SPECIAL FEATURE FILM/TELEVISION FUNDRAISING
How can film bring your bequest program to life? Is there a more rewarding and more under-resourced form of fundraising than bequests? Angeline Swan explores the potential of film to inspire gifts in wills by making powerful and lasting connections.
B
equest fundraising is often neglected. While some causes embrace it, many do not yet have a proper strategic approach. Bequest income is too often regarded as outside of one’s control or simply too difficult an issue to confront. Yet for farsighted causes, bequest promotion is increasingly multi-media. Gone are the days when direct marketers simply offered booklets on how to make or change your will. Such offers can still play a role but it is now more common to talk directly about bequest programs.
Make a values connection
All fundraising should be values driven and emotional, and even more so with bequest programs. That’s partly why the dramatic and emotive medium of film is becoming more widely used. But let’s not pretend this is entirely new. The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution was using film to promote legacies and offer tangible, lasting donor recognition back in the 1950s. Bequest promotion is clearly about the cause’s need, but even more about the need of the supporter. Bequest programs can offer A still from UNICEF’s bequest DRTV
supporters the opportunity for their values to live on forever. What a fabulous offer!
Film as strategic stewardship
It’s important not to create bequest films in isolation. They must dovetail with other forms of promotion. Indeed, it’s best not to think of this as a sales promotion but as enhancing the conversations and the ongoing relationships you have with supporters. Film can enrich existing contact with supporters or create new opportunities in all forms of stewardship, including: • by community fundraisers when meeting groups of supporters • on private sites such as charity shops, lifeboat stations, shopping mall displays or other places where you promote your cause • on your website – where people are already interested in you • to enhance the emotional connection within direct mail, email or face-to-face meetings. Film helps you do things that can greatly enhance people’s willingness to consider a bequest gift, such as: Strengthen emotional connections This can be done through powerful first-person stories from those who need help or who have been helped, and the use of assets such as music, which can provide an emotional shortcut. Establish long-term need This is vital, as few of us plan on dying soon, and thus we need reassurance that our gift will be needed long into the future. Prove impact Demonstrating the impact of gifts is becoming more important in all forms of fundraising. Build trust Film and TV are trusted media,
Finding it hard to see how drtv can work for you?
XX
F&P Magazine | February March 2017
fpmagazine.com.au
and trust is essential if someone is to give you a gift to spend after they have gone.
DRTV: a brand-new approach to bequest promotion
Some causes are already starting to use direct response television (DRTV) as part of their bequest promotion. Such appeals can differ a great deal from the proven DRTV model. ‘Traditional’ DRTV will have a very simple need and solution, a clear and tangible role for the supporter and a relentless urgency. Bequest DRTV, on the other hand, may be more about the values connection with the viewer, and this has much more in common with brand advertising than it does with direct response work. For example, UNICEF’s bequest DRTV makes a strong connection with baby boomers – the generation that ‘had it all’: music, fashion and the heart to make the world a better place. This isn’t about driving short-term direct response, but instead is about: • promoting consideration of a gift to those who may never have thought of it • providing a prompt/reminder to those who have considered it but not taken action yet • reaffirming the importance of the gift to those people who have already included a gift in their wills. There is thus the potential for bequest TV to more effectively fulfil the role once reserved for brand awareness TV. Like brand TV, bequest TV offers good causes the chance to champion their strongest values but brings the added advantage of driving potentially significant bequest income.
Reaching your audience
Values-driven baby boomers present a clear potential audience. They are major television viewers and, of course, digitally savvy and so consume large amounts of film through any available screen. For this particular audience there has never been a better time to communicate via film. But don’t rule out reaching older audiences too, such as those aged 75 plus who may be at the stage of making their final will. A well-planned campaign that brings together the discipline of bequest messaging and the audience targeting of brand campaigns may be highly effective.
Fundraising to try before you die
The good news for all bequest fundraisers is that the world is getting much better at talking about the fact that none of us live forever. The whole idea of the bucket list and things to do before you die has entered popular culture. More forthright causes such as Greenpeace recognised this long ago with their bequest beer mat, originally a Mardi Gras poster: When you come back as a whale you’ll be bloody glad you put Greenpeace in your will! Of course, not everyone is looking for
protection as a reincarnated whale… people’s motivations for leaving a gift in their wills can vary enormously. They can range from spite (the simple desire to disinherit someone!) to more positive emotions such as supporting charities that have helped them or a family member, or the personal drive to provide a better future world for our loved ones. The good news is that fundraisers will increasingly be talking to supporters who are not in denial about their own mortality, and who will be more open to the opportunity of seeing their values live on.
Angeline Swan Angeline Swan is Group Development Director at DTV Group and a passionate fundraiser and direct marketer. She is an advocate for using film in all forms of fundraising and has helped create responsive TV and film appeals for many good causes across the globe.
Then drop a line to plain talking, fluent in fundraising DTV. Email info@dtvgroup.asia to speak with Alex, Lauren, Kerri, Derek or Peter. Or find out more at www.dtvgroup.asia