Extensive research has shown that, by developing cause marketing partnerships, businesses and nonprofits can achieve marketing and economic success, even in today’s tough climate. According to a Cone, Inc. study, 87 percent of the public is likely to switch from one product or service to another [price and quality being equal] if the second product or service is associated with a good cause.
According to Fast Company, “Brands that engage people emotionally command prices as much as 20 to 200 percent higher than competitors’ and sell in far higher volumes.” Simply put, if you want your nonprofit to prosper, partner with a for-profit—and vice versa.
I’m not suggesting asking for donations or sponsorship, which are very hard to come by now, but rather a strategic alliance that brings together the marketing objectives of both partners, executed in a cause marketing campaign that leverages what each partner has and needs from the other. By the way, did I mention that marketing is where the real money is? That’s because marketing supports sales and fund development. Donations, if available, are great. But marketing, done right, makes the money.
For example, the American Red Cross wanted to prepare Bay Area residents for the possibility of an earthquake or other such catastrophic event. Pacific Gas & Electric wanted to prepare homeowners in case of power failures or gas leaks in an emergency. And Wells Fargo Bank was readying an ad campaign with a core message of: Prepare Today for Your Financial Security. Marketing message in common—prepare! The marketing teams met and the result was Prepare Bay Area, the most successful emergency preparedness campaign in history, with an unprecedented 1 million Bay Area residents being trained during the past four years. Wow, this stuff works.
OK, so you’re not PG&E, Wells Fargo or the Red Cross. You have a small business or a small nonprofit—but the message, strategy and potential for success is the same. Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the North Bay has had a longstanding partnership with Frank Howard Allen Realtors. Sonoma Cheese’s annual “Hit the Road Jack” 10K race benefits the Hospice of Sonoma and the local Boys and Girls’ Club. And local hair salons shave heads as part of the annual St. Baldrick’s Day to raise funds to cure kids’ cancer.
Cause marketing is based on partnership, creativity and the desire to create a greater good. Let me say that last part again: to create a greater good. When the realtors of Frank Howard Allen support Big Brothers/Big Sisters, they receive brand awareness, stimulate potential clients, deliver much needed funding to support the services of the nonprofit—and it feels great!
However, the greatest impact, the real magic, comes when your campaign focuses on the people who’ll benefit from the effort: the youth who’ll now have a life-changing mentor; those whose lives will be saved because they’re now prepared for an emergency; the women and men who won’t get breast cancer because of the research you’re helping to fund; the homeless who’ll be given shelter—that’s the greater good. This is the win-win-win promise of cause marketing. We can and should do this.
