25/02/2020

RE:Purpose – driving new models of engagement for charities

At last month’s LEAD 2020 conference, the Advertising Association declared that we are in ‘The New Age of Responsibility’.

They demanded that the ad industry 1) take more responsibility for the standard of advertising in the UK and 2) called for actions to rebuild public trust in the sector.

This should resonate with many in the charity sector who recognise similar issues with trust affecting our industry.  This was highlighted in ‘UK Giving 2019’, the Charities Aid Foundation report, which revealed the percentage of people who believe charities to be trustworthy has decreased from 51% in 2016 to 48% in 2018.

At the Kite Factory we believe optimising engagement frameworks is crucial to addressing the challenges facing traditional giving. Within engagement, ‘The New Age of Responsibility’ is of particular relevance to the charity sector on two main points:

  1. As GDPR shrinks addressable databases, and traditional routes to engage consumers either underperform or get oversaturated, partnering with for-profit brands that match their values – on shared media initiatives to achieve mutually beneficial goals – provides a huge opportunity for charities to reach potential supporters in compelling ways.
  2. However, as brands increasingly seek to define their own visions of responsibility around sustainable and/or societal issues, there is the increasing risk that there is a reduced role for charities as they become less essential to delivering purpose.

The window of opportunity is therefore closing.

In this landscape we would encourage all charities to think of the following:

  • Are your current shared partnerships driving maximum impact for your charity?
  • Is every Owned Earned Shared and Paid touchpoint being leveraged to maximise impact and budget efficiency?
  • Which brands in the for-profit sector, in your supporters’ eyes, share similar values to your organisation?

The Kite Factory has a strong track record in driving enhanced performance for charities and we know all too well how important it is to answer these questions – which address just one aspect of improving supporter engagement – and the benefit of turning them into tangible actions to drive growth.

For more information on how we can use our wealth of experience to help your organisation deliver on its mission, please get in touch.