How to future-proof emergency appeals

This question lies at the heart of the humanitarian fundraising challenge in 2025. As crisis fatigue grows, attention spans shrink, and digital platforms continue transforming how people discover and engage with causes, the traditional emergency appeal model faces a huge amount of pressure.

This was the topic of discussion for our latest charity leaders' breakfast with guests from across the humanitarian sector, including Save the Children UK, British Red Cross, Plan International, ActionAid, Street Child, Tearfund, Age International, Concern Worldwide, Habitat for Humanity International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), SOS Children's Villages UK, War Child UK, and Action Against Hunger, at The Lighterman in Kings Cross.

Simon Beresford: Challenging conventional emergency appeals

Simon Beresford, Director of Fundraising and Marketing at the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), kicked off the morning with a thought-provoking keynote that challenged many of our sector's assumptions about emergency appeals.

Breaking the cycle of need, ask, silence

One of Simon's most compelling insights was how we've unintentionally "socialised our public" to expect charities to appear only when there's a crisis. This creates a predictable cycle of "need/ask/silence" that doesn't build lasting relationships with supporters.

"We overplay saying thank you and underplay storytelling as a way of showing thanks to supporters," Simon explained. He advocates for charities to invest more in above-the-line thank-you moments, using storytelling to demonstrate impact rather than simply expressing gratitude.

This feedback loop is especially critical for international humanitarian organisations where supporters might not have a personal connection to the services provided, as Amina later emphasised in the panel discussion.

The offline disruptor in a digital world

Simon highlighted how offline and out-of-home media are useful disruptors in our digitally saturated world. That unexpected mail drop through your door or a massive "THANK YOU" billboard now cuts through the noise in ways digital content increasingly struggles to.

However, Simon cautioned that these offline channels shouldn't be expected to deliver direct ROI on their own – they need to feed supporters into digital conversion funnels to maximise their impact.

Engaging with culture to own the narrative

Simon proposed the need for the humanitarian sector to engage more meaningfully with the cultural sector. He cited the film "The Impossible" about the Boxing Day tsunami – which completely overlooked the aid sector's critical role, despite that disaster leading to the DEC's most successful appeal ever.

"The international aid sector needs to engage in a radical, systemic new way with the cultural sector," Simon urged. He acknowledged this cross-pollination would be challenging – the nonprofit sector's commitment to truth and accuracy can sit awkwardly alongside the creative licence that cultural works like films and TV shows require to engage audiences.

Yet Simon pointed to the climate sector as an example that has more successfully engaged with culture to shape narratives around its work, suggesting humanitarian organisations could learn from this approach.

Panel insights: Navigating a changing landscape

Following Simon's keynote, our panel discussion brought together diverse perspectives that expanded on these themes while introducing new dimensions to the conversation.

Rhodri Davies: The shifting foundations of giving

Rhodri Davies, founder of Why Philanthropy Matters, highlighted the fundamental question that charities need to address: What's the case for why charities matter? Why do they exist? This needs to be clearly articulated in our rapidly changing context.

Rhodri drew attention to several significant shifts that are reshaping philanthropy:

• The move from search engines to answer engines: As AI increasingly mediates information access, how will this shape people's choices about giving? Will tech companies' recommendation algorithms lead to more conservative choices of causes to support, favouring big logos and uncontroversial topics?
• Platform-based donation trends: Rhodri noted how people's access to information has dramatically shifted, but charities haven't kept pace with these changes.
• AI-powered personalisation: He shared the example of LA wildfire donations using AI to create tailored, personalised messaging for donors at scale, making highly customised communications possible for all supporters, not just a select few.

Amina Iqbal: Practical strategies for digital innovation

Amina Iqbal, our Director of Client Services at Torchbox, brought practical insights from her experience leading digital marketing strategies for humanitarian causes, including the DEC's record-setting Ukraine Appeal.

Amina focused on several key areas:

• Engaging younger audiences: This remains a crucial challenge for the humanitarian sector, which tends to rely more heavily on older audiences compared to other charity sectors. Amina highlighted the importance of meeting younger donors where they are.
• Video content strategy: "YouTube is the second most used search engine," Amina pointed out, emphasising that charities need authentic content – "the rougher the better in a lot of ways." This insight challenges the assumption that polished production values are necessary for effective video fundraising.
• Collective giving tools: Amina highlighted Compassion's Sponsor a Child as an interesting approach to getting people to split donations between them, particularly appealing to younger donors.
• AI readiness: "It's important that teams are using these technologies so that people can spot the opportunities that come from them," Amina noted. With 35% of clicks down due to AI overviews in Google, teams that actively use AI tools will be better positioned to identify new opportunities.
• Starting small: Perhaps most reassuringly, Amina advocated for an iterative approach: "You can start small with campaigns to try things out, test, and build a case for investment."

Join the conversation

We'd love to continue these important conversations about the future of humanitarian fundraising. If you'd like to discuss any of the insights from our event or share your own experiences with future-proofing emergency appeals, please get in touch.

A huge thank you to our brilliant speakers – Simon Beresford, Rhodri Davies, and Amina Iqbal – and to all the charity leaders who joined us for such a valuable morning of sharing and learning. We missed you Lizzie.