I recently read an article by Dan Pallotta at the Harvard Business Review entitled “Haiti Is a Marketing Lesson.” This is a very intellectual look at 
the business behind tragedy and I recommend everyone take a moment to read it. The article states:
The reason people are giving so much money to Haiti is simple: They are hearing about it. They are seeing and reading about the catastrophe over and over again on the front page, in prime time, and in viral web appeals 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The fact that the harshness of the event is still so fresh on our minds makes it easier to ask for donations and easier for people to give. It would be great if all causes could be headline news and the article touches upon this:
Imagine if we gave humanitarian organizations the freedom to build this kind of demand for a cure for malaria or the end of breast cancer. Imagine if we relinquished our fixation on keeping short-term fundraising costs low and set our gaze on what it would take to “sell” enough charity to solve long-term problems.
I think the article is probably a pie-in-the-sky look at changing the world, but it does provide a good business look at how your cause or nonprofit should think in terms of getting exposure. Saturation of media in the tragedy market creates the demand for people to purchase charity. Your job is to figure ways to create the demand in that market.
(Please visit the WhatGives!? dedicated page to Haiti and make a donation for those who continue to suffer from this event.)
Related Posts
Tags: causes, Dan Pallotta, donations, fundraising, Haiti, Harvard Business Review, marketing, Media, Media Coverage
