Cause Marketing: What It Is and How It Could Help Your Nonprofit

KindfulAugust 02, 2016

Cause Marketing: What It Is and How It Could Help Your Nonprofit header image

There are nonprofits all over the world who connect their cause to compatible corporate brands. We’ve all seen it in action: Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives, Whirlpool and Habitat for Humanity, even those old Live Strong bracelets. These partnerships, commonly known as cause marketing relationships, can be successful in any number of ways. Whether or not your nonprofit syncs up its marketing efforts with those of a corporate entity is up to you. Here are some reasons why it might make sense, and some tips on how to make it happen.

What is cause marketing?

In a nutshell, cause marketing is just the partnership between a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization. In a successful cause marketing relationship, both sides win: nonprofits expand their outreach and prospective donor base exponentially, and for-profits get the immensely positive PR that comes from teaming up with a good cause.

Why should you think about cause marketing?

Cause marketing is a great way to increase your brand’s awareness, bring in more money, increase your social media marketing and email marketing effectiveness, and ultimately make your mission more successful. Corporate businesses want to be involved, because 9/10 consumers will use a business over their competitor, simply because they know portions of their purchase will go to charity. 55% say they’d even pay more! Clearly there is great motivation for a business to be associated with your nonprofit, and that goes for organizations of every size.

How do you pick the right organization?

It is important that the organization you choose to work with be a business with similar brand values to your own. Think carefully about your brand values, and then brainstorm companies that match those values. Research and communicate with potential partners thoroughly before launching. And ask your nonprofit staff! You never know what kind of local businesses your employees may have good relationships with!

Additionally, because cause marketing relationships can be supercharged through social media, make sure to choose a partner who is active online and can tweet, like, and post about you on their social networks while you do the same.

Whether or not you decide that cause marketing is right for your nonprofit, Kindful is here to help you manage all your constituent relationships. Get in touch today and see how we can help you gain insight from your database. Who knows – maybe there’s already a powerful marketing partner hiding in your data!

Schedule a live demo with our partner Bloomerang, and we’ll show you how easy it is to create and automate reports, utilize online and offline fundraising tools, quickly integrate and access all your data, and ultimately create more time to engage your donors.

Filed Under:   Communication