"Text “Haiti” to 90999 to give a $10 donation". Genius! Credit the Red Cross with leveraging the power of simplicity and convenience. Their strategy is resulting in a highly effective campaign to help those devastated by the recent earthquake in Haiti.
On the surface, the campaign might seem unremarkable. It's when you consider the roads not taken that the effort becomes extraordinary. They managed to hold-off complexity and over-analysis.
In most organizations, response to a major crisis would require a meeting of top executives. These are usually people who have demonstrated exceptional analytical and critical thinking skills to climb the career ladder. Each desires to add their mark to the final result.
While in this case the decision certainly made pre-crisis, imagine the discussion: Why $10? Let's make it $25. Shouldn't we offer different size donations? Why only one? What if donors don't want the charge on their phone bill? What if they want to pay by check or credit card? Many people don't use text messages! We're going to alienate important demographic groups!
Somehow simplicity managed a win and the results speak for themselves. The succinct message allowed for rapid no-cost dissemination that far outweighed legitimate limitations.
A firestorm lit up on Twitter and Facebook. Most members saw the message within a matter of hours. Beyond those bounds, it was so simple that it could accurately spread by word of mouth. It was so quick to repeat that Radio and TV personalities could easily spare 30 seconds to add it their newscasts. For listeners, it was easy enough to remember that they could take action later, if for example, they were driving at the time they heard it.
Once potential donors heard the message, its effectiveness hinged upon how quickly and easily they could take action. No forms to fill out, no need to register on a website or type in credit card information. For most, the donation took less than a minute.
What about all those who don't text, wanted to pay using another method or donate a larger amount? The text campaign didn't prevent the Red Cross from relying on it's more traditional channels. Those who had more than a casual motivation to donate, easily found an alternative means to do so.
If you're part of a non-profit group, how and when might you employ a strategy similar to the one that was successful here?
Comments