Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 20, 2010
I combed through the Selfish Giving archives and came up with the best and worst local cause marketing programs of 2010. I took the unprecedented step of not including any of my own cause marketing programs. (I know, I’m as disappointed as you are.). Here are the seven best local cause marketing programs for 2010. Program: Create-a-Sweater Pinup Program.
Nonprofit Tech for Good
DECEMBER 17, 2010
Are the new Facebook Pages here? Well, yes… kinda, according to Mashable. It’s been one heck of a long, drawn out launch riddled with false starts and confusion, but it does seem that at last the new Pages are finally here. Well, kinda. The new Pages accidently went live yesterday for a few minutes before Facebook was ready, but just long enough to let the genie out of the bottle.
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The Agitator
DECEMBER 1, 2010
To produce this PSA? A few days ago I asked for advice on how to make a nonprofit sexy (since this is advice experts give us on marketing to Boomers). Maybe this isn’t a bad example from the American Jewish World Service! Tom.
Fundraising Coach
NOVEMBER 30, 2010
I’ve long been a fan of Peter Shankman and the company he founded called HARO. Last month he posted a warning about free wifi that resonated with me. He gave me permission to repost it here. I hope it helps keep you safe! Remember my post back in August about how it’s time to say goodbye to free WI-Fi in coffeehouses, in airports, etc? I have never been more sure of something in my life – Today, I’ll prove it.
Fundraiser Ideas
MARCH 15, 2010
Though Fundraiser-Ideas.net generally publishes one comprehensive description of a fundraising idea at a time, we know that many people are looking for ways to integrate their passion for art with their fundraising efforts and thus we decided to post a long list of art fundraising ideas. Most of these ideas would be great as elementary school fundraisers or as preschool fundraisers, but they can be adapted for other settings, of course.
Sea Change Strategies
JANUARY 8, 2010
This was a tough year-end for a lot of fundraising organizations. Time for some sober reflection and some self-honesty. Let’s start by admitting that the fundraising pyramid is a lie. Most major donors at most organizations do not rise up through the ranks of $15 donors, who become $100 donors, and then ultimately become $100,000 donors. Most major donors come to organizations via other major donors.
Get Fully Funded
OCTOBER 4, 2010
I’ve heard several stories lately about Executive Directors being competitive with one another and frankly, it irritates me. What’s the point? Why waste the energy feuding over service delivery? I remember many years ago working for someone like that. He was so quick to point out the flaws in our “competitors&# and talk trash about them.
Nonprofit Leadership Zone brings together the best content for advertising professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Nonprofit Marketing Blog
DECEMBER 14, 2010
This is the “holiday decoration” in the lobby of the Hippodrome located at 1120 Avenue of the Americas, owned by Edison Properties. Nice messaging: simple, inspiring and laudable. It just makes you feel good to read it - and it makes you want to do good yourself.
Care2
DECEMBER 21, 2010
Do you think your organization has clout or Klout ? Is your organization considered a content curator? Are you a leader or a follower? Or are social media ranking tools an example of more kool-aid mix being added to the overflowing punch bowl? As more nonprofits get aggressive with their social media outreach, they are starting to take cues from the business sector about their own influence and finding “those influentials&# that they think are going to produce magical results. “Is it
Selfish Giving
AUGUST 24, 2010
If you’re a cause marketer or fundraiser that’s been waiting to check-in to location-based services, now may be the time as the biggest and most popular social networking site, Facebook , has just rolled out Places. All you need to get started with Places is a Facebook account, which like 500,000 million people out there you probably already have, and an iPhone.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 4, 2010
It’s the beginning of a new year so let’s start fresh by defining what exactly cause marketing is.**. Keep in mind that this is my definition of cause marketing. (There are other definitions out there.). Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit. A few things about my definition. First, my definition is focused on cause marketing, not the marketing of causes.
Selfish Giving
NOVEMBER 18, 2010
This is exciting and a bit surprising that the American Red Cross is the very first charity to launch a badge on Foursquare. I had the same question as Philanthropy.com : is this really the first Foursquare badge for a cause? If you know of any others let me know. Getting the badge is a little tricky. But I like that because it makes Foursquare users work for it!
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
One of the conclusions that can be drawn from the 2010 Cause Evolution Study is that at no point in the history of cause marketing has there been a better time than now for local causes and companies to work together on point-of-sale and cause-related products. Here are the reasons why. Americans want MORE cause marketing. 83%. That’s the number of Americans that wish more of the products, services and retailers they used would support causes.
