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Hitting the Wall of Cause Marketing

Written on July 8, 2008 in Cause Marketer's Journal, Cause Practices, Cause Sales

The economy is impacting every type of business and cause marketing is no exception. I know we’ve lost our share of corporate partners this year. Just this week a major partner slashed its sponsorship from $93,000 to $7,500. Ouch! Business is off, marketing plans are changing and new faces bring new perspectives and new challenges. Here are some of the ways we’re adapting our cause marketing programs for these leaner economic times.

Keep your friends close. You know who they are. These are the companies that have drunk the cool-aid and will stick with you through good and bad. Committed partners like party-supply retailer iParty continue to generate record sales in the three mobile programs they do for us each year. As other retail partners have faltered or disappeared, we continue to work with iParty to maximize their cause marketing program and to make up the shortfall. So far it’s working.

And your enemies closer. I love the dramatic, but let me assure you: these companies aren’t your enemies. But they are the ones who want to run when things get hot in the trenches. These are the companies that you have to hand-hold through the rough spells. The ones you have to reassure that cause marketing delivers a unique benefit that can not be found anywhere else. The ones you have to give room to to adjust the timing, theme and length of their cause marketing program to fit their new reality. If they want to be an event sponsor of your April fundraiser but can’t do a point-of-sale program to pay for it until October, let them! Make it hard for them to say no and easy to stay your friend.

If you can’t bite, nibble. Because we know there are a lot fewer five and six-figure cause marketing partners for events like Halloween Town this year, we’re focusing our efforts on a three and four-figure strategy for raising money from the business community. Since corporate ticket sales for Halloween Town have always been significant ($200k since inception) we plan to drive volume with corporate ticket packages that start as low as $500. We’ve committed two sales people to calling on law firms, architects, investment houses, real estates offices, etc. Many of these businesses cannot afford or don’t want to be five or six-figure sponsors of Halloween Town, but buying $500 in tickets that they in turn can give to their employees or give back to us for distribution in the poor communities we serve is an easier yes.

Other ways we plan to “nibble” our way to more revenue with Halloween Town this year include a Door and Floor strategy. Already under-priced compared to the $23 to $25 Halloween events in Boston, Halloween Town tickets will go up at least a buck this year. This will generate thousands of dollars in additional revenue. Also, once inside, guests will be asked to pay a dollar or two for some of our most popular activities (e. g. laser tag) and will have to pay extra for things like face painting, balloon animals etc. This too will boost our bottom line.

Like hitting the wall at mile twenty during the Boston Marathon, hitting the wall of cause marketing during a tough economy is neither fun nor pretty, but it is survivable. You survive the same way you survive those last six miles: focus, perseverance and a great support team. The goal is to finish intact, unhurt, and, most importantly, unbroken. Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.

Tags: cause marketing, cause-related marketing

Other Types of Corporate Fundraising

Written on June 30, 2008 in Cause Marketer's Journal, Cause Practices, Cause Sales

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A question I got after last week’s post was what are some of the other ways I raise money from companies. If a company isn’t a retailer with foot traffic that you can run either a point-of-sale or a percentage-of-sale program, how do I make money when I’m pitching my organization to law firms, investment houses, construction companies, etc.? It’s a good question because reaching out to different industries represents a huge growth area for corporate fundraisers. Cause marketing is great, but eventually you run low on the big retailers that make these programs go. You have to diversify. Here’s how I’m expanding my corporate footprint in Boston and even retrofitting some of my current cause marketing programs for new corporate missions.

New missions for existing programs. Most of the events I run–Halloween Town, Team BMC–are cause marketing driven, but also deliver great opportunities for corporate involvement and support. For Halloween Town, companies can send volunteer groups by the dozen to participate and give back. They can also buy corporate tickets for their employees, or they can donate them back to the poor children we serve. When it comes to Team BMC, our annual Boston Marathon fundraising program, companies can buy blocks of waivers that they can use for their employees, clients and vendors. Of course, we don’t just hand over the numbers, we create a whole program for them that maximizes their chances for employee and customer involvement and satisfaction.

