Scott Pansky of Allison + Partners is one of the most knowledge guys I know on cause marketing. Not long ago I said he should write a book. The other day he sent me his bullet points for 5 Tips for Developing Cause Marketing Partnerships.

Well, I guess it’s a start!

Of course, Scott made some excellent points. To them, I’ve added posts I’ve written that elaborate on them. They’re a poor a substitute to what Scott could write on the subject. But until Scott writes his book on cause marketing it will have to do!

#1.  Is Cause Marketing Right for Your Organiztation?

• Do you have dedicated staff people? My post: Don’t Hire a Full-Time Cause Marketer
• Do you have strong assets in addition to talent? My post: 3 Easy Steps to Cause Marketing Success

#2.  Do Research on the Company Before Reaching Out to Them

• Research their marketing, PR, sales goals and objectives. My post: Want Better Cause Partnerships? Research Partners on Social Media
• Do both your goals align? My post: How to Choose a Cause for Cause Marketing

#3.  Be Brief, Be Bright, Be Gone

• Help them see a marketing return on investment, not a fundraising problem. My post: How Businesses Can Measure ROI on Cause Marketing
• Use a brief powerpoint or word document. My post: Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits: Closing the Deal

#4.  Be Creative

• Don’t do cookie-cutter cause marketing. My post: The Best Local Cause Marketing of 2011

#5.  Have Fun! Build It and They Will Come!

• Cause marketing is just another fundraising tactic, don’t use it to replace traditional funding tools. My post: Want to be More Successful? Stop Focusing on Cause Marketing

A common question I get is how can a local nonprofit land a cause marketing deals with a national chain when the latter will only work with large, national nonprofits. It’s simple: don’t target national chains. Instead, target regional, mid-size chains that are more likely to work with a local charity that’s more visible in their service area.

Look at the list of America’s Best Supermarkets to the right. In the 2012 ranking, there are four supermarkets I’ve never heard of – and with good reason. These supermarkets are located outside Massachusetts.

Take the Stater Brothers supermarket chain. Don’t know them, but you probably do if you live in Southern California where they have 167 stores. As far as I can tell they don’t work with a national nonprofit. This press release highlights their work with local food banks.

Another example is Raley’s, which has 137 stores, mainly north of San Francisco. Their latest press release talks about their support for Sacramento parks.

Harris Teeter is another example with 200 locations. Fairway opened its 100th store in 2011.

These midsize chains are excellent candidates for cause marketing programs. They have plenty of locations and foot traffic for a pinup program, which commonly raise a lot of money in supermarkets.

However, don’t stop with supermarkets. Target other mid-size chains as well (e.g. convenience stores, restaurants, even fast lube chains).

I’ve had success with all sorts of mid-size businesses and here’s what they all had in common: you’ve never heard of them, because they are native to my area.

So, if you’re searching for a cause marketing partner, forget the big national chains. They’re busy with their big national cause marketing programs. Go where you’re known, welcomed and loved. Visit your local market. Tell ‘em I sent you!

* * *

Speaking of supermarkets, check out this cool idea from Budgens supermarkets in the U.K. Here’s how The Guardian describes it.

Wooden blocks roughly the size of box of Maltesers branded with the single word “hope” will be interspersed with groceries at branches of Budgens in Crouch End and Belsize Park in London in a pilot scheme. Shoppers will be urged to take them to the till where they will be charged £1 per block which the retailer will forward to the Alzheimer’s Society – the block is returned to the shelf.

I asked the same question after reading this: what’s a box of Maltesers? I found this image.

I like how the blocks are on the shelves just like any other item. This might be a good alternative to a traditional pinup programs, which are getting a little overdone in supermarkets. The challenge of swapping pinups for blocks is that without the ask from the cashier (e.g. “Would you like to donate a dollar to Alzheimer’s Society?”) you should plan on raising a lot less money.

Just about every day I read about a nonprofit either looking for a cause marketer, or searching for someone to do cause marketing along with events, sponsorship, operations, human resources, major gifts. You know, the typical nonprofit multi-tasking stuff.

The person selected will be responsible for securing, managing and evaluating key cause marketing and brand partnerships that bring in significant revenue, expand traditional media partnerships, reduce costs and increase the organization’s credibility within key stakeholder categories.

