Cause Marketing

I recently read that Aaron Tonken, convicted felon who defrauded charities, celebrities and politicians alike is out of prison now working on his second book (his first one is at the left) and eager to consult with you on your next fundraiser, although he's legally barred from handling money or fund raising directly. You can find him him on LinkedIn and Facebook. He tells the Los Angeles Times that he's a changed man, properly medicated and emotionally stable. A charity I worked for partnered with Tonken who went to prison in 2003 for fraud. The charity lost $100,000 due to Tonken’s machinations, but we recovered the money in full within weeks and well before his prosecution and conviction. That same charity nearly did a deal with Cameron Lewis, who is in prison in Minnesota for defrauding hundreds of school districts of nearly $40 million using a now-defunct charity called the National School Fitness Foundation (NSFF). The fraud amounted to a Ponzi scheme. I knew Cameron. Met...

Comments I made to the Los Angeles Times small business reporter Cyndia Zwahlen about cause-related marketing and small business were published in yesterday's paper. My experience with the LA Times online edition is that articles don't stay around for very long, so I'm going to excerpt a part of it below. For as long as it's up, you can read it here . Finally, tip of the hat to Jennifer Staplelton at Bread for the World, a member of the cause-releated marketing GoogleGroup . How can you make sure that your good intentions lead to good results?" They have to do the same thing they do with their cash flow; they have to manage it," said Paul Jones, a cause-related marketing consultant and principal at Alden Keene & Associates in Sandy, Utah. He also writes a blog on the subject. As with any business strategy, skimping on planning or the tactical steps probably will result in disappointment for the small business and the charity. To avoid that, here are tip...

Got an email on Tuesday, July 8 from Cyndia Zwahlen a contributing columnist to the Small Business Report at the Los Angeles Times (that's their building on the left) who asked about "about small business and the mistakes they make when it comes to cause-related marketing, in particular developing and sustaining a relationship with a charity." Here's how I responded: I'd say that small businesses make 4 basic mistakes when it comes to cause-related marketing: They pick a charity that's a poor strategic fit. There's a lot of potential reasons for why a small business might undertake a cause-related marketing campaign for a cause. Maybe their customers are school-age kids so they pick a local school. A restaurant might choose a hunger cause. But if you're a local welding shop, you better have a pretty good reason to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundations; a reason your customers will easily and quickly understand. That's beca...