Cause Marketing News

• CauseOn Brings Consumers Bargains While Giving Back to Community
  CauseOn (www.causeon.com) today announced a new approach to online discount couponing with the launch of its first site in Portland. CauseOn will not only focus on giving consumers amazing deals, with discounts ranging from 50% to 90%, but will give up to 20% of its revenues to a cause of the customer’s choice. CauseOn also announced its first five cause partners, led by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the global leader of the breast cancer movement. (8/18/2010)  permalink
• NGO ‘One Warm Coat’ raises record funds through partnership with Burlington Coat Factory
  This is not the first time the Burlington Coat Factory has partnered with One Warm Coat. Since 2007, the mega-retail coat store has joined forces with NGO as the collection site for coat drives. Nearly one million people in need will get warm coats this winter thanks to this partnership. (8/17/2010)  permalink
• UFood Grill Announces Cause Marketing Partnership with HealthCorps(R) to Fight Teen Obesity through Unique Peer Education Program
  UFood Restaurant Group, Inc. today announced that it has created a cause marketing partnership with HealthCorps(R), Inc., a New York-based national non-profit organization founded by heart surgeon and Daytime Emmy Award Winning talk show host, Dr. Mehmet Oz. The program will generate contributions to support the HealthCorps(R) high school education program that provides experiential learning in nutrition, physical activity and mental strength in 42 high schools in 12 states. (8/17/2010)  permalink
• Kohl's Donates $2 Million to Discovery World to Create Kohl's Design It! Program
  Kohl's Department Stores (NYSE: KSS) is partnering with Discovery World in Milwaukee and donating $2 million over three years to create Kohl's Design It!, an educational program allowing kids to use advanced technology to turn designs into reality. The donation comes from the Kohl's Cares® cause merchandise program, which sells special merchandise, including plush toys and books, and donates 100 percent of the net profit to benefit children's health and education initiatives nationwide. (8/17/2010)  permalink
• Starbucks Features a Charity in Its New Digital Network
  With its own digital channel and free Wi-Fi, Starbucks comes with extras this fall. And for one charity, it may signal a boom in donations. Starbucks customers can soon donate to a nearby school's classroom project with a click of a mouse while waiting for their venti, nonfat, no foam, extra-hot chai tea latte. (8/16/2010)  permalink
• D.C. teams boosting focus on charitable giving
  For reasons idealistic, self-serving or practical, athletes and teams are putting a greater emphasis on donating money, volunteering and helping local communities -- with more commitment to providing real impact rather than just photo ops. (8/15/2010)  permalink
• P&G's Give Health Launches "Clean Water Blogivation" to Empower Female Bloggers to Be Part of the Clean Water Solution
  The Procter & Gamble Company today announced a new social sustainability and social media campaign called the Give Health Clean Water Blogivation that will kick-off at the BlogHer 2010 Conference August 6-7. (8/5/2010)  permalink
• Five-Time Grammy Award Winner Faith Hill Named Tide Loads of Hope Ambassador
  In 2005, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inspired the launch of Tide Loads of Hope, a mobile laundry service that provides clean clothes to families affected by disaster. For Faith Hill the Tide Loads of Hope program serves as an example of what people and companies can do to provide basic services to individuals in need. (8/4/2010)  permalink
• Dawn Oil Spill Ad Crowned Most Effective
  The timing was sadly prescient for an ad from Procter & Gamble's Dawn Ultra, with a cause-related message about how the dish detergent helps to save birds and other wildlife fouled by oil spills. The spot debuted on national TV April 7, just 13 days before the explosion occurred on the British Petroleum oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the ongoing environmental disaster there. The ad, which features oil-soaked birds and marine mammals being bathed in Dawn along with a pitch to buy the product and help build P&G's $1 per bottle donation fund to wildlife groups, topped the Ace Metrix list of the most creatively effective TV spots breaking in the second quarter. (7/19/2010)  permalink
• Sears and Kmart Make Shopping More Rewarding for Their Customers
  To celebrate the upcoming first anniversary of Shop Your Way Rewards, Sears and Kmart have announced the Shop Your Way Rewards 'What Would You Do with One Billion Points?' contest, to give one lucky, loyal customer the chance to win up to one billion Shop Your Way Rewards points - half to keep and the other half to donate to charity. (7/15/2010)  permalink

