Has doing good become a sales pitch spurred by the pandemic? Fundraising experts, ad men and do-gooders weigh in on if the algorithm of guilt gets desired results.
Mumbai Police personnel distribute fruit to migrant workers waiting for shramik train. Pic/Getty Images
Last week, when Hodgkin's Lymphoma Stage 4 patient, 22-year-old Winston Fernandes from Mira Road, was admitted to the hospital for a treatment that would cost him 20 lakh, his middle class family was anxious about raising the sum. Like they say in all stories of hope, help came from the most unknown sources: online donations. From Rs 200 to Rs 20,000, small and big contributions poured in from across the world. In two days, the entire sum was raised.
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Anita Peters, Executive Director, Cancer Patients Aid Association, who was instrumental in raising awareness for his case, says, "The turnaround time to raise the required funds largely depends on the reach of the appeal, which ranges from two to 20 days. The more people share the details on their timeline, the better the reach." Since several on-ground events fundraising have moved online, Peters says that when a celebrity (Vivek Oberoi in this case) makes a video for an appeal, the reach is higher. They do seek patient consent before sharing videos on social media as the stigma related to cancer still exists.
Illustration/Uday Mohite
Currently, several crowdfunding platforms are managing to help raise funds for a variety of causes, including Impact Guru, Milaap, Ketto. These make appeals on behalf of the patient's family through stories and videos that trickle down into your social media feeds as advertisements. The contents of these ads is often disturbing.
Thane-based brand consultant Urmi Thakker who had been making contributions to Give India online noticed that she was being spammed with messages from CRY, UNICEF and Give India, after making a donation. "I had to block them. It was off putting. There were visuals of children crying or of senior citizens in distress. Right in the middle of browsing, unexpectedly, you come across a disturbing visual. I found it difficult to deal with, especially since I was alone during the pandemic. The helplessness of the subjects made me feel worse. It was also a time of financial uncertainty so most people were not in the position to donate, even if they wanted to," says Thakker.
Cyrus Oshidar, Urmi Thakker and Dr Kanan Khatau Chikhal
Clinical psychologist and executive coach Dr Kanan KhatauChikhal's vision is to build an emotionally safe world for all. "The amount of information we consume has a direct impact on our brain biology and mind. Advertisements and promotional campaigns have a clearly defined goal, to make the consumer take action towards the product or service. Most advertisements today use evolved tech to capture human attention. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Responses [ASMR] is one such technology. ASMR uses sound, colour visuals to trigger brain pathways for us to take the action towards the evoked feeling almost as reflex. These advertisements have propensity to trigger the Amygdala and Hippocampus pathways in the brain [the perceived fear and its response pathway]. It can impress on the consumer, emotions such as aggression, hunger, guilt or peace.The emotions that are triggered in the human brain are supposed to get digested in six seconds. Post that, it is individual's choice what they want to hold on to. The guilt that lingers eats into our personal energy levels. Emotions are contagious and hence, can put us at a spot that allows negative emotions and low energy to be transmitted to other beings. Hence, consumer willpower, mindfulness and discretion are extremely important to notice this impact," she explains.
It is true for many that they want to do good, but if it is thrust in their face, it's more of a pain. Doing good has become a sales pitch spurred by the pandemic. Instances of marketing associates from crowdfunding platforms making the rounds of hospitals to help those in need are common. However, the catch is that there is a fee associated with making appeal videos ranging anywhere from seven to 15 per cent. "The thing about online fundraising is that how well a video is made, translates into how much funds are generated. What is hard though is to see those who are anyway living on hope to be given more hope, albeit with a rate card," says Peters.
Sandeep V M Iyer, Charu Jain and Jayesh Behera
In some cases, tele marketers call for medical emergency funds too. Travel expert and software Engineer Jayesh Behera contributes regularly online, and thinks, "Some people misuse the platform to drive their agenda or scam people emotionally. While some campaigns can be genuine, crowdfunding campaigns can be run by fake NGOs backed by people with motives. A little research about the campaigner, the platform, the victim and the legitimacy of the appeal is important."
Fundraising expert Charu Jain thinks it depends on the credibility of the platform. "Advertising should not turn into spamming. There must be a plan in place about the number of days and a variety of ways in which the ads are shown for the same fundraising campaign. The donor should be able to opt out of receiving the ad and also be able to give feedback on it. This will help regulate the process," she adds.
It is hard to determine the calculation behind an ad you see. In Shilpa Sanghai's case, after she donated to an environmental cause, she did not notice a surge in the appeal ads. She also spends time reading the stories posted by the crowdfunding platform she frequents, and shares a few if she knows someone. As for the ad content, Sanghai believes, "Imagery works faster than plain text. The power of images isn't just how quickly we derive meaning from them, but also the amount of meaning we associate with them. I have seen images which are emotionally resonant, evoking an instinctive response, could be positive or negative. In my opinion, the images are centered around someone we would want to root for, or support which is probably what the purpose of the post was in the first place, thus helping the fund raising cause directly."
But, browsers always have a choice, argues, Sandeep VM Iyer, creative director, Famous Innovations. "It's a strategy that's probably working for the fundraisers. There's a button called, 'I don't want to see such ads', which you can choose to click on."
Industry observers point to the irony of the situation, when they say that if a "My-son-is-dying" ad disturbs you, what it's really doing is pointing to the holes in public healthcare and government infrastructure. As a society, we may have grown dead to the suffering of others, thinks Cyrus Oshidar, managing director of content firm 101 India. "Charity or not, if it is irritating, it reflects our selfishness. Bad advertising should not put us off the issues and needs behind it."
Thakker believes that charity ads need to be toned down, and not made sensational. "Ads for donation can be feel good too, those that bring a smile or carry stories of positive impact." Sanghai adds, "Why not share more success stories of an impact of a crowdfunding, so that people contribute and feel there is something good happening?" Chikhal says Indian ad creators should look at Comic Relief, an outfit that fund raises for charities in the UK. It has managed to eradicate donor fatigue and encouraged new donors to take action by providing positive stimulus. It did this by introducing Red Nose Day, which involves fun activities and engaging diverse audiencesrather than only focusing on traditional donors. "The event is conducted only once a year, leading to people looking forward to the day rather than witnessing fatigue. The cause is supported by BBC Worldwide and British Airways, among others, and sees celebrities like Ed Sheeran and Julia Roberts back it."
When you choose to give
. Become aware of your thoughts and emotions after you consume advertising content, data and information from the Internet.
. Don't react/act immediately; breathe and absorb your own sensitivities.
. Give it a day or more. Do your research. Only once convinced, initiate action/response.
. Guard your mind against long durations online.
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