Drooping sales hit virtual gifts

Fundraising | Gemma Ware | 1 Mar 2008

The sector issues a collective moan each Christmas when, without fail, the debate about the ethics of virtual goats rears its horns. But it is in for a real headache as the results from this year’s campaigns bring worrying signs for the future of the virtual gift.

Two of the biggest virtual gift campaigns – Oxfam Unwrapped and Christian Aid’s Present Aid – have both failed to live up to last year’s sales figures. Present Aid’s Oxfam Unwrapped’s item sales fell by 150,000 this year virtual giftsearnings fell by half; it raised £1.24m in November and December 2007 compared to £2.1m in 2006 (although a spokesman said the mailings went out earlier in 2006). It sold 70,000 gifts in its Christmas virtual gift period down from 104,000 in 2006, with the £10 Bangladesh disaster survival kit the most popular item, accounting for 13 per cent of all gifts.

Oxfam Unwrapped said it wouldn’t divulge financial information about the amount raised during its ‘Campaign for Decent Christmas Presents’. However, 250,000 virtual gifts were sold over November and December 2007, compared to 400,000 sold in 2006. Most popular were the £6 school dinners for 100 (28,354 sold), and its trusty £25 goats (21,484 sold).

Stephen Harvey, Oxfam Unwrapped manager in 2007, said: “While we were disappointed with the fall in sales in 2007, it is worth remembering that we still sold 250,000 gifts and that Oxfam Unwrapped remains one of Oxfam’s most important revenue streams.”

Christian Aid’s spokesman said it did not know the reason for the fall yet, but added that “income over the period was slightly up on the year before and we’re not sure yet whether people are giving through a different income stream”.

Neither charity would reveal how much they spent marketing the campaigns, but Oxfam said all the celebrities involved gave their time for free and advertisements were produced at a discount rate, and as such Harvey is confident the campaign will have provided a “good return on investment”.

Only time will tell whether the results for 2007 were a blip, or if the bottom has well and truly fallen out of the virtual gift market.

Directory: Christian Aid | Oxfam
Who's Who: Gemma Ware

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