More CM News

Online Tools

• Aspen Institute Center for Business Education
  The Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Educationencourages future business leaders to innovate at the intersection of corporate profits and social impacts. Its goal is bold and long-term: to radically re-orient the MBA degree to embrace the principles of corporate citizenship and sustainability. Check out its website for Beyond Grey Pinstripes, its annual survey of MBA programs, outstanding faculty profiles and more. permalink
• Communicating for Good
  "Communicating for Good" is an online resource produced by Corporate Culture, the UK's leading cause-related agency. It offers hundreds of best practice examples of "trust related market": companies communicating directly with their customers to win their trust. permalink
• Community Involvement That Delivers Social Impact and Business Value
  The social case for corporate community involvement has always been easy to understand. But did you know it can also help a company achieve business goals? In American Executive, Barry Salzberg, chief executive officer, Deloitte LLP, and Evan Hochberg, national director of community involvement, Deloitte Services LP, explain just how powerful it can be. Together they note: "A new way of thinking about community involvement is yielding some surprising results and presents a real opportunity to unlock new resources for both the businesses and their community partners. The ‘aha’ moment comes when we start thinking about community involvement not simply as a matter of giving time or money (or both) but as an integrated part of one’s corporate strategy." permalink
• CSR: It's All About Marketing by C.B. Bhattarcharya
  That may sound cynical, but it's how it works best, argues Boston University Professor C.B. Bhattarcharya in this Forbes.com column.  permalink
• Generation G: A briefing from Trendwatching.com
  In February 2009, Trendwatching.com published an extensive briefing on Generation G, "the growing importance of 'generosity' as a leading societal and business mindset. As consumers aer disgusted with greed and its current dire consequences for the economy -- and while that same upheaval has them longing more than ever for instituios that care -- the need for more generosity beautifully coincides with the ongoing (and pre-recession) emergence of an online-fueled culture of individuals who share, give, engage, create and collaborate in large numbers." permalink
• Google Grants
  Google Grants offers Google AdWords advertising to nonprofit organizations for three months or more. permalink
• Guide to Cause Related Activity in the Restaurant Industry
  QSR® magazine has always found space to report on the charitable works and deeds of members of the foodservice community. But in February 2008 the editors decided to step up their efforts, and the decision was made to consolidate these stories in one place so readers, could easily learn about what the industry is doing when it comes to giving back.  permalink
• Guidestar
  For businesses researching potential nonprofit partners or nonprofits checking out the competitin, Guidestar is a good place to start. It provides free, easy access to charity profiles. permalink
• Hoover's
  This website offers free and pay information about companies, industries, people and products. A free look at one of its capsule company profiles is a great place for a nonprofit to start researching a potential business partner. permalink
• Leaders Magazine Interviews 17 CEOs on CSR
  Among the notables offering thoughts on companies and causes are the chiefs of Verizon, ExxonMobil, the NBA, Time Warner, Zurich Financial, Trump and Keyspan.  permalink
• Listmania -- Rankings of Corporate CSR
  A strong indicator of the attention being paid to corporate social responsibility is the expanding world of "Top 100"-type lists companies are vying to get on. SocialFunds.com has done us all a favor with this wrap-up of the many CSR-related lists in the marketplace today. permalink
• Look to the Stars
  Look to the Stars is a source of celebrity charity news and information, covering what the top stars are doing to make a positive difference in the world. The site includes a database describing the good deeds of many stars. permalink
• OnPhilanthropy.com
  onPhilanthropy.com is the home of several outstanding e-newsletters rich with information on corporate giving, nonprofit marketing and related topics. permalink
• Social Credit For CSR Purchases Key To Consumers
  In "Self and Social Signaling explanations for Consumption of CSR-associated Products," researches found that consumers like CSR-associated products because 1) these products send out highly visible, social signals to their friends, family and co-workers regarding their kindness and charitable nature; and 2) they like the more private, self-signaling potential associated with the purchases of these products, even when a strong public social signal is absent to others.  permalink
• Sports and Social Change
  SportsandSocialChange.org is a comprehensive guide to the sports non-profit sector, with a mission of building the ultimate “all-star team” of organizations, athletes, executives and fans to initiate meaningful social change. You’ll find a host of tools and resources to connect industry leaders and sports fans with charitable programs around the world. permalink
• The 2005 State of Corporate Citizenship Study
  For insights into business attitudes toward the private sector's role in society, check out this report just issued by The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. permalink
• The Charity Guide: Great tool for finding local charities
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• The Difference Between Sponsorship and Contributions
  This excerpt from Canada's The Sponsorship Report helps draw the line between purely commercial and purely philanthropic programs while recognizing that today most company/cause relationships are hybrids. (Note that reference to tax deductibility of corporate contributions is Canada specific) permalink
• The Future of Corporate Philanthropy: Alyson Warhurst in BusinessWeek
  British academic Alyson Warhurst attended the 2009 Business for Social Responsibility conference and Clinton Global Initiative and came away with these predictions concerning corporate social initiatives. permalink
• Virgin Mobile USA's Ron Faris on Cause Marketing: Fast Company
  Virgin Mobile USA Director of Brand Experience Ron Faris illustrates how brands can thrive in challenge environments by tying into causes their consumers care about and aligning with the right marketing partners. Ron is responsible for managing Virgin Mobile’s largest brand marketing programs, including lifestyle marketing, events and sponsorships, branded entertainment and cause-related marketing initiatives (including The RE*Generation, Virgin Mobile’s pro-social initiative committed to ending youth homelessness)  permalink