Selfish Giving

APRIL 20, 2010

I want to love Komen’s new cause marketing partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken, Buckets for the Cure. I really do. The partnership is a cause marketer’s dream with 5,000 stores participating. Cause marketing programs work best with lots of locations and lots of foot traffic. KFC has both. 50 cents of every bucket ordered by restaurant operators (interesting how the donation isn’t triggered by customers buying buckets but by operators ordering them) during the promotion per

Marketing 279

Marketing Marketing Food Education 279

Nonprofit Marketing Guide

DECEMBER 7, 2010

When Marta Lindsey, the communications and development director at TransForm , told me about her experiment to see what she could learn about fundraising from all the charity solicitations that arrived in her mailbox over one year, I immediately asked if she would share the story with you. Here’s Marta’s account of what she learned. A Guest Post by Marta Lindsey.

Fundraising 206

Fundraising Fundraising Environmental Communication 206

The Agitator

DECEMBER 1, 2010

To produce this PSA? A few days ago I asked for advice on how to make a nonprofit sexy (since this is advice experts give us on marketing to Boomers). Maybe this isn’t a bad example from the American Jewish World Service! Tom.

Nonprofits 108

Nonprofits Marketing Marketing Communication 108

Fundraising Coach

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

I’ve long been a fan of Peter Shankman and the company he founded called HARO. Last month he posted a warning about free wifi that resonated with me. He gave me permission to repost it here. I hope it helps keep you safe! Remember my post back in August about how it’s time to say goodbye to free WI-Fi in coffeehouses, in airports, etc? I have never been more sure of something in my life – Today, I’ll prove it.

Children 107

Children Fundraising Fundraising 107

Speaker: Amanda Adams, Fractional CFO, CPA

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Amanda Adams, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Finance

Nonprofit Tech for Good

DECEMBER 17, 2010

Are the new Facebook Pages here? Well, yes… kinda, according to Mashable. It’s been one heck of a long, drawn out launch riddled with false starts and confusion, but it does seem that at last the new Pages are finally here. Well, kinda. The new Pages accidently went live yesterday for a few minutes before Facebook was ready, but just long enough to let the genie out of the bottle.

Nonprofits 106

Nonprofits Management Communication Marketing 106

Fundraiser Ideas

MARCH 15, 2010

Though Fundraiser-Ideas.net generally publishes one comprehensive description of a fundraising idea at a time, we know that many people are looking for ways to integrate their passion for art with their fundraising efforts and thus we decided to post a long list of art fundraising ideas. Most of these ideas would be great as elementary school fundraisers or as preschool fundraisers, but they can be adapted for other settings, of course.

Non-Profits 101

Non-Profits Fundraising Fundraising Children 101

Get Fully Funded

OCTOBER 4, 2010

I’ve heard several stories lately about Executive Directors being competitive with one another and frankly, it irritates me. What’s the point? Why waste the energy feuding over service delivery? I remember many years ago working for someone like that. He was so quick to point out the flaws in our “competitors&# and talk trash about them.

Energy 88

Energy Leadership Nonprofits Management 88

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

DECEMBER 14, 2010

This is the “holiday decoration” in the lobby of the Hippodrome located at 1120 Avenue of the Americas, owned by Edison Properties. Nice messaging: simple, inspiring and laudable. It just makes you feel good to read it - and it makes you want to do good yourself.

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Care2

DECEMBER 21, 2010

Do you think your organization has clout or Klout ? Is your organization considered a content curator? Are you a leader or a follower? Or are social media ranking tools an example of more kool-aid mix being added to the overflowing punch bowl? As more nonprofits get aggressive with their social media outreach, they are starting to take cues from the business sector about their own influence and finding “those influentials&# that they think are going to produce magical results. “Is it

Nonprofit Organizations 78

Nonprofit Organizations Nonprofit Organizations Nonprofits Technology 78

Selfish Giving

DECEMBER 20, 2010

I combed through the Selfish Giving archives and came up with the best and worst local cause marketing programs of 2010. I took the unprecedented step of not including any of my own cause marketing programs. (I know, I’m as disappointed as you are.). Here are the seven best local cause marketing programs for 2010. Program: Create-a-Sweater Pinup Program.

Marketing 260

Marketing Marketing Food Agriculture 260

Speaker: Radhika Samant and Todd Wuestenberg

Employee recognition has often been deemed a "feel-good" initiative, tied closely to rewards. While we understand its importance, we tend to associate recognition with intangible outcomes like engagement and sentiment, rather than direct impacts on retention and high performance. In today’s workplace, the true ROI of recognition lies in its ability to regenerate tangible, business-driven results.

Retention

Selfish Giving

AUGUST 24, 2010

If you’re a cause marketer or fundraiser that’s been waiting to check-in to location-based services, now may be the time as the biggest and most popular social networking site, Facebook , has just rolled out Places. All you need to get started with Places is a Facebook account, which like 500,000 million people out there you probably already have, and an iPhone.

