Consumers, given the choice, will often purchase products and services from socially and environmentally responsible companies. Companies and non-profit charities are taking advantage of this fact, and the last quarter century has seen the rise of cause marketing, promotional campaigns that increase profits while benefiting a cause. Cause marketing is now the primary avenue by which companies demonstrate social responsibility. Cause-related marketing is a specific form of cause marketing in which a company partners with a non-profit organization to raise funds for a particular cause.
Cause marketing can be beneficial to both the for-profit company and the charity. For the non-profit, there is the prospect of tapping into the business’s marketing resources and exposure to the company’s customers. For the company, it can mean a public relations boost and increased sales. Even consumers benefit by being able to support a charity simply by making a purchase.
How Does Cause Marketing Work?
Cause marketing works best when there is a certain synergy between the non-profit organization and the company they are partnering with. Ideally, the non-profit’s mission and vision should have some relation to the company’s products or services. It is best if the business’s employees and customers are excited about the cause as well. The right affiliations make for the strongest promotional campaigns.
These partnerships do not always involve a straight donation from the company to the non-profit organization. Instead, businesses will often donate products, services, or their employees’ time. This kind of charitable work tends to have a stronger impact on the consumers being targeted.
The marketing campaign’s goals will be to motivate customers to take some sort of action like donating money or volunteering their time. An effective campaign will not only solicit help, it will raise awareness for the non-profit as well as the company’s philanthropic efforts.
Advantages of Cause Marketing
The advantages to the business include increased sales and public awareness of its social responsibility. A non-profit’s benefits can be significant. Monetary donations and an increase in volunteers are the two primary benefits. In addition, the non-profit is likely to enjoy increased exposure in advertising and publicity from their relationship with a for-profit company. Depending on the company partnered with, the amount of advertising and publicity generated is likely to be greater than what the non-profit can accomplish on its own.
The BNI Foundation’s mission and vision place it in a unique position to benefit from cause marketing. Our association with BNI and its members – all of whom are business people – provides excellent cause marketing opportunities, and BNI’s core value of Givers Gain® reflects perfectly the BNI Foundation’s goals. When BNI chapters integrate the BNI Foundation’s impact into the BNI corporate culture, the BNI brand is elevated, brand loyalty surges and member and alumni engagement and retention are impacted positively.
The charitable activities of the BNI Foundation, along with our aggressive online marketing presence, already lend added credibility to the BNI brand. Deeper relationships between the BNI Foundation and BNI chapters and members act as a tool toward BNI brand awareness, loyalty and recruitment.
As Dr. Ivan Misner clarifies in this video, the BNI Foundation is your foundation. The time, treasure and talent you give benefit the children and schools in your community. Currently we are working on increasing our membership among BNI chapters and members. Back to school time is the ideal time to get your BNI chapter involved with the BNI Foundation and cause marketing. Click here to get started on this win/win opportunity.
