When working in the NGO sector, dealing with victims of poverty, war, deforestation or other serious hardship, it can be tempting to try and use the despair to make people want to help. Thinking something like “If we can only make people see how hard life is for this little girl in the slums of New Delhi, surly they would give us money to make it better” may seem to make sense, but actually often has the opposite effect.
When faced with overwhelming problems like world poverty, or global warming, you find that they often feel paralyzed by the enormity of what needs to be done. If you also add in messages of suffering, or guilt for not doing enough, chances are that you potential donor will just switch the channel, or walk away.
One NGO that has understood this is WWF who found that their old scare campaigns about the effects of global warming should we chose to ignore it, just weren’t working. They decided to device one that was positive and empowering instead, and that was the start of Earth Hour. By giving people an achievable task (turning off their lights for an hour each year) WWF have managed to mobilize a billion people worldwide, including local governments, companies and celebrities, making a stand for sustainability and against climate change. By focusing on happiness, positivity and the message that by standing together we can move mountains, WWF has managed to engage with people in a way a scare campaign would never do.
While the act of turning off your light for 60 minutes a year won’t achieve much in that respect, it is always easier to ask people who are already involved to up the ante. And when engaging those who have the power to accomplish the needed structural change, it is always nice to point to a billion supporters championing your cause in a very visual way.
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