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Our son fell out his window, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and it was our fault. Many people have told us that we’re the best parents they know and that accidents just happen sometimes, so we shouldn’t blame ourselves. But we know the truth is that our sweet son’s fall  was preventable. In writing this, I must revisit that day and the agony, fear and sorrow that followed it but I’m writing because I hope our story will motivate you to safegurad your windows in time to protect your children from our son’s fate.

For those of you who don’t want to go through the whole sad story, I’ll skip to the point. GET WINDOW GUARDS FOR YOUR WINDOWS IF YOUR KIDS ARE YOUNGER THAN SIX AND YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE STORY TO YOUR HOUSE. I wish someone had reached us with that message before October 21st, 2010 when our 3-year old fell through his screen onto concrete fifteen feet below.

If you’re tempted to let yourself think something like this couldn’t happen to you, think again. If you believe these kinds of accidents just happen to unintelligent or uninvolved parents, please read on.

Why didn’t we have window guards on our windows?  It wasn’t neglect or laziness, it was because we didn’t fully understand them. But don’t assume that means we were negligent parents who were unaware of protecting our children’s safety. We own and have read many parenting books; thousands of pages of good parenting information. Looking back on it, I even see that there is some information about window safety in them but we still somehow missed the important details of it. We had read about window locks, but thought it was the ordinary locks that were part of our windows, not the child-proof, after-market locks that allow for easy removal in case of fire and are designed to allow windows to open but not to such an extent that a child can fall out. The explanation for that lapse isn’t lack of IQ or lack of caring. It’s just that parenting is an enormous job with so many components that we missed this one safety device.

We did have many other child protection devices. In fact, we’d gone beyond the well-known safety products such as outlet covers. For example, we had mesh over the rails on our deck even though the deck isn’t very high. After a thorough research on car safety, we’d opted for Britax car seats and even have our seven-year-old in a 5 point harness with side impact protection.  I’d also made a call to the Washington Poison Center to request Mr. Yuk stickers and put them on anything that might be poisonous for kids to drink even though they were all in locked cabinets.

Most heartbreaking is that we had the cords for our blinds wrapped up high so he couldn’t reach them and accidentally choke himself. In fact, it was those cords that he was fascinated by and reaching for the day he fell from his window.  It was nap time and since he wasn’t tired, he was just quietly playing in his room.  In that one moment of childhood curiosity, he lost so much!

Nine months later, I am still haunted by visions of blood running out of my son’s ear and skull, his eyes fluttering closed and by the uncertainty for his future.  My son, my husband and I, and our other two children to some extent,  will forever live in the prison created by the consequences of not installing window guards.

Our son was an intelligent, well-behaved little boy. Several days prior to his accident, my husband had explained to him very clearly how dangerous his window could be. He listened and seemed to register every bit of information. He understood it… but just at the level that a 4-year-old can, not the way adults comprehend real dangers. He was curious and in the end, talking wasn’t enough. Telling kids to stay away from windows isn’t necessarily enough to avoid tragedy. I wish we’d known then what we know now about window guards.

I’m certain there are many educated, involved and loving parents out there who don’t have child safety window locks, but would install them if they knew the risk compared with the minimal effort and time to put them on. Talking to your children necessarily isn’t enough to avoid tragedy. Fifty children a year fall from windows in Oregon alone and 5,000 nationwide. I strongly encourage you to get child safe window stops or 4-inch window opening limiters if you don’t already have them.  Here are three window safety products recommended by the Safety Store located inside the Legacy Emanuel hospital:

Guardian Angel window guards 

Kid Co Window Stop

KidCo Mesh Window Guard

Window guards or child safe window locks can be simple and cheap and they are worth your child’s continued well-being. The staff at the Safety Store of Emanuel hospital in Portland, OR are passionate and knowledgeable about window safety and more than willing to help. Their number is 503-413-4600.

Also feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Becca Cunningham

AJ and Melissa Leon inspire me.  3 years ago, by all external measure, they had it all.  AJ was a rising star on Wall Street, up for promotion.  Melissa was marking her mark on the world as an ESL teacher in the New York Public Schools.

But they weren’t happy.

Overcome by the disturbing feeling that there must be more to life, they took a leap of faith that would change not only their lives, but the lives of many, many others.

They pulled out a blank sheet of paper and set about writing down what they wanted their lives to look like.  Travel.  Service.  Sharing their gifts.

Certain they’d be homeless within 60 days, they threw caution to the wind and devised a business model that dictated that 20% of their time would be devoted to pro-bono work with changemakers.  People ‘inches from remarkable’ that just needed that extra push to communicate their good ideas to the world.  AJ and Melissa knew they could fill the gap for these changemakers.

And fill the gap they did.  Their early projects were impassioned though, they readily admit, not the most polished.  They worked with the tools at hand and developed entirely new skill sets for the web and social web.

As just one example, their work has provided funding for a village in Kenya by creating an ‘extended village’ of people who could afford to transform it into a self-sustaining community.  They recruited a local villager to blog using an old cell phone to keep the extended village informed.  Funders have chatted directly with the villagers via a GoToMeeting satellite interface.  They’re about innovation.  Connection.  Sharing community.  And it shows.

Fueled by their passion and ideas, AJ and Melissa’s social focus has generated new clients (paying clients, that is) for their company, Misfit Inc.  They’ve traveled to over 40 countries over the past 3 years (and counting), working on projects about which they care deeply.

AJ and Melissa started with a blank sheet of paper and intentionally crafted a different life for themselves.  What could you create?

This blog is a part of me.  Anyone who knows me understands this to be true.

As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve been absent from InCouraged.  Truth be told, I’ve missed it.

This past weekend, three amazing people helped me understand that these pages are something I need to reclaim.

When I looked back at what this blog was originally intended to do, I found my original post that explained,

…this blog is dedicated to stories of having the courage to look fear in the face and say, “I see you.  Now teach me.”  The courage to hear all the “shoulds”, “musts”, “don’ts” and “can’ts” and do what rings true to you instead.  The courage to sit with the discomfort instead of stifle it.  And then take thoughtful action.  Learn. Grow.  Transform.  Convert it productively into a positive force that only you can create.  Thrive.  Because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re put on this earth to do.

And it’s to this original purpose that I will return.

For those of you that are interested exclusively in cause marketing content, you’ll find me blogging on Companies and Causes (the Cause Marketing Forum blog).

For those of you interested in stories of people and organizations digging a little deeper, summoning the courage to experiment, to go out on a limb and create what’s uniquely theirs, welcome (back) to InCouraged.

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My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!
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Last Friday, Joe appropriately ranted that Kentucky Fried Chicken’s latest “cause marketing” promotion (we cringe to even call it that) pushing mega-jugs of soda to “support” Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation was, well, chicken.

Portion-of-sale cause marketing programs are seemingly everywhere, yet if few stand out, still fewer venture outside the norm.  And doesn’t it often seem a shame that potential donations are missed either by lack of consumer interest or time or even by poor communication on the part of the brand?

What does this portion-of-sale cause marketing tactic look like when integrated into the very fabric of a brand?  Enter Purpose Beverages and their Tēvolution brand of bottled iced teas.

Twenty-five cents of every bottle of Tēvolution goes to one of four partner charities.  Yes, $0.25, or $3 from every case, will go to a non-profit partner.  And, in a move sure to intrigue cause junkies and technology enthusiasts, Tēvolution tells you which non-profit got your quarter when you redeem a unique code on the bottle.  Even more impressive, the quarter is donated whether you (the end consumer) redeem the code on the bottle or not.  You read that right…Tēvolution donates whether you redeem the code or not.

When consumers do take the time to redeem, their code unlocks a mini-education about the beneficiary partner non-profit organization that can then be shared automatically via social media.  Tēvolution’s goal is to build the story of their partner non-profits little by little, strategically feeding engaging storylines to consumers each time they redeem a new code.

Conveniently, consumers can text the code using a mobile phone and receive the electronic storylines, the only product I’ve personally seen offer this mobile-redemption technology.  Here’s a sample of what you might get and then share via social media:

On Your Phone after Texting a Code:

When You Link Your Facebook Account to the Website:

And When You Link Twitter:

Ask founders Ian Simpson and Gerard Artavia why their pilot run of Tēvolution has been selling off the shelves and they’ll tell you, “Having a cause embedded into the Tēvolution product helped us garner a coveted spot on retail shelves right away.  We stay on the shelves because the product tastes great and sells well.”

Several pilot retailers have offered to make introductions to their distributors, the next step toward scaling Tēvolution to become a profitable business.  Simpson and Artavia realize their success will ultimately lie in their ability to form relationships of trust, both with retailers and with end consumers.

It’s refreshing to see a brand put as much passion and energy behind genuinely working to promote their non-profit partners as they do behind creating a quality product.  Would that more brands would take their non-profit relationships this seriously.

The team explains, “When we first started down the road with Purpose Beverages, our initial thought was, “What if there was a product that tasted as good as the good it does?”  By the looks of things, Tēvolution’s “Twist. Sip. Give” is well on its way to achieving exactly that.

Want to learn more about Tēvolution and the non-profit organizations they support? Follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or visit their website.

What do you think of this business model?  What are they doing right?  What more will they need to do to succeed long-term?  Chime in by adding your comment below.

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Ever feel like cause marketing is starting to feel a little cluttered?  Everywhere you turn, there’s another cash register ask, cause-branded product, digital cause campaigns beckoning you to “Like” them, location based donations to unlock…each benefitting a different, and potentially unfamiliar cause.

Remember when you could “defrag” on your computer (oh…sorry, PC users, do you still do that?) to increase the efficiency and functionality of your hard drive?  Well it’s time we defrag cause marketing.

Easier said than done, right?

There are two major things that we need to explore on the road to defragging cause marketing.

Alliances

The first is partnerships but not in the way you’re accustomed to thinking of them.  Of course cause marketing is a partnership between a non-profit organization and a business but expand that box for a moment and consider alliances.

How much more powerful would it be if like-minded companies and causes linked elbows and created a super cause marketing event, campaign or initiative?  How much more “mind share” would you capture if 5 of your favorite brands were all focused on…gasp…one cause?

Cause Consolidation

Which leads to the second thing we need to explore as we defrag:  cause consolidation.

Before your non-profit loyalty hackles are raised, hear me out.

What if non-profit organizations took the initiative to band together around a general cause ‘sector’ like “education”, “the arts”, “healthy children” and the like?  Would they be more powerful?  You bet.  More effective?  Probably.

Collective Bargaining

The words “collective bargaining” have been bantered about quite a bit over the last several weeks, but imagine the collective bargaining power of the “healthy children” cause sector in recruiting corporate partners.

This super cause sector would be better positioned to form long-lasting super alliances with corporate partners, large and small, and could insist that those corporate partners, as a price of entry, collaborate amongst each other.  An example I’ve seen (and blogged about) recently is the All4One Alliance, where 4 like-minded non-profit organizations teamed up to pack a power punch to an event that had threatened to overwhelm a single non-profit.

Where now individual efforts often only amount to a trickle, this collective energy could form a rushing groundswell of positive impact.

What do you think?  You ready to take on the task of defragging cause marketing?  How would you start?  What are the potential pitfalls?  The barriers?  Any examples you’ve seen that you like?  Weigh in below…dare ya!

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to Lancefisher.

Those closest to me know that I’ve been working on a few projects for David Hessekiel and the Cause Marketing Forum this past fall, most notably the new CMF website.

I’m completely thrilled to be able to say that my work with David will continue in the role of Director of Communications for the Cause Marketing Forum.  Titles are often less than descriptive and this one is no exception. Basically it means that I’ll be on the look out for great cause marketing information and ideas on behalf of CMF and then I’ll work to get that content to people who’d be interested in it using a variety of mediums.

Why blog about this?  Great question.

Because it means that you’ll be seeing me in popular outposts representing Cause Marketing Forum and I didn’t want there to be any confusion.  Because I might call you up some day for an interview or ask you to participate in creating great cause centric content in some way.

I’m still blogging at InCouraged but the lion’s share of my cause marketing-specific content will likely appear in a CMF newsletter, on the CMF website or a new(!) CMF blog to be launched in the coming months.

I couldn’t be more excited with this new chapter and, as always, I welcome your comments, ideas, questions and suggestions.

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to Michael_Lehet

By definition, a nomad is one who wanders, whose livelihood is inextricably tied to circumstance.  When one environment ceases to provide a subsistence living, the nomad moves on to seek greener pastures.

A pilgrim may look like a nomad at times, coping with unforeseen circumstances as she moves forward, sometimes imperceptibly forward, toward her ultimate goal.

The difference?

The pilgrim has an ultimate goal, a vision, a destination.  The nomad does not.

The pilgrim is focused on reaching that goal (and surviving the process).  The nomad is focused on survival.

The pilgrim is changed by the very journey because she had courage enough to take the first step, aware that it would likely bring hardship and challenge on a variety of levels.  By taking that first step, however, the pilgrim accepted a different way of life…a different path.

The nomad may change with age and stage but at the core, remains the same.  The nomad remains singularly and internally focused on survival.  The nomad develops a deep resourcefulness through these years focused on survival but isn’t objective enough to notice.

Are you a pilgrim or a nomad?

Or some hybrid of the two?

Did you set out on a journey as a pilgrim only to lose your way and end up a nomad?  And if this is the case, is it because you lost sight of the original vision or is it because your original vision wasn’t expansive enough to last the whole journey?  What about your brand?

I personally would love to claim that I’m a pilgrim, doggedly heading toward a focused destination. The fact is that I’ve had lots of smaller visions, many of which I’ve attained…or abandoned.  I’ve been a pilgrim at different junctures of my life but often slip back into the subsistence life of a wandering nomad.

