Marketing a Charity Appeal
Here are some tips for marketing a charity appeal, based on my experiences working with Scottish charities.
Get in touch via my contact page or click chat on this page if you have any questions or want marketing support for your Scottish charity.
Planning a campaign for a charity appeal
There's a difference between an unfocused appeal and one with focus, clarity, and a clear outcome. More straightforward and compelling messages will likely cut through and get public and PR attention.
Start by asking some simple questions, such as:
- How much money do you need?
- Who could give you this money? (e.g. grants/donations)
- Why should people support your appeal?
- What will you do to raise attention for the appeal?
The latter two questions are crucial for an appeal's success; the answer to why people support should be essential, and the answer(s) has to be compelling. I will cover what you will do to raise attention within this post.
Shaping a Charity and Appeal Message
Presenting a time-critical campaign can help create energy and urgency for an appeal.
An example of an apparent campaign was the Save Our Steamship appeal, which I worked on, an appeal to raise funds to restore the historic Steamship Sir Walter Scott, which has sailed on Loch Katrine since 1900.
The Steamship developed cracked boilers in late 2019 and required £500,000 (eventually rising to £850,000) to replace them and carry out other significant repairs. The Steamer was deteriorating and needed urgent attention, and it needed to return to operation to allow it to generate income for long-term sustainability. Covid restrictions delayed the appeal, and by the time of its launch, the campaign had a clear message and timeline. Thankfully, the appeal was a success, with Steamship Sir Walter Scott resuming sailings during the summer of 2023; more on that story later in this post, discover more about my work at Loch Katrine.
SOS - Save our Steamship Appeal
Save our Steamship Appeal Website
How to facilitate donations for charity appeals
I create websites to facilitate charitable donations using credit and debit cards simply. Examples of websites accept donations include Maid of the Loch, Scottish Campaign for National Parks, Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Steamship Sir Walter Scott and Drymen Village.
I've also used donation buckets, tap and donate machines and text services. However, I've found websites with donation buttons to be the most successful means of generating and processing public donations.
It's too early not to consider collecting cash, so factor that in but also ensure you have a simple online donation system set up. As mentioned, I've found a web-based solution the easiest and most effective way of encouraging and processing donations. I use Squarespace (website platform), integrating with Stripe (payment gateway) to achieve this.
Digital Storytelling for Scottish Charities
I've worked with many charities to help them speak directly to the public and funders through powerful videos. Well-produced short films can articulate an appeal clearly and powerfully. The people that feature will likely connect authentically and passionately to help present a compelling case.
Above are some examples for VTO, Volunteer Tutor's Organisation. This Glasgow-based charity provides tutoring for children who have been through trauma and difficult times and had, for whatever reason, suffered with their education. The cases were presented wonderfully by some of their volunteers, whose experiences had helped them as much as the young people they supported.
Enhancing Charity Grant Applications
I started working with Maid of the Loch Steamship some years ago, producing a video to accompany a significant grant application. This film proved successful and began a long and enjoyable involvement with the Balloch charity, creating future videos and a website. Above you can see both the first video and a subsequent appeal film.
If successful with a grant application, consider recording the positive impact of the funding and presenting it as part of an evaluation process. I did this as part of the Steamship Sir Walter Scott appeal for the National Lottery Heritage Fund and found it helpful and interesting.
Getting PR for your Charity Appeal
Hopefully, your appeal has a compelling reason for people to support it, ideally with a timeline and sense of urgency. If you have all the digital content produced and methods for people to support, you can present it to the public.
A timeline lets you plan milestones and PR activity to keep the campaign fresh and people engaged. Your story will resonate and unite like-minded people, creating momentum and a following.
A compelling campaign will create media interest, but you must have newsworthy updates and hooks that make it relevant enough for outlets to publish. Before the appeal starts, plan the campaign with these topical updates: research journalist contacts at publications and websites you wish to target for coverage.
It is vital to have a strategy and a plan; however, as the appeal gets underway, unexpected events may happen; these might affect your plan, which must be fluid to accommodate a reaction to events.
There can be opinions that once you put a message out, it's job done, if only! You need to keep at it, keep putting the message out there to reach the maximum number of people, and for the increased chance of it impacting in a world where each person today is inundated with messages.
Social media is an effective way to develop an on-going narrative about an appeal.
Friends of Loch Lomond Litter Campaign
Glasgow Children’s Charity - Christmas Appeal
Reward and thank supporters for your charity appeal
Crowdfunding campaigns have been successful for many charities, winning public support for a sliding scale of merchandise, content, and opportunities. Beware of costly ways of generating donations, especially ones that are time-consuming for you and your team. Sometimes, it's a simple thank you on the appeal website, privately and if permission is granted publicly.
By pre-planning your campaign (you'll have noticed that this is a recurring theme!), you can set up all the digital systems and even apply automation to ensure the campaign runs smoothly and that supporters aren't ignored.
Gift Aid for your Charity Appeal
Remember to set up Gift Aid and allow your supporters to opt-in to it to generate increased income. You will be frustrated if you try to do this retrospectively and have yet to take advantage of this opportunity.
Focus on the Core Message of the Appeal
I was Programme Director at Radio Clyde some years earlier, home to the incredibly successful Cash for Kids appeal. In those days, around £1.6m was raised each year, with the core of the appeal running during December.
We used to host some high-profile events, and I had to use my contacts to secure the top pop acts of the day. There was great excitement about who would play at these charity lunches and balls. However, there was a need to balance this with reminding the listeners about the impact of the money raised on young lives in Glasgow and the West of Scotland.
The presenting team and I went out and saw for ourselves where the money was being spent and the positive change it provided. Collectively, we produced video and audio to present these stories to the listeners. As a group, we were incredibly moved by what we saw, and through the team's talents, authentic content was produced that helped increase support for the appeal.
Marketing Support for your Scottish Charity Appeal
I hope this article has helped, and if I can assist you with marketing support and planning for your Scottish charity appeal, please get in touch.
About Paul Saunders Marketing
Based in Loch Lomond, Paul Saunders Marketing works with clients throughout Scotland, providing marketing consultancy and creative digital media for businesses, charities and organisations of all sizes.
Services include marketing, commercial photography, brand design, website design, video production and social media, events & PR. Call Paul on 01360 661029 or get in touch via the contact page to find out more.