The bad news is that this nonprofit and others are unlikely to find the right person for a couple reasons.

First, few people have cause marketing experience. Cause marketing is a niche skill set that most people just don’t have. They can learn on the job, but I’m amazed the money nonprofits will pay to wait on results. They’re reinventing the wheel, and it’s totally unnecessary.

Second, say that you do find someone that’s an experienced cause marketer, which means they’ve worked on a cause marketing team for one of the large nonprofits. Maybe they worked at Feeding America or Komen for the Cure or the American Cancer Society. These are big institutions with multi-million dollar cause marketing programs.

But here’s the dirty secret: These people know little about how to start, grow and sell cause marketing for an organization that isn’t a brand heavyweight.

These people are talented project managers, for sure, but their field is customer service, not sales. They’re great when a company comes calling with their 5,000 locations and seven-figure advertising budget. But they’re not so good when it comes to starting a cause marketing program and selling companies from a cold start.

I’ve talked to these shell-shocked people shortly after they’ve started with Average Joe Nonprofit and this is what they say.

“No one calls me back.”

“My board isn’t helpful.”

“I have to do everything myself.”

“No one knows who we are.”

“All the companies I call are already working with a major charity.”

“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

You bet your ass it’s hard.

That’s why most nonprofits shouldn’t hire a full-time cause marketer. They should hire an agency or consultant instead. Sure, it will cost more money in the beginning. But you’ll see better results and ultimately raise more money, which will offset the expense.

I know what you’re thinking: Joe’s just trying to drum up some business for himself now that he’s consulting. I’m always open to more business, but keep in mind that I’m an example of what you shouldn’t do. I learned cause marketing on someone else’s dime and it took years for me to get it (I’m a really slow learner). Listening to me now can save you time and money and lots of pain.

As a consultant, I’m not the right fit for everyone. My specialty is small and mid-size nonprofits and companies that want to engage in tactical, transactional cause marketing. If you’re interested in point-of-sale, purchase triggered donations and digital cause marketing, I’m your guy. I’m also a cause marketing content producer that can help you pull companies in with tweets, blog posts and a hypnotizing Boston accent.

If this sounds like a good fit for you, contact me. But there are many other good people you can talk to. Here are some of the agencies and consultants I recommend. I’d be proud and happy to speak with you about any one of these people.

Agencies

Edelman

The home of two of my favorite cause marketers, Carol Cone and Kristian Darigan Merenda. International, full service firm.

Contact: kristian.Merenda@edelman.com

For Momentum

Awesome full service cause marketing agency headed my Mollye Rhea. Tactics, strategy, branding, sponsorship. They do it all. Based in Atlanta.

Contact: mollye@formomentum.com

Cause Media Group

Cause marketing specialists, especially in the digital space. Led by Chris Noble, Joey Leslie and Brian Powell. Might as well be Moe, Larry and Curly – in a good way. An agency with personality. LA, New York, Dallas.

Contact: joey@studiogood.com

Cone

Hey, it’s Cone. They’re in Boston. Need I say more?

Contact: skerkian@coneinc.com [Sarah Kerkian]

Fenton

Cause marketing pros headlined by the indefatigable Susan McPherson. A New Yorker – don’t hold it against her.

Contact: susan@fenton.com

Barkley

I call Kansas City based Barkley “The Cause Marketers of the West.” They’re expertly led by Mike Swenson, the “Socrates of Cause Marketing.”

Contact: mswenson@barkleyus.com

Allison + Partners

If I could pick one person in the cause marketing field to write a book on cause marketing, co-founder Scott Pansky would be my first choice. Yeah, he’s that knowledgeable. La La land.

Contact: scottp@allisonpr.com

See3 Communications

New media specialists that activate people and social causes. Michael Hoffman is one of the brightest guys I know. Based in Chicago.

Contact: michael@see3.com

Consultants

Jocelyne Daw

One of the most knowledgeable people in the field. And she has the books to prove it. Located in the frozen north, Canada.

Contact: jocelyne@jsdaw.com

Philips McCarty

The Godfather of Cause Marketing. Former St. Jude honcho. Mississippi to Memphis to Boston to New York. Sadly, a NY Giants fan. Maureen Carlson, who founded the cause marketing program at City of Hope, is his consigliere. Dynamite duo that will make sure you don’t sleep with the fish.