Selfish Giving
MAY 24, 2010
Two news stories caught my attention last week. The first was the report that Panera had opened a “Community Cafe&# that encourages customers to “take what they need and give all they can.”. The cafe is like any other Panera except there are no prices. Customers pay what they want and what’s raised –minus expenses– goes to charity.
Selfish Giving
MARCH 31, 2010
I spend a lot of time on Twitter. It may not be the home base that my blog is, but it’s certainly where I hang out. And as a hangout it’s more like a speakeasy because the crowd is limited, just over 200 followers. That’s because I really want to get to know the people I follow and to learn from them. I never understood how you could do this following 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 people.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 7, 2010
This week has been all about doing cause marketing right (Ok, and staying out of court ), and I’m thrilled to share with you what another Six Figure Cause Marketing graduate, Julie Nations , has created. The Ellie Fund right here in Massachusetts has created an online cause marketing program called Give5Get15.com. The concept is simple: donate $5 and you get coupons worth at least $15 to eight local businesses.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 18, 2010
Last month the WSJ profiled U2′s Bono and and his wife Ali Hewson’s efforts to launch a fashion line with clothes made in sub-Saharan Africa. (Hat tip to the good folks at Cone for the lead). Edun got off to a rough start because Bono and Ali had the best of intentions, which, unfortunately, didn’t top the list of reasons consumers would pay $800 for a jacket.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 27, 2010
I love zombie films. I can’t get enough of them, especially this time of year when the shadows from the leafless trees take on ominous shapes. Yikes! While you may not share my enthusiasm for the semi-dead, you might agree with this: most of us are surrounded by these mute, will-less, dumb, sometimes evil brutes everyday. Our zombies are the people and situations we face daily that must be avoided at all cost if we are to be successful cause marketers.
Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 8, 2010
In all the years I’ve been doing cause marketing Finagle-A-Bagel is one my favorite partners. They don’t raise the most money. Not even close. They can’t boast the hippest programs. They raise most of their money through simple coin canisters at their registers. But the qualities they share with our best partners are irreplaceable: dedication and persistence.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 6, 2010
I got a lot of comments–both online and off–about the Sweaters for Seniors cause marketing program that I posted on Friday. People loved it. It was just such a wonderful idea, especially in this month of &# pink&# when it seems the seediest cause marketing initiatives take root. Yesterday on Twitter it was hard lemonades to benefit breast cancer research.
Selfish Giving
JULY 21, 2010
Imagine this: you visit your local supermarket and are asked to support a local food pantry. You a buy a pinup for a buck. On your receipt is message that you can learn more about the cause you just supported by scanning this barcode with your smartphone. In your car before you leave the supermarket parking lot you run your iPhone over the barcode and a one minute video airs on a food pantry like no other.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 4, 2010
It’s easy to look back now and call TwitChange a big success. But that’s not what it looked like at the beginning. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Shaun King , the Atlanta pastor behind the effort said 45 of the 50 friends he initially pitched the idea to thought it wouldn’t work. But King understood something they didn’t.
Selfish Giving
MAY 10, 2010
It was only a matter of time before it happened. In some ways I’m surprised it even took a week. It began with this tweet from fellow cause marketer Steve Drake : White Castle is selling a hamburger and onion scented candle in their restaurants and online for ten bucks with proceeds (good luck finding out how much, but this article says the promotion will raise $50,000) going to Autism Speaks.
Selfish Giving
JULY 12, 2010
A lot of people come to my blog for cause marketing advice, but Tricia Wilkerson, Senior Marketing Specialists at Conifer Health Solutions, found inspiration. While my posts didn’t uncover exactly what Tricia was looking for, they did get her thinking (she told me afterward) and I’m thankful she took the time to share with me the cause marketing program Conifer created.
Selfish Giving
AUGUST 30, 2010
We all love Groupon , right? They offer us great deals with savings from 50% to 90% and if enough people sign-up for the deal everyone wins. Now a Portland-based company has launched Causeon. Same concept as Groupon , but Causeon offers up to 20% of its revenues to causes. When Causeon launches in Portland this week the local chapters of Komen, YMCA and Girls, Inc. and others will be in line to receive checks.
