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. Classy.
But the Sweaters for Seniors program is about kids donating sweaters to seniors and making their very own pinups to sell for a buck to support local senior services.
The company side of this cause marketing effort is Alternative Home Care for Seniors of Atlanta, which plans to match every donation up to $1,000.
This is how local cause marketing can and should work, folks. Above is the news story that my friend and fellow cause marketer, Sharna Fulton, shared with me just yesterday.
For those of you who talked of trying this program in your area, the story captures all the great parts of this initiative and highlights the positive PR good cause marketing can generate.
Helping folks in need. Raising money. Generating visibility for a cause. Engaging the community. Conducting yourself with class and honor. What more could you ask from a cause marketing program?
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I really do love this program and hope to adapt some of the ideas behind it for my own organization – props to Sharna for really hitting the nail on the head!
Also, I was wondering what people really thought about the recent "pink" advertising with alcohol companies. What about the ethics behind accepting donations from these companies who in turn use their donation as marketing? Even if they say it is not a partnership, accepting the donation is allowing the alcohol company to promote their "good deeds."
Although that is an incredibly large amount of money (if they don't accept it someone else will) and we all know about the economic climate. Sticky situation. Are the non-profits at fault?
[...] 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 [...]
I've been catching up on my reading so this is old news (but new to me. . . ) Pet food giant Purina is sponsoring "Cap Nat for the Cause" in which Purina Cat Chow is inviting consumers to visit http://www.Facebook.com/PurinaCatChow to become fans and register to "take a 20-minute cat nap for the cause" during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For every registered napper, Purina Cat Chow will make a $2 donation, up to $150,000, to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. When I saw this (on Facebook), I really thought it was parody, or something from the Onion. But a quick search found that this was real. Perhaps that should be one of the first tests for the appropriateness of a cause marketing campaign: If an ordinary person like me initially assumes it is satire, maybe there is a misalignment between the cause and the business. Personally (and not just because I used to work for an animal welfare organization), I would rather Purina committed to preventing feline mammary cancer–which happens to be spaying! Low-cost spay/neuter programs are needed everywhere and would make me support Purina a lot more than their climbing on the pink bandwagon does.
[ Besides, anybody who knows cats knows they don't nap for 20 minutes, but rather, 20 hours!]