Contact: philips@goodscoutgroup.com

M.J. Carter

A local cause marketer that knows how to combine traditional marketing, social media and cause marketing. Chicago native.

Contact: mjcarter@markjcarter.com

Steve Drake

Cause marketing expert based in St. Louis. Cause blogger. The man behind Trees for Troops.

Contact: drake@drakeco.com

Paul Jones

Prolific blogger at CauseRelatedMarketing.biz. He’s taught me so much I should send him a check….some day. Utah based.

Contact: aldenkeene@gmail.com

Chris Jarvis

Cause marketing expert on the employee engagement and volunteering side of the business. Canadian.

chrisjarvis@realizedworth.com

James Epstein Reeves

Chicago-based expert on corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, and cause-marketing. President of Do Well Do Good.

Contact: james@dowelldogood.net

Maggie Keenan

Local cause marketing pro in Savannah, Georgia. Proud Six Figure Cause Marketing graduate.

Contact: maggie.keenan@bellsouth.net

Scott Henderson

A cross between Rocky and Samuel Pepys, Scott has put together several awesome cause marketing programs with Share Our Strength and Tyson Foods. He also started Beyond Cause Marketing. Currently based in Boston, which gives him an edge. But he’s a Colt’s fan. Boo.

Contact: scott@rallythecause.com

Olivia Khalili

Olivia is a D. C. based cause marketer who’s focused on giving businesses the tools and action steps they need to gain a competitive advantage by building a purpose-driven business.

Contact: olivia@causecapitalism.com

Sharna Fulton

Excellent local cause marketer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Proud Six Figure Cause Marketing graduate.

Contact: sharnafulton@gmail.com

Point-of-sale programs are the backbone of cause marketing, raising the majority of consumer donations each year. The dominating point-of-sale tactic is pinups.

One question I get all the time after I present on the different types of cause marketing tactics is “What’s a pinup? And where do I get them?”

The second question always cracks me up because I envision people searching for pinups in the aisles of Target or Walmart. I can hear them saying, “Where can I buy those damn things?!”

You can stop your search. You don’t buy pinups at a store. A printer makes them for you. Here are a few other things you should know about pinups.

1. A pinup, which is sometimes called a paper plaque, paper icon, scannable, or mobile, is sold in restaurants, department stores and any other place that has customers and a register. Most pinups are sold for between $1 and $5, although I’ve seen them sold for more and less. When the customer buys one, the donation is added to their bill. They usually sign their name to the pinup, which is then displayed somewhere in the business as a sign of customer support for the cause.

Together, pinups make for a powerful display.

Most pinups aren’t that big, just several inches tall and wide. They can be any shape, or die cut to look like a teddy bear, shamrock, heart, etc. The paper used for pinups is usually inexpensive, and for good reason as just about all pinups will end up in the trash at the end of a program.

Remember, the bigger the pinup, the more fancy the design, the heavier paper stock used, the more it will cost you to design, print and ship.

Most pinups cost anywhere from a few cents to a dime apiece to produce. The most I ever paid for a pinup was 18 cents each, but it was die cut, four-color, large, perforated, etc. Yours will probably be cheaper. As always, it depends on your designer, printer and your willingness to shop around and negotiate.

2. Most pinups have a place on the front where the donor can write his or her name.  It’s not necessary, but it does make the pinup a bit more personal.

3. Most pinups have the nonprofit’s logo on the front with some kind of tagline.

4. Putting a picture on a pinup is a good idea as it puts a face on the campaign. You’re not just giving to MDA when you buy its pinup. You’re helping those kids!

5. The back of most pinups includes a barcode that can be scanned at the register. This makes it much easier for cashiers to process the donation and for the business to report the donation to the nonprofit. When I began my career in the nonprofit world in the early 1990’s, cashiers used to keep donations separate in an envelope next to the register. It wasn’t the best or safest way to handle donations. If a business won’t or can’t use a barcode (e.g. a bakery, coffee shop) a good option is to designate a button on the register to record the donation.

