By Amy J. Belanger, Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and co-author of Guerrilla Marketing On The Front Lines

“If you’re looking for reasons for people to buy from you, let them help you aid a social cause. If they patronize your business, they’ll gain all the benefits you offer – plus they can help save the environment, or stop AIDS in its tracks, or cure multiple sclerosis, or save whales.”
– Jay Levinson, Guerrilla Marketing, 3rd Edition.

Cause Marketing
Cause marketing is a collaborative marketing partnership between a nonprofit and a business, where the business provides resources to aid the cause and the cause provides PR for the business.

These days, they’re everywhere, from the PBS fund drive promotions of entrepreneurs like Robert Kiosaki to Bono’s innovative Product Red line that benefits AIDS relief in Africa.

But it isn’t all about charity.

Businesses are finding out there’s big money to be made in the hearts of American consumers.

What’s In It For You
Marketing studies reveal that Americans support businesses that support causes. Here are a few findings:

A 2002 marketing survey by Cone, Inc. showed that 84% would switch to a brand that supports a cause, price and quality being equal.

The same study said 75% of Americans consider a company’s commitment to causes when they recommend products and services to others.

When a 2002 Cone survey asked folks if they hold a more positive image of companies that support causes, 92 percent said, “yes.”

A 2004 survey by Golin Harris showed that more than 2/3 of consumers (69%) say corporate citizenship is “important to their trust in business.”

A partnership with just one nonprofit can connect you to an endless web of causes and the massive niche markets they represent. Since their activities are newsworthy, they generate publicity for their partners. Since their memberships are highly motivated by values, their members become a deeply loyal new market for you. And as the above studies show, it isn’t only the niche markets that will respond.

It’s Mainstream
If you think you’re going out on some risky cutting edge in business with cause marketing, think again. Cause-marketing spending is projected to rise 20.5% in 2007 to $1.34 billion. The watchdog Web site PRWatch.com says cause-marketing sponsorships are now outpacing sports sponsorships, and that large nonprofits are spending upwards of $7.6 billion per year on marketing and PR.

The trend is predicted to keep surging, with the idealistic baby boomer generation accessing more disposable income as children leave the nest, and retirement leaves time for the increasingly popular “Act II” career or business venture.

Guerrilla Cause Marketing
Cause marketing is especially well paired with Guerrilla Marketing, since causes have a bootstraps mindset and are accustomed to marketing with time, energy and imagination instead of big bucks. They tend to trust entrepreneurs and small businesses more than they do large corporations because the latter have a history of exploiting causes for the sole purpose of whitewashing a bad image. Because of this, local nonprofits will likely be more receptive to you than they would be to a large corporation.

Find Your Cause Marketing Soulmate
Be sure to choose a cause whose mission is in alignment with yours – or at least not in conflict with it. But if the world of causes confuses you, let public opinion be your guide. A 2004 survey by Golin Harris showed that the issues of highest concern to American consumers were:

1. Environment, Pollution
2. Education
3. Energy Conservation
4. Human Rights (e.g. – race, gender, lifestyle)
5. Consumer Rights

My e-book, “Idealist Marketing: Partnering with Causes to Send Your Profits and Your Spirits Soaring,” includes a guide and worksheet for finding your cause marketing soulmate (www.idealistmarketing.com).

Keep it Real
Make sure you’re creating an authentic relationship with a nonprofit or as the father of Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Levinson, warns, “Word will get out that you are in it for the money alone, and that will cause you to lose more sales than you’ll gain.” A 2004 Golin Harris survey showed that the sincerity of a company’s corporate citizenship efforts impacted consumers’ purchase decisions, investments, and the recommendations they make to friends and family.

A Bigger Bottom Line
Although there is publicity and profit for you in the cause marketing revolution, you will find that the biggest cause marketing success is when your spirits soar to heights that money can’t buy.

Cause marketing expert, Amy Belanger, is a 20-year veteran of nonprofits, an entrepreneur, and a Guerrilla Marketing Coach. Her company, Idealist Communications, delivers marketing, copywriting, and consulting to entrepreneurs and cause-related organizations. www.IdealistMarketing.com

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