But now I’m on a pilgrimage to find that bigger vision.  One large enough to lead me through the natural ups and downs of my circumstances.  One large enough to encompass my career, my family, my relationships.

How about you?  Where are you in your journey?  Are you a pilgrim or a nomad?  How do you know?  What advice can you offer?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to Andyindia

We are a society of fiercely independent, boot strapping cowboys of innovation.  Want to succeed in our world?  Blaze your own trail, find your own calling, lead by example.

We like our information quickly, thank you, and plenty of it.  It should be available overnight or yesterday, even if we have to pay extra.  If it doesn’t work, we throw it out.

We communicate in sound bites of 9 seconds or fewer.

We cram more and more into shrinking time windows fueled by caffeine.

But take the words “Starbucks” and “coffee” off a familiar and iconic logo, and we go ballistic.

Why?

The Economist posits that, in our rapid-fire society, the more choices we have, the more we seem to value the familiar.  The communities that we do have, with which we’re familiar, become almost sacred.  Mess with them and you rock our entire world.

This is worth stopping to consider.

As in…stop.  And consider.  The more choices we have, the more we value the familiar.

So where’s the balance?

What’s the perfect marriage between being familiar to your community…being sacred…and embracing experimentation to raise the bar and stay relevant?

This is tough.  Here’s my take.  Please share yours in the comments.

Purpose/Why
Obvious, but worth repeating.  The people, brands and communities we cherish the most have a rock solid purpose, or “Why” with which we can relate.  They know what they’re about, they have standards and although they may experiment, they’re doing it within a framework with which we can relate.  A solid “Why” becomes a litmus test used constantly to evaluate new partnerships, new ideas and new messages.  It’s a living, breathing part of the entity and we respect the hell out of them for being so…them.

Communication
We’re all entitled to experiment and even make mistakes every once in a while.  The balance between consistency and innovation lies in our ability to communicate with our communities about what’s going on behind closed doors.  Communities are very willing to understand but we don’t like to be blindsided and we can tell when you’re not telling the whole truth.  We may complain about changes but we’ll respect you more in the morning if you stand by your well considered decisions rather than caving into our petty gripes.

Need an example about what not to do when communicating with your communities?  Just look at the Gap logo debacle.

Commitment to Quality
Name one non-profit organization or one brand to which you are fully committed that, at its core, is NOT 100% committed to the quality of their work.

Can’t do it, can you?

Nope.  That’s because we know high quality when we see it.  We can feel it.  Does this mean everything about that particular organization is perfect?  No.  But at the end of the day, the product, service or experience on which they are willing to put their stamp is top notch.

By virtue of being committed to quality, these organizations are committed to innovation and to evolution.  This doesn’t always involve the latest technology.  Perhaps it’s a new methodology or embracing a new partner or community or customer group.  But it does include pushing the boundaries to be the best.

Ask Yourself:
Take a look at your own brand, be it your personal brand, your non-profit brand or your company brand.  Do you feel like you have a well-defined purpose that guides major decisions?  Do you communicate honestly and frequently with your constituents?  Are you truly committed to the quality of whatever it is that you do?

Are You:  Tipped Too Far Toward Innovation?
Are you familiar to your stakeholders?  Sacred?  Or are you mixing it up too much and too frequently so no one knows what to expect from you?

Are You:  Tipped Too Far Toward the Familiar?
Do you push the boundaries of your own brand to constantly innovate and evolve?  Or do you rest on your laurels of being familiar and comfortable?

Where’s the balance for you?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to Mark Smallwood

I’m continually amazed at how detrimental the short-term mentality can be to any entity, be it a business or non-profit organization or even an individual.  We’re all probably guilty of running too fast, becoming complacent in our daily activities and forgetting the original vision (assuming there was an original vision to begin with).  Without firm grounding in this vision, it’s all too easy to spiral into a place of lack and desperation.

But My Cause Needs Me!
If you’re an understaffed non-profit organization constantly running on survival mode, you probably know what this looks like.  Budget’s down 10% this year, need to run out and secure more sponsors for that next event!  So you cast a wide net out to local businesses, approaching them from a place of desperation and lack guided by an open hand in search of a dollar instead of taking the time to cultivate a long-term partnership, starting with a non-revenue generating activity.  Perhaps you justify this approach by citing your mission:  at the end of the day, you’re serving the cause and the cause needs you!

But is operating from a place of lack truly serving your mission?  Is it truly representing the story?  Are you attracting the right kind of donors with this frantic approach?  Yes, your cause needs you but it needs you to be thoughtful, strategic and true to the vision.

What Your Sales People Say About Your Business (Even if it’s just you!)
Or perhaps you’re a small business owner.  Take a look at your sales cycle – is it driven by lack and fear or are your salespeople (even if that’s just you) firmly grounded in the knowledge of what your company represents and confident that your products or services genuinely fill an important need in society?  Do you look at every person that walks by as an opportunity or are you focused on finding the right people?  Those for whom your product will really resonate?  Those types of customers you’d be thrilled to have…and keep…for the long term?

Are You an Interview Gumby?
What if you’re an individual looking for a job?  Same deal.  Are you trying to be all things to all interviewers?  Precisely how many versions of your resume do you have?  Do you mold yourself anew like a flexible green gumby every time you step into a new interview situation?

Lumps of Clay
We’re all given building blocks…our own personal lump of clay, if you will…and we get to decide how to sculpt it.  But so often we’re told as marketers, fundraisers or even individuals that we need to mold ourselves to the expectations of our customers or donors.  But guess what you get if you do this?  An amorphous or misshapen mound of clay that’s tricky to describe and quite frankly, not all that appealing.

Another Approach
Flip it around for a minute.  Which organizations resonate most with you?  Which companies, non-profit organizations or even individuals do you consider stellar, magnetic and charismatic?  Are they clear about who they are?  Do they approach you with a sense of lack or desperation or from a place of abundance and sharing?  What words would you use to describe these organizations or individuals?  Are they an amorphous lump of clay or more like a precious statue, carefully sculpted and tended from a place of great love and care?

Easier said than done, right?  Of course.  But come with me on this journey, would you?  Let’s push the envelope, open ourselves up to the fear and go out on a limb, for crying out loud.  The worst that can happen is we might just learn an awful lot.

Where to Start

1)    Take a serious self-inventory whether it’s just you against the world or whether you’re a for- or non-profit entity.  Are you doing what you truly love to be doing?  Are you excited to explain your piece of the world to a potential employer, donor or customer?  Do you have that vision for your lump of clay?  Are you staying true to it or have you become complacent somewhere along the way?

2)    Start with Why.  I’ve written about this before, but it’s so valuable, I’m happy to do it again.  Watch Simon Sinek’s Start with Why message.  It’s incredibly powerful and it may just change your view of how you approach, well…everything.

3)    Tweak and experiment.  Once you’ve secured your “Why”, you haven’t really, but it’s probably a great jumping off point.  Test it out, try it on but do be flexible enough to tweak it as it feels necessary.  That’s the great part about clay…if you make a mistake, it’s incredibly forgiving.

4)    Communicate from this place always and often.  In your own self talk, in addressing employers, customers and donors.  In your written communications.  In your personal or organizational branding.  Be bold and be clear.  Simplify and pare your message down to the very minimum.  Make sure it’s compelling.  Compelling is contagious.  Be able to describe the sculpture you envision so others can see it too and get excited in watching your progress.

5)    Offer no apologies for who you are.  This doesn’t condone arrogance but rather encourages confidence.  Not everyone will see life as you do  – that’s OK.  Find those that do and start your own mini-movement.  Consider unlikely allies.  Find people that are different than you but share a slice of your vision and grow it together.

6)    Lighten up.  Have fun and enjoy the ride.  When you do this, not only will it help to free your creativity and innovation, it will enable you to remain in a place of abundance so when that next great opportunity approaches, you have the energy to grab onto it with both hands and follow it wherever it may take you.

Idealistic?  Perhaps.  But give it a shot.  You may surprise even yourself.  And I, for one, can’t wait to see the sculpture you create from your lump of clay.

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to Chomiji.

What if, instead of charging a flat fee for sponsors, your sponsorship tiers were established by how many individual donors a company recruited on your behalf or brought into your event?

An Example

Let’s say you have 3 local companies who would each like to be involved with your non-profit organization and have visibility at your upcoming community event.  One company, a marketing company, works their PR and social media magic to drive sign-ups to the event.  Another company, a retail location, promotes the event to their foot traffic, email list and on their website.  The third company, a local law firm, runs a mini-campaign to put the word out to the employees of all their business clients in town.

Each company is given their own specific landing page through which to track their sign-ups (or even their own registration page if you have the technology).

The company that pulls in the most event-sign ups gets the coveted “Title Sponsor” category.  The others fall in line behind them depending on their results.

The Benefit:  Engagement

The companies are far more engaged than they might have been by writing a check and more likely to continue to support your efforts in the future.

The Benefit:  No Hard Costs

The companies are happy because they don’t have a hard out-of-pocket expense (although they could write off their efforts as pro-bono hours for tax purposes).

The Benefit:  Increased Attendees

If your event is a paid event, you’ve significantly increased your event revenue by effectively tripling your own outreach efforts.  If it’s an unpaid event, you’ve tripled your reach and awareness (and if you’re smart, your database).

An Option

Don’t think your sponsors will go for it?  Offer them an option.  Write a check or try out this great new model.

What do you think?  Would it work?  Would you give it a try?  What other interesting twists would you add?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to imaginary girl.

Professional speakers know this well:  the best time to “close the deal” is when the audience is in their seats, captivated by some sort of compelling or persuasive message.  Send them home with a flyer instead?  You’ve just lost upwards of 75% of your sales.

What can we learn from this practice?

Immediacy.

In our attention-deficit society, the tendency is to focus on what’s at hand and our best intentions get buried in a pile of papers on our desk.

How many times have you, as a consumer or guest at a non-profit event, had the best of intentions to patronize a new local business you heard about or donate to a particular non-profit organization…but then forgot, misplaced the flyer or neglected to redeem that coupon?

For non-profit organizations, this is critical, especially at events or speaking engagements. When is your message most compelling?  When it’s first heard or experienced.  Doing a tour of your facility?  Make sure to collect email addresses.  Giving a speech at a community group?  Be set up to accept donations on site or encourage attendees to pull out their smart phones and “Like” your Facebook page.  Having an event?  Set up online stations around the event where attendees can sign up to receive more information or even make a donation.

The announcement of Benevity’s new Givatron, a free giving application on the Android phone, is a huge feather in the cap of non-profit organizations.  It enables consumers to make tax-receiptable donations to their chosen charities from their mobile devices.  Now to get Steve Jobs and the iPhone on board…

What ways have you found to translate donor or consumer attention into action?  What works?  What doesn’t?  Any precautions?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to lynnfriedman

While I’m not a frequent customer to Whole Foods, I do stop in when I need a particular organic item or supplement.  When I dropped by this weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to be asked at checkout if I wanted to apply the ten cents I earned for bringing in a (Trader Joe’s) recyclable shopping bag to my bill or donate it to one of 4 local charities of my choosing. The charities were listed on the small check-writing platform at the register.

3 Great Takeaways from This Quick, But Positive Experience

1) Bigger Doesn’t Have to Mean National

Although a national chain, Whole Foods does an amazing job of “keeping it local”, appointing community managers on a local and regional level to ensure they keep touch with the heartbeat of their local community.  It meant a lot more to see the non-profit organizations I was familiar with (I donated to Columbia Springs, an awesome organization) on that list than it would’ve been to see a huge national non-profit organization with which I felt no affinity.

The upside for these local non-profit organizations has a lot to do with visibility and name recognition.  Although these Change for Change charities are swapped out every 3 months, the register is a great place to be in terms of awareness and recognition.  I honestly think that had those choices been larger, national non-profit organizations, I couldn’t have recalled any of them.

2) You Can Make a Statement Without Saying A Word

By rewarding customers for using recyclable bags (even those of their competitors), Whole Foods is making some great subtle yet powerful points to consumers.  Namely that Whole Foods:

1)    Supports the reuse/recycle efforts

2)    Is vested in their local community by supporting local non-profit organizations

3)    Values the effort of their customers

I’ve been to other grocery retailers that give bag credits as well, but automatically apply the credit to your bill upon checkout (perhaps someone should tell them they get a tax credit for making charitable donations).

3) The Recency Effect is Powerful

As human beings, we tend to remember the first and last parts of any given experience best.  Our first impression is important (in this example, what happened when I walked into the store) and when we remember this better than something else that happens during a given experience, it’s called the primacy effect.  But our last impression is also important and when we remember this better than something else that happens during our experience, it’s called the recency effect.

At most retail stores, this is the checkout experience.  Since point-of-sale cause marketing programs often happen at the register, this is of critical importance for both the non-profit organization and the supporting retailer.

I left my shopping experience with a favorable impression of both Whole Foods and the local non-profit organization I chose to support.  But these point-of-sale asks can easily take a wrong turn, especially if the employee at the register is apathetic or poorly informed about the program.

Keep this in mind if you’re a non-profit selling point-of-sale programs to retailers.  How can you support the retailer to make this register experience a positive one that leaves consumers feeling favorably all around?

That was my experience this weekend and my impressions – what do you think?

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Image credit to dalechumbly – thanks, Dale!

1. You don’t mind if your competitors steal away your best customers. There are always more fish in the sea, right?

More and more, consumers are demanding that the companies with whom they interact demonstrate an ongoing commitment to a cause. In fact, the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study revealed that, when given a choice between products similar in price and quality, 80% of consumers are likely to switch brands for one associated with a good cause.

