Charities Woo Donors With Creative Valentine’s Day Appeals

Farm Sanctuary

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate couples of all kinds — including non-human ones. At least that’s the message of Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit that seeks to protect farm animals from cruelty.

In messages sent to its email subscribers, Farm Sanctuary featured four pairs of inseparable animals that live on the group’s sanctuaries, where it houses critters rescued from slaughterhouses or other perilous settings. Supporters can donate to sponsor pairs such as Tim and Emily, pigs with rough pasts who now share a pen, and Mario and Linus, steer who bellow incessantly when they are apart. Those who give $30 or more to support one of the couples receive a digital Valentine’s Day card they can send to anyone they like.

The appeal is part of a wave of Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns and fundraising pitches, ranging from zany to heartfelt, that nonprofits have unveiled in recent weeks.

The holiday, although rife with creative appeals, is usually a small part of larger fundraising goals, with mostly modest efforts made to remind donors of an organization’s mission, said Patricia House, senior vice president of client and consultant development at Graham-Pelton Consulting, a global fundraising and nonprofit management firm.

“We wouldn’t say that anybody, necessarily, launches a long-term, big event starting with Valentine’s Day,” Ms. House said.

Widening the Appeal

Still, some have tried push a little harder than in the past.

Take Oxfam America: The international aid organization, which has done a few Valentine’s Day-themed campaigns in prior years, bought Facebook ads for the first time to promote this year’s holiday appeal, which will benefit its “Unwrapped” campaign. That effort allows donors to purchase symbolic gifts, with the proceeds going toward programs to help people living in poverty.

As part of the drive, Oxfam’s creative team designed a graphic that tells supporters to “Bee Sweet this Valentine’s Day,” with an accompanying message urging them to buy a $55 symbolic gift of honeybees. The proceeds will go toward teaching rural farmers in impoverished countries the latest beekeeping methods for harvesting honey to sell at local markets. As with the Farm Sanctuary campaign, supporters have the option of sending an e-card to a loved one, downloading a PDF of the card, or having a hard copy mailed to someone.

The graphic and its message are featured on Oxfam America’s website and led the group’s e-newsletter Thursday — on top of the Facebook ads that started earlier this month and will end on Valentine’s Day.

The nonprofit will review whether the investment of time and money on the campaign was worth it after the holiday, said Josh Silva, senior marketing officer for the charity.

“Part of the reason behind it is to promote more thinking of Unwrapped as a more year-round giving option, rather than just at that end-of-year holiday moment,” Mr. Silva said, noting that the period around Mother’s Day and the year-end push are the biggest giving times for the campaign. “It’s also a way to keep the Unwrapped brand fresh and keep the website fresh.”

Going Bigger

Some groups have leveraged Valentine’s Day in an even bigger way.

The American Museum of Natural History, for instance, is hosting its fourth “Romance Under the Stars” event on Sunday. Attendees will be treated to a cocktail hour with an open bar, live music, and hors d’oeuvres, then will learn about ancient myths surrounding the constellations and get a lesson in astronomy in the New York City museum’s Hayden Planetarium.

American Natural History Museum

The gathering has grown over the years, with Sunday’s event expected to draw 760 to 800 people over two sessions, said Bella Desai, director of public programs and exhibition education for the museum.

Romance Under the Stars brings in some revenue but is mostly educational in nature, said Ms. Desai, adding that part of the event’s goal is to target young professionals.

“We wanted to create opportunities where we could invite folks in that age demographic and have them find a place for themselves at the museum that was a little different, a little hip,” Ms. Desai said. “Have some of that element of learning and science but also was really fun.”

Valentine’s Day has also been central to promotions by the Christian nonprofit Focus on the Family, mostly because the holiday falls this year on a Sunday. Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the organization pushed its Honoring Marriage Event kit, a $99-dollar package that includes DVDs and how-to materials for hosting a church-wide celebration and discussion of the ancient institution.

The group is promoting the kit on the home page of its website with the message: “Valentine’s Day 2016: Honor Marriage with a church-wide event.” Focus on the Family officials have also done numerous media interviews about holding marriage events and paid for Facebook advertising touting the campaign, said Greg Smalley, the nonprofit’s vice president of family ministries.

The organization has sold more than 1,600 kits since they went on sale late last year, Mr. Smalley said, and he expects many churches to hold events on Valentine’s Day using them.

“The fact that it fell on a Sunday, it worked for a lot of churches,” he said. “It gave them a vision beyond sort of this trumped-up holiday that our culture has.”