Using Pop Culture to Raise Funds

By Larry Kilman

Friday, 18 November 2016

This story and video from the New York Times’ Retro Report takes a look at the effectiveness of using celebrities and pop culture to raise funds. 

“Thirty years after ‘Live Aid’ changed the face of charity fundraising, clicktivism has taken center stage. If you share, re-tweet and like, are you making the world a better place?” it asks.

It also looks at the issue of fads, and how certain causes seem to rise in the estimation of donors and then disappear just as quickly.

Though it isn’t covered in the video, there is a cultural element to the appeals of such fundraising efforts, as I discovered when proposing a fundraising dinner featuring celebrity speakers to support media development. While these kind of fundraising dinners are common in the US, the proposal horrified northern European colleagues and donors, who thought it unrefined and repugnant and said it wouldn’t work in their cultures. Who knew?

The video itself, part of a documentary series, is the result of an externally funded initiative. The Times’ Retro Report is a nonprofit video news organization “that aims to provide a thoughtful counterpoint to today’s 24/7 news cycle.” It was started with a grant from entrepreneur and philanthropist Christopher Buck.