2.  You’re confident that your marketing dollars are being put to good use on those yellow page advertisements.

We’re living in a new era of marketing where consumers have less time and less attention to devote to your messages. Only the best of the best, those that truly engage, enlighten and add value will be heard. If your what-we’ve-always-done campaigns aren’t producing results, perhaps it’s time to rethink the strategy.
A well-crafted cause marketing initiative provides that opportunity to engage consumers on a different level and allows for that participation consumers crave.

3.  In this economy? You’re confident your employees are just grateful to have a job at all.

Employees who are very involved in their company’s cause programs are 28 percent more likely to be proud of their company’s values and 36 percent more likely to feel a strong sense of loyalty than those who are not involved, according to the 2010 Cone Cause Evolution Study. Being involved in cause related programs through the workplace can also increase intrinsic employee motivation and lead to higher productivity.

Engaging employees with cause programs is also one of the best ways to effectively and authentically communicate the cause message to consumers, since they’re typically the front-line ambassadors.

4.  You don’t need additional sales, thank you very much.

Often business owners confuse corporate philanthropy with cause marketing. While both valuable, the purpose of cause marketing is to create a win-win situation for both the cause and the company. For the company, one of those “wins” could very well be an increase in sales (or web traffic, awareness, PR, image, loyalty, etc.).

Remember, the cause campaign you create may earn your company the attention (not to mention respect) of new and existing customers.

5.  You can’t think of a single cause that would resonate with your company’s mission and values.

Granted, it’s not easy to narrow the plethora of causes your company might be interested in supporting and sometimes it’s hard to know where or how to start. But if checking here and here and here and here leave you without a trace of anything compelling, then no…you really probably shouldn’t consider cause marketing because, well, I’m afraid your heart has gone dark.

6.  You prefer to hold your customers at arm’s length.

Most savvy business people realize that the cost to secure a new customer is far greater than the cost to retain an existing one. Technology has made it easier than ever to connect with your customers. Sometimes you need a good reason to engage your customers on a deeper level.

Cause marketing is a fantastic way to start a more meaningful relationship with those valued customers, to share your brand story in a way that moves your customers to action and engages them a bit deeper than just their pocketbooks.

7.  You don’t want to increase your reach/message.

Strategic partnerships are by far one of the best and most effective ways to increase your reach and message. Nonprofit or cause-based partnerships are no different; in fact, you may be surprised by the doors cause partnerships open, often to far different constituent groups than your typical crowd. Who knows? You just might discover a new niche.

8.  You don’t want to increase your circle of influence.

Similar to #7, in addition to being introduced to new prospective customers, you may find yourself being introduced to individuals that may become valuable networking contacts. Again, these individuals may run in very different circles than yours, expanding your rolodex in the process.

9.  You think cause marketing is a fad, similar to that social media thing.

Cause marketing has increased steadily over the past several decades as a form of sponsorship. According to IEG, cause-related sponsorship has increased from only $120 million in 1990 to $1.6 billion in 2010. The very face of marketing as we know it today has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of “traditional” one-way, I-push-my-product-to-you-and-you-buy-it marketing campaigns.

It’s essential that marketers engage their customers on a deeper level. As long as there is a need to serve our fellow humans, the planet and all that thrive on it, companies will increasingly be expected to provide leadership toward meeting those needs.

10.  The long-term sustainability of your community isn’t a concern to the livelihood of your business.

As we progress as a society, the ways in which we are all interconnected multiply exponentially. As economies expand and contract and transparency becomes increasingly important in an ever-suspicious consumer’s mind, the businesses that thrive are those that help raise the tide that floats all boats (yes, including their own). When a community thrives, so do its businesses, which, in turn fuels job creation and growth that gets cycled back into the community. Be it a small town or global marketplace, taking care of your community is of the utmost importance.

Is cause marketing the silver bullet that will cure society’s ills? Of course not. But it’s a start. And probably even more importantly, it’s a lead-by-example statement of participation and concern that, done correctly, may inspire a ripple of action and involvement.

There’s my list…what would you add?  And which number is your favorite?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Image credit to ant.photos

Bottled water giant Fiji Water announced earlier this week that they would be shutting down operations on the South Pacific island and laying off upwards of 400 workers.  The announcement came in response to a dramatic increase in water extraction taxes by the military-run Fijian government.

According to Charles Fishman, Fiji water is the number one export of any kind from Fiji, whose total GDP is $3.7 billion.

The irony of Fiji water (sourced from a Fijian artisan spring) in its patented square bottle that we, as Americans, can buy at any local grocery store is that 53% of the people who live in Fiji don’t have access to clean, safe water. Yet somehow, capitalism has found a way to ship this very water thousands and thousands of miles away.  Not to mention the environmental impact of plastic bottles.

Fiji water has taken steps to present a “green” and charitable brand image, from its 1% for the planet member standing to buying carbon offsets to setting up a trust fund for local villages and helping to fund water sanitation projects and local schools (although the company won’t disclose total charity expenditures).

Take Fiji water out of Fiji and what happens?  You lose jobs, exports take a nosedive and the entire local economy is adversely impacted.

So while the paradox is hard to swallow, the economic benefits to an otherwise-impoverished nation may ultimately outweigh the bad taste this particular bottled water leaves in your mouth.

Oh, and by the way, Fiji water reopened its plants after being closed only a day after negotiations with the local government.

What do you think?  What’s the corporate responsibility in this situation?  What other examples of this type of paradox have you encountered?

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Hint fiction:  a full story in 25 words or fewer.  As an overly verbose writer, this seems, well…impossible.  Yet Robert Swartwood has compiled and published an anthology of them.

The tweet:  140 characters or less.  Hint fiction:  25 words or fewer.  My average blog post:  600 words.

It’s easier to over-explain, ensure you put in every last detail, reference or “proof” of the point you’re trying to prove.

Much more challenging is the careful selection of words, laid strategically, perhaps achieving a double entendre.

In a world where more choice often means less accomplished, where the wordy and the lengthy get skimmed or deleted, perhaps it’s time we turn back to mystery, intrigue and plain old fashioned creativity in our written word.

What about substituting a postcard or sticker for the end-of-year solicitation letter?  A few handwritten words or (gasp!) a phone call instead of a lengthy mass email?  One special line of text that’s perhaps a little bold instead of a crowded web page?

Consider it?  I am.

Thoughts?

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Image credit to bjornmeansbear.

So often, we want to help but we don’t know how.  It’s true for individuals and it’s true for organizations.  Companies may want to engage with a cause…but can’t exactly figure out the best way to make it happen, or where to start.  Non-profit organizations want to engage with companies but sometimes lose the strategy amidst the details.

I’d like to direct your attention to a webpage that should serve as an example for all of us:  the Donors Choose partnership center.  They make it easy for a potential company to envision a partnership with their organization.  Just the fact that the page exists is testament to the priority they place on their cause marketing partnerships and strategy.

Case Studies
Case studies are a simple and powerful way to convey a you-can-do-it-too type of message.  The Donors Choose case studies are one-pagers that tell a brief but compelling story and show tangible results.  Brilliant.

Turn-Key Ways to Partner Up
Donors Choose offers not one, not two, but FIVE turn-key ways that a business might engage with their organization.  You get the hit that they truly care about partnerships and they’re willing to help their partners find the right cause marketing fit for their company.

Engaging and Partner-Focused
The partnership center is designed in a friendly, engaging way that makes it simple to navigate.

Notice how the descriptions are written, as well.  From the reader’s perspective.  “Fund 50% of any classroom project that meets criteria you specify. Your brand is prominently featured…”

Small details, yes, but together those details paint a much larger picture.

Imminently Emulateable
You can do this, too.  And really, you probably should.  Whether you’re a non-profit organization, large or small, looking for corporate partners, volunteers or donors.  Whether you’re a company, large or small, trying to engage your customers, your employees or community members.

Take a look at what you’re communicating.  Make it easy for your target audience to understand the ways they can engage with you. Spell it out.  Provide examples.  Make sure they know you’ve put thought and attention behind what you’re asking them to do.

I love this resource that Donors Choose provides.  How about you?

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What would you do if you suddenly found yourself with $1 million and a directive to give half away and keep the other half?

When Stephen Paletta won Oprah’s Big Give in 2008, this instantly became his reality.  He did what most of us would do:  started a foundation with the intention of highlighting great causes leveraging his newfound friendship with Oprah to spread the word.

What’s In It for MY Cause?
As Stephen started talking to people about causes he felt were particularly compelling, he quickly realized something.  Although people listened politely as he shared the causes about which he was passionate, almost everyone he interacted with wanted to tell them about their favorite cause.  Whether it was a church, international NGO or community organization, people wanted to talk about and advocate for the causes with which they were already engaged.  Stephen explains,

I realized that in many ways, most people were in the same place I was before being on Oprah.  Even if people had a cause they were passionate about, they never had enough of their own money to give away and no real platform to promote the cause to people with money able to offer support.

Consumers were hungry to engage with the causes they cared about, not only the causes companies chose on their behalf.  While consumers may support companies with a commitment to a cause, they were missing that personal sense of empowerment in their personal giving.

Armed with this experience and realization, Stephen made a decision.

Oprah gave me money and gave me a platform, I wanted to do that for everyone else.  We created GiveBack to be the vehicle to fulfill that vision by allowing each person to set up their own foundation for free.

Serving as the “official” umbrella foundation under which individual foundations could be established, the GiveBack Foundation developed a model that would enable consumers to set money aside via credit card or payroll deduction and then give it when they were ready.  But another dimension was needed to increase the level of funding for each foundation.  Stephen explains that dimension.

It was important the we solve the “not enough money to give away” issue.  So I looked at the cause marketing world and realized that companies are all trying to connect their cause marketing dollars back to their customers.  What better way to empower your customer and connect directly to what is near and dear to their heart than by putting cause marketing dollars into each person’s foundation?

GiveBack is all about empowering the consumer to make a difference.  It’s also all about companies partnering with their consumers to change the world, both locally and globally.

To achieve this vision, GiveBack recruits businesses to offer percentage-of-sale donations that are unlocked upon consumer purchase.  The donations go directly into the consumer’s foundation and the consumer maintains complete control over how, where and when their money is directed.  In addition, 100% of the money goes directly to the selected charity.

Establish Your Personal Foundation

Here’s how it works:

Log into GiveBack and create an account, which establishes your personal foundation.

Fund your foundation via credit card and/or make a purchase from any one of the 430 merchants currently on the GiveBack site and a specified percentage of your purchase will go directly into your GiveBack foundation (soon you’ll also earn donation dollars by using your pre-registered credit card at participating retail locations).

Direct the money in your foundation account to any registered 501c3 immediately or in the future.

The Benefit for Business
Participating retailers benefit by gaining information on the giving preferences of their customers via GiveBack.  Which causes receive the most donations?  Are their customers giving to local or national charities?

Participating in the GiveBack program doesn’t interfere with a company’s own charitable giving but rather leverages existing marketing dollars to give consumers an additional way to support their own selected charities.  In addition, the GiveBack community will undoubtedly be a receptive audience with whom companies can share information about their existing charitable efforts.

The Benefit for Non-Profit Organizations
Non-profit organizations, both large and small, will be able to establish a presence on the GiveBack site by customizing a charity page.  In addition, they’ll have access to consumers with built-in, active donation accounts.  It’s a simple way for a non-profit organization of any size to both engage with new donors and also enable existing donors to direct additional dollars through everyday purchases.

The Benefit for Consumers
In the future, you (the foundation holder) will be able to create campaigns where you can advocate for your nonprofit organization or charity of choice among other GiveBack community members. Suddenly your $50 donation can be converted into a much larger, crowdsourced-type donation effort.

GiveBack community members are likely to donate to your cause because they have available donation dollars in their own personal foundations, just waiting to be allocated.  If you’re not the activist type, you’re sure to find plenty of amazing causes within the GiveBack community (just wait ’til Oprah announces the site in the Spring).  Stephen explains further,

Most average Americans would never be able to get a grant from the Gates Foundation, even if they were very passionate about health issues.  The GiveBack Foundation, as it grows in membership, will become the peoples Foundation.  Imagine billions of dollars aggregated through millions of individuals that each member has the ability to access by creating a campaign.

Now, with GiveBack, even the person with just $50 to give and a passion for something can have access to millions of dollars and millions of people who can come along side of the cause and make a big difference.  The GiveBack Foundation is every person’s Gates Foundation.

The Benefit of Engaged Communities
Stephen’s vision is to increase not only the consumer empowerment piece of charitable giving, but also the cause engagement piece where donors can opt to receive a feed of information from non-profit organizations they care about.  Imagine getting special invitations, regular updates, individualized messages,  pictures or videos directly from charities to whom you donate via your foundation dashboard.  It’s giving gone social and it’s powerful.

In the movement toward integrating charitable giving into our daily existence, this consumer choice piece seems to be the common denominator.  I’m fascinated to watch how companies empower consumers to make their own personal giving choices while still communicating a clear message about what their brand truly stands for via a cause-specific affiliation.

What do you think of GiveBack?  How do you see companies navigating this cause evolution?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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This week, Facebook announced a new “Deals” feature.  When a consumer checks into a retail location via Facebook’s Location-Based Service (Places) they may now see “Deals” offered by that location.

Deals can be coupons or promotions redeemed individually or with a buddy or used to reward loyal customers who check in often.  Deals may also be a pledge to make a charitable donation.

The Early Adopters
A few businesses have already chosen the charitable donation route. Check into a Starbucks via Places and they’ll donate $1 to Conservation International.  24 Hour Fitness will donate $1 to Kaboom to support children’s health for everyone who checks into its clubs.

