Selfish Giving

Selling Cause Marketing in a Down Economy

There's no doubt selling sponsorships and cause marketing is a lot harder this year than last.  The cause marketing side is especially challenging as many retailers--the backbone industry for many cause marketing programs, whether it be point-of-sale or percentage-of-sale--just aren't doing well and are looking to cut anything that's not directly driving sales. 

Here's what we're saying and doing to keep the partners we have and to recruit new ones.

Cause marketing drives sales.  A lot of people view cause marketing as just "branding" or "identity management".  "Yeah, it helps your image but where does it really get you?," they say.  Fortunately, we've collected a lot of great evidence that shows that cause marketing can help companies make and save money.  One of my favorite is from a retailer that made $350,000 from a coupon they had on our Halloween Town mobile.  Those are the kind of results businesses want to hear about and will help get cause marketing viewed differently.

Cause marketing is free advertising.  Our point-of-sale programs come at no cost to the retailer.  Nothing.  Zilch. Nevertheless, they are great ways to build loyalty and favorability with employees and customers, highlight in-store promotions and offers and, of course, raise money for a great cause.  When one of our partners wanted to promote a new service to consumers but didn't want to spend a lot of money advertising it, we printed the offer right on the mobile so employees could point it out and shoppers wouldn't miss it.  The retailer closed more business, we raised more money and shoppers got a great deal--all for a buck.  Win-win-win.

Enlist cause marketing champions.  As a nonprofit, you can only open so many doors by yourself.  It helps to enlist the aid of others.  Allies can include media outlets, sports teams, anyone who might have a connection or relationship with key businesses.  Your pitch to them is that their advertisers are sick of ad reps showing up with expensive advertising programs.  Instead, offer them something for free.  Explain that if they have multiple store fronts and lots of foot traffic they can do a point-of-sale program that will raise money for a great cause and underwrite a free advertising program with their favorite radio or TV station, newspaper or sports arena.  You don't want money from the marketing budget; you want access to the store's customers.  The latter is where the real opportunity lies.  There's ten times more money to be made there than from the company checkbook.  Just ask Bono and the folks at Product (RED).

Focus on other forms of corporate support.  W. C. Fields said, "If at first you don't succeed, try, and try again.  Then give up."  Sometimes the moment isn't right for cause marketing and you should look to other forms of corporate funding.  Fortunately, I work for a large institution with lots of business partners so we've doubled our efforts in reaching out to other "friends" of the organization.  Thanks in part to them our largest fundraiser of the year will set a new record next Saturday night.  Of course, this type of corporate fundraising is not as challenging and interesting as cause marketing.  But the dollars we'll raise will be as good as any other until our sails fill again and we can set our sights on more lofty goals.  As the Roman proverb commands, "When there is no wind, row."

Cause Marketing the Marathon '08

Patriot's Day Monday is always a big deal here in Boston.  There are the reenactments of the battles at Lexington and Concord that started the American Revolution.  The Red Sox always play at Fenway.  But, of course, the big event is the annual running of the Boston Marathon.  Among the thousands of runners clogging the streets from Hopkinton to Boston are the many charity runners who run to raise money for mainly Boston-based causes.

As a fundraiser it's a pretty simple one.  You start in September by hoarding all the "charity waivers" you can get, which are each worth at least $3,000 to your organization (one waiver on our team was worth $20k!).  You assemble your team, teach them how to raise money and train them to run 26 miles without ending up in an ambulance.  We rely on Boston-based Fitcorp for the latter. 

This year, we collected 35 waivers and to-date have raised $155,000.  This isn't as much as some of the bigger teams in Boston that had a lot more waivers, but we were happy with what we raised, and it really didn't require a lot of work.

Of course, my line of work is cause marketing, not event marketing, so I'm always looking for ways to get more companies involved in our Boston Marathon program.  Here's what has worked so far.

Selling companies blocks of waivers.  In a lot of programs you get one person from this company, another from that company and so on.  What we've tried is to give a bunch of numbers to one company so that they really get behind the program.  It worked the best a couple years ago when Jordan's Furniture took around a dozen.  Eliot's two sons ran on the team and Jordan's even toyed with the idea of putting their furniture out on the course as part of their "cheering" section.  How cool would that have been?  Anyway, we've raised more money and had better programs because we've bundled our numbers and focused our recruitment on a few specific companies.  You may not have a marathon program in your area, but the same idea would work with a cause walk.

Selling companies access to the marathon course.  Companies are a bit challenged when it comes to marketing themselves along the Boston Marathon course.  Unless they're an official sponsor, which is pretty expensive, they're not really suppose to be hawking their goods and wares along the course.  One way around this is to be with someone who should and can be out on the course, like a charity partner.

Let me give you an example.  Toyota of New England partnered with us for this year's marathon.  For a five-figure investment, they got their name on our running Jerseys, all promotional materials, including our popular bam-bams, which we distributed by the hundreds on marathon day.  We also promised them a spot right next to our tent along Commonwealth Avenue where they could pitch their own and park a brand new Toyota. 

But it almost didn't happen because they showed up before we did and just as they pulled their car along the course a cop told them to move it.  "You not on the list," he said.  After we showed up and spoke to the cop, Toyota had its spot back on the marathon course and us alongside them.  It wasn't because the hospital was on the map, because we weren't.  We got on the course because we explained we were a charity (who served helpless, poor, needy children) cheering on our runners and Toyota was a kind supporter.  I also think it helped that the cop knew were were a hospital and while we had no medical personnel with us, it gave us some legitimacy to be on the course.  Fortunately, our tent was right next to the American Red Cross who really were there to help runners!

Thanks to corporate sponsors of this year's marathon program, we raised an additional $20,000.  With Patriot's Day behinds us, the Boston Marathon program goes back into the cause marketing tool box of different programs my team uses to address the varying marketing needs of our clients and potential clients.  We can't forget that marathon is just one tool with a specific function.  It's nice to know you have a screwdriver, but not when you need a hammer.  That's why like any other trade, cause marketing should be plied with a variety tools.

Cause Marketing: The Trailer

Something we didn't do the first two years of Halloween Town was record the event so we could share the footage with prospective partners.  Seeing is believing with Halloween Town, and if we couldn't get them to come to the event having a video for them to watch would be the second best thing.  But for whatever reason we never did it.  Until we made it a priority at last year's event.

Our new sales video captures all the great sets we built for the event, the brandland experience we created for our partners, how the event benefited the hospital and all the Halloween fun our 13,000 guests had!  Our event marketing firm, wedu, did a great job shooting and editing the piece.

Having a sales video like this is all about not giving a prospect a reason to say no.  Without video, you're left to your words, which don't always sway prospects by themselves.  Some people--probably most people these days--are visual thinkers that insist on seeing before believing. (Either that or they're all from Missouri. Good question for Mike Swenson over at Citizen Brand.)

