And I’m back… Apologies for the not so brief hiatus, during which time I went to Israel and England for my brother-in-law’s wedding to an amazing Brit. Upon my return, I was knocked out by a killer sinus infection, from which I’ve only just recovered. And I’m about to disappear again for a few days while I join millions of other observant Jews around the world in the culmination of the annual cleaning frenzy to prepare the house for Passover, which starts Wednesday night. Every inch of the house needs to be cleaned to make sure no crumbs of leavened food remain, to recreate the Jewish people’s experience in the journey to freedom after being enslaved in Egypt. It’s a beautiful holiday (once the cleaning and cooking are done!).
As I was taking all the food out of my cupboards and scrubbing away a year of accumulated shmutz (dirt), I reflected on the power of faith to motivate people to engage in behaviors that involve hard work, inconvenience, no immediate benefit, and a substantial monetary cost (sound like some of our social marketing behaviors?).
Believing that something is a religious obligation — whether it is keeping kosher, spending time in a far-off country as a missionary, or making the hajj — can be a major motivator for members of that religion to take on that behavior. What are the benefits? They may vary from person to person, depending on their reasons for being part of that religion in the first place, but they could include believing that you will go to heaven as a result, feeling included in the community, imparting your values to the next generation, feeling the satisfaction of doing what God expects of you…
There are many religious values that are consistent with other health and social values we as social marketers might want to tie in. For example, many Jews and Christians believe it is a religious obligation to tithe their income to charity — how can your nonprofit relate its fundraising pitch to that religiously-motivated giving? The Torah holds the value of pikuach nefesh (saving a life) above just about every other commandment — in a campaign trying to increase organ donation, this value might resonate with a Jewish audience. I have been involved with a campaign by the American Anti-Slavery Group relating freeing modern-day slaves to the concept of freedom at the center of the holiday of Passover.
Of course, I am using examples from what I know, but you can think about the religious values of your own faith and figure out ways to make connections with various social marketing issues. Faith is a powerful motivator, and you may be able to harness its power for your own program.
To my Jewish readers, chag sameach v’kasher (a happy and kosher Passover). To everyone else, a wonderful and productive week.
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