Perfect for Small to Mid-Sized Businesses
I’m always on the lookout for ways small and medium sized businesses can connect with causes, and Facebook Deals might just be a great introduction to a cause marketing partnership.

A 4-Step Plan for Recruiting Businesses for a Small Non-Profit
Here’s how I’m considering using Deals to recruit local retail businesses to create charity check-in donations benefitting a small non-profit organization with whom I volunteer.

1)  Do a search for all businesses in the appropriate geographical area that have a Places listing activated.  Rank them in order of interest to the organization.

2)  Develop a one page “how-to” on Facebook Deals outlining features and marketing suggestions.

3)  Print and mail (or hand-deliver) an introductory letter (of course offering to partner on a charity deal if they chose to go that route) along with the Facebook Deals one-pager to my top 20 businesses and send the same content via email to the rest of the businesses on the list.

4)  Follow up with a phone call to as many businesses as possible.

I anticipate this will generate a handful of interested businesses.  While the donations probably won’t be a significant source of revenue, what I care about is opening the door to new partnership opportunities.

How will you use FB Deals in your business, non-profit organization or cause marketing program?

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Next week marks the official launch of The Portland Bottom Line book (I’m a co-editor).  It’s not your typical book; it’s a social book.  Over 50 authors (all small business owners or employees from the Portland, Oregon area) joined their words and their stories to make this book a reality.  100% of the profits from the book sales will go to Mercy Corps Northwest (a consensus vote by all the contributors).  And that’s a really cool thing.

We’re throwing a launch party on November 10th and hope you’ll be there to celebrate with us.

The concept was simple but powerful (and 100% Peter Korchnak’s idea) – put out a call to authors asking for essays about one sustainable practice implemented in their Portland-area small business.

We took a broad approach to “sustainability”, from “Discover and Manifest Purpose” to “Green Your Operations”.  We asked that authors outline one practice that might be put to use by other businesses.

And it came together.  Not like we expected it would.  But it came together.  And we’re so proud of this book.

A few lessons I learned personally along the way.

• “Crowd-sourcing” isn’t always a friendly term. When we first started with this project, we were calling the book a “crowd-sourced” effort.  A graphic designer friend of ours politely explained that “crowd-sourcing” in the design community is a contentious topic and many designers feel that the term cheapens the profession.  We promptly changed our terminology to “co-created”.

• Hand-holding is important. While we wanted to think that all we needed to do was shout out to the world that we were opening the project to the world and contributors would magically materialize, it wasn’t quite that simple.  As always, networking was incredibly important and we spent a decent amount of time making personal contacts.

• Writing is a very personal endeavor. We were surprised by how many would-be contributors opted not to participate because they “couldn’t write”.  Also surprising was the fact that each individual contribution was written from a very personal perspective, not necessarily a prescriptive and objective one.

• Good partners are gold. I’ll be the first to admit that Peter did the lion’s share of the work on this project.  I like to think I contributed in small ways but I always knew I could count on Peter to do what he said he’d do by the deadlines we set.  It was an honor to be included in this project.

• People are generous. We relied upon so many people to bring this book into being, from graphic designers to attorneys to the 51 contributors, most of whom donated their services to the project.

• Good ideas sometimes create bigger ideas. This is a teaser because it’s not mine to share, but do keep an eye on GoodBookery.com – sign up for the email list and you’ll soon understand what I mean.

Do join us at the party to help celebrate the birth of the book and contribution of the authors.  Do purchase a copy of the book – it goes to a good cause and there are some neat stories contained within.  Do read and do good.

Halloween.  Apparently a marketer’s playground from long-standing campaigns like the ubiquitous Unicef trick-or-treat boxes to new, somewhat bizarre zombie promotions.

This year, the Boorito campaign, a cause marketing partnership between Chipotle and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution gets my autumnal vote.

Here’s how it works:  on Halloween evening, anytime after 6pm, Chipotle is asking customers to come into any one of their over-one-thousand restaurants dressed as “a horrifying processed food product”, pay $2 for a burrito, bowl, salad, or an order of tacos (made with freshly cooked, naturally raised ingredients) and Chipotle will forward that $2 on to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, up to $1,000,000.

Why is this campaign so brilliant?

Partnership
The partnership and parallels between Chipotle and Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution couldn’t be more fitting.  Both are huge supporters of freshly cooked, minimally processed foods.  Both have a vested interest in educating consumers about the dangers of processed foods.   Chipotle founder Steve Ells and Jamie Oliver are both clearly passionate about their mission and compelling spokespeople for the campaign (especially dressed in chicken nugget and dipping sauce costumes).

Infusing Meaning Into Fun Rituals
Most of us have a tradition of getting dressed up in silly costumes for Halloween.  This campaign gives you both a compelling reason to dress up and a framework for doing so.  It’s a light-hearted way to infuse a bit more meaning into an existing ritual while driving traffic into Chipotle stores and leveraging a donation to a worthwhile cause.  Involve a kid or two and you’ve got an education component as well.

Incentive
If it’s not enough to contribute to a good cause, there’s also a cash reward contest tied to this campaign.  Those that dress up as a processed food can submit their photo (taken at a Chipotle restaurant) to the Boorito site for judging through November 8^th.  The grand prize is $2500 cash.

This campaign provides a thoughtful, productive, structured and fun way for consumers to engage both with Chipotle and with Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.  It drives restaurant traffic.  It raises awareness.  It gives another dimension to an existing ritual.  It offers an immediate reward and entices participants to share their experience for the chance at further reward.

Simple.  Fun.  Engaging.  All campaigns should be this spooktacular.

What do you think?  How will this campaign be received in your local market?

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In the land of business start-ups, a common success story looks like this:  entrepreneur comes up with amazing new idea.  Entrepreneur cobbles a start-up business around said idea.  Idea spreads like wildfire.  Entrepreneur sells business to huge, well-established company.

What might this model look like from the non-profit perspective?

A small non-profit organization called The Breast Form Fund may be able to give us some insight.

The Situation
When you own a lingerie store, you see all types of women, including women living with breast cancer and trying to maintain their sense of beauty and self-assurance after surgery.  In Judith Fine’s experience, prostheses and post-mastectomy bras do wonders for these women.

For many years, Judith and her store, Gazebo, relied on a fund from the American Cancer Society to help un- and under-insured women obtain these products.  When the fund went away, Judith made a decision to replace as much of the funding as she could.  A percentage of Gazebo’s sales went into a new fund that spun off into a separate non-profit organization, The Breast Form Fund. Judith stepped in as the Executive Director.

The Idea that Launched a Thousand Bras
And then they came up with THE idea that would change the destiny of The Breast Form Fund.  A “Show Us Your Bra” contest.  They invited local community members and artists to create hand-made bra sculptures made out of unlikely materials.  The memorable and often humorous bras were an enormous hit and morphed into the main fundraiser for The Breast Form Fund, complete with a calendar of featured bras by “bratistes” and an annual celebration gala.  Many individuals and groups created bra sculptures as an upbeat way to honor the women closest to them who had suffered from the disease.  The simple act of creation seemed to provide healing.

The Success
As the “Show Us Your Bra” event gained momentum over the years and national media picked up on the contest, the small volunteer staff faced a hard reality:  they were completely overwhelmed by the crushing workload of putting on the growing annual event and managing the hundreds of submissions that poured in.  According to Judith, “We had become very successful friend-raisers more than fund-raisers.  In a way, we were the victims of our own success.”

They discussed discontinuing the event.  They knew, objectively, that the event had outgrown their internal capacity to manage it.

The Alliance
Judith also served on an advisory committee for an online cancer research guide.  Judith shared her organization’s struggle with the success of the “Show Us Your Bra” event to the mortification of committee members.  The “Show Us Your Bra” event was too powerful of an idea to allow it to fade away.

Instead, they put their heads together and decided to form an alliance and make the “Show Us Your Bra” event bigger and better as a joint fundraising undertaking.

So four non-profit organizations banded together and pooled resources to create a formal partnership, The All4One Alliance.  The agreement was that the Alliance would hold a bigger “Show Us Your Bra” event in Boston and produce a calendar of the winning bras to sell nationally.  They recruited celebrity “bratistes”.  The funds raised would be split between all organizations to expand access to free breast prostheses and post mastectomy bras to all women who need them.  The commitment by all partner non-profit organizations was two years, at which time the partnership would be reevaluated.

To Be Continued
The Boston gala was held this past week and by all accounts was a huge success, drawing a huge crowd and featuring celebrity “bratistes”.  The calendar is still being sold here.  The Breast Form Fund will host their local “Show Us Your Bra” event this coming weekend in Northampton to honor its local community roots.

The Model
The All4One Alliance is a powerful example of how non-profit organizations can band together to move bigger mountains than any one individual organization.

That Judith and The Breast Form Fund had the objectivity to see that they were drowning in their own success and reach out for help is admirable and demonstrates their true commitment to the cause.

All too often, head down in our own projects, we forget to look up and remember who our allies truly are, particularly in the non-profit realm.  We see one another as competitors for donor dollars instead of thinking of creative ways to share our ideas for the benefit of our constituents and even our organizations.

Judith’s main piece of sage advice when considering a collaborative effort is this:  don’t worry so much about what you might potentially be losing, focus on what there is to be gained…for your organization, for the other organizations and for your cause.

You can purchase the Show Us Your Bra calendar here.

What’s your experience with partnerships among non-profit organizations?  Where do you need to tread with caution?  What can be gained?

My social media outpost of choice is Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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Today I saw a role of pink duct tape.  Duct tape.  Pink.  October has arrived.  And with it, a sea of pink in honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I find some of the layering that goes on during this month to be confusing.  For example:

If your supermarket of choice happens to be a Kroger store, you may be “supporting breast cancer research projects, funding mammograms and educational outreach, and assisting local support groups for women and families” in your local community.  According to the Kroger Giving Hope a Hand page, their annual commitment is up to $3 million “with the help of key vendor partners”.  Whatever that means.

How the money is raised or to whom specifically it’s donated remains a bit of a mystery.  Presumably, those “vendor partners” take some of the money they raise from the sale of products like pink duct tape or pink soup and give the grocery chain credit for the donation.

But wait a second…is that the same money being counted twice by two different companies?

Kroger does have a Facebook campaign, which is much easier to comprehend.  In partnership with pink-lidded Yoplait, every “like” of the Sharing Courage Facebook page generates a $1 donation to Susan G. Komen for the Cure up to $150,000.

If you happen to be a Safeway shopper, you too can help raise money for “breast cancer research and awareness in local communities” via the Safeway Foundation’s Together for a Cure program.  When you buy $30 worth of participating products (designated with a pink tag), $5 will be donated to support local and national breast cancer charities”.  Again, it’s not clear to me whether this is a separate donation or whether a portion of those product donations gets attributed to Safeway.

This type of shell game raises my suspicions and makes me think some variation of Tim Ogden’s new rating system is probably a good idea (hat tip to Joe Waters for bringing this rating system to my attention in his blog post).  Both of the grocery retailers above would probably score very poorly on Tim’s scale for their pink promotions.

Do you think the typical consumer would even notice this type of overlap?  Is double-cause-dipping OK in this instance for the sake of awareness?

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“Double Dip” image credit to Peyri.

The Mike’s Hard Pink Lemonade cause marketing campaign has raised some hackles among the breast cancer survivor and advocacy community according to a recent USA Today article.

At issue is the alleged conflict of linking breast cancer awareness with the sale of an alcoholic beverage product that, according to the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, “increases breast cancer risk”.

Several leaders of non-profit organizations associated with breast cancer have made public statements opposing the campaign.

A few posts ago, I discussed the risk of embarking on a cause marketing campaign.  Mike’s is learning this lesson the hard way, it would appear.

Mike’s Hard Lemoade President Phil O’Neil has explained that the campaign was inspired by the loss of a colleague that suffered from breast cancer.  O’Neil claims, “The donations we make to breast cancer research are not tied to sales; they are our way of honoring Jacqueline.”

One might question why, if honoring a lost colleague, an entire consumer-facing cause marketing campaign was wrapped around a specially marketed product instead of making a philanthropic donation to a non-profit organization as an internal effort.  Or organizing an employee education campaign or volunteer effort.  Or establishing an employee giving campaign toward breast cancer to be matched by corporate giving funds.

Reading the USA Today article further reveals what is probably the fatal flaw of this campaign.  The benefitting non-profit organization was not engaged on a partnership level.

In a public statement, a spokesperson from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (the benefitting non-profit organization) has been represented by the following statement,

And though the Breast Cancer Research Foundation appreciates donations from Mike’s Hard Lemonade, spokeswoman Anna DeLuca says, the group “in no way, shape or form endorses the consumption of alcohol.”

“This donation does not constitute a partnership,” DeLuca says.

Credibility out the window.  Authenticity gone.  The article in USA Today the only remnant of the campaign’s legacy.

What do you think?  Is this campaign a good one?  Or is it helping Mike’s brand image at the expense of the cause?

Imagine this:  a mainstream location-based marketing app like Yelp, FourSquare, GoWalla or Scvngr that allows you to “check in” when you’re volunteering and earn points from a sponsoring organization for doing so.

It would go something like this:  You find a volunteer opportunity through an organization like VolunteerMatch. When you arrive at your volunteer gig, you check into Yelp under a special volunteer designation using your smart phone.  Because a partnership has been established between Yelp, VolunteerMatch and a large retailer like Starbucks, you get volunteer points.  After you’ve volunteered so many times per month or per year, your points become redeemable at any Starbucks just by showing your smart phone.  Once your points are redeemed, your volunteer points go into an archival status.