This isn't the first time I've used video to make a point.  When I worked at public television back in 2000 I realized that we were letting potential underwriters get away every time we talked about a PBS program they hadn't seen.  We solved this by buying a small television and toting along clips of every show we produced.  "Never seen Frontline?  Check out this clip."  Video made PBS a lot more tangible and kept the conversation going when in the past it had stopped cold.

So how will we use the Halloween Town clip?  We'll share it with sponsors.  But we won't just blindly send it out to prospects.  Like a foreign film, it needs interpretation and elaboration, which can only be done by the trained sales person that will accompany it wherever it goes.

Watch our new Halloween Town sales video here.

Cause Marketing & The Beanstalk

On Wednesday I spoke at the Center for Nonprofit Success program on cause marketing.  It was held at the conference center at UMass Boston, a truly spectacular building with beautiful views of the ocean and state-of-the-art conference rooms with all the latest gadgets and gizmos.  Besides having a little trouble parking, it was a great place to have an event.

My co-presenter was Miriam May, the wonderfully articulate Executive Director for the Massachusetts Chapter of Komen for the Cure.  Together we spoke to a good crowd of 50 nonprofit professionals on our respective cause marketing programs.  Of course, there was a big difference between mine and Komen's cause marketing efforts. 

They're raising tens of millions of dollars and I'm not (even close).  They're working with a long list of some of the biggest and best brands in American business.  I'm working with handful of great companies here in eastern Massachusetts.  Their program has been around for years.  Mine only four.  The contrasts between our two programs made for an interesting presentation that I think everyone found informative.  I know I was reminded of a few things:

Nonprofits have a lot to learn about marketing.  Whenever I speak with nonprofit professionals they are always eager to learn more about marketing their organizations--hence the interest in cause marketing.  But I think much of the interest in cause marketing comes from a greater desire to better market their organization in general.  Unfortunately, they're not getting a lot of help in that area--except from the Nonprofit Success folks who just this year added a cause marketing program.  At least they're headed in the right direction.  Last week, the Mass. chapter of AFP had their annual philanthropy conference in Boston.  They had like a thousand people at the event.  And not one speaker on cause marketing and other programs on marketing were pretty slim.  How sad is that.

Cause marketing isn't for the faint of heart.  A lot of small nonprofits see how much money the big shops are making on cause marketing and get all starry-eyed about the potential for them.  The reality is that starting and maintaining a cause marketing program is hard work, expensive, risky and generally unprofitable in the beginning.  The big shops we all admire paid their dues long ago and are now reaping the rewards of their efforts.  There are no free rides in cause marketing.  The gods sell all things for a fair price.

Giants are best viewed from afar.  Big cause marketing operations like Komen, St. Jude, Product RED and Make-a-Wish are the giants in cause marketing.  It's great to look up to them, but they shouldn't be your role models.  Why not?  For the same reason the late runner-philosopher George Sheehan discouraged average runners from getting their training advice from elite marathoners: "They're animals."  What George meant was that elite runners are in a whole different class, have different rules and have unique metrics for measuring success.  In short, if copying a successful program like Komen's doesn't intimidate or frustrate you, it will most certainly mislead you. 

Become Jack the giant slayer.  The Big Boys (and Girls) are cautious and conservative, and with good reason.  They have valuable brands and fat coffers to protect.  You probably don't--and you should take advantage of your lowly state.  Be more nimble, try new things and accept more risk.  Jack outsmarted the giant and eventually slew him.  You can too--if you can use put your wits to good use as Jack did. 

Cause marketing is not a stand alone.  It's not a cure-all.  You still need to write grants and chase major donors.  Cause marketing can enhance your success in these areas but it will never replace them.  It's like thinking that the Internet and email will be THE medium (like I did in 1999) instead of just another medium alongside print, TV, radio, direct mail, etc.  In short, start a cause marketing program today.  But budget your time and resources accordingly, and don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

Cause marketing requires the right mindset.  Good cause marketers are progressive, curious, entrepreneurial, competitive, savvy, creative, fearless, stubborn, realistic and opportunistic.  If you're planning to start a cause marketing program but don't have at least a few of these qualities, you might want to pursue a different track in fundraising.  Taking a chance on a few worthless beans and battling a giant for a questionable pot of gold isn't everyone's idea of a fun day at work.

Healthy Promise Fund

I know: I talk incessantly about mobile programs--especially in the fall when we do our key programs.  But I blather for good reason: mobile programs are simply the easiest and most lucrative cause marketing program to execute. 

Mobiles remind me of another great program I did in the early 90's when I started my fundraising career at MDA.  A big part of my first job was visiting fire houses and setting up fundraising programs with local firefighters.  They could choose from a host of fundraisers--golf tournaments, athons, dances, jail 'n bails--but most chose to do a simple boot drive.  You've seen 'em: firefighters stand outside a supermarket or intersection and ask people to fill a big, ugly, smelly fire boot.  Pretty.  No.  Easy?  Yes.  Lucrative?  Very.  You could raise thousands of dollars in a matter of hours.  The same is true of a well executed mobile program.  If you have a store with lots of foot traffic and employees motivated to ask every customer for a buck or more at the register, you can raise a lot of money.

Making a lot of money--and spreading the word of the importance of safety-net health care to every community--is one of the reasons we've always wanted to extend our mobile program beyond Massachusetts.  If we can make hundreds of thousands of dollars locally, how much could we make with a national program?  Folks like Children's Miracle Network and St. Jude's and Komen make millions off of their national mobile programs.  But how could a Boston-based hospital join the ranks of these elite nonprofits?

Flatter someone. The hospital I work for has pretty low visibility even here in Massachusetts, so our brand would never sell nationally.  Besides, "Boston" is in our name, and that just isn't going to sell in other major markets.  We needed to create a new brand that represented a coalition of public hospitals.  Thankfully, it had all been done before by another organization: Children's Miracle Network.  Even powerhouses like Children's Hospital Boston knew they could never forge national partnerships alone so they joined an upstart organization started by a future fainter on Dancing with the Stars.  Yep, Marie Osmond.  Since then, CMN has been helping Children's Hospitals across the country create national cause marketing programs with retailers like Walmart and Kroger and CVS to name a few.

Choose a name and logo you can live with.  I couldn't believe how hard this was.  We enlisted the help of Boston-based Kelley Habib John, which has worked on St. Jude's Thanks and Giving.  I couldn't believe the number of names that had already been trademarked and how few domain names we had to chose from.  Healthy Promise Fund wasn't my first choice, but it was a name I could live with.  I tried not to get too hung up on getting the name just right.  Meaning is in people, not in words.  If we did our part in creating a great brand for donors, our name would have the same powerful meaning as names like Project Red--and Starbucks on the for profit side--has come to have in a very short time.  I just need to find my "Bono."