6. The back of the pinup usually includes additional information on the nonprofit, perhaps your mission statement.

7. The shamrock pinup from MDA is a classic design that really hasn’t changed much in the past 30 or 40 years. Yeah, it’s been around that long. Other options for the pinup include coupons, which means printing a larger pinup. This can be worth it, however, as coupons can give shoppers an extra incentive to give. Businesses also like coupons, especially when other business partners in the program are distributing them to potential new customers. What’s often overlooked is that pinups are a great place to promote a program or an upcoming event (e.g. charity bike ride, walk or run). It sure beats paying for advertising.

The best alternatives to pinups are electronic asks via credit card machine (you can see an example here) and what I call passive cause marketing programs. The latter is similar to pinups but the cashier doesn’t verbally ask for a donation. These programs are less intrusive to customers and less work for the cashier, but they also tend to raise a lot less money too.

Consumers may find charity asks at the register annoying, but they also tend to give more money and more frequently when someone asks “Would you like to donate a dollar to ______________________.”

What questions can I answer on cause marketing pinups? Just leave them in the comments below!

I’ve been talking to a lot of people about the difference between transactional cause marketing and transformative cause marketing. I’ve concluded that I’m not being very clear on the difference and need this post as much as the people who ask me to explain it to them.

I did what I usually do when I don’t understand something: I talked to someone smarter than I am. In this case, someone A LOT smarter: Kristian Darigan Merenda, Senior Vice President of Business + Social Purpose at Edelman. Kristian is also one of the four talented women, including my cause marketing “mom” Carol Cone and Jocelyne Daw, who co-authored my favorite book on cause marketing: Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding.

At an airport restaurant in Cleveland between flights she explained the difference to me on two napkins. Unbeknownst to Kristian, she wiped her mouth on the back of one so so I guess I have her DNA if I ever need to clone her. Added bonus.

Here’s the back of the napkin explanation.

Everything I need to know about cause marketing on two napkins. I may frame them.

What is Transactional Cause Marketing?

Transactional cause marketing is a marketing strategy that’s defined by:

• One-off promotions that are generally reactive to opportunities in the marketplace.
• First generation partnerships that have a short promotional cycle.
• Single platform programs.
• Dominance of transactions over relationships to maximize immediate giving.
• Promotions that aren’t central to or defined by the brands of either partner.
• Primary goal is to raise money and build awareness for the nonprofit partner.

Thanks to everyone who came out to my presentation today! It was fun.

Here’s a copy of my presentation.

Remember, you can join Hubspot and me on Thursday at 1pm for  a FREE webinar on how to use inbound marketing (blogging, social media, SEO) to recruit more sponsors and corporate partners.

Here’s my case for why inbound marketing is critical for causes.

Here are some other resources that will further your learning from today.

What is Cause Marketing?

A Primer on Pinups

I spoke of Maggie Keenan and her new cause marketing program with KFC and Dairy Queen. This is a great example of local cause marketing.

Lots of great examples of purchase and action triggered donations in my latest post on “pinktober” promotions. Here’s a recent example of action-triggered cause marketing for Halloween!

Here’s a link to a great program by the Ellie Fund, a Boston-based organization.

Brendan had a question on text messaging for cause marketing. Here the post I spoke of.

I talked about Massage Envy & The Arthritis Foundation and how to choose a cause for cause marketing. Check 0ut this post.

I just finished putting together an updated list of cause marketing resources you should check out.

Are you interested in mobile cause marketing. You’ll enjoy these two posts on Give.mobi.

Let me know if you have any questions. Also, if you are specifically interested in using point of sale/pinups in your next cause marketing promotion, consider buying my three-part course Six Figure Cause Marketing. The recorded version is only $99! It covers everything you need to plan and execute a successful program.

Maggie Keenan, a branding and cause marketing consultant in Savannah, Georgia, is a graduate of my Six Figure Cause Marketing course, which shows nonprofits and businesses how to develop and execute an effective and lucrative cause marketing program.

Maggie gets an A+ for her latest effort: a regional cause marketing program to support the Chatham-Savannah Authority for the Homeless, Inc. Hodges Management Company, which owns the local KFCs, KFC/TacoBells and DQ Grill & Chills, approached the Housing Authority about doing something to help the homeless this holiday season.

Thanks to Maggie, they came up with a great campaign: Dishing Out Meals: Fighting to End Hunger & Homelessness in Our Community.