Additional partnerships could be forged with other retailers so that once archived volunteer points reach a certain threshold, the volunteer would be eligible for other rewards.  Imagine once you reach 20 hours of volunteering, you receive a $20 gift cart from Target.

Maybe the folks at Benevity could rig the whole thing up.

The purpose for doing this is not to incent people to volunteer.  I’m a purist and feel that volunteering should be intrinsically motivated.  The purpose for this type of mash-up is essentially cause marketing.  Companies will demonstrate what they’re all about by rewarding a behavior of which they approve:  volunteering.  That sends a clear message and potentially brings in new customers upon point redemption.

A location-based marketing (LBM) application like Yelp could gain a significant competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded space by being the one LBM application that takes the lead and systematizes volunteer check-ins on a large scale.

Just an idea.

Would it work?  What are the drawbacks to this type of mash up?  Always love your feedback!

We typically associate cause marketing with feel-good, warm and fuzzy partnerships that do well by doing good for society.  The latest research from Cone is in supporting your suspicion that yes, indeed, you should probably take a look at cause marketing if you’re not already…consumers are expecting it more and more.

We talk about how critical it is to have an authentic campaign that resonates with customers and employees, partners and stakeholders.

A Secret About Cause Marketing You Should Know
Someone should also probably let you know there are some serious risks involved with engaging in a cause marketing campaign, cause-related initiative or cause branding effort.

Here’s how it plays out.

Contrast cause marketing to pretty much any other marketing campaign or initiative.  What’s the worst that could happen if your marketing campaign doesn’t resonate with your consumers or employees (beside the fact that you might lose your job or a big chunk of change for the company)?  You get ignored.  A marketer’s worst nightmare.  Not a blip on the radar screen.  No change in sales.  No additional awareness.  Nada.

Not true with cause marketing.

You mess up on your cause marketing campaign by choosing the wrong non-profit partner or throwing together a campaign that’s inauthentic or politically charged and your downside is this:  people WILL talk about you, but not favorably.  The risk in an ineffective cause campaign is your very reputation.

We know 80% of consumers will switch brands (about equal in price and quality) to one that supports a cause.  But how many of those people are also willing to switch away from your brand because of an ineffective and inauthentic campaign?  I’d wager a good number of them would (hey, Cone, would you add that question to next year’s survey?)

Customer Service to Cause Marketing
It’s similar to the old adage about customer service: One satisfied customer tells 3 people.  One unsatisfied customer tells 3,000.  Why is this also true for cause marketing?

Here’s my theory:  it’s personal.

You wrong a customer and your playing field has suddenly gone from an impersonal business relationship to a personal slight.

Same thing with causes.  It’s personal.  Maybe it’s our drive to stand up for “the least of these” or because we personally relate with charitable undertakings in some way, shape or form.

Regulating Cause Marketing
It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that the Cone study also revealed that 53% of Americans believe that corporate cause marketing should be regulated.  Message?  Don’t mess with our causes.  As consumers, we’re ready to stand up and defend them, even if it means passing regulation.

So should you consider cause marketing?  I think you know my answer.  Of course you should.  Just remember that cause marketing done carelessly or inauthentically can be risky business.

Why do you think we, as consumers, are so particular about causes?  What examples have you seen of cause marketing gone wrong?  Take a minute and drop a comment.

When I’m not blogging or working on client projects, you can find me on Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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When the news broke 2 days early that 26-year old Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg would announce his personal donation of $100 million to the Newark Public Schools on Oprah I was thoroughly unimpressed.  Zuckerberg may be an entrepreneurial sensation leading one of the fastest growing companies on the planet, but in public appearances he’s come off more like a punk kid than a leader.

Why Newark?
As I read the initial reports, I learned that Zuckerberg didn’t have any particular ties to Newark.  His rationale on first glance seemed to have more to do with the fact that the premiere of the Facebook movie loomed large.  I also learned that the Newark Public Schools are in such bad shape that their management was relegated to the State in 1995.  No small challenge.  So yes, Zuckerberg’s $100 million would be a ton of cash to throw at a huge problem but it seemed that’s all it was:  a showy money toss at a huge problem.  I could barely wait to start my rant.

But I decided to watch the official announcement on Oprah because, well, I never get to watch Oprah.  Zuckerberg making a pathetic public announcement was as good an excuse as any.

Oprah profiled the failing Newark Public Schools and I learned that although they spend more money per child than any other district in the country, only half of their kids graduate high schools and their test scores are some of the lowest in the country.

And then.

Then Newark Mayor Cory Booker opened his mouth.  And out of it tumbled some of the most inspirational and compelling language I’d heard in a long time.

We’re not serving the genius of our students.  The crisis of education in Newark is the crisis of education in America.  We are the front line.

Booker spoke of accountability and of democracy and claimed we “cannot have a superior democracy with an inferior education system.  And we have got to own up to that fact.”

Here’s the part that hooked me:

We’re giving too many people a pass.  We’ve lulled ourselves in America into a state of sedentary agitation.  Where everyone can sit on their couch and get upset about what’s going on but not get off their backsides and realize that they are responsible for the change they need to make.

In that moment I understood.  I understood what Mark Zuckerberg saw in Mayor Booker and why his sizable donation was headed their way.

A Bi-Partisan Collaboration
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Zuckerberg joined Mayor Booker on stage.  Booker and Christie explained their bi-partisan collaboration to turn the Newark Public Schools into a national model of excellence, built on the linked elbows of parents, students and teachers marching toward the common goal of an education for their children.

And then Zuckerberg announced his Startup: Education Foundation – a $100 million challenge grant to give Booker and Christie the flexibility and bandwidth to both create a new model of excellence and inspire additional donations.

Zuck got a standing O from the O audience.

When asked why he chose education, Zuckerberg explained that he believed he was able to accomplish what he had thus far because he was given opportunities through his education and that every kid deserved that.

He then explained that he chose Newark because,  “I believe in these guys.” He explained that he’s learned by running a company, “I have to find great leaders and invest in them.”

And he seemed…sincere.  And even modest.

Almost an Anonymous Donor
Oprah revealed that Zuckerberg was initially going to make the donation anonymously but decided to come forward to lend his support publicly to gain additional attention and interest in the challenge grant.

It remains to be seen what impact Zuckerberg’s challenge grant will have on the Newark Public Schools.  But I, for one, respect the fact that Zuckerberg’s found a leadership team interested in starting a national movement.  From Zuckerberg’s blog:

Rather than waiting until later in life to focus on giving back, I’ve spent a lot of the last year researching and looking for the most impactful ways to improve education starting in America.

Many people are working on solving a single part of the problem broadly across the whole country. But recently, a few leaders are getting significant results by taking more of a startup approach and moving fast to do all these things at the same time in just one city. If they can prove that it’s possible to turn around some of the most difficult urban districts in the country, then that will generate enough momentum to take the same approach and improve education everywhere.

What do you think of Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation?  Is he truly serving a need to better education through a single donation to a single public school district?  Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and if you missed it, here’s the video of Zuck on Oprah.

When I’m not blogging or slogging it out on client projects, you can find me on Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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I’m impressed by the Bonterra Vineyards cause campaign.  The California-based company has partnered with national non-profit Growing Power in support of urban farming efforts.  As a huge brand, Bonterra has done some serious soul-searching to craft a meaningful cause-based partnership that will resonate for their staff, consumers and stakeholders and better convey the meaning of the Bonterra brand.  Here’s how it came together and what it looks like:

Back to Basics
When Bonterra Vineyards wanted to find a way for their 25-year old organic wine company to give back to consumers and their respective communities, they conducted some serious due diligence.  It began with observing first-class companies that had successfully incorporated cause into their brand strategy, such as Patagonia. The Bonterra team took careful notes on the components of successful cause platforms, then took that learning and turned it inward toward their own brand to implement best practices.  The process started where all good cause-related efforts should start:  the very essence of the company.  National brand manager John Tichenor explains:

We spent a long time determining what the right cause-related effort would look like for Bonterra, starting from the foundation upon which Bonterra was built.  “Bonterra” means “good earth”.  The land is, and always has been, incredibly important to the quality of our product.  In fact, the company started originally with organic vegetables and fruits.  In our quest to make the best, most pure wine product, organic farming was a natural extension for our vineyards.  We’ve grown organically for 25 years and are the largest organic brand in the US and potentially the world.

We evaluated multiple cause-based partnership models, from donating money on every bottle sold to a 1% fund.  But we decided our focus needed to be on consumer education and teaching people how to bring the sustainable practices we use in our vineyards into their own backyards.  The partnership with Growing Power involves a $20,000 donation to help their 13 regional training centers raise money for their own local efforts.

Grassroots Efforts
Bonterra spent a long time looking for just the right partner organization before deciding to engage with Growing Power.  Again, John Tichenor:

Growing Power is about making healthy food available to everyone through urban agriculture. Bonterra believes in Growing Power’s mission and wanted to work with them to promote their efforts.  Through the Campaign for Urban Farming, we’re  hoping our donation will leverage up to $80,000 in additional donations through Global Giving by empowering each of the individual regional centers to raise their own funds based upon their local needs and programs.

The Nuts and Bolts
Bonterra is not only providing financial support, they’re also wrapping this cause partnership into their existing marketing channels including:

• A microsite about urban farming on the Bonterra Website
• Retail point-of-sale displays including table tents, case stackers and bottle neckers through the fall
• QR codes on wine P-O-S displays that link to a video about Growing Power’s urban farming efforts
• Advertising on Yahoo.com
• A Facebook tie-in relating to the campaign
• Direct email campaigns to internal customers and those of partner organizations

The Challenge
Bonterra’s challenge will be in effectively engaging consumers and employees in this campaign.  Even in well-reasoned campaigns with the best of intentions, it’s tough for a large brand like Bonterra to bridge the gap between corporate, field staff and consumers.

Thumbs Up
I give this campaign a thumbs-up for campaign architecture – from thoughtful consideration of their cause and partner organization to integration with existing marketing channels and available technology via QR coding and multi-media.  And I’ll be watching to see how much traction the campaign gains from additional donations via Global Giving.

What about you?  What should Bonterra and Growing Power consider as they move this partnership forward?  Anything missing?

When I’m not blogging or slogging it out on client projects, you can find me on Twitter.  Let’s chat!

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In part I of this series, we looked at ways to include volunteering as part of your personal framework for giving.  In part II we took a stab at intentionally including monetary donations in the giving framework.  Today we’ll consider some other ways to incorporate giving into our daily lives in non-traditional ways.

Gifts – For most of us, gift giving is a part of our tradition around birthdays, holidays and other celebrations.  One thing my family has started to do is make a meaningful charitable contribution in lieu of a gift.  We’ve used World Vision’s catalog to select gifts for teachers in our lives; Heifer International’s catalog for families we love; Kiva’s gift certificates for entrepreneur friends.

One woman I know gave TisBest gift cards to her impossible-to-shop-for teenage nieces and nephews and was shocked at how engaged they were in selecting the charities their donation would benefit.  The key to giving a donation as a gift?  Be thoughtful about what might be meaningful to the recipient.

Part of your giving framework could include goals for gift-giving.  I’m still working on hammering out these specifics and would love your thoughts on good ways to quantify this.

Parties – Charity: Water has done an outstanding job inspiring people everywhere to donate their birthdays to provide clean drinking water to communities in need.  The premise is simple:  throw a birthday party and ask for donations instead of gifts.  This idea can extend to children’s birthday parties, as well.

One year we threw a “butterfly” party for my daughter and asked her guests to bring a flowering plant that was “butterfly friendly” and all the kids helped plant a butterfly garden in support of the environment (and in honor of my daughter).  The possibilities are endless.  Books, warm clothing or school supplies are all great donation gifts for kids as well, because they inherently “get it”.

Maybe a goal for your personal giving framework could be throwing one charitable party a year.

Products – This could merit its own post, but suffice it to say that there is no shortage of consumer products and food items to purchase that support causes.  As part of your regular shopping list, start to pay attention to which products support charities.

One disclaimer here:  not all products that claim to support a charity do so in the way you think they do.  My rule of thumb:  it should be readily apparent on the product label how much is donated and to which charity.  Including products in your personal giving framework may mean doing some research or just being open to switching brands if one provides a social benefit.

Random Acts of Kindness – I include this under the general “giving” umbrella as the last and probably simplest way to make a difference.  Whether you sign up to participate in a weekly LoveBomb for strangers via the blogosphere or help an elderly person load heavy groceries in their car on a whim, the power of these random acts of kindness may well be what we’re here to provide for one another.

Including random acts of kindness in your personal giving framework may be somewhat…random…but just having it top of mind will inevitably make you more aware of ways to seize those opportunities when they do present themselves.

A Geeky Spreadsheet:  My Gift to You
Because I’m a geek and because I am thinking about this personal giving framework in my own life, I’ve come up with a basic spreadsheet that covers all the areas we’ve discussed in these 3 posts as part of a personal framework of giving.  I encourage you to use it and edit it to fit your needs.  The cells in yellow are yours to fill out.  I’ve added some data for example’s sake (and no, this isn’t my personal annual income).  When you change the values in yellow (especially in the financial goals section), it will auto calculate subsequent cells.  Have fun and let me know what you think!

Download the personal giving spreadsheet now.

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This is the second in a series of three posts about establishing a framework for giving.  In the first post, we talked about establishing areas of focus and things to consider in volunteer opportunities.

Today we’ll look at cold, hard cash.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I’m getting nickled and dimed to death when it comes to charitable giving.

It occurs to me that perhaps I should be more intentional in where my charitable donation dollars go as a big part of my personal framework of giving.  As in most things having to do with personal finance, it all revolves around the almighty budget.

