Charity organisations compete this Ramadan for people's compassion and donations, writes Niveen Wahish Asmaa and Sohaiba are two children that television viewers see everyday, time and time again, in the commercial breaks of Ramadan soap operas. Each is the main character in an advertisement for one of Egypt's charity organisations. The ads were designed to capitalise on the generosity of Egyptians during the holy month to attract donations for various causes, be it to cure illnesses, help the poor with their daily subsistence or support scientific research. This year commercials by charity organisations have multiplied in number and frequency, a fact that some television viewers find annoying. Inas Ahmed, housewife, dubs it "begging". She said the concentration of the ads is driving viewers to switch channels to avoid them. She stressed that these organisations should advertise throughout the year to promote the culture that people should do good deeds all the time and not just in Ramadan. But in fact these organisations do advertise all year round, but with different messages, according to Sherihan El-Etreby, business development manager at Ipsos Media CT, the global market research company. She attributed the increased frequency to the fact that television viewership increases in Ramadan and it is a known fact that people are more generous in the holy month and are looking to do good. According to a 2012 online consumer survey commissioned by Visa Egypt, spending on charity ranked second, after groceries, as the largest expenditures for Egyptian families in Ramadan. El-Etreby also attributed the high frequency of these ads to the fact that this year there are around 25 new channels as well as the entry of new charity organisations such as the Magdy Yaqoub Heart Centre in Aswan, as well as increased awareness of the importance of advertising. But Ahmed also questioned how all these organisations, which are in dire need of money, are able to afford television advertising. A spot on television could cost around LE20,000 without taxes. "If they are using that much money for the ads, then they do not need our money," she said. General Manager of Al-Orman Organisation Mahmoud Shaaban said that as far as his organisation is concerned, some of his donors offer to pay for the advertising and for the production of ads, which means it does not cost his organisation anything. He pointed out that advertising in Ramadan is essential because it is the time when people often give their annual zakat (the religious obligation to give alms). For his organisation, Ramadan ads rake in around a quarter of the total annual revenue. It is something that all organisations should do, he said. But not everybody can afford it. Mohamed Rifaat, one of the employees at Misbah Modee Association, said they tried placing an ad in the paper once but it did not attract any donors and they cannot afford a television ad. "If we find someone willing to pay for the ad, we would do it." In fact, as El-Etreby pointed out, television ads allow for more penetration and reach a wider audience, unlike print ads that are more expensive. But again the frequency of the ads is reason for criticism. Nagwa El-Gazzar, communication professor at Misr International University, believes that the high frequency gives the impression that there is a lot of money that is not being spent properly. She also criticised the channels for allowing more time for commercials in general. While international regulations dictate that commercial breaks last between five to seven minutes per hour, this Ramadan the commercial breaks usually last longer than the programme itself. She also criticised that the messages in the ads are very similar and lack creativity. The children's cancer hospital 57357 was among the pioneer charity organisations to advertise. Hanaa Farid, strategic manager for fund raising, told Al-Ahram Weekly that they were pioneers in the area of advertising to attract donations and were heavily criticised for wasting funds and for using children in ads to win the compassion of viewers. "Now everybody is imitating us," she said, adding that no individual appears in any of their ads without their consent. She underlined that every pound paid for advertising is an investment, not a waste of money. "We are advertising a very respectable service that needs funds to insure its sustainability." Farid also clarified that organisations are not free to use any amount of money for marketing. By law, they cannot spend more than nine per cent of their income, she said. That spending is audited by supervising authorities. Donations during Ramadan, according to Farid, represent around 40 per cent of the hospital's funds. And she said that advertising is how donors found out about them in the first place, and about their patients. She too said that some of their donors specify that their donations go to marketing. They go by the hadith (Islamic saying) that, "He who points out the good is like that doing it." She added that charity organisations could not be blamed for the frequency of their ads because they are often replayed at no added charge.
