Cause Marketing/Corporate Partnerships

Giant, Salv. Army make amends after holiday charity drive
February 21, 2011

After a somewhat contentious holiday season, Giant Food and the Salvation Army National Capital Area Command are looking to make amends. Giant has presented the Salvation Army with a $75,000 check in recognition of the grocery chain's 75th anniversary in business in the Washington area.

The supermarket chain came under some criticism from many of its customers during the holidays because of a policy change regarding solicitations outside its stores.

Group coupons are new tools for charity
February 21, 2011

There are ever-growing marriages between group coupons and U.S. charities.

Promoters argue these are "win-win-win situations"-- for the consumer, the advertised business and the charity. But nonprofit leaders warn consumers to do some digging before donating, Some coupon sites donate little. Others much more.

Wal-Mart’s unlikely philanthropy chief
February 18, 2011

Margaret McKenna leads the Walmart Foundation, a perch that gives her one of the biggest jobs in US philanthropy, running the charitable efforts of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

McKenna directs a half-billion dollars a year in giving, focusing on hunger and education. While she tackles issues close to her heart, she has also become an ambassador for the world’s most powerful retail machine, helping to burnish its image and lay the groundwork for its push into urban markets.

According to a recent survey by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, 78 percent of human service nonprofits and 68 percent of charities overall saw demand for assistance rise in 2010. The agency predicts that charities will be hard-pressed in 2011 to secure funding for growing needs.

Oxfam and PayPal team up to launch new form of donation
February 4, 2011

Oxfam and PayPal have joined forces to launch 100% giving, a groundbreaking new partnership that sees PayPal paying for the running costs on every donation made to the charity in February via oxfam.org.uk/giving. This means that for the first time ever, a UK charity is offering a donation scheme through which 100% of every donation is guaranteed to go directly to the cause.

The initiative follows a new Oxfam report showing that people are often deterred from giving because part of their donation usually goes towards the charity's running costs.

Goodwill Launches Fundraising Campaign on eBay to Increase Job Training Efforts Nationwide
February 3, 2011

Goodwill, in collaboration with eBay Giving Works, eBay's charity fundraising program, launched a fundraising campaign that focuses on helping people find and keep jobs. From Feb. 7 to 13, Goodwill will be a featured nonprofit on eBay, offering everyone the opportunity to buy, sell or donate to support Goodwill's job training programs. Dress for Success and the National Federation of the Blind will also be featured in February as part of the same campaign.

Google Finds It Hard to Reinvent Philanthropy
February 1, 2011

In 2004, Larry Page, one of its founders, excited the nonprofit world with a bold commitment to philanthropy. He vowed to dedicate about 1 percent of Google’s profits, 1 percent of its equity and a significant amount of its employees’ time to the effort, which became known as Google.org, or DotOrg.

However, the hyperbole looks more like hubris. DotOrg has narrowed to just one octave on the piano: engineering-related projects that often are the outgrowth of existing Google products.

Online Ordering Service Helps Antihunger Group Raise Money
February 1, 2011

A partnership between Delivery.com, an online service for food and other supplies, and City Harvest, an antihunger organization in New York, is allowing people to make gifts that help feed more than 300,000 people each week.

Delivery.com customers have two ways to support City Harvest: They can donate “points”  — Delivery.com customers receive 25 points per $1: A typical exchange is 10,000 points for $5 worth of donations. Or anybody — not just customers — can give by ordering from City Harvest’s Delivery.com “menu” page.

Pepsi Hits 'Refresh' on Donor Project
February 1, 2011

PepsiCo Inc. is revamping a charitable-giving program created to boost its corporate image and sales of its flagship cola but marred by complaints of vote-rigging and other irregularities — with several changes geared toward steering more of the prize money toward community and grass-roots organizations.

With a promise of $20 million in donations for "refreshing ideas that change the world," Pepsi's Refresh Project drew rabid competition for the prize money—perhaps too rabid.

Wrigley Company Foundation Expands Global Impact with New Health Development Programs
February 1, 2011

The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation today announced the launch of a two-year, $3 million (USD) school health partnership with Save the Children.  The initiative will be activated in six countries across the world, aimed at improving the health and nutrition of more than 273,000 school-age children in disadvantaged communities. The school-based programs will be implemented in China, Kenya, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Vietnam and Indonesia at a grass-roots level.