Make 'em laugh – and they’ll love your cause

Howard Lake | 3 October 2011 | Blogs

Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh – and they’ll love your cause
Emma Worley, co-founder of special educational service provider The Philosophy Shop which has just landed Python Terry Jones as one of their patrons, has always used comedy to great effect in her work. Emma, a comic actor herself, says a bit of wit can go a long way in any campaign
Humour is one of the most attractive traits in a person. So when you think about it, why not also with an organisation, especially one wanting to generate support, deepen loyalty and boost fundraising income?
Given that so many membership organisations were set up to deal with often very serious, even heartbreaking issues, it may seem counterintuitive. If your charity is dealing with poverty in the developing world, helping vulnerable or abused people or helping tackle environmental abuse, surely it can’t be right to treat such contexts lightly?
Of course Comic Relief has shown that comedy and charity can thrive together with Red Nose Day a central facet of the UK calendar now. An overly earnest
or high-minded approach is unlikely to make you more attractive to your supporters or help in recruiting new ones. And it could be argued that it isn’t a
less appropriate treatment of the real and important issues your charity has been set up to address, in fact. We might even go one stage further and say in these recessionary times, a bit of cheering up in a great cause – think of the amazing popular interest in David Walliams’ swim of the Thames – is exactly the sort of catharsis our national psyche is looking for.
Walliams also reminds us that because comedy was “the new rock’n roll” in the ’90s, comedians are a form of celebrity – and celebrity is what defines the
age, after all. No charity can ignore the importance of celebrity patronage and endorsement.
Here’s another reason why comedy works very well in fundraising. Comedians are great to work with, game for a laugh and on the whole less diva-ish than other forms of celebrity.
And unlike rock stars, they don’t need expensive equipment and support teams that need to be housed and transported.
Integrity and passion are in their line of work as well, so they tend to be appropriately motivated and well suited to be charity figureheads. But don’t
kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. The truly wonderful Arthur Smith, a comedian we worked closely with on The Philosophers Football Match (a real-life re-staging of the classic Python sketch, ), a fantastic guy who has donated loads of his time and creative energies to our cause, has gently complained recently on the radio about how hard it is to say ‘no’ to charity requests – and that he is inundated with them.
Bear this in mind when dealing with comedians. The normal protocols of celebrity interaction apply. These are busy people. Do not ask or expect too much; treat them with as much hospitality as you can sensibly afford – and always brief to the hilt.
In a recent interview, our Patron Python Terry Jones explained how fellow Python John Cleese has always held closely to the idea that all subject matters – however sad or serious – can be usefully explored with humour.
We hold to that. We promote Philosophy in schools and in the community with the firm belief that Philosophy is difficult and challenging but that humour helps to make deep ideas accessible. We adhere to this theme through our work, but in particular in our awareness and fundraising activities.
So I am convinced that comedy is a useful and rich fundraising vein to be mined. Don’t think Comic Relief or Amnesty have a monopoly here; start being creative with this aspect of your outreach – it will be worth it!
Comedy could usefully generate extra income and extra support for you. And THAT at least is not a laughing matter.
The Philosophy Shop will be organising some “guerrilla Philosophy” events on International Philosophy Day, 17 November 2011, in and around Central London.

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.