You can read all about Maggie’s outstanding cause marketing program on her blog. But let me take a moment to mention some of the things I really love about it.

It embraces the easiest and most lucrative type of cause marketing: point of sale. The pin-up below sold for a buck. While there are other types of cause marketing Maggie could have recommended to the partners, point of the sale is truly the best, especially for local programs like this one. I’ve raised as much as $300,000 in just a few weeks with pinups.

It taps every asset the business had for giving. Realizing that the pinup wasn’t the best option for drive thru customers, Maggie created a value card with a QR code that takes customers directly to the Homeless Authority website for more information or to make a donation. Great thinking, Maggie! [One suggestion: The mobile donation page isn't optimized for smartphones. Check out what my friend Bob Jones at Give.mobi can do to make this a better experience and raise you more money!]

It battled indifference and apathy from the outset. Have you ever been asked to buy a pinup but the total lack of interest from the cashier convinced you that he or she didn’t really care if you did? Hodges Management Company did their best to ensure that apathy and indifference wouldn’t be part of this program. All general managers spent a Saturday learning and volunteering for the cause, an experience they’ll share with their employees.

I’m proud of everyone involved in this program, and I’m eager to see the results when it’s done. Most of all, I’m really proud of Maggie Keenan. She’s a great student, asked lots of good questions and kept in touch with me to make sure she didn’t make any of the many, many mistakes I made in my first programs.

Congratulations, Maggie! I’m sure this won’t be that last post I’ll write on one of your successful cause marketing campaigns!

Maggie learned about creating and executing point of sale cause marketing programs in my Six Figure Cause Marketing program. You can too! Buy the recorded version of 6FCM for just $99!

I’m fascinated by the whole food truck phenomenon. We have a number of food trucks here in Boston and I just finished watching The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network. I’m also heading out to Los Angeles today for the Blogworld Expo and am hoping to sample some of their great food trucks!

I’m impressed by how food trucks market themselves and are such big users of social media.

A lot of nonprofits, fundraisers and cause marketers can learn a lot from these mobile eateries that have a nose for where the business is and know how to keep fans coming back.

Their product is distinctive. Food trucks are more than just cokes, hot dogs and hamburgers. They specialize in delicious, unique foods and, depending on consumer demand, aren’t copycats that duplicate menus. Consider some of these names of Boston food trucks: Grilled Cheese Nation, Kickass Cupcakes, Bon Me Truck [Vietnamese], Clover Food Truck [vegetarian]. Food trucks set themselves apart from the competition and excel within their category. Shouldn’t the same be true for nonprofits and the programs they run?

They adapt. Many food trucks pride themselves on local ingredients and will change their menus to meet the ebb and flow of the seasons. If something isn’t selling they switch it for something else. If what they usually use isn’t in season they switch to something else. If they run out of the something, they improvise. You saw this firsthand if you watched the Great Food Truck Race and saw the curveballs host Tyler Florence threw contestants. Food trucks know how to turn on a dime! How often can that be said about nonprofits, which steer more like the Titanic than a food truck.

They’re people persons. Food trucks don’t wait around for people to come to them. They go where the people are, where the hunger and need is greatest. It could be a college campus or outside a convention center. But too many nonprofits are ivy towers that cut themselves off from the people they can help and the people that can help them. Mark Horvath of Invisible People tweets all the time about groups that say they want to help the homeless but then set themselves apart or create barriers that make delivering that help ineffective or impossible. Food trucks are for and by the people. They exist to serve others. So should you.

They have a cult-like following. Notice I didn’t say that they were good with social media or technology, which they are. Food trucks are focused not on what these tools do but on what they accomplish: build a rabid following that looks forward to their tweets and postings and doggedly follow them. Food trucks thrive because they turn customers into fans and fans into ambassadors. Most importantly, they make it easy to love them. Can you say the same about your nonprofit?

They understand what’s truly important. Food trucks succeed or fail for one reason only: their food. It all starts with something that’s good, interesting and a heck of a lot better than your average fast food joint. Nonprofits need to focus on delivering a product that is superior, valuable and feeds the soul.

Like the Green Muenster Melt Boston’s Roxy’s Gourmet Grilled Cheese sells you want to be the thing that people just can’t live without.

