A Norwegian humanitarian group is turning the tables on traditional forms of non-profit campaigning, carrying out a series of clever initiatives to encourage NGOs change the way they communicate and advertise.
Its a well-worn format – ads featuring children gazing wide-eyed into a camera screen while a voiceover relays a story about the harsh realities of living in that particular corner of the earth. It’s a familiar trope and one that works and, as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…right? Well, just because something “ain’t broke” doesn’t mean it necessarily addresses the core problem in the best manner possible.
Take for example this clip from ChildFund, featuring a moderator walking through what he terms a “desperate neighbourhood” among children who are “too poor for words” (yet somehow manage to repeatedly ask if the moderator has brought them a sponsor). This formulaic approach portrays the reality (and solutions) of poverty as oversimplified – just donate money and you can wash the problems away! While helping to bring immediate relief to a situation, this classic model of flashing images of starving children on TV screens, or propping a worry-stricken celebrity in front of a camera and calling for donations can communicate a watered-down message about the reality of ending poverty and instills a more apathetic reaction of simply donating money rather than taking real action.
The clip was among four nominees for the Rusty Radiator Awards, selected by an international jury and coordinated by the Norwegian Students and Academics International Assistance Fund (SAIH). The Awards, which took place on Tuesday 10 December in Oslo and were streamed live online, are a tongue-in-cheek approach to combatting the stereotypes we often see in ad campaigns for non-profit causes (they also awarded Golden Radiators to ad campaigns that creatively and effectively tackle the issues they are looking to address). The team at SAIH aim to use the awards as a vehicle to demonstrate that communications campaigns need to address issues in an integrated manner that inspires people to take action rather than encouraging knee-jerk solutions.
Check out their promo video for the awards and see if you can recognise a few of the stereotypes used frequently in fundraising campaigns:
In 2012, SAIH launched a similar campaign called Radi-Aid to demonstrate how this redacted method of highlighting the reality of poverty often overlooks many of its contributing factors, namely that the actions of the Western world are also part of the problem (and showed along the way exactly how calibrated the Western view of poverty in developing countries can be).
As part of the campaign, SAIH released this video “Africa for Norway”, made in an all-too-familiar style, to illustrate their point with great humour. The video is in the vain of charity songs, such as “We are the world”, and calls for people in Africa to donate radiators to the frostbitten residents of Norway – cos, y’know, you can die from the cold too.
So what’s the solution? SAIH also has a few suggestions as to how to shape charitable campaigns so that they inform and inspire action.
As Ajay mentioned last week, donations to charities tend to soar at this time of year. This campaign serves as a sly yet nonetheless timely reminder that if you are going to donate, do some research to ensure your contribution is going where you want it to and not necessarily being put toward some large marketing budget.
You can also donate to one of RESET’s partner projects (we except no intermediary fees meaning 100 percent of your donation goes where it’s intended) such as Mobisol which looks to equip houses in East Africa with solar panels to bring solar light to these areas and eradicate the need for health and eco-harming kerosene lamps.
Head over to the Rusty Radiator website to learn about all the nominees and winners.