Budget
In setting a personal donation budget, it’s important to consider the following:

Percentage:  I like using percentages as an overall goal for giving because it allows for fluctuations in income.  You can set a certain percentage per paycheck (or per invoice if you’re a contractor), per month or per year.

You can obviously set a static dollar goal as an alternative but do have a goal as part of your framework, no matter what the amount.  Looking at your past year’s tax return can help you calculate what you gave last year as a percentage of your income for the sake of comparison.

Within that overall amount, you might consider dividing it into prioritized sub-categories that might include the following areas.

Regular Giving: Perhaps you’ll decide to give regularly to charities within your focus areas, whether monthly or annually.  This can form the foundation of your giving budget.  Remember to include those donations you tend to make annually whether in the form of membership dues, recurring annual events like summer golf tournaments or holiday giving.  Those previous tax returns can help jog your memory here, also.

Emergency Giving:  Most of us have donated to Haiti, Chile or Pakistan within the past 6 months.  These natural and unexpected disasters will inevitably continue to happen and it’s important to assess your personal contribution to these emergency efforts.  While it’s obviously impossible to foresee how many of these events will occur in the future, it is important to factor them into your total giving budget.

It’s also worth considering which agencies to support when these disasters do occur.  Because one of my personal focus areas is basic needs for children, it’s typically simple to decide where my personal giving dollars go in these unfortunate incidents.

Other Giving – Whether random or by design (see tomorrow’s post), there will inevitably be other areas where compelling giving opportunities present themselves throughout the year to which you’ll want to donate.  Be sure to account for these as well.  Perhaps you learn of a new non-profit organization that’s particularly compelling that you’d like to support or a friend calls in a favor.

Tag It
No matter what budgeting system you use for the rest of your personal finances, it’s important to tag your charitable giving as such so you can easily keep track of what you’ve donated to date.  Mint is an awesome (and free) online tool that makes it simple to keep all your transactions in one place and easily set up categories and/or tags for charitable giving.  Not only will tagging help you stay on track with your charitable giving goals, it’ll ensure you’re getting the proper tax deductions come tax time.

Putting it Together:  A Quick Budget Example
But first:  a caveat.  Charitable giving is a very personal thing.  Whether you give $20 a year or $200,000, it’s important to remember that this is your decision to make.  The following is an example, not a recommendation.

Maybe you’ve determined that you’d like to give 5% of your overall annual income to charity.  You then decide you’d like to divide your giving into quarters.  Half of your annual giving will go to regular giving.  A quarter will go to emergency giving.  The final quarter will go to other giving.  Now you have a framework and can feel confident that you’ve spent some time intentionally thinking about where you direct your personal giving.  When opportunities arise, you can refer back to your framework and make a more informed decision.

Your Money is Your Money
Money is a touchy subject, no doubt.  The purpose of today’s post was to get you thinking about a few ways you can prioritize and organize your personal charitable giving, should you decide to include it in your life.  There is no “right” way to decide how to set your framework around personal giving, just the suggestion that you put some intention and thought behind it.  And, please, if you share finances with someone else, get on the same page about this.

Tomorrow…”Miscellaneous” charitable giving: neat ways to incorporate giving into your daily life.  Oh, and a geeky gift from me to you.

What other considerations around monetary donations have I missed?  Anyone have any wisdom to share in the realm of socially responsible investing?

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**When I sat down to write about this topic, I thought this would be a quick little post.  It turns out this stuff is more complicated than I anticipated so I’m breaking it into a series of 3 separate posts.  The final post will have a little geeky gift from me to you.**

Every time we turn around, we’re bombarded with requests to give of our time, talents and resources.  Whether it’s rounding up at your grocery story checkout counter, your niece’s school fundraiser, your church, the office holiday gathering, the homeless person at the corner or your favorite charity, there’s no shortage of opportunities to give, give, give.  What’s a generous person to do?  Many of us have a personal identity associated closely with the word “generosity” or “socially conscious”, so saying “no” can bring about feelings of guilt.

Seth Godin’s Fear of Philanthropy post suggested that philanthropy is hard to market because there’s seemingly no end.  He warned that without a framework for giving, without telling people how much is enough, overwhelm results.

With all of this in mind, it strikes me that I need to establish my own framework for personal giving so that I can be confident in knowing that I have some parameters for my personal giving and volunteering.  So that I can answer the question, “How much is enough?” for myself.  This is obviously a very personal decision, so over the next few days I’ll share the things that I’m keeping in mind (I’d love to hear yours):

Focus Areas
Which types of charities resonate most with who you are? Here’s a decent list of categories.  For me personally, organizations that support women entrepreneurs and basic needs for children are top of my list.  But I also give to my church and my children’s school.

Having a focus area doesn’t mean you’ll never give to other types of charities, it just helps in prioritizing volunteer time and financial giving.  What are yours?

Volunteering
How much time a week, month or quarter is reasonable to commit to volunteering?  I tend to set my goals per volunteer opportunity (whether it’s 3 hours or 1) but I’m rethinking this.  And for me, there are two categories of volunteering:  direct and indirect service.

Indirect service to me means working behind the scenes to make the engine run, whether serving on a board or packing boxes of food that will go to families in need.

While there is tremendous value in being a board member or working in a warehouse, it’s also important for me to work directly with people because it always gives me a different perspective on life and a unique human connection.  If your focus area is the environment, this may mean planting trees or cleaning up a wilderness area.  If your focus area is animals, this may mean volunteering at a shelter to walk dogs.

I’m including both indirect and direct service in my volunteer goals, but considering each of them as distinct goals.

Involving Family
Another consideration is involving my two children, ages 6 and 8, in volunteering and including them in setting appropriate goals.  For them, “experimentation” is the name of the game; I want them to explore as many focus areas as they can.

How do you gauge your volunteer efforts and time spent volunteering?  Do you volunteer at all?  Let us know in the comments section below.

Continue on to Read Part II:  Being Intentional with Your Money

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Involving consumers and employees in corporate philanthropic efforts has grown significantly in scope and breadth in recent years.  Cause marketing and cause branding have become a marketer’s tactic-du-jour touted everywhere (including this blog) as the best way to engage not only the attention but also the hearts and minds of consumers and employees alike.  While these efforts run wide, few effectively delve into a company’s larger social responsibility efforts in a meaningful way.

What’s the next, deeper level of consumer and employee engagement?  What’s the mechanism for leveraging corporate philanthropic dollars to affect more meaningful social change while still benefitting the corporate image?

Imagine the Future of Charitable Giving
Take a minute and imagine the future of charitable giving for you as an individual…what does it look like?  What technology is involved?  How integrated is it into your everyday life?  Well, buckle up and prepare for an amazing glimpse into the future of charitable giving as envisioned by a Calgary-based company called Benevity.  More than a few of the concepts I discussed with CEO Bryan de Lottinville quite frankly blew me away.

An attorney-turned-growth-company-exec, de Lottinville started Benevity when he realized the legacy he wanted to create was more than “fixing up companies to sell them” though he’s racked up quite a track record in doing so, most recently with a game-changer you’ve probably heard of: iStockphoto.com He was first introduced to the business of cause as an advisor to a Toronto-based company revisioning traditional consumer loyalty programs into donation-based programs.  de Lottinville describes his perspective on the charitable space:

I came from a user-generated content site (iStockphoto) that has turned an engaged community into a wildly successful business. I have seen first hand the power of micropayments, crowdsourcing, empowered choice, and (to use a slightly worn term) “democratization”.  So it was through that lens that I looked at the current state of philanthropy and donation efforts.

I was troubled by many aspects of the philanthropic landscape (and still am).  The vast number of duplicative not-for-profits across all pillars, the high cost of fundraising, the relatively small percentage of annual donations coming from corporations and notably, the duplication of infrastructure across NPOs and their costly struggle with the allure of the destination giving site – there are literally hundreds of thousands of charities trying to get people to come to their site to donate and build an online community.

In a world where time is the true scarcity and people across all demographics seek greater meaning in all that they do, why not go to where the people and the transactions are already aggregated, create a mechanism to easily donate gifts of any size to any charity through a variety of means on sites they already trust, and create a win-win-win for corporations, individuals and charities?

With those goals and issues in mind, Benevity created an embeddable, user-driven microdonation platform that can be integrated into any company’s existing transaction environment, on their terms and under their own brands.

Giving Goes Transactional
And so Benevity was born.  In short, anywhere a company does business, online or off, whether internal or external, Benevity can embed philanthropic giving.  Implementations range from internal fundraising efforts routed through a corporate intranet to e-commerce transactions where a donation is added onto a purchase and anything in between (more on this at Benevity’s website).

An Online Banking Example
It might look something like this:  imagine logging into your online banking account and one of the main navigational tabs is labeled “My Giving”.  Click it and you’ll see your virtual “Personal Foundation” that includes your charities of choice, the percentage allocations to each, the recurring or one-time donations you have made from your accounts, a rolled up tax receipt, and perhaps your current accumulation of the bank’s “donation currency” that you’ve generated through activity within the bank.

Pretty slick, huh?

But wait, it gets better.

The Big Bang for Your Giving Buck
Now you’re ready to distribute your charitable giving dollars.  And perhaps you’re compelled to select certain local or national causes because the bank is matching your donation, effectively leveraging their corporate philanthropic dollars.  Again, de Lottinville explains:

What Benevity has created is a way to help companies truly “do well by doing good”, as trite as that sounds, and to give money away intelligently.  The landscape of philanthropy is changing, as are conventional notions of cause marketing.  It’s no longer good enough to attach your brand to a polar bear or other cause of the day and hope for some amorphous brand lift.

In our view, what some refer to as “slacktivism” (click-to-vote-for-a-non-profit) campaigns are only a small step toward real engagement because the vast majority of people who vote for their specified non-profit or project don’t win.  If you say that you’ll help me do good and I vote for a cause that I know does great work but doesn’t get on your corporate radar, am I more engaged in your philanthropic efforts, or less?  The web and social media have given consumers the power to impact your brand, so the more you treat them like they matter, the better off you’ll be.

At Benevity, we’d rather see consumers and employees have a meaningful seat at the table and be able to vote with their wallets (regardless of the size of the donation) as a way to unlock and allocate corporate dollars.  Instead of a company choosing a single cause to align with, they can choose many under one or more pillars and/or use matching offers to create bias toward those causes with which a corporation chooses to align.  With our software, a company doesn’t have to empower full choice, so they can create customized portfolios of non-profit beneficiaries or leave it open to choose any registered charity.  They’re also able to set parameters around how much to match per contributed dollar or set maximum dollar or timeframe limits.

We’re Only as Limited as Our Imagination
The implications for this type of software and vision are only as limited as our collective imagination.  Imagine how this might change the face of online advertising when a website that enables its users to direct charitable giving dollars upon checkout presents a charitable corporate partner to match the user donation via a branded window.  Bryan de Lottinville hopes these types of transactions will become a seamless part of our online experience in the future:

Our vision is that Benevity services will become a cultural utility – we’d like to make giving any amount to the cause of your choice as prevalent (and easy) as leaving a tip at a restaurant.  Today we all have so many opportunities to effect change.  We’re certainly not a silver bullet for CSR and community investment – we’re an additional feather in the quiver.

What we’re able to provide is a platform that offers businesses of all types and sizes automation and flexibility behind the scenes; a highly customizable giving engine that can power any kind of charitable initiative, making the company and its customers, employees and even suppliers authentic and transparent architects of the change they want to see in the world.  With a charity-agnostic platform to deliver the donation mechanics, the company’s challenge is to determine how they’re going to make that particular campaign sing.

What I love about Benevity’s model is the almost limitless potential for campaigns that harness matching corporate dollars, whether they’re consumer-facing cause marketing campaigns or internal employee giving efforts.  The Benevity software allows a nice hybrid of user-directed giving and cause branding in the ability to have an open platform of choice while still making a clear statement about the corporate cause of choice via matching dollar programs or customized portfolios.

What do you think about the concept of embedded giving?  What considerations are important to consider?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Funny.

But true.

I worry about causes going down the path that “Green” took.  What once stood for environmental stewardship now stands for…well, who knows what it stands for.  The term has been so muddled and prostituted by marketers.

Green Gone Wrong
We’ve all seen ridiculous campaigns masquerading as “green”.  Greenwashing has overtaken the term “green” in meaningful marketing discussions.

Per Wikipedia, Greenwashing is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices.

And now “causewashing”.

Defining “Causewashing”
Would the Wikipedia definition apply to cause marketing as well?  Should we cry “causewash” when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being cause-conscious than goes to the cause at hand?

Here’s the dilemma in my mind.  Those of you that read this blog regularly know I’m an idealist by nature; this I am the first to admit.  I want us all to get along, work together to make this world a better place and I think everyone, from corporations to politicians to individual citizens have a responsibility to share their gifts toward that end.

However.

I am at least a partial realist and I see the continuum of this effort and the need to love people where they are in this process of awareness.  This is why I love cause marketing.  It enables participation by those who might not otherwise seek out opportunities to contribute to a meaningful cause.  It builds awareness.

Moving Cause to the Next Level
But see how this can backfire?  This is why I’m not a huge supporter of slacktivism campaigns where consumers are prodded at every turn to click to vote for this cause or that.  Yes, it’s an initial step but my fear is that causewashing will ensue if we don’t move these campaigns to the next level.  For more on this see More is More and Cause Marketing 2.0.

For the answer to this question of how to raise the bar for cause I turn to you.

What is the best way to bring cause mainstream without losing the authenticity and heart behind it?  What should the definition of “causewash” be?  What are examples of “causewashed” campaigns you’ve seen (and cringed at)?  Please add your comment below.

