Take My Money!

Being a habitual donor to almost every charitable cause known to man has often left me questioning why many charities seem compelled to request more—even larger donations! This often causes me to feel guilty—as if I didn’t give enough? There are other times when I think that I must have gained a reputation as a “soft-touch” among the many charitable organizations that single me out on a daily basis, by telephone and through the mail. After reading about the consistent-commitment theory by Vaidyanathan & Aggarwal (2005), it has now become very clear to me. These very same charities that I have been donating small to moderate amounts to are using the ‘foot in the door’ technique (Snyder and Cunningham, 1975; Uranowitz, 1975; Seligman et al., 1976; Burger, 1999) on me and feel that they can get even larger donations if they continue to target me. Knowledge is power and I can see their specific marketing techniques much clearer now.
However, I do realize that a charity is a business and it must get donations to sustain the organization—and to continue in its efforts to help others. I personally feel that the vast majority of charitable organizations are honest and contribute immensely in their particular area of service to humanity. I will continue to donate to the charities of my choice. But, now I realize why I am a continued marketing target.

References

Vaidyanathan, R. & Aggarwal, P. (2005). Using Commitments to drive consistency: Enhancing the effectiveness of cause-related marketing communications. Journal of Marketing Communications, 11(14), 231-246. Retrieved on October 16, 2008,
doi: 10. 1080/0144619052000345600