Some have called Machiavelli a manipulator. I see him more as a realist. He was practical and committed to getting things done – in any way possible.

That doesn’t mean Machiavelli didn’t believe in ethics, morals and scruples. He did, but not just because doing good was the right thing. It was frequently the best thing for any savvy prince to get what he wanted.

While Machiavelli never bought a pinup to help children made orphans by the plague, or “liked” a Facebook page to trigger a donation from the powerful Medici family in Florence that would support local artists (including some guy named Michelangelo), Machiavelli’s advice transcends the renaissance and politics. It can arm us for the effort between companies and causes to woo a new prince: consumer attention, favor and their all-mighty dollar.

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“God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us.”

Machiavelli lived during a time when unbelievers were burned as heretics for denying the omniscience of God. Nevertheless, he asserts that men and women need to play a more active role in accomplishing their goals. This is true for your cause as well. You’re waiting for donors, fate, luck, even God to save you when opportunities like cause marketing and social media may help you save yourself.

“Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.”

As we learned from the controversy surrounding a cause marketing promotion between Kentucky Fried Chicken and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, cause promotions are about marketing and perception, not truth and reality. Smart causes leverage their strongest emotional appeal in cause marketing campaigns to engage consumers quickly and powerfully. Other nonprofits worry that this one appeal is limiting and won’t accurately reflect its full mission. You’ll have plenty of time to explain and expand on your work after you set an emotional hook, which cause marketing provides.

“Men are driven by two two principal impulses, either by love or by fear.”

The emotional appeal for cause marketing has to tap something that consumers either deeply love (e.g. pets, green spaces, children) or seriously fear. When consumers donate to cancer causes, it’s done out of fear. Fear that it will afflict us and our loved ones. Whether it’s love or fear, your appeal should elicit a strong response from consumers.

“Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed. . . . Before all else, be armed.”

Are you truly ready to try cause marketing, which demands staff, time, money and a stiff sail? Cause marketing is much easier when you have a partner already lined up. But what if you don’t? Do you know enough about the practice to sell a prospective partner on it? Do you know how cause marketing can give businesses a competitive edge that goes beyond product and price? If you recruited a new partner tomorrow, what would be the first thing you’d do? Arm yourself for success. Or be prepared to fail.

“A prudent man should always follow in the path trodden by great men and imitate those who are most excellent, so that if he does not attain to their greatness, at any rate he will get some tinge of it.”

There are lots of great resources and people to help new cause marketers. Cause Marketing Forum is one of the best, but there are also people online you can follow and learn from. Larger companies and causes are also good teachers. Check out the cause marketing programs CMF honored earlier this month with Halo Awards. Your program probably won’t be as successful as theirs, but it will have a “tinge of it” and you’ll be on your way.

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great. “

Nothing is accomplished without enthusiasm. If you’re excited about and committed to cause marketing you’ll overcome any hurdle, meet any challenge. But if you’re just going through the motions because your boss told you to, expect half-hearted results from your half-hearted effort. Machiavelli said that nothing is accomplished without danger. But no danger was ever surmounted without a strong will to succeed.

“The vulgar crowd always is taken by appearances, and the world consists chiefly of the vulgar.”

Try to view your cause marketing promotion through the eyes of everyday consumers and donors that are seeing your promotion for the first time in aisles, at checkout or on shopping sites. Examples abound of programs that may have had good intentions but didn’t have the intended effect. Consider the Urban Outfitters t-shirt that benefited National Public Radio. Sold online by both NPR and Urban Outfitters, only tees sold in the nonprofit’s online store raised money for public radio. But don’t you think shoppers that bought the t-shirt on Urban Outfitters’ site thought NPR would receive a portion of their purchase? There was nothing on the site saying that NPR would benefit. But what expectations did consumers have? How do you think they felt about Urban Outfitters when they learned the truth?

Machiavelli believed that success meant constantly adapting for the times. When cause marketing was first introduced in the 1980′s it represented a new kind of corporate giving that smart causes and companies latched on to. With the rise of the web in the late 1990′s, together they explored online initiatives. The progress continued as social media platforms were introduced and developed. Today, innovative nonprofits and businesses are embracing location-based marketing, QR codes and mobile technology for cause marketing.

