Mistakes are part of life. And over the past seven years as a director of cause marketing, I’ve made more than my share! Here are five mistakes you don’t have to make, and I’ll never make again.

Thinking that cause marketing can build brand. We started our cause marketing program seven years ago believing that cause marketing could have a transformative impact on our brand (i.e. what people felt and experienced when they came into contact with our nonprofit). But that didn’t happen. While cause marketing is a natural next step for an established cause brand (e.g. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Komen for the Cure, etc.), it’s a building block, not a foundation stone.

Wasting my time coming up with interesting and creative ideas when partnerships are the key to success. I love interesting cause marketing ideas. But they’re nothing without a partner to execute them. Without a partner, you just have an idea. With a partner, your halfway to success. Given the choice between a novel cause marketing promotion and a partner interested in a simple point-of-sale program, I’d take the latter. Now when causes call me to ask for help, my involvement hinges on their answer to this one question: “Do you have a partner to execute this wonderful cause marketing vision of yours?”

Assuming that every company wants to be your life-long partner. Cause marketing partners are like friends. Some are good, life-long friends and others are fair weather friends. The latter is fine as long as you don’t confuse them with the former. Some cause marketing partners will stick with you for a year or two and then they’ll move on to something else, maybe another cause. That’s part of life and working in cause marketing. Friends are great, but know who your true friends are and never stop looking for new ones.

Not being happy with just making money. Nonprofits need to be more realistic about what cause marketing can accomplish. Yes, it can increase awareness of your cause. (Awareness, yes. Brand, no.) Yes, it’s a great way to deepen a relationship with an existing partner. But sometimes the best thing about cause marketing is that it raises money for your cause. Cash is tangible, measurable and bosses love it!

Growing too big too fast. Just about any organization can do cause marketing (if they have a corporate partner!). But very few should commit to a cause marketing program. Here’s the difference. If you have a partner, do a cause marketing promotion. You’ll raise money and awareness. But don’t think you’re ready to launch your own cause marketing program with a dedicated team of sales and marketing professionals. Grow your program organically and commit resources as needed. Not every cause is the next St. Jude or Prodcut (RED). Some causes are destined to do just one or two programs a year.

For over 95% of nonprofits, cause marketing will be transactional, sporadic, unmeasurable and uncertain. I’m obviously still a big fan of the practice as cause marketing should be part of most nonprofits’ fundraising mix. But we should also face up to the realities of the practice. Any truth is better than make believe.

I hope you’re taking a few days off over the holidays to relax or even do some planning for the new year. I’m doing both, along with some reading, which, honestly, I haven’t done with an actual book in a long time.

These are the books I’ve been reading lately. Perhaps you would enjoy them too.

First We Read, Then We Right by Robert Richardson. A great book on writing advice from the 19th century transcendental writer Ralph Waldo Emerson distilled from his best modern biographer.

I’m lingering over these pages. There’s an instructive chapter on reading that everyone should, well, read. Read it before you move on to the rest of the books in this post!

• Shocker: we shouldn’t read to learn or to escape from the grind of our lives. We should read so we can CREATE world we want to live in.
• “The glance reveals what the gaze obscures.” Emerson almost never read any book cover to cover. He searched for what he could use and left the rest alone.
• Stick to personal accounts, first hand experience and personal witness. Emerson would never read an opinion of someone else’s opinion. “They are written by the dead to be read by the dead.”

The Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith. A great book that actually gives you a formula to use social media to drive social change. And they use examples in their book to show it works!

I’m lingering over these pages. This book has some great diagrams and sidebars, like “Getting Started with Take Action” on page 140. I’m returning to these to reinforce what I learned.

Content Rules by Ann Handley & C. C. Chapman. This is a really useful book that you can be read in true Emersonian style. It teaches you how to create all sorts of content for blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.

I’m lingering over these pages. The chapters on creating content for ebooks and webinars as I’m most interested in these two mediums at the moment.

Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding by Jocelyn Daw and Carol Cone. This book by two of my favorite cause marketers is a must read for cause marketers looking to evolve their respective causes in to top brands.

I’m Lingering over these pages. Read my review of the book to learn about my favorite parts and from which case studies I’m still reading and learning.

Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan. Having been active in social media for several years I wasn’t sure how much I would learn from this small, introductory book. But it’s chock-full of advice for social media enthusiasts of all levels.

I’m Lingering over these pages. The section on creating an “About” page for yourself, something I really don’t have on my blog. Also, I added over a dozen great blogs to my reader just by scanning the footnotes. Lots of great nuggets to be mined in this book.

Trust Agents by Chris Brogan. I’m thinking if I want to be trust agent of the cause space this book will show me the way.

Lingering over these pages. I’ve read this book before, but the latest version I picked up is revised and updated. Bonus material!

I still have a lot of reading to do. Now so do you! See you next year!