Dan, posted up this quote from the President of a global charity because we were talking about charities using shock tactics to raise awareness at work today. To be honest we were split evenly in our differing views, but “compassion fatigue” was mentioned during our lunch-time discussion.
“As charities who frequently deal with sensitive, even controversial, issues, we owe it to those we serve to avoid sensationalising their pain. Bad enough that they had to face trauma and obstacles without us using them or their situation as case studies to leverage public guilt. We need to ask ourselves: Are we fighting for brand recognition or are we fighting for real change? If all shock advertising does is generate temporary public outrage, reinforce negative perceptions of our causes and create compassion fatigue, then we should abandon it.”
Whilst I accept that shock tactics focuses minds I’m not convinced that that always translates into an increase in donations. I think charities need to recognise that there is not a bottomless tank of public sympathy out there to tap into and continual use of shock advertising could lead to “compassion fatigue” among the generous public.
