Ads that help donors to see the good that can be done rather than the misery of the underserved work better for long-term nonprofit brand growth.
"The UK generally pays a great deal more attention to charity advertising (and poverty porn) than we do in the US. In a recent post entitled “Can Charity Positive Charity Ads Have More Impact,” Will Goodhand, who specializes in researching the short- and long-term effects of advertising, looks at how that applies in the nonprofit sector.
"Goodhand’s project has tracked ads in the UK and US for the past two years, predicting 'both short-term sales spikes and long-term brand building' based on the ad content. He writes that nonprofits generally underperform when it comes to long-term growth, and sees a problem in 'the historic use of shocking and upsetting imagery to break through consumer apathy in order to get that donation.'"
Animal Journalists, a 2018 campaign from the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, is humorous without a single shot of a distressed animal.
Goodhand points to research that suggests that while emotional hooks do translate to short-term gain, more positive emotions work better to build long-term mind share.
Article: Ad Scholar to Charities: “Keep it Positive, You’ll Live Longer”
Article: Battersea Launches First Major Brand Campaign Introduces Peanut The Dog and Misty The Cat