There’s a solicitation of donations for the ASPCA that makes me ill. Like some others they are looking for monthly donations. My educated guess is these solicitations are produced and aired by professional fund raisers on behalf of certain non-profits (such as the ASPCA). Donors are directed to “www.joinaspca.com.” If I’m right a good piece of any donation goes to the professional fund raiser.
So, am I right and if so what percentage actually finds its way to the ASPCA?
I’m speaking totally out of my ass here, but I don’t think the companies that produce the commercials have anything to do with the actual financials of fundraising. They’re simply hired by the ASPCA thru an ad agency to produce a set of commercials and are paid a fee for it. I donate monthly to the ASPCA (Peta can go fuck themselves) and I don’t think they’re a particularly inefficient charity.
I’ll agree that those commercials tear your heart out (I fast-forward my TiVo past them!) but I feel not in a disingenuous, overly manipulative manner, but in a simple, honest, truthful way. Animal abuse & neglect*** is*** a pretty awful thing to a lot of people…
Depending on the charity and how much freedom the agency has to “do art”, some agencies will work pro bono with the intent to win awards, thus being able to command higher rates in general.
My gf recently became involved (at her ad agency) with CARE. Remember care packages? I didn’t realize they were still in operation.
The ASPCA had to pay a very large settlement to Ringling Brothers circus. Since then there have been a large number of ASCPCA ads on TV. Some of the money raised will go to pay off the settlement. The settlement was 9.3 million and the yearly fundraising for the ASCPCA is about 110 million.
Professional fundraisers generally stick to direct mail and telemarketing.
As far as I can tell, the ASPCA, despite its name, does most of its animal welfare work in the New York City area. So if you live elsewhere, you may wish to contribute to a local animal welfare charity.
Usually a professional fund-raiser will feature a phone number or P.O. box rather than a website. This makes it easier for them to show the donation was directly tied to their work, since the fund-raiser gets paid on the basis of what it collects specifically, not what the organization brings in as a whole.
Side note: When I worked for a children’s organization, the independent state organizations were constantly arguing about the most effective pitch. Some wanted to show pictures of mistreated, abused, poor kids, while others wanted to show strong, empowered, happy kids. (Almost like before vs. after.) Everyone knew the two approaches worked for different donors, but AFAIK, no one could ever figure out which brought in more money.
Yup! I can’t even *listen *to that song of her’s anymore, it’s so associated with those images… 
Yes, definitely (I do that as well).