Reach out to your friends.  Fortunately, here in Mass. a number of national companies are locally based.  An early supporter of HPF has been Staples.  Staples has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for us here in New England have interest in expanding the program to other markets.  They've joined us in meetings with national companies and have definitely given our new initiative a jolt of credibility.

Gather your assets.  A great thing about a coalition is that most members can add value by having a local contact or partnership that can get you in the door.  Who has sponsored your events?  What companies have their headquarters in your area?  Who do you live next to, play cards with, can pick up the phone and call?  These are some of the questions we're asking the development directors at 144 public hospitals in 34 states.

Be patient.  National cause marketing programs don't happen overnight.  CMN has been around for 25 years!  It takes time to build a brand and relationships.  But unlike some of the things I do to raise money, HPF is definitely worth doing.  It will be good for my hospital, public hospitals in general and has the potential to raise millions and millions of dollars--with more than just a little skill and luck.  How many golf tournaments, dances, athons and jail 'n bails can you say that about?   

Dealing with Unhappy Sponsors

Having an unhappy sponsor or two, especially after a big, splashy event like Halloween Town, is part of life.  I figure there will always be unhappy customers so you might as well learn how to deal with them.  Here are a few tips on what I do when my sponsors lose their happy face.

Don't take it personal.  The sponsor probably knows you tried your best, you just came up short in delivering the goods.  It's about what was agreed on and what was provided.  It's not about whether or not you're a good or bad person.

Let them vent.  This is always a tough one for me because I want to argue my case.  Deep down I want to show the sponsor that I'm right and they're wrong.  But you have to accept that that won't make the situation any better.  What will is letting the sponsor unload on you.  And just don't tune them out.  Remember, they're sowing the seeds for what can become a productive conversation.

Acknowledge. Explain. Repeat.  If the sponsor isn't happy just venting and wants an exchange instead, start by acknowledging their disappointment: "I'm sorry you were disappointed with the set design."  Then, very briefly, explain yourself: "We told you that the set was a three year process and there would be less decor the first year."

Focus on the positive.  All of the programs we run here in cause and event marketing offer a lot of value for sponsors.  I remind my sponsors of their windfall so I can isolate their complaints.  I don't try to dismiss their concerns, but I do want to put them in the larger context of what was achieved. 

Focus on the fix and the future.  When a sponsor complained about their zone at Halloween Town this year I did all the above, but I put most of my energy into developing next steps.  I showed them how I planned to solve the problem next year so it would never be a problem ever again!  Sponsors are just people: they're solution-oriented and just want to know their complaints are being heard and solved.

Take the fight to them.  In talking about the future, I always make sure to zero in on things the sponsor needs to improve.  My "fix" always includes ways the sponsor could help address the problem.  A sponsor that's worried about their branding at Halloween Town could have more staff on-site to take ownership for their area and to execute a flawless experience for guests.      

Halloween Town 2007

For the third year in a row, Halloween Town was a big success. Over two days we had 13,000 attendees, which was up 35 percent from the previous two years.

Halloween Town is set up much like a town with each area sponsored by a different corporate partner.  Here's a summary of how each partner participated and what they did to support the event.

After passing through the gates of Halloween Town (and receiving a copy of the Halloween Town Gazette hot off the presses!), visitors first entered the Haunted Midway, which was hosted by Pepsi.  In addition to providing some valuable pre-promotion for the event, Pepsi brought an entire zone of games, activities and healthy flavored waters for our guests to sample.  No wonder Pepsi's area was one of the busiest!

Across from Midway was the Farmers Market, which was dominated by the pumpkin patch sponsored by Shaw's Supermarkets.  In addition to giving us 6,500 pumpkins--large ones for decorations and small ones for the kids to decorate--Shaw's sold tickets and mobiles in their stores and hung Halloween Town posters and register signs.  Shaw's has been on board with Halloween Town since the beginning and there is good reason why: attendees consistently rank their pumpkin patch the number one attraction and activity at Halloween Town.

Diagonally across from the Farmers Market was the Haunted Library and Bank, which was sponsored by Citizens Bank.  From the bank, kids could withdraw Spooky Dollars branded with the Citizens logo that then could be used at the iParty Store.

On the other side was the Halloween Town Speedway, which was sponsored by Valvoline Instant Oil Change.  Valvoline has been with Halloween Town since the beginning and I actually have The Jimmy Fund and Jiffy Lube to thank for their involvement.  If I hadn't attended a brown-bag talk on how the two formed a successful cause marketing partnership, I would have never thought to approach Jiffy Lube's competitor Valvoline Instant Oil Change!  Valvoline sells mobiles in their service centers, and despite only seeing 50-60 customers day, has raised tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Next to Valvoline was the Halloween Town store and main stage, both sponsored by iParty.  The store was great because iParty stocked it with all sorts of fun products and 100 percent of sales went directly to the Kids Fund.  In addition to selling the Halloween Town mobile in their stores, iParty also ran two other mobile programs earlier this year.  They also tag all their October advertising with Halloween Town promos.  This is all great promotion for the event.

The last zone on the other side of the stage was Hallowood Hills, which was sponsored by Staples.  This area was a lot of fun because everyone was treated like a star!  You're applauded when you arrive on the red carpet, invited to take a "scream test" and then meet some of your favorite "stars" like Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles and Garfield.  Staples sells the mobile in their New England stores and was second only to iParty in mobile sales.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll meet with our corporate partners to share the results from the 300+ surveys we collected during the two-day event.  This gives them some valuable insight on demo breakdown for attendees, where they traveled from, how they heard about the event, where they bought their tickets, what activities they liked the most and suggestions for next year.  Overall we thought the event was great this year, but there are always areas for improvements.  We just have to ask our customers.  Halloween Town must bring the devil out in them because they always have lots of good, candid feedback!

Countdown to Halloween Town: Character Training

Last night we had our first ever costume character training session.  Every year at Halloween Town we have dozens of volunteers suit up to entertain the children.  We've had every character you can think of and this year we'll have Garfield, Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, Maisy, Franklin, Curious George and Winnie the Pooh, to name a few. 

Because this is the first year we're using licensed characters at Halloween Town, our marketing agency, wedu, felt it was important that our professional costumes be filled with professional people to preserve the integrity of the costume and to give our young guests the best experience possible.

Wedu knows what they're talking about.  The trainer they sent, Kevin Roberge, use to work for Disney and has played just about every costume character under the sun. Some of the advice Kevin shared included:

Safety.  For the child as well as the character.  Bulky costumes can sometimes lead to accidents if you're not aware just how big and heavy say Barney's head is.  Hot is the best word to describe the inside of a costume.  Kevin advised bringing 8 to 10 t-shirts so you can change during each break and stay dry.

