If you present any kind of charitable cause to potential donors the vast majority will state that they feel sympathy and that they may consider donating. That is the right, socially acceptable answer.
Yet not all appeals are successful and with limited funds available charity donors have to make a choice. Research has found that tendency to donate is positively linked to the strength of compassion they feel for the cause. Therefore, the appeal that can elicit the highest level of compassion has a better chance to be successful.
So, we just ask potential donors how compassionate the appeal makes them feel and bingo we have the winner? Unfortunately, not quite.
When it comes to emotions consumers are very inept in making accurate judgements. Very often several causes can be rated the same in a self-completion survey even though the strength of feeling varies greatly.
This is where psychophysiological tools come in. Every emotion we feel has an effect on the body (heart rate changes, perspiration varies).
Emotional Logic has developed a unique psychophysiological tool specifically for charity appeals. When faced with a charity appeal viewers can react with compassion (wanting to help) or distress and sadness (simply feeling negative emotions without a need to help). Those two reactions have a different effect on the body – one for example slows the heart rate down, whilst the other increases it. Our tool clearly distringuishes the two reactions and can identify which appeal elicits the strongest compassionate response. This adds significant value over and above self-completion surveys and delivers more reliable data about the likely success of the campaign.
The great thing about this is that what works once will work again – meaning there are key elements that will always hit the right buttons. Our research helps charities identify what makes potential supportes feel most compassionate in their sector – so that future appeals can be built on tried and tested guidelines rather than being hit and miss.
To find out more about how to quickly and effectively optimise your campaign appeals please get in touch for a no obligation consultation with: team@emotional-logic.co.uk
