Cause Marketing

For the next two years, says the press release , Time Warner Entertainment and Time Warner businesses will be supporting the work of the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and Mercy Corps in the horn of Africa, which is in the throes of a deadly drought made worse by wholesale political instability in Somalia in particular. Called ‘We Can Be Heroes’ the face of the campaign will be DC Comics superheroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg. When you make a donation at We Can Be Heroes website, DC Entertainment will match your donation up to $1 million. DC Entertainment is owned by Time Warner. Time Warner also sells T-shirts, mugs, i-Phone cases and stainless steel water bottles emblazoned with the silhouette of the Justice League superheroes in front of an outline of the African continent. Fifty percent of the purchase price of the merchandise goes to the cause. This is where I say something really catty like Time Warner cares s...

In 2011, Amazon’s sales were $43.59 billion and its profit was $7.64 billion. It is the world’s biggest etailer. That's part of their Seattle headquarters at the left. And how much did Amazon donate to charity? It's not clear. Although I suspect that MercyCorps and the Red Cross have both received meaningful donations from Amazon.com. We do, however, know that Amazon.com spent $1.5 million in lobbying in 2011, and more than $21 million since 2001 . Likewise, we know that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s billionaire founder and chief executive, his mother and father, and his wife, author Mackenzie Bezos, have given more than $28,000 to Washington Senator Patty Murray (D) since 2009. Amazon’s website reports that its “customers have contributed more than $35 million to global relief programs since 2001.” But Amazon’s piece of that is probably in-kind only. A statement at Amazon.com says: “We… contribute to the communities where our employees and customers live. Our contributions can be seen...

There you are walking down Lake Shore Drive past the rising Chicago Spire building eating a Chicago Red Hot , when you’re struck by a billboard with a message from, say, MercyCorps , asking for help providing relief to the cyclone-battered people in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta. But the sign doesn’t feature a website URL, a toll-free telephone number or even an address to send a check. Instead the sign tells you to text the word ‘Give’ to a number using your cell phone and a $5 donation will be made. To the Japanese or Europeans that scenario probably sounds not so much futuristic as so 2006. But it’s new in the United States, made possible by lower fees from the cell phone carriers. If analysts are correct, cell phone fundraising may be a prominent future fundraising channel for charities with a clear mission, strong brand recognition and the ability to effectively get their message to their audience. What’s the potential upside of this mobile phone fundraising in the United States? “$...