Cause Marketing

Chief Development, Marketing Officers Cage Match Yields Department Restructure
October 5, 2016 at 11:37 am

Recently I met with a client—one of the top 10 health care nonprofits in the U.S. I asked for a meeting with its marketing and donor acquisition staffs. Much to my surprise, this was the first time this group had been brought together in the same room. At another client, recently an entire layer of the marketing department had been released, with new personnel being brought into the development department to do marketing....

Cause Marketing 101: Before You Hit 'Go'
July 29, 2016 at 12:09 pm

Nonprofits have been strategically partnering with businesses for some time to build cause-marketing programs. The benefits are plentiful for both the corporation and the nonprofit, but it isn't necessarily the right fit for every nonprofit. Before you begin a cause-marketing partnership, ask yourself these critical questions...

What Happened to the Ice Bucket Challenge?
July 18, 2016 at 12:05 pm

Out of nowhere, a huge fad sweeps the country. It dominates social media and leads to a blizzard of think pieces, which are followed almost immediately by a backlash, as critics warn of the fad’s baleful consequences. Eventually, people get bored and move on to something new. That could well be the story of "Pokemon…

Free Solutions for Your Direct Marketing Program
July 18, 2016 at 10:51 am

In a perfect world, all of our direct marketing costs would be marginal, so they scaled as we mailed, helping us to pick the exact right quantities and people every time. Of course, in a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to solve the social ills we are trying to solve as nonprofits. So that’s a…

What Every Nonprofit Should Know About Cause Marketing
May 31, 2016 at 10:38 am

Cause-related marketing has exploded in recent years even though it is a relatively young concept. Cause marketing began, on a national scale, in the early 1980s when American Express partnered with the nonprofit group that was raising funds to restore the Statue of Liberty. American Express gave a portion of every purchase through its credit…

Super Bowl Bets Benefit Charity
February 11, 2016 at 11:45 am

San Francisco area charities surrounding Sunday’s Super Bowl host city, Santa Clara, Calif., benefited from 50 Fund, Super Bowl 50’s philanthropic arm, which raised more than $12 million, a record for the game’s host committee. But nonprofits near Levi’s Stadium weren’t the only ones to receive donations as a result of the big game. The competing cities also wagered charitable efforts based on the game’s outcome or conducted fundraising efforts to create secondary competitions off the field....

Which City Is Making Charity a Hometown Game?
November 19, 2015 at 9:32 am

There’s nothing like a game to fire up friendly competition in the name of charity. These days, companies are finding challenges are such effective tools to engage employees that gamification has become a key aspect of many corporate volunteer and giving programs. These challenges can extend across departments, companies and sometimes even industry sectors to…

In Pro Sports, Fans Become Part of the Action Through Charity
November 4, 2015 at 10:08 am

When Jeff Vinik bought the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010, he wanted to connect with his new community. Born in New Jersey, he had lived most of his adult life in Massachusetts, not Florida, and as an owner, Vinik said he believed that helping the local community was not just the right thing to do,…