In-house fundraisers. One area I’ve been looking at more is workplace fundraising programs. A few weeks ago at Cause Marketing Forum, Lee Krajian from NBA-E introduced me to a good one. Lee’s company organizes gift card drives at local companies. Here’s how it works. Most people have a gift card or two that they either don’t plan to use or only has a few dollars left on it. Thanks to Lee’s company you can bring that card to your work and drop it in a collection box. He’ll extract what’s left on the card and, after taking a small fee, give what’s left to your charity of choice. Lee’s idea is simple, easy to execute in the workplace and costs the donor nothing because the gift card cost them nothing or had close to nothing left on it, or both.

Custom fundraisers. Whenever I visit a company I become their de facto charity consultant who is there to, first, help them achieve their employee and customer goals, and, second, to raise money for my organization. Some may think my order is screwed up, but I would refer them to Henry Ford:

It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.

Our success as corporate fundraisers hinges on how well we service our corporate supporters. If my prepackaged programs don’t resonate them, I find out what does. If your company loves kick-ball, how about a tournament with other employees? Better yet, how about one with other companies? Could your directors help with recruitment? The partner in charge is happy to open his home on Nantucket for function? How about a clambake for employees and clients that asks for a donation and tens minutes of their time to hear about your organization. You have a motivated group of employees who would be happy to raise money if they could get race numbers for next month’s Falmouth Road Race? Let me make a few calls and see what I can do.

Whether it’s involving companies in an existing event, designing an in-house program or customizing a program based on their goals and interests, the opportunities with companies of all industries and sizes are endless. Cause marketing is great for retailers, but what if you wanted to raise more money from other businesses? Here’s a hint: If the store you shop at doesn’t carry everything you want, you need to shop somewhere else.

Tags: cause marketing, cause-related marketing

Selling Cause Marketing in a Down Economy

Written on May 1, 2008 in Cause Marketer's Journal, Cause Sales

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There’s no doubt selling sponsorships and cause marketing is a lot harder this year than last. The cause marketing side is especially challenging as many retailers–the backbone industry for many cause marketing programs, whether it be point-of-sale or percentage-of-sale–just aren’t doing well and are looking to cut anything that’s not directly driving sales.

Here’s what we’re saying and doing to keep the partners we have and to recruit new ones.

Cause marketing drives sales. A lot of people view cause marketing as just “branding” or “identity management”. “Yeah, it helps your image but where does it really get you?,” they say. Fortunately, we’ve collected a lot of great evidence that shows that cause marketing can help companies make and save money. One of my favorite is from a retailer that made $350,000 from a coupon they had on our Halloween Town mobile. Those are the kind of results businesses want to hear about and will help get cause marketing viewed differently.

Cause marketing is free advertising. Our point-of-sale programs come at no cost to the retailer. Nothing. Zilch. Nevertheless, they are great ways to build loyalty and favorability with employees and customers, highlight in-store promotions and offers and, of course, raise money for a great cause. When one of our partners wanted to promote a new service to consumers but didn’t want to spend a lot of money advertising it, we printed the offer right on the mobile so employees could point it out and shoppers wouldn’t miss it. The retailer closed more business, we raised more money and shoppers got a great deal–all for a buck. Win-win-win.

Enlist cause marketing champions. As a nonprofit, you can only open so many doors by yourself. It helps to enlist the aid of others. Allies can include media outlets, sports teams, anyone who might have a connection or relationship with key businesses. Your pitch to them is that their advertisers are sick of ad reps showing up with expensive advertising programs. Instead, offer them something for free. Explain that if they have multiple store fronts and lots of foot traffic they can do a point-of-sale program that will raise money for a great cause and underwrite a free advertising program with their favorite radio or TV station, newspaper or sports arena. You don’t want money from the marketing budget; you want access to the store’s customers. The latter is where the real opportunity lies. There’s ten times more money to be made there than from the company checkbook. Just ask Bono and the folks at Product (RED).

Focus on other forms of corporate support. W. C. Fields said, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, and try again. Then give up.” Sometimes the moment isn’t right for cause marketing and you should look to other forms of corporate funding. Fortunately, I work for a large institution with lots of business partners so we’ve doubled our efforts in reaching out to other “friends” of the organization. Thanks in part to them our largest fundraiser of the year will set a new record next Saturday night. Of course, this type of corporate fundraising is not as challenging and interesting as cause marketing. But the dollars we’ll raise will be as good as any other until our sails fill again and we can set our sights on more lofty goals. As the Roman proverb commands, “When there is no wind, row.”