Cause Marketing

Every couple of months it seems I hear of another television ‘network’ that is devoted to airing programming from and on behalf of nonprofits. Inevitably the network delivers its signal entirely online. Often as not the network enjoys a flash of publicity before ultimately flaming out. But the Starfish Television Network , a 501(c)(3) charity which broadcasts over the air (via Dish 1000, channel 9408) as well as streaming live on the Internet, is approaching the important one-year milestone. The management at Starfish, for whom I’ve done work in the past, knows very well what the Network's shortcomings are. They need some “appointment” television shows. That is, programs so compelling viewers will come back every week to watch them. They need wider carriage. And, it goes almost without saying, they need more money. And of course there’s the usual chicken and egg problem that all nonprofits face in their early years. They have good ideas for programs, but currently lack the money t...

Starfish Television Network Offers Free Airing of Your Nonproft Programming Hits used to rule. In Hollywood the blockbuster has been the dominant business model since the first Star Wars movie was released. In 2004, only 1,187 books sold 50,000 or more copies and only 10 titles sold more than a million copies in the States. Fully 948,000 of the 1.2million titles released that year sold fewer than 100 copies! Hits ruled, says Chris Anderson… the editor of Wired and author of The Long Tail … because of physics. Even at a Wal-Mart Supercenter, there’s space for no more than 5,000 CDs. And every one is carefully selected with the expectation that it will sell; that the inventory will 'turn.' Otherwise inventory and carrying costs eat up all the margin. In the physical world of atoms, inventory is the veritable 'hot potato;' hold onto it too long and you get burned. But in an online environment where you store and sell not atoms but bytes, you can profitably sell not just a...