Re:The Atlantic to Install Paywall
by sleavey on Thursday December 21, 2017 @05:23AM
(#15977742)
Many still spend vast sums on fundraising even with healthy recurring donations - it just means they spend more on prime-time TV advertisements. Charities should not be trying to sell their services along side perfumes, car insurance and supermarket advertisements - single-use "things" - they should be going for the long term organic growth by fostering a great reputation for efficiency ("good done" per unit currency).
[ Parent
| on HN ]
People selling perfume and car insurance clearly believe that prime-time advertising is cost-effective. Why shouldn't charities use the same media?
If I give $1 to a charity, I'm more than happy for them to spend it on fundraising if they're getting $1.05 ROI. That's a fantastically effective use of my money, as long as the $1.05 gets used effectively to deliver on their charitable purpose.
There's probably a good game-theoretic argument against fundraising activity if charitable donations are zero-sum, but I've yet to see any evidence that they are.