Needs of the clients.  Kevin really stressed just how big the responsibility is for a costume character.  Kids REALLY believe you are the character and you should not disappoint them by acting out of character (e.g. Dora carries a backpack, not a bag).  Also, remember, you're there to entertain the children, not other characters or escorts.

Performance and animation.  This was very interesting.  One thing I learned was just how much effort you need to put in to waving and jumping around.  Because of the size and weight of the costume regular energy looks like low energy.  We also got some training on what to do when a costume character's worst nightmare comes true: you lose your head and expose yourself to the world.

So being a costume character can be dangerous, hot, uncomfortable and exhausting.  But it also can be very rewarding.  A child's eyes light up when they see you and Kevin said the hugs are amazing!  It's not just the child who walks away with a great memory. 

Countdown to Halloween Town: TV Spots

Halloween Town Goes Outdoors

A new way we're promoting Halloween Town this year is through our very own billboard.  This one is in a great spot: 93 North near Exit 15.  With the bumper-to-bumper traffic Route 93 has every weekday, 50,000 cars will pass by it (very slowly!).

A number of people have already mentioned the billboard to us in calls and emails, and it seems to be complementing our other forms of promotion.  Outdoor advertising has worked well for other events in this area (e.g. Spookyworld, King Richard's Faire) so it was on the top of our list of new media to invest in this year.

Next year we want to add a billboard on the Mass Pike.  The research we've done at past Halloween Towns points to a strong audience coming from west of Boston.  This is great because it's largely an affluent, educated audience that make great customers/donors.  Of course, we're not the only ones who want to reach this audience, which explains why the rates for outdoor advertising along the Pike are so high.  I'll have to concoct a Halloween spell for next year! 

Countdown to Halloween Town: Pitch & Deliver

Halloween Town is just 17 days away!  This week we're visiting retailers (Staples, iParty, Finagle a Bagel, Shaw's, Valvoline Instant Oil Change) that are selling mobiles to help promote the event and to raise money for the hospital.  Whenever we visit a group of employees to educate them about the program, I briefly discuss several key areas.

First, I tell them where the money is going and how the hospital will benefit.  I really try to stress the disadvantaged population we serve and how we have programs that treat the "whole" family.  I also stress that while most of us don't choose to get our medical care from a public hospital, it's great to know that the public hospital in Boston is just as good at caring for patients as any other hospital in the area.

The second thing I talk about is what they stand to gain from the program.  I tell them how supporting the community is good for business.  I also tell them about the incentive program we've created to reward them for their hard work on behalf of the hospital.  I also make sure that every employee I speak to gets free tickets to Halloween Town so they can see firsthand the incredible event they've supported and we've created for the children of Boston.  Employees appreciate the gesture.

Third, I talk about the absolutely most important component of any successful mobile program: the ask.  You can have signage all over your store and buttons on employees and a special message running on the PA system and a stack of mobiles sitting near the register but if you DON'T ask the customer to buy one an incredible thing happens.  They don't!  Every customer at the register needs to be asked a very simple question: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help a sick child?"  Some will say yes and some will say no, but you won't sell any if you don't ask.  Every morning I get my coffee and the clerk asks me: "Would you like any donuts or muffins today?"  I always say no, but I see a lot of people who don't.  It's a numbers game that you can't hope to win unless you ask the question.

The message I try to leave employees with is that what they're doing is an easy, powerful, effective and lucrative way to support the hospital, to build customer loyalty and to help needy kids.  But as Jack Falvey once told me, "nothing happens in this world until somebody sells something."  A lot of good can come of the program, but it all starts with them.

Countdown to Halloween Town: The Empire Strikes Back

24 Days until the big day!  We kicked off the sale of Halloween Town tickets yesterday by inviting Darth Vader and a few Storm Troopers to Shaw's Supermarket in Waltham, Mass.  As you can see Channel 5's David Brown made the mistake of cutting in line and had to pay the ultimate price.  Darth assured David that he wasn't his father.

Thanks to the gals at the Herald's Inside Track for taking and printing this great photo.

The Shaw's store looked great yesterday.  There was signage on the doors, register poles and customer service desk.  Shoppers can buy Halloween Town tickets when they checkout and clerks are asking shoppers to buy mobiles at the customer service desk.  Shortly before the Halloween Town weekend, October 27-28, Shaw's stores will stuff bags with Halloween Town brochures to help promote the event.

Last year, Shaw's was a key stop for many Halloween Town attendees because they sold discounted tickets.  Confirming that Halloween activities are a last minute decision for many families, Shaw's sold thousands of tickets the weekend of Halloween Town.

Shaw's has been a great partner for Halloween Town.  They're the annual sponsor of the "Farmers Market" at Halloween Town.  They ship in 15,000 pumpkins for the kids to decorate and take home.  They also have an antique Shaw's delivery truck on display that has become a key spot for family pictures (and wonderful memories).  Of course, this is great branding and Shaw's loves it!

Countdown to Halloween Town: Mobile Madness

Just as we're preparing to ship over 300,000 Halloween Town mobiles for sale at various retailers during the month of October, I came across an article from the gang at Think Personality that gave me hope that there is an easier, more eco-friendly way to do point-of-purchase programs.

Kevin writes about The JC Penny After School Fund, which you can read about here and here.  Much like the mobiles we sell, Kevin was asked at the register if he would like to donate or, in his case, "round-up" his tab to the nearest dollar.  The beauty is that it involved no mobiles--or "paper icons" as they are sometimes called--which can be a horrible waste of paper and money.  Our Halloween Town mobile program raises hundreds of thousands of dollars, but many boxes of mobiles--some not even opened!--end up in the trash.

It seems crazy not to follow JC Penny's lead and have a simple "register ask" program, but there are some challenges.

First, the mobile is a very visible icon of the donor's support for the hospital.  Shoppers write their names on them and stores hang them all over the place.  iParty stores string the mobiles from the ceilings and plaster them on walls and registers.  It really makes the program much more visible and impactful.  Dare I say more successful because shoppers are made much more aware of the program and are more likely to purchase one?

Second, for us, the mobile is more than just a fundraising tool, it's a promotional tool for Halloween Town.  Each mobile includes information about the event and, in previous years, has even included a discount on admission.  Does it work?  You bet it does.  One in five attendees learned about the event from a mobile they bought.

Third, the mobile is important to sponsors that include their coupons on it.  They especially like the fact that their coupon is distributed in six other retail chains during the busy month of October.  For instance, iParty's 40 stores are very busy in October--as Halloween, not surprisingly, is their biggest holiday all year--and they see up to 60,000 customers in just one weekend.

So it doesn't look like we'll be getting rid of our printed mobiles anytime soon.  Although we will try to manage the numbers and costs so we aren't wasting money, time and trees.

