Christian Aid adopts explosive new approach to insert

Howard Lake | 13 April 2005 | News

Following six successful years of their ‘How to Recycle a Goat’ insert, Christian Aid is testing a new insert titled ‘It takes faith, hope and dynamite’, produced by fundraising specialists Whitewater.

John Ranford at Christian Aid, said: “We’re convinced the reason that our banker insert has worked so well is that the headline and outer image attracts people to open it and so we needed to make the test equally – if not more – appealing. The image of a stick of dynamite coupled with a variation on this well known Christian phrase does exactly this.”

Christian Aid has used a range of titles for the insert such as BBC Wildlife and Christianity and Renewal. Although these have performed well over a long period of time, it was clear that the creative was beginning to lose its impact.

Amanda Beamon, Senior Account Manager at Whitewater, commented: “Once people had opened it through curiosity, we wanted to keep the momentum going. So we’ve taken a deliberately radical stance – namely that ‘faith and hope don’t add up to much without action’… If Christian Aid is to bring clean water to those villages in need, extreme physical solutions are often needed to get to the water trapped beneath the rock.

“It’s a really positive, active message which we hope will engage the audience.”

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.