Cause Marketing

Bridge the Gaps Pictured is a recent flyer from Designerchecks.com. The flyer features two cause-related marketing efforts; one for the New York City police officers and firefighters who performed so bravely during 9-11, and the other for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Ignore for the moment the weak and confusing “portion of the proceeds” language on the firefighter check and concentrate instead on what else is in play besides the transaction-based promotions. Everyone that buys either of those checks is identifying themselves as someone who has so much affinity for the New York City firefighters and police officers of 9-11, or for breast cancer research that they’re willing to put a ‘bumper sticker’ on their checks saying as much! Imagine the value to those two nonprofits to have the list of people who bought those checks. It’s the hottest kind of list. While for-profits commonly approach non-profits for their lists, it’s less common for the lists to go the other direction. Bu...