Two comments on Kevin's post.  First, he bemoans that the JC Penny program was only a month long.  While I totally agree with Kevin that a program longer than a month would be better, register programs have a lifespan of a month or less.  With our programs, I've found that checkout employees begin to lose steam after two weeks.  Our mobile programs generally run about a month too.  But the fundraising numbers from the first two weeks--even with threats, incentives, pep talks, etc.--are very different from the second.

Second, Kevin rightfully mentions that the JC Penny program has no credibility and no visibility with consumers.  Who the heck has heard of it?  I know two people who haven't: Kevin and me!  But, truthfully, I don't think consumers really care.  I've always thought that consumers are more concerned that a company is doing something in the community and less about what and for whom.  iParty will sell our Halloween Town mobiles in Florida next month and they'll sell as well there as they would in Boston--even with the BMC name on it.  It's really all about the ask.  That Florida checkout clerk is trained NOT to ask the shopper to donate a buck to a Boston hospital.  Instead they ask: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help a sick child."  Who can say no to that?

As far as the wisdom of JC Penny running an in-house program as opposed to working with a well known charity like the Salvation Army or the United Way, Penny's "After School Fund" could be the right course for the retailer.  When I was a kid we had a restaurant down the street from my house.  Every year the week before Labor Day they had all sorts of posters and cannisters displayed to raise money for Jerry Lewis and MDA.  Then one year it was all gone.  I asked the manager why.  "We raise money for our own charity now," he replied.  "Have you ever heard of the Ronald McDonald House?"

Wii Play for a Cause

So much for the lazy days of summer.  This one has been a busy one for the cause and event marketing team at BMC.  We had our annual Gala in June, followed by our first Retail Therapy event the following weekend.  July and August each had major golf tournaments.  The result: we raised over $2 million this summer.

Another program we launched this summer was a partnership with a local sports bar and Boston's own Weekly Dig to host a Nintendo Wii fundraiser.  The program was developed by Holt Murray on my team.  You can learn more about it by watching this short video.

Looking ahead to the fall we have some great programs to launch.

Halloween Town.  The new web site should be live today or tomorrow so check it out.  This will be our third year hosting Halloween Town and we have some ambitious goals that I'll be posting on in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, check out our sponsors at the bottom of the homepage.

Healthy Promise Fund.  This is the new national cause marketing initiative we hope to roll out with other public hospitals across the country.  It's like the coalition for Children's Hospitals, Children's Miracle Network, but ours is for safety-net hospitals.  Incidentally, the new cause marketing network on the block is the Cancer Research Alliance, a coalition of cancer hospitals that includes Boston's own Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  We're in the final stages of a logo and tag so I'll have something to share with you soon.

Boston Marathon.  Like all the other charities that got Boston Marathon waivers last year, we raised a lot of money.  Our challenge this year is that we've completed our three-year rotation and won't be getting anymore numbers, at least not from the BAA.  This actually isn't the worse thing.  Thanks to our own resourcefulness, we'll "find" 40 or 50 waivers for the marathon.  The bigger challenge will be recruiting runners without exposure on the BAA web site.  We use to get tons of calls from runners looking to run for charity--and all because they saw the hospital listed on the Boston Marathon web site.  This year, we'll have to launch our own marketing effort to recruit runners for Team BMC.  That effort will kick-in this month so stay tuned for more details.

   

Cause Marketer's Journal

This weekend the cause and event marketing team is launching a new program called Retail Therapy.  It's a spin-off on the South End Shop Walk we did last year.  The difference is that Retail Therapy is all about shopping and nothing about walking.  We're also hoping to profit from a change in venue from Boston's South End to Downtown Crossing, a destination for over 100,000 shoppers, visitors and passerbys each day.  Here's how the program will work.

For the past couple of months we've been recruiting businesses in Downtown Crossing.  To date we have 40 stores and restaurants.  They include the Body Shop, Borders, City Sports, Dunkin Donuts, Elizabeth Grady, Macy's, Talbots, Starbucks and lots of local stores and restaurants like Felt and Vinalia.  Most of these stores have agreed to sell a Retail Therapy mobile for a buck.  Mobile sales raise money and are a great promotion for the event (as we learned from Halloween Town).  Each mobile has a $5 off coupon for a passport shoppers can use during the event to receive special discounts.  That's the second thing each store agreed to do: shoppers that present a passport get a discount or a free item.  Most stores are offering a percentage off purchases with nine "flagship" stores offering even deeper discounts and a special gift if shoppers visit all nine.

So Friday and Saturday we'll be out in force in Downtown Crossing joining our retail partners in selling passports to shoppers for $15 ($10 if you have your $5 off coupon!).  To spread the word we'll have a main stage with live music, performances, games and giveaways courtesy of our media partners The Boston Globe and Kiss 108.

But we're hoping this won't be the first time shoppers are hearing about the event.  We tapped our cadre of interns to deliver packets of information to large employers that border Downtown Crossing.  We handed out fliers at several T-stations yesterday and tomorrow.  Stores displayed our "Need Therapy?" signs with our web address.  We even hung posters in the women's bathrooms at our 1,200 person Gala this past weekend (hey, it's a captive audience).  We're hoping all our grassroots marketing pays off.

Of course, like every program we run, the goal of Retail Therapy is to raise money and to build our brand.  But as a cause marketing strategy we hope it will engage more small and stand-alone businesses.  Right now most of our partners are large retailers with multiple locations (I've written about them before: Staples, iParty, Finagle A Bagel, Shaw's).  But Retail Therapy is about bringing together a lot of stand-alones to replicate the cause marketing muscle traditionally found in chains.  The hospital profits, but so do the businesses.  Like a large chain, they enhance customer loyalty and pick up some new clients.  And all under the banner of charity and cross-promotion.  Did I also mention that it costs them nothing?  That's how I got them to sign on in the first place.

Cause Marketing the Marathon

Patriot's Day here in Boston was cold, wet and windy.  Not the best conditions for running a marathon.  But that didn't stop the 20,000 runners that toed the starting line for the 2007 Boston Marathon.

Among those brave runners were sixty that had each raised a minimum of $3,000 for my organization.  To date the team has raised over $210,000, and the money is still coming in.

The Boston Marathon Charity Program, which supplies the waivers nonprofits use for fundraising (Since Boston is open only to qualified [serious] runners, a charity waiver is the only way most ordinary runners can officially participate), has been quite a boon for charities here in Massachusetts.  Getting a waiver is like getting a golden ticket from Willy Wonka.  Last year, the program allowed 18 charities to raise $7.5 million.  Each waiver is worth at least $3,000, but it can be worth a lot more.  One of our runners raised $35,000.

But like anything good, you don't get all you want.  Non-permanent charities like mine that rotate out of the charity program after three years receive up to 15 waivers each year.  Permanent charities get a lot more.  Fortunately, we were able to scrounge-up another 45 waivers.  How did we do this?

