Incentivizing Behavior

Back in November, I started a new position as account executive for Turnkey Promotions in Richmond, Virginia.  On the surface, Turnkey is a company that sells hats, shirts, or even custom coins with Bill Clinton's face on them. As far as specialty advertising companies go, Turnkey is tops, and the entire staff is consumately professional.

Where Turnkey really shines however, is in helping non-profits raise funds through grassroots peer-to-peer fundraising, in events like walks, runs, and rides. As their tagline says: 

"Turnkey Promotions has been working with nonprofits such as the American Cancer Society, Special Olympics, and the Alzheimer's Association since 1989. We have begun to see a shift in strategy for fundraising events and capital campaigns due to technological advances and social media. Suddenly, we are able to measure the difference between giving to an organization and giving to a friend on behalf of an organization."

What Turnkey has learned over the years, through analysis of massive amounts of collected data on past events, is how incentives impact behavior; and more importantly, what type of incentives work best. While recognition is important to modify behavior, incentives (and by definition, you have to know about it in order for it to be an incentive) work better. And the incentives that work best are the ones that can not only trigger an emotional response, but can be shared with others.

Back in February, I participated in the Polar Plunge for Virginia Special Olympics. Basically, about 3000 lunatics jump into the Atlantic Ocean to raise money for a great cause. Here's a video my wife shot of me coming out of the water. (I chickened out and only got my feet wet):

I got there a little bit late, and missed the race of the entire crowd towards the water. Here's an overhead shot from a camera mounted to a flying drone similar to the ones used in the Star Trek:Into the Darkness London promotion:

All in all, it was an amazing day, and over a million dollars was raised for the Special Olympics. Because I raised over $100, I walked away with a long sleeve Special Olympics tee shirt (which I'm wearing in the first video). Now, every time I wear that shirt, I think about that day, and the process of raising money, and all the friends who supported me. The shirt is part and parcel of the ongoing experience.Here's a link to an informative blog post by Turnkey CEO Katrina Van Huss:  Branded Versus Non-Branded Fundraising Gifts. Which is Better?


It turns out Turnkey and I were not the perfect match, as my need to be hands on is much stronger than I had expected. But the relationship gave me renewed motivation in regards to selling my own brand of expertise, and taught me another facet of designing experiences to not only provoke a reaction, but to pro-actively impact behavior.