Cause Marketing

Faithful readers: Waiting for your computer to return from the shop after a motherboard-ectomy is a little like waiting at the hospital for a baby to come…it can’t get here soon enough! But the computer doctors are telling me no later than Saturday! In the meantime, I’m reprinting a column I wrote for the Salt Lake Enterprise, the local weekly business newspaper, and which was published Monday, March 16, 2009. The headlines tell the story in brief: “American Red Cross running low on corporate donations” –ABC4, Feb. 16, 2009 “Donations way down at charitable organizations” –KSL, Nov. 23, 2008 “Big players scale back charitable donations” –Wall Street Journal, Nov. 25, 2008 “Donations down; need up” –The Intelligencer, Nov. 30, 2008 The recession has been a perfect storm for nonprofits, battering them with great service needs at a time when donations are markedly lower. And corporate donations, which most years range from 4-6 percent of the total U.S. charitable giving according to Givin...

In today’s rocky economy it may be small businesses that have may have the most to gain from integrating cause marketing into their marketing efforts. For purposes of definition, cause marketing is a relationship that bridges commerce and cause in a way that benefits both parties.   Cause marketing has been shown to improve sales, brand and increase customer loyalty. It can help a company stand out from competitors and improve employee recruiting and retention. And it does several and sometimes all these things while helping a cause. Cause marketing is like red wine. It feels good and it’s good for you. Here then are ‘7 Tips to Turbocharge Your Small Business Marketing With Cause Marketing.’ Pick an appropriate cause. Consider not only a cause’s appeal, but its capacity to support your effort. It may be that the best cause marketing fit for your small business may be a small charity. Weigh the option of weaving cause marketing into your overall business strategy. General Mills’...

The Importance of Being Earnest (or Not) in Cause Marketing How important is it to understand your audience in cause-related marketing? It’s more important than the creative approach, the appeal and maybe the cause you choose. Illustrated are two companies that practice social entrepreneurship; that is, they’re capitalists with a nonprofit-like missions. Both employ cause marketing to sell their respective products. But they come at their cause marketing from completely different points of view. The first, Endangered Species Chocolate of Indianapolis, is earnest in its approach. Here’s a couple of paragraphs printed on the outside wrapper of their Gorilla milk chocolate bar with pecan pralines. OUR STORY At Endangered Species Chocolate, we provide exceptionally delicious, ethically traded chocolate made with only the finest, 100% all-natural ingredients. Just as important, we see chocolate as a medium to save species, conserve habitat and honor human life. ESC donates 10% of its net p...