Your cousin knows the marketing guy for a company that sponsors the marathon?  Drop a dime.  Your aunt is the mayor of a town along the Boston Marathon route?  Go see her.  The firefighter that put out the fire in your house mentioned that his station volunteers at the Marathon?  Track him down.  That's how we found 45 additional waivers!

To augment the money we raise from waivers, we've tried for two years to recruit a corporate sponsor for the team.  Between our runners and cheering stations I knew we had a marketing opportunity that would appeal to the right company.  Finally, this year we recruited two corporate partners.

Together, New Seabury and HealthBridge Management contributed $30,000 to our marathon program.  In exchange:

• We promoted their involvement to all our employees, donors and runners (about 15,000 total).
• Their logos appeared on all team apparel.
• Their logos were on the "bam-bams" (red noise makers in the picture) we used to cheer on runners.  We also became our sponsors' street team and handed out hundreds of bam-bams to spectators along the course.
• We set up two tents along the course from which our sponsors could hang banners, entertain clients and employees and distribute free items.

Remember that none of these things could have legally happened on the Boston Marathon course without a nonprofit partnership.  My organization was a pass-through for the companies that legitimized their presence on the course.  Sponsoring the Boston Marathon isn't cheap (nor is it overpriced: Marathon media coverage is surpassed only by the Super Bowl).  These two companies got some great visibility for a modest investment.  We raised some good money.

The answer to your question is yes.  That's how cause marketing is suppose to work.

   

Never Heard of Paper Icons? Listen Up

Paul Jones over at Cause-Related Marketing has written a helpful post on what he calls "Paper Icons"--paper cut outs you buy at a store and the money goes to a charity.  At most stores you write your name on it and they plaster them all over the windows or string them from the ceiling.  I've seen all types: shamrocks, sneakers, stars, beach balls, hearts, pumpkins, teddy bears, ice cream cones, you name it.

Regardless of the shape, they all share a common quality: they can be very lucrative.  Paul use to raise over $25 million a year at the Children's Miracle Network.  I've had success locally with paper icons, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars with retailers here in Greater Boston.

Paul has some great tips for running a campaign that are worth reading.  To his list, I'll add my own.  Together, you'll have a good primer on running a fundraiser that's both easy and profitable.

The ask is the most important thing.  Not long ago I visited a supermarket that was running a campaign for us.  There was signage at the door and on the registers.  Employees had buttons on.  The overhead PA was promoting the campaign.  I heard and saw lots of positive things that pointed to a good campaign.  But something very important wasn't happening.  Register clerks weren't asking shoppers to donate a dollar.  Paper icons don't sell themselves.  Your goal is to get every checkout clerk to ask one simple question to every shopper: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help _______?"  How do you do that?  Read on.

Incentives work, sometimes.  No one believes more in the importance and power of incentivizing human beings than I do.  Heck, I write a blog called Selfish Giving!  But I've had mixed results with incentives.  Sometimes they motivate employees to push the program, but oftentimes they don't.  And I've offered good stuff: iPods, stereos, TV's, gift cards, pizza parties, etc.  But incentives are only useful when employees are already motivated and engaged in the program.  For them, the incentives are an enhancer and they work great.  But incentives won't motivate apathetic and unengaged employees.  You're better off taking a more top-down approach and letting managers drive the program.  Just remember that they're human and will respond to incentives too.

Coupons are a must.  But I recommend them for a different reason than Paul does.  Yes, coupons do give consumers a another reason to donate.  My last campaign had $175 in coupons for a dollar donation!  But I've also run campaigns that raise just as much money with no coupons.  As I said earlier, the ask is everything.  The real reason to use coupons is to recruit other retailers to join the program.  Retailers love to cross-promote.  This was the case last October with iParty, which sees huge crowds the last two weeks of October (Halloween is their biggest holiday).  And there isn't a retailer out there--big or small--that doesn't want exposure to that size crowd.  Now you have two retailers selling paper icons instead of one.  And don't stop there.  I've recruited seven retailers to participate in the same program, each one making the program more appealing to the next.

You can ask for more than a buck.  But not much more.  I've sold paper icons for either a buck or $3.  To pick the right amount, ask the retailer about foot traffic and how much shoppers generally spend.  Asking for $3 at a convenience store where most shoppers spend less than twenty bucks is too much.  I worked with a retailer that only saw around fifty customers a day.  They were worried they wouldn't raise much just asking for a dollar.  But because their customers were spending on average $50 per visit, we asked for $3 and it worked out well.  Customers didn't complain, even when we were selling the same icons at nearby stores for just a dollar. 

People don't care what the charity is.  Hey, it's just a buck.  If your organization isn't well known focus on your mission instead.  If you ask shoppers to donate a dollar to the Water Resource Fund they may think twice.  But ask them to donate a dollar to help keep the water clean for children that buck is yours.  Having a well known name is a great asset (e.g. MDA, St. Jude's, RED, United Way) and you should use it.  But if your name isn't so well known, do what I've done: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help a poor, sick child?"  That one line has raised money for my Boston-based organization from Maine to Florida.

Keep the campaign short.  Paul's right: four weeks max.  I've pushed it to six, but employee support really starts to wane.  If you need to go longer to meet a fundraising goal, split the campaign in two, one in the spring the other in the fall.  I work with a retailer that raises $100,000 annually by having three campaigns a year.  Their employees don't get burnt out and pushing the program more frequently is great practice.

I agree with Paul that cause marketers need a better name than "Paper Icons"!  (I had never even heard of paper icons until I read Paul's post.)  I call them "Mobiles" (because they are sometimes hung from the ceiling), "Pin-ups" or, more generically, "Point-Of-Purchase Programs".  Despite which name I use, people don't know what the hell I'm talking about until I explain it (two or three times).  Whatever you call them, paper icons will mean one thing for your organization: money.  A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Halloween Town 2006

The weekend before Halloween the hospital held its second Halloween Town.  Notice I didn't say “annual,” which is nonprofit speak for an event that’s best known for its regularity.  HT is much more than an annual event; it’s evolving into a major Boston attraction that's a great example of philanthrotainment.

HT is the brainchild of Boston-based retailer iParty, who set out to help the hospital raise money and visibility and to enhance its own standing as the ultimate destination for party supplies, especially for Halloween.

One area that distinguished HT from other Halloween events was how we integrated our partners into the set. Each partner had a 6,000 square foot zone in which to conjure up their own Halloween brand-land experience.  And sponsors were up for the challenge of engaging consumers in new, fun and memorable ways.

Shaw’s Supermarkets, brewed one of our most popular zones, the Pumpkin Patch. Shaw’s shipped in 15,000 pumpkins that were used both for decorations and for decorating by our young guests.

Bugaboo Creek Steak House brought their trademark moose for a ring toss that the kids really enjoyed. The set they used for a backdrop was just like their restaurants, complete with a booth with red and white checkered tablecloth.