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Marketing Marketing Fundraising Fundraising 260

Selfish Giving

JANUARY 4, 2010

It’s the beginning of a new year so let’s start fresh by defining what exactly cause marketing is.**. Keep in mind that this is my definition of cause marketing. (There are other definitions out there.). Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit. A few things about my definition. First, my definition is focused on cause marketing, not the marketing of causes.

Marketing 260

Marketing Marketing Production Advertising 260

Selfish Giving

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

This is exciting and a bit surprising that the American Red Cross is the very first charity to launch a badge on Foursquare. I had the same question as Philanthropy.com : is this really the first Foursquare badge for a cause? If you know of any others let me know. Getting the badge is a little tricky. But I like that because it makes Foursquare users work for it!

Philanthropy 257

Philanthropy Marketing Marketing Nonprofits 257

Selfish Giving

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

One of the conclusions that can be drawn from the 2010 Cause Evolution Study is that at no point in the history of cause marketing has there been a better time than now for local causes and companies to work together on point-of-sale and cause-related products. Here are the reasons why. Americans want MORE cause marketing. 83%. That’s the number of Americans that wish more of the products, services and retailers they used would support causes.

Marketing 257

Marketing Marketing Retail Production 257

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Management

Selfish Giving

MAY 24, 2010

Two news stories caught my attention last week. The first was the report that Panera had opened a “Community Cafe&# that encourages customers to “take what they need and give all they can.”. The cafe is like any other Panera except there are no prices. Customers pay what they want and what’s raised –minus expenses– goes to charity.

Philanthropy 257

Philanthropy Marketing Marketing Production 257

Selfish Giving

MARCH 31, 2010

I spend a lot of time on Twitter. It may not be the home base that my blog is, but it’s certainly where I hang out. And as a hangout it’s more like a speakeasy because the crowd is limited, just over 200 followers. That’s because I really want to get to know the people I follow and to learn from them. I never understood how you could do this following 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 people.

Public and Social Policy 257

Public and Social Policy Philanthropy Marketing Marketing 257

Selfish Giving

OCTOBER 7, 2010

This week has been all about doing cause marketing right (Ok, and staying out of court ), and I’m thrilled to share with you what another Six Figure Cause Marketing graduate, Julie Nations , has created. The Ellie Fund right here in Massachusetts has created an online cause marketing program called Give5Get15.com. The concept is simple: donate $5 and you get coupons worth at least $15 to eight local businesses.

Marketing 250

Marketing Marketing Retail Activism 250

Selfish Giving

OCTOBER 18, 2010

Last month the WSJ profiled U2′s Bono and and his wife Ali Hewson’s efforts to launch a fashion line with clothes made in sub-Saharan Africa. (Hat tip to the good folks at Cone for the lead). Edun got off to a rough start because Bono and Ali had the best of intentions, which, unfortunately, didn’t top the list of reasons consumers would pay $800 for a jacket.

Production 247

Production Activism Marketing Marketing 247

Speaker: Joe Sharpe and James Carlson

Payroll optimization can be one of the most time-consuming and complex factors of small business management. Yet, organizations that crack the code on streamlining employee compensation often discover innovative avenues for growth. With the right strategies in place, outsourcing and streamlining payroll processes can result in substantial time and resource savings.

Foundations

Selfish Giving

OCTOBER 27, 2010

I love zombie films. I can’t get enough of them, especially this time of year when the shadows from the leafless trees take on ominous shapes. Yikes! While you may not share my enthusiasm for the semi-dead, you might agree with this: most of us are surrounded by these mute, will-less, dumb, sometimes evil brutes everyday. Our zombies are the people and situations we face daily that must be avoided at all cost if we are to be successful cause marketers.

Marketing 245

Marketing Marketing Retail Production 245

Selfish Giving

DECEMBER 8, 2010

In all the years I’ve been doing cause marketing Finagle-A-Bagel is one my favorite partners. They don’t raise the most money. Not even close. They can’t boast the hippest programs. They raise most of their money through simple coin canisters at their registers. But the qualities they share with our best partners are irreplaceable: dedication and persistence.

Marketing 244

Marketing Marketing 244

Selfish Giving

OCTOBER 6, 2010

I got a lot of comments–both online and off–about the Sweaters for Seniors cause marketing program that I posted on Friday. People loved it. It was just such a wonderful idea, especially in this month of &# pink&# when it seems the seediest cause marketing initiatives take root. Yesterday on Twitter it was hard lemonades to benefit breast cancer research.

Marketing 242

Marketing Marketing 242

Selfish Giving

JULY 21, 2010

Imagine this: you visit your local supermarket and are asked to support a local food pantry. You a buy a pinup for a buck. On your receipt is message that you can learn more about the cause you just supported by scanning this barcode with your smartphone. In your car before you leave the supermarket parking lot you run your iPhone over the barcode and a one minute video airs on a food pantry like no other.

