Charity Appeals Research Articles

'The Whole Spirit of Modern Philanthropy': The Construction of the Idea of Charity, 1912-1992

In this last decade of the twentieth century, taxpayers and politicians seem united in their disdain for the system of “public welfare” in the United States. At the same time, the idea of “private charity” is held in high regard; some observers argue that public welfare should be dismantled and replaced with private charity. A simple question leads this paper: How are the moralities of “private charity” discursively formed? Here I examine how the moralities of charity and its clients are produced through the texts of the New York Times “Neediest Cases” charity appeals from 1912 through 1992. I read these campaigns as producing multiple moralities: Charity is formed as a sacred morality of religion, an all but sacred morality of democratic community, an economic morality of individualistic capitalism, and a human morality of compassion. I argue that this multiplicity of moralities gives the idea of charity its political and rhetorical power. So the education in giving goes on from generation to generation. It is not merely the gift that counts or the help that is given the neediest; it is the acquainting of the families year after year, as children grow into youth and youth into manhood and womanhood, with the conditions about them and the cultivation of the habit of giving. (New York Times 1937g)

Responses to different charity appeals: the impact of donor characteristics on the amount of donations

Posits that, at a time when demand for charity services is increasing and donations to charity are remaining static, careful administrative use of funds and accurate targeting of likely donors are vital for charities’ survival. Utilizes empirical data from a nationwide survey of donating behaviour to identify whether different characteristics of donors affect the levels of donation to various methods of prompted giving. Also provides suggestions as to how these characteristics may be utilized in streamlining future fund‐raising strategies.

Charity appeals for contributions

Money will go to doctors and their families EDITOR,--The case committee of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund meets every month to consider cases and to allocate funds to over 900 people, young and old. The …

Charity Appeals: The Complete Guide to Success

Marion Allford Dent, £15.99, pp 438 ISBN 0-460-86191-3 Marion Allford “invented the wheel” of the hugely successful appeal with her work on the Hospital for Sick Children's “Wishing Well” campaign. Her guide to success makes me feel rather depressed, perhaps because it is written from a pinnacle of excellence and assured achievement that mere mortals find gloom inducing. All of us at some time or another have tried to shoehorn money out of friends and colleagues for causes that we believe in (which makes it easier) or that we don't believe in (which makes it almost impossible). Passion is a great selling tool, and Marion Allford tells us how to organise ourselves and our …

Applying mail response enhancement techniques to health care surveys: a cost-benefit approach.

A study of over 1200 persons gave insights into the effectiveness of different appeals in a mail survey for a health-care facility. The influences of financial incentives, contributions to charity and time appeals were studied. Not only was the practical effectiveness of the three different appeals investigated, the cost of obtaining the response rates with each was also shown. The range of response rates was from 25% to 67%. The average cost per return for the different methods ranged from $2.87 to $5.64. A method of testing for the potential bias in a survey is also presented.