Finagle A Bagel was in Frankenstein's’s Lab. Using the names of the different bagels Finagle sells, we created a bagel toss game for kids that kept families focused on the Finagle name and having fun.

Storytelling in the Staples Monsterpiece Theater was a relaxing addition for kids and parents alike. As a national supporter of literacy programs, Staples found a great way to show families about what it really cared.

Valvoline Instant Oil Change manned the Spooky Speedway where kids could try their hand at a mock pit stop, ring toss a quart of oil (guess which brand!) or sit behind the wheel of the Valvoline race car.

The main stage area was where BMC told it’s story—with the help at one point from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Every couple of hours, we encouraged kids to join the hospital’s Monster Mash Club. For a minimum donation of $5 kids got an orange “kids caring for kids” wrist band, Halloween tote and official club membership card.

As folks left Halloween Town, they exited through our very own iParty store, which had hundreds of items for sale. The best part was that 100% of sales went to the hospital. iParty was a great partner indeed. And we worked to thank them as much as possible. We even had one of our volunteers strap on a video monitor supplied by Ads on Feet so we could air iParty commercials.  After all, it was the weekend before Halloween.

Secrets of a Mobile Master

With Halloween Town less than two weeks away, our retail partners are busy selling pumpkin mobiles Download bmc024_8.14 V02.pdf . 

Halloween Town is a huge two-day event that attracted 10,000 people last year.  But the mobile program ensures the success of the event weeks in advance.  Here's how.  While the mobiles sell for just a buck, they add up quickly and will raise tens of thousands of dollars for the hospital.  The mobiles also include a promotion for Halloween Town that will drive traffic to the event.  Last year one in five attendees learned about Halloween Town from a mobile.

All of our Halloween Town mobile sponsors--iParty, Staples, Valvoline Instant Oil Change and Finagle a Bagel--are doing a great job selling mobiles.  Here's why:

Managers are key.  We started by educating store managers about BMC and the mobile program.  They're the ones driving the program in stores so we made sure they understood the mission of the hospital and how Halloween Town would support it.  We also explained how their support for the program would be good for business.  We presented it as a win-win-win.  A win for customers, a win for the hospital and a win for the retailer.

Motivate employees.  For the rank and file that actually sell the mobiles at the register we have an incentive program.  This gives employees, especially heavy sellers (ever hear of the 80/20 rule?), another reason to promote the program.  Employees don't always do things because they're suppose to, or because it will help a good cause.  Stuff helps--especially when you can get it donated.

Make it an easy sell.  In addition to helping a great cause, our mobiles include $175 in coupons, making it a tremendous value for consumers.  Help sick children?  Save $175?  For a buck?  Come on, what would you do?

Simple too.  A strange thing happens when you don't ask a customer to buy a mobile: they don't.  McDonald's and other retailers learned the value of up-selling ("Would you like fries with that?", "Would you like to supersize your meal?) long ago.  Like McDonald's, we keep the ask simple: "Would you like to donate a dollar to help a sick child?".  Will some people say no?  Absolutely.  But not the 100% that will say no when you don't ask.

Tie it in with other asks.  In our debrief with mobile partners last year we learned that some employees didn't ask because they were already up-selling the customer ("Do you want fries with that?") and either didn't have time or were uncomfortable asking them to buy something else.  So this year we combined the two asks: "You can save on a large fry when you donate a dollar to help a sick child."

Trust but verify.  We visit participating stores as secret shoppers and buy mobiles.  We get in line like any other customer and see if we're asked.  If we are, we reward the cashier.  I did this just the other day and gave a cashier a donated $25 gift card.  She was thrilled.  I also dropped off a bag of Halloween candy for everyone.  If we're not asked, I have a friendly conversation with the manager about how the program is good for everyone. 

When working with retail partners, especially at the store level, it's important to stay positive and to try to be helpful.  Retail employees are busy, work crazy hours and have to deal with the "general public" (God help them!).  They don't need something or someone else adding more stress to their lives.  So lighten up.  Be upbeat, thankful and constructive.  As I always tell my six-year old: sugar will always get you a lot further than vinegar. 

Analyze, Organize, Energize

Over the next couple of weeks I have three presentations to deliver.  The first is to a public relations class at Boston University, from which I hope to recruit two interns for the fall.  The second is to the hospital's marketing committee.  The last is to a group of managers at Staples to kick-off their involvement with Halloween Town.

Three presentations to three very different audiences.  But what won't be different is how I prepare for all of them. 

Analyze

• I can't emphasize it enough: knowing your audience is the key to a successful speech.
• I start by gathering some basic info about my audience: gender, age, level of education, etc.  The stories and examples I'd use for say an all women audience would be different from the ones I'd use for a mixed audience.
• I dig deeper and explore their interest, knowledge and attitude toward me and my topic.  A college student studying public relations will have a different view and knowledge of cause marketing than a manager from Staples.
• I find out how many people will be there, where and when I'll be speaking (please, anything except just before lunch!), will I need a microphone, etc..
• Armed with these details, I'm ready to make some speaking decisions for my presentation.

Organize

• Just like every good research paper you wrote in college, every speech needs a beginning, a middle and an ending.
• The purpose of the beginning is twofold: to get your listeners' attention and to let them know why you're there.  (e.g. "By the end of my speech I want you to...").
• If the intro is about making your point, the middle of your speech is for proving it.  If my goal is to recruit two new interns, what do I need to say in the body of my speech to show that the hospital will be a great place for them to work?
• After proving your point, use the ending to drive it home.  Your goal is threefold: action, action, action.
• Adhere to the 50-50 rule.  Spend 50 percent of your speech on new material and the other half repeating what you've already said.  People forget quickly, you know.
• One more thing: re-read my post from last week on persuasion.  You did read it, didn't you?

Energize

• When I'm ready to work on my delivery, I focus on the speaking outline and practicing my speech.
• Don't write out your speech word for word.  Instead, write down key words and phrases that will jog your memory and keep your speaking style engaging, spontaneous and conversational.  Think Jay Leno, not George Bush.
• Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest speaker of them all?  A mirror and a tape recorder are a speaker's best friends.  They give candid feedback, they're discreet and will never bum money from you (the lampshade is a whole different story).
• Everyone has their own way of dealing with stage fright.  Mine is to position myself at the front of the audience before I have to speak, preferably when someone else is speaking or introducing me, so I can scan the crowd for terrorists, potential hecklers and old girlfriends.

One final tip.  Keep your speech short, powerful, and, yes, entertaining.  Mark Twain said that "few sinners are saved after the first 20 minutes of a sermon."  A century later, it's even less.  Make every word count.  If you're not making them think, you should be making them laugh.  If you're doing neither, it's time to sit down.

