Today, A Day Made Better is celebrating its fifth anniversary by surprising 1,000 teachers across the country with $1,000 in school supplies. The cause marketing program has been a big hit for teachers and office supply chain OfficeMax.

The program is working to address a serious issue: teacher-funded classrooms. It’s estimated that on average teachers spend $1,000 out of their own pockets to offset school budget shortfalls and classroom shortages to secure much-needed classroom supplies.

But the man who created this ambitious cause marketing program – and many other unique marketing initiatives such as Elf Yourself - will have a different perspective on the event this year. Bob Thacker is the new executive director of Miami-based Adopt-A-Classroom, the nonprofit OfficeMax partnered with to create A Day Made Better.

Bob is charged with focusing on elevating the organization’s profile, attracting partners and celebrity support and expanding its ability to fund teachers and their classrooms nationwide. The nonprofit has raised $16 million since 1998.

I caught up with Bob recently as he was in route to a conference in Berlin. Moving to a relatively small nonprofit is a big change for Bob, a man who has spent 40 years with big brands such as OfficeMax, Target and Sears. How did he view the move and the challenges ahead for Adopt-A-Classroom?

How did you feel moving from a big company to a small nonprofit?

“I’m at a point in my life where I really wanted to give back, and Adopt-A-Classroom is a great organization. Moving from the for-profit world to the nonprofit world is easier than you might think. Regardless of where I worked in the corporate world, I always had to make something out of nothing. And I feel like I have a leg-up at Adopt-A-Classroom because it’s been around since the late 90′s and has a long-standing partnership with OfficeMax, Jones New York and The Coach Foundation.”

Bob, you’ve worked with so many nonprofits through the years, what sticks in your mind as something every nonprofit has to do.” 

“It’s so important for nonprofits to have clarity on what they do and what their mission is. If a funder asks “What do you do? What do you need?” every nonprofit should have a clear and compelling answer. I was amazed that some nonprofits were not able to answer such simple questions.”

Cause marketing is often described as win-win-win. A win for the consumer, the company and the cause. Are nonprofits getting this message?

“They’re learning, but the lesson isn’t over. Nonprofits expect charity from companies. And that’s reasonable of them, but nonprofits also need to extend charitability to companies. Nonprofits need to recognize and understand that for-profits need to see a return, a benefit from some of their work with nonprofits.”

What do you think is one of the most important ingredients for cause marketing success?

“The relationship is key. A partnership will never flourish with a transactional relationship of a company just giving a cause money. OfficeMax and Adopt-A-Classroom have a relationship that transcends the simple exchange of money, promotion and school supplies every year. That’s what makes it special. That’s what makes the relationship last.”

Now that your Executive Director at Adopt-A-Classroom, is there an area you plan to focus on?

“We could definitely use a better presence online. Social media will also be key. That said, we don’t plan to be active on these platforms so we can collect subscribers, likes and followers. We plan to build a community. Adopt-A-Classroom seeks to be a leader in improving education in America. But we can’t do that alone. We need a community of supporters that talk to us and to each other. That’s where social media can be helpful.”

~~~~~

It was great speaking with Bob. He’s been a leader and mentor in the cause marketing field for many years. I’m looking forward to watching and learning from what he accomplishes at Adopt-A-Classroom. A Day Made Better is behind him. But Bob has many better days ahead.

 

Wow. What a great Cause Marketing Forum Conference this year. Day two featured an excellent lineup with lots of good and interesting speakers.

My favorite speaker of the day was Kami Watson Huyse, President of Zoetica, who presented on best practices in cause-related social media. You can find her slides here. Among other things, if you’re looking for solid information and direction on how to best compete in online contests, Kami is the woman to talk to. Great job, Kami!

Other notable presentations were Nancy Lublin from DoSomething.org who talked about the good, bad and ugly of cause marketing. Nancy had some strong opinions—such as how some agencies are misleading and overcharging their nonprofit clients—that didn’t sit well with some of the people I spoke to during the break. But her cutting criticisms of industry practices confirmed what I’ve always said about public speaking: the world isn’t black and white, but the best speeches are.

Charles Best from DonorsChoose.org, a Cause Marketing Forum Golden Halo Award Winner, also impressed me. I know little about the organization, but Charles’ speech inspired me to learn more. Expect a post on DC’s cause marketing work soon.

I taught two “powerful discussions” on location-based cause marketing that were a lot of fun. A big thanks to Chris Noble and Joey Leslie who attended the first session and added much to the discussion—including interpreting my Boston accent for attendees.

I thought this 9th Annual Cause Marketing Forum Conference was excellent – the best yet for me. Here’s why.

• Arriving at the hotel on the last day of the International Mister Leather Conference was a real feast for the eyes. Leathermen, the scent of leather is with me still, and I will never look the same way at a man wearing black leather short-shorts with matching suspenders and hat ever again.

• The hotel was great. See my post on the pre-conference for more details. It’s the people who make a stay nice and I was impressed with the staff at the Hyatt. There was lots of space in this hotel—the largest Hyatt in the world, I was told. So whether it was listening to presenters in the main ballroom or networking in the lobby, we had some much needed elbow room. Oh, and I thought the food was great!

• I really enjoyed many of the presentations this year. I made an extra effort to stay in the main ballroom and listen instead of drifting out to the lobby area to chat. But I also thought we had plenty of breaks for networking.

• The very best addition this year was a clock to keep speakers on time. The folks at CMF are genius! I never felt stuck in a so-so presentation because I knew it would soon end and not go on forever, a hallmark of bad speeches. Note to speakers: it’s quality, not quantity. Stand up. Speak powerfully. Sit down!

• The addition of “powerful discussions” was excellent and offered something for everyone. Mine had around a dozen people. A great size for talking and Q&A.

I’m sure the CMF team already has lots of ideas on how to improve the event next year, which will be the 10th anniversary of the conference. But they made great strides this year, and not just with the conference. The CMF website has been upgraded, it has an interesting blog and active Twitter handle.

I like that CMF is deeply committed to improving the conference. When they see problems, they fix them. When they see opportunities they pursue them.

My only wish is that more people would attend the Cause Marketing Forum Conference to see what a great event it is and to take advantage of the wonderful resources it offers for cause marketers in both the nonprofit and for-profit world.

I hope to see you there in 2012!