Selfish Giving
DECEMBER 30, 2010
Starting yesterday in Times Square Massachusetts-based SCVNGR teamed up with teen clothing retailer American Eagle on a New Year’s program aiming to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. This location-based cause marketing program asks consumers to complete challenges on SCVNGR to raise cash for BBBS. Such challenges include “2010 was…” and players are asked to describe their year, “Spot the Eagle,” which asks them to snap a picture with the eagle on the Times Square billboard and “What’s yo
Selfish Giving
APRIL 12, 2010
The majority of calls I take on cause marketing are from budget-conscious small nonprofits raising anywhere from a few hundred thousand to a few million a year. They have a small staff and one or two development people, who usually have other responsibilities like marketing or public relations (or sometimes everything!). They also have limited resources and can’t invest in new staff, advertising or training.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 7, 2010
I had a great time at this year’s Cause Marketing Forum Conference. Did you? Here’s what I liked about this year’s event. A few things I didn’t. And some suggestions for next year. Then it will be your turn. Hospital Corporate Development Summit. Now, I’m bias here, because I taught the session with two outstanding colleagues, Maureen Carlson and Phil McCarty , but I believe the program really has some great potential.
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
The next Six Figure Cause Marketing program begins September 14th. Joanna and I are really excited for the next session! We got a lot of great feedback on the first session back in June and have crafted an even better program. If you’re still on the fence on whether to sign up or not, here are three reasons why you should get off it and join us on Tuesday.
Selfish Giving
JANUARY 11, 2010
Two articles last week, one in America Public Media the other in the WSJ , bemoaned the incessant requests at store registers for a dollar or two for causes. You should read them. It’s a real bitchfest. I’m not saying they’re wrong. These constant requests can be annoying. Although what they think is kind of immaterial considering that supermarket giant Safeway alone last year raised $50 million for breast cancer charities and the Special Olympics with register programs.
Selfish Giving
NOVEMBER 3, 2010
CheckPoints , a new iPhone application, allows you to check-in to retail locations and view advertised products. You can then scan product barcodes for points and redeem them for rewards like gift cards and gadgets. Just think of the potential for cause marketing. You check-in to a store and part of the advertised products featured are cause products.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 1, 2010
It’s nice when you can end the week knowing you helped someone. Sharna Fulton helped me. I helped Sharna Fulton. Together we helped someone else. Sharna helped me many years ago when she was in the sports pottery business in Atlanta and I needed a quick turnaround on a gift for my wife. She kindly saved a husband’s life so he could be late with a gift another holiday.
Selfish Giving
OCTOBER 19, 2010
Persuasion occurs through identification. It’s one of the basic tenets I live by. It means that we are usually more convincing when we can identify with our prospect’s needs, attitudes, interests and beliefs. When your message aligns with needs, the “pain&# , as it’s sometimes called, you get a spark of persuasion. String enough of those sparks together and you have the light and warmth that comes from the flame of a new partnership.
Selfish Giving
JUNE 28, 2010
Our newest cause marketing program is Phantom Gourmet Meal Deals. It teams up a popular Boston TV and radio show with two of our best cause marketing partners, iParty and Ocean State Job Lots. Here are the highlights. The program starts this week! At least at iParty stores. It will begin at OSJL stores in July. Both programs will run for two to four weeks.
Selfish Giving
JULY 19, 2010
Whenever I work with a business on a cause marketing program, especially point-of-sale–my bread-and-butter program–they usually ask that after helping a great cause how do they really measure what was gained from the partnership. It’s a good question, to which there is generally no clear answer, especially for a smaller businesses that can’t invest in focus groups or customer research to determine if cause marketing did what it’s suppose to do : enhance favorability
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
Dating from 1634, the Boston Common is one of the oldest city parks in the country. And like our national parks it’s literally being loved to death and in desperate need of improvements and repairs. Boston’s ABC affiliate reported last week that there’s a movement afoot to allow corporate sponsorships on the Common. Boston Parks and Recreation supports the idea as does the neighborhood group that supports the Boston Common and nearby Public Gardens. “We have to find new w
Selfish Giving
SEPTEMBER 15, 2010
Recently I spoke to a group of federal workers who are on loan to the Combined Federal Campaign , which was created by President Kennedy in 1961 and just last year raised close to $300 million. The main role of these loan execs is to visit federal offices to motivate employees to signup for CFC payroll deduction. I’ve been teaching this group public speaking skills for at least a decade.
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