When Noel Quevreaux, President of Dot2Dot Marketing in St. Louis, Missouri, attended Cause Marketing Forum’s annual conference in May, her goal was to learn how she could use her expertise and interest in marketing and business to support a favorite cause: women 44 and younger who are battling breast cancer.
Noel was one of the participants in my Harnessing the Power of Pin-ups program. Realizing the incredible power that nonprofits and retailers have to work together and to raise money, Noel had no time to waste. She took home what she learned and has launched her own program in St. Louis.
- She started by connecting with one of her favorite charities, the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Program at the Siteman Cancer Center in her hometown. Not only would they would benefit from all the dollars raised, but the pin-up would promote an upcoming dog cause walk to benefit the program on October 15th. Noel was smart to maximize the pin-up as both a fundraiser and a promotional vehicle.
- Next, Noel targeted businesses on two fronts. Those that would sell the pin-up and those that would buy a coupon on it. Not every business wants to or can sell pin-ups so offering those businesses a spot on the pin-up is a great way to keep them involved.
- On the pin-up itself, Noel did two smart things. One I already mentioned: she promoted the dog walk. The second is displayed in huge type: “A $150 Value”. With all the coupons on her pin-up donors are also saving a lot of money. It’s a twofer that should appear on every pin-up and pass the lips of every register clerk that pitches the program to a shopper.
- One area Noel noted for improvement was the type of retailers she recruited for the program. While she recruited some great partners, a women’s fitness chain, a chain of dry cleaners, etc., she never did land that retailer with multiple locations and lots of foot traffic (e.g. supermarket, fast food restaurant, department store). Noel said this is one of the areas in which she wants to be more successful next time. Don’t we all. It truly is the key to a very successful program.
Noel’s pin-up is selling in St. Louis stores as I write, and she’s hopeful about how much it will raise. But even if this first run at pin-up success doesn’t raise a lot, Noel is confident that she gave her favorite cause and their upcoming dog walk some great exposure. And she’s right.
I like to kid around that I must have relatives in Missouri because to convince me, you have to “show me”. Noel has shown me that all the things we do here in Boston can be duplicated at local nonprofits across the country.
It’s not particularly difficult, although it is hard work. It doesn’t require special skills or lots of money. You don’t need the involvement of the big, national chains. Nor do you need to morph in to a slick, used car salesman. You just need to be like Noel. Motivated, smart, resourceful. That’s enough.
I’d love to hear from more local cause marketers just like her.