For Machiavelli, a prince’s success depends on his ability to prepare for the future and execute his designs without fear, hesitation or regret. If you add transparency, honesty and authenticity to these cause marketing lessons from Machiavelli you’ll avoid becoming the cunning, grasping Machiavellian that The Prince sought to overthrow.

I’m really excited to have Jocelyne Daw guest post on my blog today. In addition to being a wonderful author who’s written two of my favorite books on cause marketing, Cause Marketing for Nonprofits and Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding (with Carol Cone), Jocelyne has been a great mentor to me and other cause marketers.

In her post today, Jocelyne makes an important distinction between cause marketing and sponsorship. Too often, we lump everything cause and company related into cause marketing. But if cause marketing doesn’t stand for something, it won’t mean anything. Thanks to Jocelyne for standing tall today for all cause marketers!

~~~

Recently I presented at the AFP Toronto congress, a national gathering of nonprofit professionals, on cause marketing trends and best practices.   It’s always a great group. I deem a presentation successful if the attendees are engaged and ask lots of questions.  At this session I was not to be disappointed.  One question that popped up and generated a great deal of good discussion was “What is the difference between sponsorship and cause marketing?”.

This is an important question that I have been asked regularly during my presentations.  So I wasn’t surprised when it became part of a Twitter conversation between two cause-marketing experts (and friends of mine) – Joe Waters and Steve Drake.

In my perspective, the difference between the two is simple.  It’s in the tactics and the benefits of each execution.

Let’s look at cause marketing

Let me start with my definition of cause marketing.  This sets the stage for differentiating between these two growing forms of corporate community involvement – methods that go beyond traditional corporate philanthropic donations.

I define cause marketing as a mutually beneficial business and nonprofit partnership that sees a company put the power of its brand and marketing behind the cause to generate profits for both. In cause marketing, the company uses the cause as the focus of its marketing tactics. Think the traditional 4 P’s of marketing: product, price, promotion and place.  Product ties to cause.  Price includes a donation or percentage to the cause.  Promotion focuses on the cause connection.  Place reaches consumers in an untraditional way and place with cause messages often supported by in-store point of purchase advertising.

The company’s expectation is that it will directly earn profits from the affiliation. The cause tie helps the product and company to stand out in the crowded marketplace.  It demonstrates an alignment with the company and customers’ values. Research proves that if price and quality are equal, the cause differentiator will (in more cases than not) result in a sale.

Sponsorship on the other hand…

Sponsorship sees companies providing financial contribution to a nonprofit event or program.  In return, the nonprofit uses its marketing and communications tools to promote a company’s involvement and support of the cause.   The tools could include featuring the company’s logo on a poster, t-shirt, brochure or other nonprofit marketing and communications material.   In the end, it’s really just another marketing and promotional tool for the company.  Similar to the way TV advertising or social media is used to reach a distinct target audience.

Profits, on the other hand for the nonprofit are less ambiguous.  They receive a payment – in the form of a non-tax receipted contribution.  It is essentially an advertising expense paid in a commercial exchange for a corporate recognition tied to the cause.  Benefits for the company come in the form of reaching a target audience in a unique way and creating community goodwill.  Neither is seen as a competitive advantage that will guarantee a sale.  Generating corporate profits are less direct than in the case of cause marketing.

The difference is clear, but can still be blurry

While my definition clearly differentiates between the two business-cause partnerships, there are occasionally blurry lines.  Take Komen Race for the Cure® and Yoplait’s involvement.

Yoplait has been the main sponsor of the race for a number of years.  Komen promotes their support through the organization’s various race marketing and communication vehicles.  Yoplait’s logo can be seen on the Komen Race for the Cure® t-shirt.  It is featured on the poster and as in the picture the on-site race banners.  However, during the month of October, Yoplait parallels its race support with a cause marketing in-store promotion – “Save Lids, Save Lives.”  People see both.  Some call their support “sponsorship”.  Others call it “cause marketing”.  In fact, it’s a smart use of both that leverages Yoplait’s cause involvement in the breast cancer movement.  By doing so, it turns the entire involvement into something that is bigger than the sum of individual parts.

In the end, both cause marketing and sponsorship are commercial, mutually beneficial relationships between companies and causes.  We know both are growing.  When done right, they provide powerful shared value and reflect shared values.