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Present disaster victims as self-starters, say psychologists

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 1 Oct 2007

Charities should present victims of disasters as pro-active and self-helping in their fundraising campaigns if they want to attract more donors, according to research from psychologists at Royal Holloway University.

Researchers conducted an experiment on undergraduates to find out what motivates people to donate money after humanitarian disasters. The students, whose ages ranged between 18 and 48, were presented with bogus newspaper articles about disasters, designed to present the victims and the reasons for their suffering in different lights. Each was given £5 which they had the option of keeping or donating to one of the crises portrayed.

The researchers found they were more likely to donate to natural rather than man-made disasters, particularly if the victims were not blamed in the newspaper reports for their situation. The students were also more willing to donate if the country affected was seen as a friendly rather than an enemy nation.

The results also showed participants were more likely to donate if they believed the money would effectively reach those in need.

The researchers suggested current campaigns that represent victims as passive and helpless might actually be counterproductive. Instead, they said campaigns should 'induce positive emotions towards victims', by inviting donors to put themselves in victims' shoes.

Dr Hanna Zagefka, lecturer at Royal Holloway University and a co-author of the research, said charities might see better results if appeals made it explicit victims were impartial to the conflict. 'Try to establish a disjunction between the people and the government and bring home to people that citizens aren't necessarily responsible for what the government is doing.'

Brendan Gormley, chief executive of the Disasters Emergency Committee, said the report was a "useful contribution to the evidence base", however he added: "It is worth noting the situations in Darfur and Kosovo, two recent DEC appeals, raised substantial amounts despite there being man-made conflicts in both areas." The DEC's most recent appeal for Chad and Darfur has raised over £11.5m since its launch in May 2007.

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