Research completed in October revealed a discrepancy between the kinds of charities people said they wanted to give money to and what they actually supported when giving through the Pick.Click.Give program.
"You'd think that the numbers would sort of follow the causes that people were most interested in," said Jordan Marshall of the Rasmuson Foundation, which helps administer the program. "Like cancer research or the Red Cross, health, hunger, emergencies. But that's not how it played out. More people gave to groups that help animals. Fewer people said they would give to arts and culture than actually did."
The Pick.Click.Give program lets Alaskans donate a portion of their Permanent Fund dividend to any of more than 400 nonprofit organizations when they file online. Alaska Public Broadcasting was the top recipient in 2011. Animal rescue groups filled out the top five slots along with Bean's Cafe and the Food Bank of Alaska.
Data also showed that half the donors were giving to more than one cause. That led to a "light bulb moment," Marshall said. "We realized that focusing on the three main causes where people said they wanted to help could potentially reach new donors and increase participation. If you can stimulate interest in the issues, they might come through with that second gift."
The three categories targeted by Pick.Click.Give are hunger and homelessness, emergency services, and youth and education.
The messages that will run on radio and television or in the newspaper through the filing period, Jan. 1 to March 31, will reflect that focus. The media presence itself will also be tweaked. For example, inserts in the Jan. 1 edition of newspapers around the state will include information about the effect of nonprofits in local communities and the list of groups eligible to receive donations through the program.
Ads attached to Google searches will be used, Marshall said: "If you search for macaroni casserole recipes and you're from Alaska, you might get an ad for something about people who are hungry."
"Value added" giving is also in the picture. For example, Exxon Mobile is matching up to $100,000 in donations made to higher education in Alaska.
Social media is already being deployed, Marshall added. The "Confess to Pick.Click.Give" contest asks visitors to "confess" that they will make a pledge to any of the nonprofit groups participating in the program for 2012. Three of the submissions will be selected at random and nonprofits picked by the winners will each receive $500. The drawings are on Friday and on Jan. 6 and Jan. 17, the day after the contest ends.
Neither state funds nor any part of the donations are used to finance the marketing campaign, Marshall said. The advertising is paid for by corporate and philanthropic sponsors.
The hope is to raise at least $2 million and increase participation in the program by 5,000 people this year. Only Alaskans who file for their PFD online -- that's the great majority of applicants -- can participate. Last year, Pick.Click.Give donations came from about 19,000 people, or 3.7 percent of all applicants.
Organizers would like to see that rise to 10 percent, Marshall said. But he's not dissatisfied with the results to date.
"We recognize that people have multiple ways of giving but more Alaskans file for the PFD than anything else," he said. "It is the best way to reach the most Alaskans possible. It's two or three times the return you'd get with a direct mailer."
Reach Mike Dunham at mdunham@adn.com or 257-4332.
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