Christian Aid Week features interactive TV ad for mobile donations
Howard Lake | 6 May 2015 | News
Christian Aid Week will this year be promoted with “the world’s first interactive TV advert”, enabling people across the UK to donate immediately using their smartphone.
The ad has been developed by mobile commerce agency PowaTag.
What is PowaTag?
PowaTag is a free mobile app available from the iTunes and Google Play Stores that enables users to immediately complete transactions with their phone or tablet in moments using pre-entered information, interacting with anything from products to advertising in print, online and in broadcast.
The app works by sending out an inaudible signal to the viewer’s smartphone which allows them to make a secure donation in a matter of seconds by simply activating the app, choosing the amount to give, and tap again to confirm. They can choose to give a one-off or regular donation.
Viewers will see that the Christian Aid ad offers the donation function because the animated PowaTag logo will appear on the screen.
Viewers will of course have first to download the app to their smartphone.
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Christian Aid Week
The TV advert will appear during the charity’s annual fundraising drive, Christian Aid Week (10-16 May). It features animations of the charity’s more traditional fundraising tool, the red donation envelope, which will be delivered to households across the country.
Last year Christian Aid Week raised more than £11 million.
The adverts will appear on ITV Granada, Border, Wales & West, Scotland, West Country, Yorkshire, Tyne Tees, Ulster and Anglia between 8 and 16 May 2015.
Eleanor Ledesma, Head of Christian Aid Week, said:
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“Christian Aid is very proud of its amazing volunteers who go door-to-door collecting money for some of the world poorest communities. But as the way we live our life changes, more people living in flats and working longer hours, it makes it more difficult to reach everyone in just one week.
“We may be marking our 70th anniversary this year but like all charities we need to move with the times and embrace new technologies in order to make it easier for people with busy lives to donate at a time convenient to them. PowaTag has great potential for the charity sector and we are delighted to be able to broadcast a world first with this innovative new advert.”
Matched giving
Powa Technologies will match fund the first £10,000 donated to Christian Aid using the app. In addition it will cover all the operational costs of using the system incurred by Christian Aid.
Dan Wagner, founder and CEO of Powa Technologies, said:
“Individuals feel a strong urge to get involved and donate when they see a TV appeal, but every second that goes by reduces the chance that a donation will be completed, especially if they need to fill in long forms. PowaTag gives them the ability to donate instantly with the emotional impact of the appeal still fresh in their mind. – I know I’d give more if it was this easy, and I’m sure this is true for millions of others. Christian Aid is the first to adopt what we hope to establish as a new standard in charity support.”
Eleanor Ledesma added:
“We are now looking at ways that we can incorporate the use of PowaTag not only into our fundraising but also our vitally important campaigns.”
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.