Tips for Creating Cause Ambassadors

Sullivan shared the following three tips for organizations interested in creating a program like ASPCAAmbassadors:

1. Have the data collection in place. "The worst thing you can do is have somebody raise their hand to do something for you and then you have no data synch or no strong data collection that allows you to keep in touch with them or to even thank them," she says. "So make sure that your data processing is in place."
2. Have some ideas for people to do. "If you're not going to be hosting walks in your community or around the country, sit down and think about what your charity does," she says. Come up with 10 things that a consumer can do to benefit your cause so that you give people ideas. "Give them some tools to work with that you're happy to have out there representing your name," Sullivan adds.
3. Be flexible with your brand. Sullivan says the ASPCA had a group of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts who wanted to do a bike ride fundraiser for the organization. ASPCA doesn't have signage for motorcycles, so it had to just let them be creative. "They were enthusiastic about it," she says. "Instead of imposing a whole bunch of legal sanctions and logos with circle Rs, we said, ‘Good luck, have a great time.’

"I think as we're all figuring out, scratching our heads where the economy's going to go, that one of the most important things you can do is a very low-cost way to empower consumers, and this is it," Sullivan adds.