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Can your cause be “solved”?  Are you working on an issue that has a definitive solution toward which you direct your sails on a daily basis?  Is your wildest dream to work yourself out of a job?  Is your cause a destination?

Cause-As-Continuum
Odds are the answers to these questions are “no”.  Whether you’re a non-profit crusader or Board member, work within a social enterprise or direct some of your company’s resources to a non-profit organization…it’s likely you’re working on a complex issue with many moving parts.  And while the progress you make may address a component of that larger issue, chances are there’s another pressing need cued up right behind it.  Your cause is a continuum.

How Much is Enough?
The cause-as-continuum provides a few challenges of which we should all be aware, particularly when engaging donors, volunteers and potential partners.  Seth Godin penned a great post entitled Fear of Philanthropy in which he addressed this cause-as-continuum from a donation perspective and asked how potential donors know how much is enough.  Without a ceiling (a framework for an attainable but challenging goal), Godin’s argument is that potential donors are likely to avert their eyes and walk away.  This means you lose.

Extend this to anything you do in the cause realm.  When your cause is a continuum, there will always be more to do – more disease to fight, more children to save, more contamination, corruption and injustice in the world to conquer.  Why should anyone join you and fight the good fight, donate to your cause, volunteer or partner with your organization?  It’s seemingly impossible to make a dent.

Create a Win
It comes down to creating a win for those would-be donors, partners and volunteers.  And, more specifically, how you communicate what it means to win.  How you create and then draw people into that winning story.  Because we all need wins in life.  If you’re providing a place where joining your movement enables people to win (and preferably regularly), your cause ultimately wins as you move one step further along the continuum.

What does it take to provide a win?  Here are a few thoughts:

Provide Perspective:  The simple recognition that your cause is a continuum (or a destination, if that’s the case) and the steps you’ve taken in the right direction is a powerful and important exercise in perspective.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in day-to-day tasks and forget to lift your head up high enough to see the path you’ve paved along the way.  Where was your effort a year ago?  Five years ago?  Be the cheerleader for your long-term successes.  If the challenges you’re facing are larger than they were “back then”, it’s certainly an indication that you’re tackling larger and more complex issues.  Acknowledge it.

Create Structure:  Take a lesson from Seth Godin and provide a structure for the win.  What does a win look like?  How much is enough to donate/volunteer/contribute?  One percent of your income?  10 hours a month?  An annual partnership?  We all want to do more with less but at the end of the day, almost everything boils down to a numbers game.  If you’ve burned out your primary resources, be they staff, volunteers, donors or partners, you all lose.  Set a challenging yet attainable ceiling and you may be surprised that the numbers game tilts in your favor.  Provide a win and more people will want what you’re selling.

Write The Chapter: This is how you implement “Structure”.  As people realize the importance of creating their personal story (read Stories Matter:  What’s Yours?) they will inevitably look for chapters that fit into a vision for their life and legacy.  Are you writing a chapter that people want to incorporate into their individual story?  Is it compelling, challenging, attainable, meaningful?  Can they see how their individual contribution will move the cause one step further along the continuum?  Or have you written a chapter full of logistical ick without any chance of a win?

Wins don’t have to be huge milestones.  Although we typically look toward externally focused achievements (partnerships formed, donations secured, grants won) for our wins, there are equally important (though admittedly not as sexy) internal milestones to acknowledge and celebrate (project tasks accomplished, volunteers trained, processes streamlined).

These are just a few ideas – what else can make working on your cause a “win”?  Pick a way and add it to the comments below.

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Image credit to Lasse C.

Ok, I’ll admit.  I’m biased.  When I first read about 7-Eleven’s “Cup with a Cause” program as a part of a 6-week promotional campaign, I thought, “puh-LEASE”.  The popular convenience store partnered up with ConAgra (no comment) to sponsor World Wrestling Entertainment’s “SummerSlam” event (whatever that is).  I was fully prepared to write it off as fluff since the cause component was so overshadowed by branded cups, straws and packaging; limited edition Slurpee flavors; TV spots; branded in-store displays and a big interactive digital component.

A Respectable Cause Campaign
But I’ve gotta tell you, after a little due diligence, it turns out I’ve got some respect for 7-Eleven’s cause marketing initiative.  The campaign is part of 7-Eleven’s larger cause marketing campaign called “Cup with a Cause” with a goal of donating $2 million in 2010 to non-profit organizations by partnering with different celebrities to design a limited edition coffee cup.  Twenty cents from each cup sold goes to benefit the celebrity’s cause of choice with 7-Eleven guaranteeing a minimum of $250,000 in donations per cause.

So, yes, the cause component is but a small part of a whopper of a promotion but it’s there and, surprisingly NOT buried on their website, where the “Cup with a Cause” is the second of rotating images prominently displayed on their home page.  It’s also the first custom tab on their Facebook page and they have a very simple but unique and interactive Cup with a Cause website (I’ll overlook the fact that it’s done in Flash for now).

Cause Is the Constant
One of the admirable qualities of this campaign is that it seems to have an underlying consumer education component.  As celebrities are rotated, the causes change but they’re always there.  The cause is the constant.  The benefit of this approach is that 7-Eleven customers won’t all be drawn to the same celebrity.  But when a celebrity catches their attention, the cause is also showcased through the celebrity’s “original art” design.  While rotating causes may not always be advisable, in this instance it’s strategically sound.

The Cynic in Me
Granted, the “Cup with a Cause” page got a third as many Facebook “Likes” as the WWE Superstars page and half as many as the WWE branded Slurpee cups, but it’s a step, right?

And, no, the fact that the coffee beverage market is a multi-billion dollar industry with some fierce competitors is not wasted on me.  Could this be 7-Eleven’s ploy to get a piece of that pie?  Quite possibly.

At the end of the day, I give it a thumbs-up.  How about you?  What do you like about this campaign?  Any red flags?

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In a recent post, I offered an expanded definition of currency that includes social currency…the way you interact with the people that touch your organization.

How do we know when we’re dealing with social currency?

Stories.  The telling of our collective stories.

It’s a Basic Human Need
Stories of how our products or programs have changed a life.  Stories of inspiration, struggle, perseverance, joy or advocacy.  Why are these stories important?  Because the most primal of human needs is to be part of a story that matters.  It’s the way we communicate and understand the world.

We’ve all heard this before.  Stories humanize our mission and our message.  Capturing the stories of our organization is of the utmost importance in marketing, community building, internal communication, sales and/or fundraising.  Entire PR firms are dedicated to helping clients capture their stories and share them with the world.

Why are social media, cause marketing and crowd sourcing on the rise?  Stories.  We all want to be part of a bigger story and are looking to companies, causes and our own social networks to insert ourselves into a meaningful one.

Taking Stories a Step Further
Don Miller wrote a spectacular book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years that I highly, highly recommend you read.  It’s a poignant tale of Don’s own journey to more intentionally create and live his life’s story.  It’s about learning to make the ordinary meaningful by making the extra effort to do so.  It’s about deciding to create a meaningful story.  Don’s take is highly personal, but I think organizations can learn from his message also.  Here’s what it takes:

A Meaningful and Memorable Story
It’s one thing to create a special event, campaign or product.  It’s quite another to create a memorable one.  When you reflect back on the things in your life that have been most memorable, what stands out to you?  Perhaps it was a unique location, an unexpected twist in the ordinary, or something new and novel.  Maybe a feeling you felt for the first time.  I can’t tell you how to create a memorable event or campaign for your organization because you are the only one uniquely qualified to do so.  But give it some thought:  what unique approach, twist, bent or variation could only be pulled off by your organization?  Can’t think of anything?  Give it some space – it’ll come.

Participation
Want to make your next event, product, program or campaign memorable and story-worthy in a way unique to your organization?  Then figure out a way to include your people.  Your job as an organization is to make your vision accessible to as many of your stakeholders as possible.  Although they’re currently on the rise, slacktivism campaigns (where consumers vote on their _______of choice with a few mouse clicks) won’t last in the long run because they only access the most basic levels of participation (you can read More is More for my take on this consumer engagement trend).

Co-Creation
Here’s the most challenging piece of creating a memorable story for you as an organization:  allowing your people to co-create alongside you, to co-author your collective story, if you will.  This necessarily implies a release of control, something that can be hard to do for many organizations.

Remarking on the process of collaborative creation, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said,

Really successful businesses and organizations build something so that people immediately know what they’re about.  You’re building a level of trust so that people know what they’re getting.

And herein lies the holy grail of the meaningful story.  Is it easy?  Nope.  Is it important to your long-term viability?  You’d better believe it.

What aspects of story are most important to your organization?  How do you create meaningful stories?  And by all means, what have I missed?

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Image credit to dhammza.

Depending on whose definition you cite, cause marketing typically involves (and campaign success is often measured by) an exchange of currency.  We’re talking cold hard cash…moolah…dollars.  Increases in sales for a point-of-sale retailer, funds raised or donated to a non-profit organization.  You know the drill.  The bottom line.

As consumer expectations continue to evolve, it’s critical that we change our working definition of “currency” from “money” to something bigger and more encompassing.  Dictionary.com defines currency as

Something that is used as a medium of exchange.

What type of currency will it take to win the hearts and minds of consumers, donors and partners in this new economy?  Here are a few suggestions for what a new definition might include:

Social Currency – Think of this as the “people” aspect of currency.   Are you engaging employees in a way that’s meaningful to them?  How do you know?  Are you engaging them at all?  What about the community?  Have you covered your bases with all sorts of stakeholders, not just the traditional Rolodex of the old boys (or girls, as the case may be)?

When’s the last time you interacted with someone new with a role unlike your own?  If you can’t answer that question, it’s probably time to lift your head up and go seek out those connections on behalf of yourself and your project.  Set an example.  This is the start of earning social currency.

Mental Currency – In our current world of information overload, mental currency may be the hardest to procure.  What about your campaign or project is so compelling that it can earn the mental currency of your target constituents?  It must obviously start with something that’s meaningful or compelling to you so that you may share your enthusiasm, stories and passion with others.

Part of earning mental currency is a quality piece.  Are you cranking out campaigns all day long that mean nothing to anyone?  Or are you more selective and strategic in what you put your muscle and energy behind and then go full out?  The latter will help earn mental currency.

Practicable Currency – Think of this as the “action” component of currency.  What are you providing that is of value to your customers and donors that will compel them to take action?  Whether it’s clicking on a link, signing a petition, agreeing to volunteer, participating in an event or sharing your message.  Once you’ve earned the mental currency, why should anyone take the next step to action?  And what is that step?

This is an important component in this day of “Slacktivism” and my wager is that once you’ve successfully earned social and mental currency, it’s critical to up the ante with practicable currency by asking your stakeholders to do more, not less.  Why?  So they’ll become part of your movement, part of your cause, part of your campaign.  Practicable currency is the holy grail of currency in that it will perpetuate all other types of currency including that cold, hard cash.

What other types of currency might we seek to earn?  What’s your definition of currency?

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Let’s assume for a moment, that the recent article, “Charity Brawl:  Nonprofits Aren’t So Generous When A Name’s at Stake” was about a for-profit company.

The article, appearing in the Wall Street Journal this week, outlines the trend toward legal action by large non-profit organizations against other organizations to protect their brand from “…dilution, tarnishment, blurring, destruction, or weakening of its marks.” and gave examples of LIVESTRONG, Susan G. Komen, Wounded Warrior Project and Sunshine Kids Foundation taking varying degrees of legal action against smaller non-profit organizations that used similar names, slogans and/or colors.

You might get a sense for my perspective on this from the post Komen Strives for Market Domination or even A Call For Open-Sourced Cause Marketing.  Setting aside the fact that we’re talking about non-profit organizations for a moment, let’s just consider the effectiveness of suing your constituents and trying to squash your competitors by sending out a gaggle of suited lawyers to stake “your” territory, shall we?

Take the music industry.  Remember what happened when music started going digital?  What did the recording industry do?  They sued their best customers, college students living in dorm rooms, and services like Napster.  While they may have killed Napster, they didn’t exactly put a stop to music going digital.  And what happened to their sales?  Take a look.

Hmmmm….

This is a new economy, one based on open collaboration and sharing, not territorialism.  The organizations, for-profit and non-profit alike, that will succeed long-term get this and are actively creating ways to embrace this new world instead.

In theory, non-profit organizations should instinctively understand this collaboration mentality.  Truth is, we’re all immersed in our own realm to some degree and sometimes forget to lift our heads up to see the rest of the world from a different perspective.

Personally I’d rather see non-profit giants like LIVESTRONG and Komen spend their dollars on developing an amazing new platform to harness collective energy and ideas to address the real issues of their cause than spend the same dollars on lawyers to defend their brand.

What do you think?  Should non-profit organizations be held to different standards because they’re cause-based?  Does having a well-established brand entitle you to crush the “competition”?

Thanks to Jen Price and Caleb Bushner for bringing the WSJ article to my attention.

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Image credit to This Year’s Love.

Here’s a cause marketing trivia question for you:  Who’s been doing cause marketing campaigns for 20 years and cranks out an astounding 60-70 campaigns per year?

Here’s a hint.  They’re not an agency, though they broker cause marketing partnerships all day long.  They’re not a non-profit organization, though their hopper is full of amazing causes waiting to see the light of day.  You could say they’re a cause unto themselves but they’re a for-profit company.  You’ve definitely heard the name.

Give up?

