Communication Strategies (cont'd)

Continuing in my series of communication strategies for Christian Aid's "Christian Aid Week" I will now explore the element of letting the followers see where the money is going. This is powerful because it puts faith in the followers to know exactly where their money is going to and how it's effecting the world around them.


You can see by the graph that they break down every area where the money goes into Christian Aid. On top of that they also share stories about lives that have been affected by the money that has supported them. Testamonials can be a very powerful influencing tool, especially when followers read stories about how a portion of their money is making a difference. You can read the stories here.

Christian Aid also has a section for people to tell stories about what they are doing for their personal Christian Aid Week. This galvanizes followers and creates a hub to share ideas and spread innovation and creativity.

Christian Aid Continues to Network

Christian Aid is a very powerful organization that understand the power of networking. By working with many organizations, locally and globally, they are able to reach a larger audience.

During Christian Aid Week they are giving their followers many ways to get involved. According to their website you can get involved in a variety of ways:

• You can donate online
• You can host a fundraiser in your church
• You can host a fundraiser in your community
• You can host a fundraiser in your schools
  

By creating different opportunities Christian Aid has allowed their volunteers to lump together their volunteering with something that they are already a part of. So instead of asking them to throw something else onto their already busy plate, they are asking them metaphorically just add a topping to the plate they are already eating from.

They are not disturbing their "rhythm of life" by asking them to add something else, but continue in their daily rhythm and combine it with Christian Aid fundraising.

Another factor that they tap into by doing this is creating a grassroots feel to the movement. They are "putting it back into the hands of the people" in some senses. This is powerful because again it's a nonverbal sign that Christian Aid trusts its volunteers to come through for their organization. This empowers and puts a sense of urgency on its followers to want to serve and give back.

The Power of Rhetoric

Recently, I wrote about how Christian Aid Week was coming up and how it will be used as a fundraising campaign for Christian Aid. So in the next few posts I’m going to explore the different communication strategies employed by Christian Aid.

First, I want to talk about the rhetoric that Christian Aid uses. The implied we is lathered on heavily in their rhetoric. Take a look at this section from Christian Aid Weeks website, it states:

You are Christian Aid Week

It's the passion and dedication of hundreds of thousands of you who give, act and pray every year that makes it such an extraordinary stand against world poverty.

This is your chance to change the world.

How powerful is their wording? They begin by saying YOU are Christian Aid Week. That implies that Christian Aid is counting on you because this week is about you. Christian Aid is appealing to their followers seemingly saying that if we (Christian Aid) need you. They continue to stress that it’s their time, energy, effort and finances that go towards eliminating poverty in the world and how this is YOUR chance to change the world.

This is masterful wording on the part of Christian Aid because it makes their volunteers feel needed. The volunteer reads this and thinks to themselves, “Wow, they really need me individually to make this work. This is a combination of us working together to eleviate poverty in the world. I truly can make a difference.”

If organizations such as Christian Aid are able to create unity and create a need from their volunteers they are off to a good start. Christian Aid does this with their rhetoric.

Communication Strategies for Lobbying the 'Big Four'

In my last post I discussed how Christian Aid is beginning to lobby the 'Big Four' accounting firms to get them to change the tax laws, so that large corporations that work globally will be held more accountable about where their money is going.

They only way to change the laws though is to get the government and these companies on board. Christian Aid understands that the London-based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) sets the rules for every company registered in Europe.

“The Big Four are key members of the IASB, with substantial influence on decisions that set the international accounting rules,” according to Christian Aid. So they know for changes to be made that must pressure the government, but also the members that have vital influence in the financial sector.

However, up to this point none of the ‘Big Four’ desire to change things. So Christian Aid is asking for all their followers to email these corporations to pressure them into making a change for the good of impoverished individuals.

Personally, I believe this to be a good step, but I don’t know how effective it truly is. You can show that your organization is truly passionate about the subject, but these corporations don’t truly care as long as they are making money. Christian Aid will probably have to do something more drastic to create a public outcry. However, I understand that exposure is a big deal and if they can get more exposure on the issue by sending out emails, press releases, You Tube videos it does create momentum.

I just don’t know how far their momentum can take them and this is the area in which having a variety of different causes can hurt them. I say that because with so many different followers there can be individuals volunteering in your organization that are more passionate about one area and not concerned with another. So Christian Aid might lose some of its force if it can’t gather all of it’s following to send emails.

Christian Aid Lobbies the Big Four

Christian Aid continues to lobby the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms, Deloitte, Ernst and Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and KPMG.

They are calling for the members of Christian Aid to email the ‘Big Four’ to fight for new accountancy rules. “Currently, accounting rules only call for companies to declare one figure for the amount of profit they make worldwide,” declares Christian Aid. However, Christian Aid is demanding “multinational companies must account for their profits on a country-by-country basis.”

The changes that Christian Aid are demanding for are very reasonable. The way things are now, with the companies only having to account for their profit worldwide, allows the door wide open for tax dodging and evasion. In so doing, they are getting away with not paying billions of dollars in tax that should be pouring back into countries. This ultimately keeps poor countries from developing because the money they should have coming into their economy isn’t coming in.

Christian Aid is already lobbying the UK government to act, but they understand they must pressure the financial sector as well.

In the next post I will explore how Christian Aid is doing this and discuss whether I feel that it’s effective or not.

Upcoming Christian Aid Week

Christian Aid puts on a fundraising week called Christian Aid Week (very creative) from May 10-16 May 2009. So for the next few weeks I’m going to explore the different ways that Christian Aid fundraises and how they employ communication strategies.

You won't want to miss out!

Present Aid- Gifts that Keep Giving

Present Aid is a branch of Christian Aid's organization that focuses on giving gifts to the less fortunate. The site http://www.presentaid.org/page/home allows individuals to buy gifts ranging anywhere from animals, to education or transportation.

This is a great way for members to feel like they are contributing with their finances. For some members they may not be able to contribute hours upon hours of time, but they will donate money to the cause. Christian Aid makes giving more purposeful by allowing the shopper to donate for a specific cause.

Some organizations just ask for donations; however, with Present Aid the members can say specifically that they would like to buy an education gift pack so that kids in poverty stricken areas can expand their minds. This empowers the shopper and gives them greater say so in where their money goes. This was a brilliant move on Christian Aid's part.

Click here to watch the video to learn more.