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“The number of donors in America who have a compelling need to give to overseas causes has certainly diminished over the years,” asserts Mark Collins, deputy vice president of development for the International Rescue Committee, a 70-year-old organization that provides relief services for refugees and other displaced people. “There has definitely been a softening of donations from direct mail, but this year, [IRC’s] direct mail [revenue] is going to be above budget, partly because of the Iraqi refugee crisis.”
When an organization’s cause gets front-page coverage, it can only benefit relief efforts. Collins says that during the Kosovo and Bosnia refugee crisis, as media outlets inundated America with grisly images of women and children dodging heavy fire, many new donors emerged to show support for the IRC.
“At that time, our active donors went from 40,000 to 100,000,” he notes.
The donors
International relief organizations receive gifts from a diverse cross-section of the donor population. Jeanette Cassano, vice president of Names in the News, California, who works closely with organizations such as UNICEF, says that prospective donors to international relief organizations are socially conscious and have a deep interest in world affairs and humanitarian causes.
“International relief organizations are, for the most part, mainstream charities. They appeal to everyone,” Cassano says. “But typically it can be a progressive umbrella of individuals.”
As with most nonprofits, donors to international relief causes tend to be older, highly educated and well-read. They are concerned about peace, justice and sovereignty in the world, so many read news/political magazines and newspapers on a daily basis. The New York Times, The Economist and Mother Jones subscriber files are popular choices when prospecting to secondary markets.
Collins thinks of IRC donors as centrists — middle-of-the-road folk whose political ideals might be more moderate.
“Not necessarily liberal by any means,” he says. “Because the people needing relief are often victims of despotic rulers and dictators, a lot of international-relief donors tend to be pro-democracy and pro-American.”
But the best indicator that someone will give to a particular organization is if they have expressed concern by writing a check for similar causes.
In conclusion
If nothing else, the globalization of economies has lead nations to view international issues from the perspective of a global village. And while the international-relief community’s response to tragedies continues to evolve in sophistication, so do its fundraising practices.
“I can’t take donors to Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq or Liberia and show them the strife, so I have to do it in a mailing,” Collins concludes.
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