’s Managing Director, and featured guest speaker Andy Brander, Planning Director at M.i Media.
Kate highlighted some key behavioural trends and their implications for fundraising, this included:
Anti-establishment sentiment: We are increasingly questioning authority and whether those in charge know what they are doing. As a result, we are searching for more authentic voices, I.e., those with lived experience who are often under-represented in communications.Wanting collective equity: As society feels dog eat dog and inequality widens, we are looking for a reset to create a society that is more equitable for all. For charities that means focusing on creating a sense of community, a coming together for positive change.
Grappling with a synthetic reality: From ChatGPT and Dall-E, to convincing deepfakes spreading misinformation, people are experiencing a sense of unease around truth and reality. When everything seems on unsteady ground, we are looking for something firm to hold on to. There is a real opportunity for charities to provide that stability with a coherent and consistent expression of values, translating into tangible and demonstrable action.
Kate then made some predictions for how the fundraising landscape will shift this festive season:
From crisis to continuity: As we lurch from Covid to the cost-of-living crisis, we are facing permacrisis fatigue with people feeling burnt out from short-term firefighting. As a result, they are looking for more significant, systemic solutions that will make a long-term difference. Involving your audience in a movement for change, with a long-term ambition, helps give people the hope and confirmation that they are making a difference. With this in mind, we have seen that – especially in the festive period – having a hopeful resolution to communications is important.
From cash as king, to cash as a component: The festive period is a big moment for cash giving, and that isn’t going to change. Many charities have a big, lapsed cash file of people who donated in 2020 crisis appeals. There is a vast opportunity to reactivate those donors over the festive period. However, we are going to see more diversification of income over Christmas. Many people are moving into the lottery and gaming and charities could benefit by flexing their overarching proposition to include those. In-memory giving is also growing. The festive period is a natural time for people to sit, reflect and think about those closest to them and to remember those that have passed. This makes Legacy and In-mem an increasingly important income stream over the festive period.
From Christmas to winter: Think about campaigns that can stretch from November through to January/February. By doing this, your creative collateral has longer shelf-life, giving you a greater ROI. Also, media costs in January and February can be slightly lower, so you can stretch the marketing budget further.
From generative AI as futile, to generative AI as friend: In the past few months, we’ve seen just how far technology has developed. And whilst it won’t replace the human touch and outside the box thinking, AI can be helpful to accelerate campaign development and to help us get to answers faster. It is obviously not without risk and must be done ethically, but it is a rapidly growing tool that can’t be ignored.
With millions raised for charities, at GOOD we deliver high-impact Christmas campaigns for a multitude of clients. Get in touch with us at hello@goodagency.co.uk for more information.
Posted by Katie Daley
