Charity Advertising Is Booming - But What Does That Say About Us?

The Advertising Association's (AA) announcement that spend on charity advertising had increased by 14 per cent between 2022 and 2023 to £762 million felt a bit like a David Brent moment: 'On the one hand how sad that there's such a demand for charity to intervene, but on the positive side at least it shows how effective advertising is at raising awareness and funds.'

As a result, a spate of campaigns have been released within days of each other for the likes of CALM, The Samaritans, Refuge, Frazzled and Barnardo's.

As well as obviously being a 'good' societal thing to do, charity ads - although not money-spinners for agencies (many work pro bono) - are also an excellent opportunity for agencies to exercise their creativity muscles in ways that may not be possible for fee-paying clients. And only the coldest heart on an awards jury would dismiss a charity ad from a shortlist out of hand. In short, they can be award-spinners.

Agencies can also get staff to coalesce around a charitable cause, helping engender a sense of culture whilst also raising funds. So any charitable involvement from the advertising sector is to its credit.

And yet..

In its 'The Social Contribution of UK Advertising 2024 ' report, the AA highlighted the growth of advertising activity by charities as evidence of the positive social contribution that advertising has on society based on the fact that charity ads are the most encountered of the organisation's five 'key social contributions'.

One-third of respondents to the AA/Credos survey said that they'd come across advertising that 'raise awareness and/or money for good causes'. (The other 'key social contributions' include ads that promote 'a harmonious society' or 'brings people together around important cultural events').

In his speech at LEAD Scotland earlier this month, the AA's director of communications, Matt Bourn, said: “Historians may look back on this period of ad spend and ask why it was that charities needed to advertise more, and what that says about society right now? It does highlight how advertising is being tasked with helping to raise awareness and solve social problems.”

Marketer and recent NSPCC trustee Kathleen Saxton echoes this explanation: "Over the last two years, as the economy has faltered and the cost of living has risen, the entire charity sector, just like any other entity, has been subject to both the rising cost of sales and the heightened caution of any discretionary spend by consumers and supporters.

"Society is more aware than ever that we must look after each other and especially the children who hold our future,  so whilst the sentiment to give remains high, the choices are increasingly vast and so maintaining share of voice and a dynamic impact of message means marketing is key," Saxton adds.

Charity advertising clearly works - as the case study in the report - shows. But the fact that the AA is using the growth in spend by charities as evidence of effectiveness and holding it aloft as an advertising success story has left some feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

In fact, it was difficult to get many people from agencies to talk about their feelings, given the complexity and nuances, and the danger of sending out mixed messages.

One person who was willing to take a position is Jamie Elliott, CEO ofThe Gate. His agency was responsible for the award-winning 'Nobody is Normal' campaign for Childline.

And Elliott is emphatic that the boost in charity spend is not something that we should be celebrating given that it is invariably linked to suffering or want.

"It’s a bad thing that charity ad spend has increased over the past couple of years, a sign that more of the population is in some form of crisis: globally a wave of people have been affected by wars (Ukraine etc) and escalating global warming; closer to home, the cost of living crisis has plunged more people into trouble whether that’s into poverty or related physical or mental health issues," he says.

Nonetheless, this has obviously resulted in a need for new funding. He continues: "Consequently, charities have escalating demand for their services but are battling their own rising costs, the need to spend money on tech transformation and changing business models, a decline in government support, massive competition for donations vs a crowded sector of competitors. They are therefore in overdrive to launch new propositions and raise new funds."

So the reason behind the increased demand is obvious.

Will Grundy, head of planning at adam&eveDDB, agrees that celebrating would be a peculiar reaction to the AA's report.

"[Recently] I found myself staring up at thousands of brightly coloured birthday balloons. This was no celebration. They were there to commemorate the ‘missed birthdays’ of the 6,929 children and young people who have died by suicide in the last decade, as part of our latest campaign for the Campaign Against Living Miserably," he says.

"As I stood under those balloons, listening to the stories of the lives that had been lost and the devastating impact on those left behind, I was overwhelmed by the two conflicting emotions that had rocked me twice before, with Project84 and The Last Photo: the immense pride I felt at having played a small part in bringing the campaign to life, and the sheer fury and outrage that what we had created needed to exist in the first place.

"It’s a perverse and painful truth that the best work with which I have ever been involved only exists because of the UK’s suicide crisis, the prevalence of which only continues to grow. So, to me, it isn’t staggering that close to a billion pounds was spent on charity advertising in 2023 (up 14 per cent on 2022). It’s sobering." he continues.

Some solace can perhaps be obtained from the fact that advertising is playing a positive part in raising funds and awareness to help things getting worse.

Elliott also identifies a small plus for the ad industry. "The good thing for us - the shaft of light in an otherwise grim picture - is that charities 100 per cent get the power of what we do and have turned to our creativity in their hour of need. They get that our creativity can change perceptions, behaviour and have a multiplier effect for their fundraising efforts that a zillion chuggers never could – hence some lovely campaigns and thinking out there and more ad spend in general.

"The unequivocally great thing for us – the massive industry Brucey bonus – as the AA report reveals, is that doing this work increases trust in advertising, brands and so on. It gives us an active role in creating a more harmonious society, it makes the industry a more attractive one to work in for younger people. It is proof that when you do good stuff people think better stuff of you," he points out.

Grundy also takes a more measured view than the AA's headline initially suggests. "Charity campaigns aren’t growing in popularity. They’re growing in necessity. And that necessity is more urgent than it has ever been," he says.

Grundy points out that youth suicide rates have hit an all-time high and suicides in general continue to rise; there’s been a 27 per cent year-on-year increase in rough sleeping; domestic abuse related crimes are up 7.7 per cent; 30 per cent of all children in the UK live in relative low-income households after housing costs have been deducted; and the cost-of-living crisis has thrust 3.8 million people into destitution, 1 million of whom are under 16.

"Because for every one of these statistics, there are 15 - 20 more. And because all the while, the systems and safety nets that are meant to catch us continue to buckle and fail. Fortunately, I’m privileged to work for an agency that allows me to channel the anger I feel into impact I can see.

"And whilst I’m incredibly proud of the impact those 6,929 balloons have started to create, I genuinely hope there comes a day when the world we live in no longer needs them, and when those Nielsen figures come right down. That would be something to celebrate."

Ultimately, the more charities spend on marketing, the more they hope to bring in from donations. Advertising their need for support is the lifeblood to receiving it, and they need it now more than ever.

Even so, a decline in ad spend - perversely, must be their ultimate goal, as they see progress towards solving their dedicated challenges.