Scholastic is best known as one of the largest publishers and distributors of children’s books.  Conducting 120,000 book fairs each year and boasting an established direct-to-teacher distribution channel, Scholastic has a pretty amazing foothold into classrooms and backpacks across the country.  Jason Omenn, Regional Director of National Partnerships at Scholastic, recently explained how they leverage this channel specifically for cause campaigns.

Our division of Scholastic works with government agencies, foundations, non-profit organizations and brands to act as education marketing agency.  Our goal is to carry messaging to teachers in a way that adds value to the classroom.  Our news magazines have between 75%-95% usage by teachers, and approximately 80% make it into people’s homes.

Campaigns may be an educational poster sent to teachers along with curriculum supplements and individual worksheets for students to take home.  Sixty percent of their campaigns also have a digital component with interactive online experiences for students, parents and/or teachers.  Campaigns range from financial education to internet safety, sun safety to stress management.

An interesting example is their current 9/11 Day of Service campaign.   When the non-profit organization, MyGoodDeed, decided to ramp up service-oriented efforts leading up the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 and secured funding, they turned to Scholastic to help spread their message further with teacher lesson plans and service learning to “Inspire students to take positive action in remembrance of 9/11 and teach 9/11 constructively”.

A couple of things that strike me as particularly interesting about Scholastic from which we could probably all benefit:

• Empowering and entrusting children with cause-related messages.  Scholastic arms kids with the information they need on topics interesting to them so that they may educate their parents.   They also recognize that kids feel particularly validated when they can be the “expert” in a given topic and understand that kids really do want to make a difference in the world.

• Protecting the heck out of their channel.  There is certainly a litmus test for Scholastic when it comes to what they will and won’t distribute to teachers and children.  While approximately half of their campaigns are cause-related, they maintain editorial rights with their partners to create relevant and balanced content and curriculum and make no bones about telling partners, as Jason puts it, “We’re Switzerland”.

• Thinking long-term and client-focused.  Many of the campaigns Scholastic launches have been literally years and years in the making.  With so many organizations to work with, patience is certainly called for in waiting for the right timing, for budgets to align and for a relevant partnership to germinate.  Jason and his colleagues also recognize that, although organizations may see the value in a partnership with Scholastic, they often don’t have the time and resources to put into creating a campaign.  Jason is quick to assure client partners that the bulk of the work is handled by Scholastic, remaining sensitive to their resource constraints.

Scholastic offers a unique and interesting example for how cause campaigns can be leveraged through the classroom.  What’s your take on this?  How do you feel about cause marketing directed toward children via the classroom?

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A while back I did a post on Keen Footwear referencing CEO James Curleigh’s “If you build it…” Field-of-Dreams philosophy of innovation.  Here’s the excerpt:

So often you hear marketers say, “Find out what your customers want and deliver it.”  Curleigh doesn’t buy into this philosophy as a leading business principle.  “Who knew they wanted a sandal with a toe?”  Keen had a vision, created a product, took it to market and asked people to join in the movement.  And it worked.  Keen explained to consumers what it was like to walk a Hybrid Life in Keen Shoes.  Their message spoke to those that both enjoyed the outdoors and resonated with the call to create, play and care.

You could say the same about Twitter or pretty much any of the shiny objects in Joe Water’s most recent post. True innovation starts with a vision, not necessarily a focus group (although as we discussed last week, it’s always good to engage stakeholders early and often).

This is one of the things I like most about cause marketing and cause branding.  In order for it to be effective and credible it must start with a deeper purpose.  It must compel us to action through inspiration, not manipulation.

Choose Inspiration Over Manipulation
Simon Sinek’s message Start with Why (must see) explains that marketing without this vision, this purpose, this cause does indeed work -  through manipulation – but it does not breed loyalty or trust.  Put in a cause marketing context, we may be guilted into donating at the register or buying the cause branded product, but we walk away feeling…icky, taken advantage of.

Conversely, if we start with a deeper purpose, a Why, we attract those who are inspired by our message.  These are the people whose attention we want.  Why?  Because when inspired, people move into action.  They’re more likely to buy our products, tell their friends, write a positive review, participate, donate, volunteer, advocate.

The Cause Partnership Multiplier Effect
And we know from a cause partnership perspective, this halo of inspiration has a multiplier effect…it rubs off on our partners (provided we’ve chosen the right ones) because they resonate with our core values, our vision, our cause.  And this is not a one-way street from non-profit to company.  In the case of cause crusaders like Keen and the many up-and-coming social enterprises, it can work in reverse or flow in both directions.

Sometimes businesses or non-profit organizations hesitate to enter into a cause marketing campaign because they worry that it’s either a) not what their customers want or b) will be perceived as inauthentic.  If the campaign manipulates through cause-tinted tactics, they would be right.  However, if it seeks to inspire instead of manipulate fueled by vision and cause, it may just start a movement.

That’s my two cents – what about you?

Image credit to Talke Photography.

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This weekend, I had the honor of doing a podcast interview with Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress.  You’ll be able to hear it here on Thursday.  While he’s only 26, the guy is deeply thoughtful and a huge proponent of open source development.  The entire WordPress platform is provided under a General Public License (GPL), which ensures freedom and access to users and developers alike.

Open Means “Open” to Everyone – Good, Bad and Ugly
One of the most interesting conversation points addressed the challenge inherent in knowing that providing access and freedom necessarily attracts those who will use it irresponsibly or even abusively.

Here’s Matt’s take, excerpted from a blog post he did:

Though the freedom intrinsic in the GPL that has allowed people to abuse WordPress it has allowed even more people to do amazing things and over time the good far, far outweighs the bad. Most importantly I feel like WordPress would have never gotten off the ground if it hadn’t been open from the beginning.

Ultimately I know our software isn’t going to change anyone’s spots. Good people will do good things with it, and bad people will do bad things with it — regardless of any protections I put in place.

If you accept that bad people are going to be bad then the real question becomes how do you maximize the effect of the good instead of treating them just like the bad.

Matt shared that, although his philosophy on this is rock solid, it’s not always easy in practice.

The Implication for Cause Marketing
And it got me thinking about how we market our causes and prioritize our efforts to move not only our own programs forward, but to move the entire cause-related conversation forward.  The idealist advocate in me cringes a little to think about allowing the “bad guys” to do what they will, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that Matt’s philosophy mirrors my own take on the evolution of cause marketing and the marketing of causes in general.

It goes something like this:  there will be companies and agencies (that will remain nameless) that take advantage of this upswing in cause marketing and consumer interest in causes.  They will seek out non-profit partners in an attempt to bolster their identity in pure self-interest without considering what’s best for the non-profit organization and/or their cause.  There will be partnerships that are inauthentic, shallow and just plain ridiculous.  They will embody “Causewashing” and push consumers to declare cause-fatigue.  And, in the long run, they will fail.

They will fail because those of you out there doing it “right” (not to be confused with “perfectly”), in the spirit of mutual benefit, dedicated to transparency and authenticity, concerned for and dedicated to the causes you represent will knock them out of the ring.  How?  By tirelessly sharing what you learn with one another.  By raising the bar of the entire cause-related field through communicating your lessons learned.  Both Joe Waters and Estrella Rosenberg both do this amazingly well, constantly pushing out new ideas and freely sharing their knowledge, insight and challenges.

A Challenge To Support Open Sourced Cause Marketing
So, my fellow cause crusaders, here is your challenge.  Help raise the tide of cause marketing and the entire cause-related realm by making a commitment to sharing your personal lessons learned.  Share the good, the bad and the ugly by:

-Blogging

-Commenting

-Reading

-Thinking

-Tweeting

-Posting to Facebook

-Posting to LinkedIn

-Speaking

-Teaching

-Networking

-Staying in touch

Yes, it takes time.  Yes, you’re busy.  But your contribution will ensure that worthy causes and fantastic partnerships become an uncompromised standard and a force for good.

Here’s your chance to jump into the conversation and comment below.  Who else do you turn to on a regular basis that does a fantastic job sharing their lessons learned?  What other ways are there to share?  What makes you nervous about sharing?

Image credit to mag3737.

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Peter Bregman recently penned a great post, The Farm to Table Secret of Motivating People. In it, he describes a weekend spent at a 10-acre farm with his family and how it profoundly changed the way he selected, prepared and thought about his food.  He then relates his experience to engaging and motivating people and posits:

Where and when you enter a process is a strong determinant of how connected you’ll feel to the outcome. If I’m on the receiving end of a new initiative, I’ll approach it more critically than if I’m one of the people involved from the beginning.

[When people are involved in project creation] they’re always happier with the outcome. They feel something deeper than the success of a project gone well. They feel pride of ownership. They feel satisfied by the journey that brought them to their success.

Beyond Stakeholders for Dummies
While this may sound obvious and a chapter out of ‘Stakeholders for Dummies’, this ‘where and when you enter the process’ bit has several implications for cause marketers.

Of course you’re designing and creating your cause marketing campaigns in close coordination with your partner at a high level.  But what other groups need to be involved?  What hurdles might you face when attempting to involve them?

Employees
We all know that one of the best ways to increase the authenticity and overall success of a cause marketing campaign is to involve employees on a meaningful level.  Macy’s does a phenomenal job ensuring that employees are kept apprised of their cause initiatives and providing hands-on opportunities to get involved with community partners, through volunteering and in-store visits.  As a result, Macy’s employees become front-line ambassadors for their cause programs because they feel vested in the effort.  Macy’s not only provides information about their cause programs, they provide experiences to employees.

Why not enlist the advice of a group of representative employees when planning your next cause program?  They’ll most likely have ideas that can help your program succeed and they’ll undoubtedly be more motivated to advocate for the success of the program, knowing they’ve been part of the process all along.

Customers
Engaging customers early on is more involved.  Outside of focus groups, surveys and conversations via social media, what’s the best way to gather input and ensure engagement from the very group you’ll be targeting?  Here’s my theory:  ask them to do more.  Donate.  Volunteer.  Engage.

Here’s why:

Cause Fatigue is Real
We’re surrounded by slacktivism campaigns where consumers are asked to vote with a single mouse-click to earn their non-profit organization of choice a chance at the pot of gold under the rainbow.  Mike Swenson, Geoff Livingston and even Chris Brogan have warned us that cause fatigue is a very real thing and all encourage us to raise the bar.

More = Fewer but Better?
When we ask our customers to do more, rather than less…what happens?  Well, probably fewer people will participate.  True.  What else?  Let’s go back to the farm analogy.  To be sure, growing and harvesting vegetables is more involved than selecting them from a produce aisle (and it’s not for everyone) but the farm experience creates engagement, interest and connection.  And I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a small group of committed, engaged and connected people over a gaggle of passive ones any day.

Best Cause Standing
There’s certainly no shortage of causes with which we can choose to participate, and on a variety of levels.  My guess is that, at the end of the day, when the voting dust settles and slacktivism is run out of town, the causes left standing will be the ones who figured out how to engage both employees and consumers through experiences and, yes, contributions that make the world a better place.

What evidence have you seen of cause fatigue?  Is this a real phenomenon?  How can we counter it?  Is engaging employees and consumers the right way…the only way?  Would love your thoughts!

Image credit to garlandcannon.

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CitizenPolity had a great post this week that got me thinking (again) about how cause marketing relates to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Most agree that cause marketing can be part of a CSR program, but that they’re not one in the same.

Cause Marketing is a Stepping Stone
You won’t all agree with me on this, but my personal theory is that cause marketing has the potential to and should be a stepping stone into long-term sustainable business practices that change capitalism as we know it (think: how do we benefit ALL of our stakeholders, not just our shareholders?).  In theory, CSR should be an individual company’s embodiment of these sustainable business practices.  Looking forward 20 years, there won’t be CSR “programs” or “initiatives” because these practices will be fully integrated into every level of an organization.

The Importance of Experimentation
So what does cause marketing have to do with all of this?  Back to the stepping stone.  So often we hear about the importance of experimentation.  Chris Brogan tells us that his company is called New Marketing Labs, for a reason.  Experimentation is important to test suppositions on a small scale, gain feedback and then revamp and revise or go back to the drawing board entirely.

Here’s my theory:  cause marketing can serve as a great laboratory for a company’s CSR efforts because they tend to be short-term, measurable and engage the right stakeholders.  Let’s look at each of these more closely.

Short Term
Most cause marketing campaigns are short-term, running for a finite period of time.  Because they’re short-term efforts, the risks are lower for experimenting with new concepts, new causes and new ways to engage employees, consumers and other stakeholders.  Want to test consumer response to a cause you think would be a good fit for your brand?  Create a cause marketing campaign.  Want to know how important “green” issues are to your stakeholders?  Develop a cause marketing campaign to test levels of engagement.

Measurable
Because cause marketing campaigns do tend to be short-term, you can typically count on response data within a relatively short period of time, especially in the age of social media.  And because cause marketing campaigns are typically based on consumer and/or employee engagement, they provide solid data.  If you’re testing the importance of a “green” issue to your stakeholders with a cause marketing campaign and the hits on your campaign site exceed those on your normal website by tenfold, you may be on to something.

The Right Audience
Gaining a foothold in CSR means getting feedback and meeting the needs of stakeholders like community members, employees and customers.  Done well, a cause marketing campaign will engage all or most of these same stakeholders.  HALO-award-winning Macy’s does this in spades throughout their various cause marketing campaigns.

The Bummer
Here’s the bummer, though.  All too often cause marketing is kept separate from CSR efforts, each remaining in its own silo.  An exception to this unfortunate rule is American Express, who has combined their American Express Foundation with their CSR office.  All cause marketing programs now run through this consolidated unit.  Brilliant.

What’s your take on using cause marketing as a laboratory for lasting and sustainable business practices?  What other examples have you seen of cause marketing acting as a springboard for innovation or improvement?

Image credit to kharied.

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