Could RBC raise more funds in #RBCRunforthekids? – Adapt Mindset to Multi-culture

Next month, I will run for RBC Run For The Kids again.  It’s my thrid year to join this chartity event. Last year, I saw many more Chinese participated in this event. However, it’s still not enough compared to their populations in the GTA. I do wish I could see more this year. Below is an article I wrote on LinkedIn two years ago.  I hope it could help the organizer to get more attention.

Last Saturday, I joined the 7K group in annual RBC Run For The Kids event in North York.  It’s really exciting to have more than 8000 participants running on the streets for one course. Totally, $2 million was raised for the Family Navigation Project at Sunnybrook.  When I uploaded some photos onto Facebook, I saw a great number others were doing the same thing. Same as what I saw on field, however, not many Chinese faces greeted under the topic on Facebook, provided the structure of the population in GTA. Wondering why, I searched some key words like #RBC# , #Runforthekids#, and “RBC Run# on Weibo.com, the most often used Chinese social media by Canadian Chinese. Sadly, I found nothing cheering me up.

Why? Why? Why?  I asked myself again and again. Are Chinese indifferent to support charity? Surely not.   Chinese are generous to offer help. Take some time to read the article in the following linkage.(http://www.charityinfo.ca/articles/Donation-patterns-of-multicultural-populations) We can see Chinese are more likely to donate than other visible minorities.  And we can see many Chinese volunteers in hospitals and other public service organizations.  Then why? Do they dislike running, jogging or walking? Definitely not. Either in fitness clubs or on city trails, we can see many Chinese doing jogging or walking. So, why?

As what I said in my last post on LinkedIn, Chinese take an incredible percentage in North York and Scarborough of Toronto. How comes an event held in North York failing to attract Chinese to actively get involved?  One assumed but sounded reason is COMMUNICATION. People did not come because they were not aware of the event.  The message was NOT delivered. Yes, RBC has done a lot in communication. We have Facebook, we have Twitter, we have Instagram, we have correspondents with previous participants, and so on. However, there are something we missed. GTA, Greater Toronto Area, the most diverse area in the country, has around 40% of its population whose mother tongue is not English. And these languages are spoken more frequently than English at home. For each visible minority group in GTA,  we can find at least one local media in their language to serve them.  More could be found for Italian,  Indian or Chinese communities. Subscribers to these media are great enough to support their operation.

What if #RBCRunforthekids campaign managers stood one step further into these communities? What if he/she spend a little more time to understand the touch points of three most visible minorities in GTA?  What if he/she seeded some advocates in each community and encourage them to spread out? Frankly speaking, a better ROI on its marketing spending could be foreseen given the lower pricing compared to mainstream media.

If I were the campaign manager of #RBCRunforthekids, I would situate my  mindset into these multi-culture city and  think about,

1. the multi-language communication tools. Like what have been done in banking service, where multi-language flyers are available, it’s necessary to have flyers translated.
2. RBC outlets to spread out the message. RBC has customers of different origins. During the campaign window, RBC has many chances to touch them, either by counter or online. Or, even mail with the statements. Match the language preference of each customer for their attention.
3. seeding influencers in each community. Same as these country, RBC is a multi-cultural company. It’s easy to find influencers among its employees and customers. Encourage employees and customers to be your seeds in each community, physically or virtually. Small voices can get bigger if you grow them carefully.
4. the media habits of certain noticeable communities.  It’s better to mix in some media for those visible minorities.

I am looking forward to running for the kids again with RBC in the coming years.