Cause Marketer's Journal

With summer comes the fundraiser I like least: Golf.  I have nothing against the game or golfers (I don't play, but use to be pretty good at putt-putt.).  It's just that golf fundraisers are boring and limiting.  Boring because they don't allow the creativity that other programs do (e.g. Shop Walk, Boston Marathon, Halloween Town, etc.)  Limiting because you can only have 144 participants so they don't have the same energy of an event like Halloween Town with its 10,000 attendees.

You sell foursomes and hole sponsorships--and anything else you can slap a logo on, including carts, balls, golf shirts and goody bags--and pray for sun.  Pretty uninspiring stuff.  But I learned today that it isn't golf that's uninspiring.  It's me.

It started this morning when my team met with my boss to talk about next month's annual golf tournament.  We haven't been closing a lot of foursomes and sponsorships and he wanted to understand why and to see how he could be helpful. 

Of course, I had a litany of excuses: Our 10th Anniversary Gala in June had drained the pool of supporters.  Hospital vendors, our main prospects for the tournament, were playing less because of regulations and restrictions.  Finally, the $2,500 price tag for a foursome and $5,000 for a hole sponsorship was just too steep.

I gave a lot of good reasons why golf wasn't working, but my boss had two better ones (bosses are good like that, aren't they?).  First, I hadn't developed a strategy for the tournament that encouraged my team to approach it with the same gusto they did other fundraisers.  Second, besides being a collection plate for vendor money, I never had a clear vision of what golf was meant to accomplish for BMC.  I knew that Halloween Town was meant to develop our point-of-purchase programs with retailers, and that the Shop Walk would build a rapport with the South End business community.  But what was golf doing for us?

It may be too late for this year's outing, but I'm determined to take a different approach for next year's tournament.

Begin with the end in mind.  Let's decide why we have a golf tournament in the first place.  Is it another way for our vendors to support the organization?  A cultivation tool for new donors that need an excuse to give?  A way of generating new sponsorship dollars by introducing a new kind of tournament (like Golf Magazine did earlier this year)?  Some of you might suggest I tackle all three.  But I plan to focus on one, and develop my strategy accordingly.

Make it into a fundraiser my team wants to work on.  When my team and I found out that we would have to do a cause walk, we whined and pouted. But then we got busy creating a walk that would be fun to work on and would become a signature event for BMC.  The result was the BMC South End Shop Walk.  We need to have the same creative, entrepreneurial approach with golf.

Don't focus on the money.  Strange words from a fundraiser, no?  But I have some news for you: if you raise lots of money from events, congratulations. But that's not their main purpose.  Events help you achieve bigger goals beyond what they raise, like introducing and cultivating future major donors to your organization.  For instance, a lot of energy goes into planning and executing Halloween Town, but it's only a conduit to reaching retailers and raising hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of dollars one day with point-of-purchase programs.  This is the bigger, more important goal.  Golf is no different.  It's a means to end.  Focus on the main goal and the money will come, just maybe not from the event.

At this writing, we just signed on our 24th foursome for the tournament.  Not too bad, actually.  We should have a pretty full tournament.  But we can definitely do better.  I may have bogeyed this year's tournament, but next year I plan to be a Tiger.

Technorati tags: boston medical center, cause marketing, golf fundraisers

Cause Marketer's Journal

This past weekend, Boston Medical Center held its 10th Anniversary Gala, the hospital's biggest fundraiser of the year.  In addition to having 1,100 distinguished guests and raising $1.6 million, we also announced the completion of a $50 million capital campaign for the new Moakley Building, which will open in September.

Most of the money raised from the event, and for the Moakley Building, came from individual donors.  It's a good reminder of what the ultimate goal is for cause marketing: to increase the number and size of individual gifts to BMC.

Yep, you heard me right.  My job is to fill the pipeline with prospects for BMC's individual giving team.  Don't get me wrong, cause marketing does raise some money for the hospital.  But compared to what is raised--or can be raised--from individuals, it's nothing.  It's a pittance.  Not even in the same ball park.

Even for nonprofits that raise big money from cause marketing, like the Jimmy Fund here in Boston, which hopes to raise millions from just one venture this summer, it's just a sliver of the total dollars raised (for Jimmy that was over $115 million last year).  And believe me, big money from cause marketing is as rare as an honest politician.  Superstars like the Jimmy Fund, Komen and Share Our Strength are the exceptions, not the rule.

Cause marketing cultivates individual donors in two ways.  First, if you're running a mobile program with a local retailer, you'll introduce your organization to individuals who might make a gift down the road if they like what they see.  Second, partnering with a company exposes a CEO--and hopefully their friends, business associates and management team--to your mission and may lead to a signficant individual gift.

I was recently talking with my boss about a new cause marketing partner and asked if he knew the CEO.  Did he ever!  The CEO was loaded and had made large gifts to other organizations.  A personal gift from him would dwarf any money raised from his business.  Did that mean my work with him was a waste?  No.  Cause marketing is a good way to engage business-types because it involves marketing, sales and promotion, areas with which many executives are literate and comfortable.  It's a good stepping-stone to other conversations.

I love cause marketing.  It's new, interesting, cutting-edge and creative.  But it will never be as lucrative to my organization as major gifts are.  This can be frustrating for people who love to reel in the big fish.  If this sounds like you, I suggest you either take up marlin fishing or become a major gifts officer.  Because if you choose cause marketing you'll always be telling a fish story.

Technorati tags: boston medical center, cause marketing, fish story, joe moakley, major gifts

iParty Toasts BMC with iPartini

For people who still think Boston Medical Center is the old Boston City Hospital, a martini would seem like an odd drink with which to toast us.  But for those who know that BMC is an outstanding academic medical institution that provides "Exceptional care.  Without exception." (our tag line) and is a model for urban health care in America, a martini is perfect.

No one knows this better than the folks at iParty.  The owners, Sal and Dorice Perisano, have been longtime supporters of the pediatrics department at BMC.  Among other things, they started Halloween Town last year to throw a party for the underserved children of Boston and create a new fundraiser for the Kids Fund at BMC.  On both fronts, they succeeded admirably.

Now they've teamed up with the Glynn Group and its seven bars to toast BMC on its tenth anniversary.  For every iPartini sold two bucks goes to BMC.

Still not convinced that a super-cool martini is the right drink with which to toast the "people's hospital"?  Consider the similarities:

• A martini is a mixture of several fine ingredients.  So is BMC.  Boston Magazine recently named 86 BMC physicians "Top Doctors".  We have a new $51 million cancer center opening this fall that will streamline and enhance cancer care at BMC.  And Procter & Gamble recently awarded BMC its first grant to a Massachusetts hospital, $500k for the Pediatric Dental Clinic.
• Everyone loves a good martini.  Just like BMC provides exceptional care to everyone, regardless of race, religion, gender or ability to pay.
• Martinis taste great.