Where There's A Will...

In this still-slow economy any businesses which want to stay competitive have been forced to try and come up with new ways to generate revenue streams. Some of them are simply having giant sales, hoping that once people are in the store the sales force will be able to sway them to make a few impulse buys. Others are offering new financing options, hoping the ability to pay it off over time will convince some people to stop putting off making that big purchase. Others have gone the marketing route, hoping name recognition will make consumers pick them instead of a competitor. Not surprisingly, these new and creative idea to make money has found their way into political fundraising. For example, the Obama campaign has set it up so engaged couple can actually register for their guests to donate to the President's re-election campaign instead of getting them a toaster. But, even in this age of new ideas, no one has a tougher road to your wallet than charities. They don't have a product to offer in exchange, so many of them were already having a hard time getting people to give money back when donors' funds weren't so tight. Now they have more people than ever looking for help and fewer funds to work with, which has lead to many organizations searching for alternative ways of looking for donations, because clearly cold-calling people at dinner time isn't working. It is time for them to get creative. That was why what I saw this afternoon caught my eye.

I'm not quite sure why they have my address or why they thought I would be a good person to ask for money, but this afternoon I got a mailing from Boston Children's Hospital asking me for a donation. At first I was kind of surprised because you wouldn't think Children's Hospital would have trouble raising money. Not only are they a source of pride for the city of Boston, but everyone wants to help sick kids. Between those two factors I would have expected them to be doing quite well. Also, hospitals never seem to be that hard-up for funding. However, as the saying goes 'there is no such thing as too much money', so I shouldn't have been too surprised. Normally I just toss these kind of mailings out, but the kid in the picture was pretty adorable so I flipped it over to see how much they wanted. But, in kind of an interesting twist, it turns out they don't want money from me right now. In fact, they are quite willing to wait for a while - all the way until I'm dead. You see, the mailing was to let me know that it is now easier than ever to leave money to the Children's Hospital in my will. And, as an added bonus, if I don't have a will the Hospital will help me set one up. How convenient.

I have to say, I thought this was really an innovative idea. Not only does it give people the personal satisfaction of being able to say they made a donation without it costing them any money in the moment, it also plays on the fantasy we all have that by the time we are old and gray we will be so rich that of course we'll have many millions of dollars to give to a hospital and they will name a wing after us. Plus, having the donation already set up will keep your future rich and spoiled children from fighting over their inheritance. (Since it is your fantasy you would think you would give yourself better-behaved children.) The fact that this sequence of events is extremely unlikely to ever happen is beside the point. If it does happen you will be one step ahead of the game. Plus, back in the present, you could almost write off the cost of the donation because you could always pledge however much it was going to cost you in legal fees to do a will on your own. Not to mention I feel like wills are one of those things, like savings funds for your kid's college education, that people like to do just to be able to brag to other parents about how many steps ahead they are. So, Children's eventually gets your money and you get the satisfaction of appearing to be organized. Everyone wins.

Initially, I applauded the Children's Hospital for their commitment to this long-term plan. It shows patience and it also conveys confidence they will be around a long time, so your donation will not be invalid whenever you finally kick the bucket. However, that also shows the major flaw. If you are so sure your organization will keep chugging along, it makes me wonder what you need my money for. Obviously, you are doing just fine and if the fact that people tend to wait for the last week before going to a 'going out of business sale' is any indicator, people are much more inclined to spend cash if they think the situation is dire. The other issue is that a donation like this is asking people to be sure of what their financial situation is going to be in (hopefully) a few decades. If you are cold-mailing a postcard to the masses, what are the odds it will land in the hands of a person who has that kind of financial security? I'm pretty sure those families were hit up for money a long time ago. So, for as creative an idea as I think this is, there are obviously a few things which need to be tweaked. And the main thing they need to do is move whomever is in charge of coming up with new ways to ask for donations to the department managing their donor list because right now they are clearly barking up the wrong trees.