Marketing 240

Marketing Marketing Food Production 240

Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand

Is your organization ready to build a recurring giving program that not only sustains but also propels your mission forward? 🚀 In this new webinar with industry visionary Tim Sarrantonio, we’ll guide you through the critical steps to establishing and scaling a successful recurring giving program. Whether you’re starting fresh or enhancing an existing program, this session will provide the strategies you need to deepen donor relationships and secure long-term support!

Nonprofits

Selfish Giving

APRIL 26, 2010

Having escaped the bonds of traditional philanthropy, cause marketers set forth for the land of milk and honey. During their journey, a tribe among the cause marketers, called Komen, made a great golden [deep-fried] chicken and they worshiped it. Everyone got really pissed. And they complained of the golden chicken. To avoid ever having another stupid golden chicken, the cause marketers agreed to these 10 commandments of cause marketing. #1 You shall know what cause marketing is.

Marketing 238

Marketing Marketing Philanthropy Values 238

Selfish Giving

OCTOBER 4, 2010

It’s easy to look back now and call TwitChange a big success. But that’s not what it looked like at the beginning. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal , Shaun King , the Atlanta pastor behind the effort said 45 of the 50 friends he initially pitched the idea to thought it wouldn’t work. But King understood something they didn’t.

Marketing 236

Marketing Marketing Management Fundraising 236

Selfish Giving

MAY 10, 2010

It was only a matter of time before it happened. In some ways I’m surprised it even took a week. It began with this tweet from fellow cause marketer Steve Drake : White Castle is selling a hamburger and onion scented candle in their restaurants and online for ten bucks with proceeds (good luck finding out how much, but this article says the promotion will raise $50,000) going to Autism Speaks.

Marketing 233

Marketing Marketing Food Health 233

Selfish Giving

JULY 12, 2010

A lot of people come to my blog for cause marketing advice, but Tricia Wilkerson, Senior Marketing Specialists at Conifer Health Solutions, found inspiration. While my posts didn’t uncover exactly what Tricia was looking for, they did get her thinking (she told me afterward) and I’m thankful she took the time to share with me the cause marketing program Conifer created.

Marketing 230

Marketing Marketing Healthcare Health 230

Speaker: Radhika Samant and Adri Glover

The world of work has fundamentally changed. The series of waves that the pandemic began have rippled through the Great Resignation, quiet quitting, the Great Regret, and other eloquent phrases that boil down to the same thing: people aren’t engaged at work or enabled to perform at their best. The truth is that engagement and enablement is more important than ever, but how we do it is the critical differentiator for many organizations.

Activism

Selfish Giving

AUGUST 30, 2010

We all love Groupon , right? They offer us great deals with savings from 50% to 90% and if enough people sign-up for the deal everyone wins. Now a Portland-based company has launched Causeon. Same concept as Groupon , but Causeon offers up to 20% of its revenues to causes. When Causeon launches in Portland this week the local chapters of Komen, YMCA and Girls, Inc. and others will be in line to receive checks.

Marketing 230

Marketing Marketing Retail Recruitment 230

Selfish Giving

DECEMBER 30, 2010

Starting yesterday in Times Square Massachusetts-based SCVNGR teamed up with teen clothing retailer American Eagle on a New Year’s program aiming to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters. This location-based cause marketing program asks consumers to complete challenges on SCVNGR to raise cash for BBBS. Such challenges include “2010 was…” and players are asked to describe their year, “Spot the Eagle,” which asks them to snap a picture with the eagle on the Times Square billboard and “What’s yo

Marketing 226

Marketing Marketing Retail 226

Selfish Giving

APRIL 12, 2010

The majority of calls I take on cause marketing are from budget-conscious small nonprofits raising anywhere from a few hundred thousand to a few million a year. They have a small staff and one or two development people, who usually have other responsibilities like marketing or public relations (or sometimes everything!). They also have limited resources and can’t invest in new staff, advertising or training.

Marketing 226

Marketing Marketing Advertising Communication 226

Selfish Giving

JUNE 7, 2010

I had a great time at this year’s Cause Marketing Forum Conference. Did you? Here’s what I liked about this year’s event. A few things I didn’t. And some suggestions for next year. Then it will be your turn. Hospital Corporate Development Summit. Now, I’m bias here, because I taught the session with two outstanding colleagues, Maureen Carlson and Phil McCarty , but I believe the program really has some great potential.

Marketing 225

Marketing Marketing Law Activism 225

Speaker: Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader

In today’s competitive market, pricing is more than just a number — it’s the cornerstone of profitability. The right pricing strategy ensures that you capture the true value of your offering, paving the way for sustainable growth and long-term success. Join Igli Laci, Strategic Finance Leader, in this exclusive session where he will explore how a well-crafted pricing approach balances customer perception with business objectives, creating a powerful tool for securing both competitive advantage a

Finance