Newsletter: Firehouse Subs Sounds Alarm for Bottled Water🚨; Dunkin Makes Case for Adding Dogs to Every Cause Marketing Program 🐶 ; The Powerful One-Two Punch of Direct Mail + Email 👊
Another article - this one from the Tampa Bay Times - questioning the audacity (No, the GALL!! I'm clutching my pearls) of a retailer asking for a donation at the register!
Oh, the misery! 😩 Oh, the effrontery! 😠 Oh, the embarrassment! 😬
Give. Me. A. Break.
1. No one is forcing you. If you don't want to give, don't. It's that simple. Are you really concerned what the person in line behind you will think of you?
Last week I took my mother to Walmart for a few things and the person behind me at checkout was dressed in pajamas and robe like he had just left the Playboy Mansion. But I should be concerned that he'll tell everyone back at the motel grotto I'm a cheapskate? Really?
People complaining about the humiliation and inconvenience of being asked to donate at the register are shopping online way too much to remember who their fellow shoppers are, or how awful self-checkout can be. 👁📍
2. The myth that companies get a tax write-off for customer donations must die. Companies are merely handling the customer's gift; they don't get to take a deduction. This myth is on fire on social media - like in this TikTok video. Kudos to the writer for working to DISPEL THIS MYTH and not spreading it.
3. Point of sale isn't a violation of the "social contract" between customer and retailer. Proponents of this view say that businesses are there to sell stuff and consumers are there to buy stuff. That's it. Anything else is inappropriate.
People, it's not 1974, and - last time I checked - Milton Friedman has been dead for quite a while. Consumers have an evolving view of businesses and have put purpose and giving back on the same level as selling stuff and turning a profit.
There is no violation, but checkout charity IS VOLUNTARY. So, if the cashier asks you to donate and you don't want to, take it from Nancy Reagan: JUST SAY NO. But don't ruin it for everyone else. Because consumers said YES to $605 million in checkout donations in 2020, according to Big Dave over at Engage for Good! 🤐 👉🏼 🥧 🕳
Note: I've written about this topic before, folks. Just know that I was way off on the potential of beacon technology to replace register programs.😬 You'll be happy to know that I've stopped making predictions.
✍️ Partnership Notes
1. To collect bottled water for first responders in heat zones, Firehouse Subs is asking customers to bring in a 24-pack of water on August 7th. Check out the reward. Incentives work!
2. File this under "eternal cause marketing truths." Regardless of what a business does, or what a nonprofit's mission is, a cause partnership should always involve dogs. 🐶
3. With an aging parent myself, this article in the NY Times caught my eye. Seniors Helping Seniors is offering $100 to $500 bonuses to new hires - with $50 of that money earmarked for the Alzheimer's Association. I have questions...
You're going to automatically take $50 of my signing bonus and give it to charity - but only if I make it through the first three months? So, if I get canned on day 89 Alzheimer's gets nothing?
Wouldn't it have been better for the company to say: We'll give you a signing bonus AND the company will donate $50 to charity on your behalf?
Who gets the credit for the donation, the individual or the company?
🤑 Marketing Your Cause
1. Guys, would you wear a see-through unitard to promote prostate cancer awareness? I would, but I'm definitely going with the knee-high socks.
2. Don Draper explains why nostalgia marketing is so, so effective.
3. A powerful one-two punch 👊: Direct Mail 📬 + Email 📧.
😎 Cool Jobs in Cause
1. Director, Corporate Partnerships, Save the Children, Fairfield, CT ($79k - $110k)
2. Director, Cause Marketing, Heifer International, Remote ($75k - $98k)
3. Business Development Representative; Account Executive, Percent Pledge, Remote
4. Strategic Partnership Specialist; Corporate Partnership Specialist, Wounded Warriors, Multiple Locations
5. Director of Corporate Relations, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Boston ($54k - $70k)
Do you have a partnership position you are trying to fill? Hit reply and share the job posting with me! I'm happy to post it here for FREE.
🧠🍌 Brain Food
1. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital just hit a MAJOR fundraising milestone.😲
2. Share this with your boss. She can't afford to lose a great fundraiser like you!
3. Here's an idea. Let's appreciate our donors and treat them like actual human beings.🤭
Have a question, comment or just want to say hi? Just leave a comment below or head over to Twitter.
