Stating the Obvious

I strongly believe that charity begins at home.  That said I also love to support all the amazing organisations who go out of their way to support those in need throughout our community.  Alot of these charities are run on a volunteer basis however they are in themselves an established business.

That said I thought I’d share with you all something I always find myself scratching my head over when it comes to the marketing of a business and especially a charity based event.

A very simple thing that alot of charities and appeals seem to forget in the marketing of their charities special appeal is infact the date.

I come from a volunteer fundraising/charity background, amongst other titles.  So I always find myself bemused over the simple fact of media based promotional merchandise not stating the obvious.

I recall last year purchasing various charity pins from my local petrol station and more recently I received an Anzac Day pin from our local RSL in the mail.

Now these pins are attached to little paper flyers which kindly thank us for our donation which you get to keep for tax purposes.

On none of these paper flyers does it state the date of the appeal in question!  Nor does the merchandise box from which the pins came from let us know when the appeal is running.  I recall standing at the counter looking at the box knowing it must be coming up or the box wouldn’t be on display. But for all the looking I couldn’t find the date.  So who checks the small print and all these little details before they go to print?

I love supporting charities and know only too well what amazing benefits our donations provide to those in need,  the people for whom these charities support.  The purpose of such events is to bring our entire community together to support those less fortunate than ourselves!  How can we when we don’t know when that is?

OK so for most Australians Anzac Day is a no brainer but ……. could charities please take the time to proof read their marketing campaign material and simply ‘state the date’. Otherwise what’s the point?