**When I sat down to write about this topic, I thought this would be a quick little post.  It turns out this stuff is more complicated than I anticipated so I’m breaking it into a series of 3 separate posts.  The final post will have a little geeky gift from me to you.**

Every time we turn around, we’re bombarded with requests to give of our time, talents and resources.  Whether it’s rounding up at your grocery story checkout counter, your niece’s school fundraiser, your church, the office holiday gathering, the homeless person at the corner or your favorite charity, there’s no shortage of opportunities to give, give, give.  What’s a generous person to do?  Many of us have a personal identity associated closely with the word “generosity” or “socially conscious”, so saying “no” can bring about feelings of guilt.

Seth Godin’s Fear of Philanthropy post suggested that philanthropy is hard to market because there’s seemingly no end.  He warned that without a framework for giving, without telling people how much is enough, overwhelm results.

With all of this in mind, it strikes me that I need to establish my own framework for personal giving so that I can be confident in knowing that I have some parameters for my personal giving and volunteering.  So that I can answer the question, “How much is enough?” for myself.  This is obviously a very personal decision, so over the next few days I’ll share the things that I’m keeping in mind (I’d love to hear yours):

Focus Areas
Which types of charities resonate most with who you are? Here’s a decent list of categories.  For me personally, organizations that support women entrepreneurs and basic needs for children are top of my list.  But I also give to my church and my children’s school.

Having a focus area doesn’t mean you’ll never give to other types of charities, it just helps in prioritizing volunteer time and financial giving.  What are yours?

Volunteering
How much time a week, month or quarter is reasonable to commit to volunteering?  I tend to set my goals per volunteer opportunity (whether it’s 3 hours or 1) but I’m rethinking this.  And for me, there are two categories of volunteering:  direct and indirect service.

Indirect service to me means working behind the scenes to make the engine run, whether serving on a board or packing boxes of food that will go to families in need.

While there is tremendous value in being a board member or working in a warehouse, it’s also important for me to work directly with people because it always gives me a different perspective on life and a unique human connection.  If your focus area is the environment, this may mean planting trees or cleaning up a wilderness area.  If your focus area is animals, this may mean volunteering at a shelter to walk dogs.

I’m including both indirect and direct service in my volunteer goals, but considering each of them as distinct goals.

Involving Family
Another consideration is involving my two children, ages 6 and 8, in volunteering and including them in setting appropriate goals.  For them, “experimentation” is the name of the game; I want them to explore as many focus areas as they can.

How do you gauge your volunteer efforts and time spent volunteering?  Do you volunteer at all?  Let us know in the comments section below.

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Image credit to Johann Richard.

Involving consumers and employees in corporate philanthropic efforts has grown significantly in scope and breadth in recent years.  Cause marketing and cause branding have become a marketer’s tactic-du-jour touted everywhere (including this blog) as the best way to engage not only the attention but also the hearts and minds of consumers and employees alike.  While these efforts run wide, few effectively delve into a company’s larger social responsibility efforts in a meaningful way.

What’s the next, deeper level of consumer and employee engagement?  What’s the mechanism for leveraging corporate philanthropic dollars to affect more meaningful social change while still benefitting the corporate image?

Imagine the Future of Charitable Giving
Take a minute and imagine the future of charitable giving for you as an individual…what does it look like?  What technology is involved?  How integrated is it into your everyday life?  Well, buckle up and prepare for an amazing glimpse into the future of charitable giving as envisioned by a Calgary-based company called Benevity.  More than a few of the concepts I discussed with CEO Bryan de Lottinville quite frankly blew me away.

An attorney-turned-growth-company-exec, de Lottinville started Benevity when he realized the legacy he wanted to create was more than “fixing up companies to sell them” though he’s racked up quite a track record in doing so, most recently with a game-changer you’ve probably heard of: iStockphoto.com He was first introduced to the business of cause as an advisor to a Toronto-based company revisioning traditional consumer loyalty programs into donation-based programs.  de Lottinville describes his perspective on the charitable space:

I came from a user-generated content site (iStockphoto) that has turned an engaged community into a wildly successful business. I have seen first hand the power of micropayments, crowdsourcing, empowered choice, and (to use a slightly worn term) “democratization”.  So it was through that lens that I looked at the current state of philanthropy and donation efforts.

I was troubled by many aspects of the philanthropic landscape (and still am).  The vast number of duplicative not-for-profits across all pillars, the high cost of fundraising, the relatively small percentage of annual donations coming from corporations and notably, the duplication of infrastructure across NPOs and their costly struggle with the allure of the destination giving site – there are literally hundreds of thousands of charities trying to get people to come to their site to donate and build an online community.

In a world where time is the true scarcity and people across all demographics seek greater meaning in all that they do, why not go to where the people and the transactions are already aggregated, create a mechanism to easily donate gifts of any size to any charity through a variety of means on sites they already trust, and create a win-win-win for corporations, individuals and charities?

With those goals and issues in mind, Benevity created an embeddable, user-driven microdonation platform that can be integrated into any company’s existing transaction environment, on their terms and under their own brands.

Giving Goes Transactional
And so Benevity was born.  In short, anywhere a company does business, online or off, whether internal or external, Benevity can embed philanthropic giving.  Implementations range from internal fundraising efforts routed through a corporate intranet to e-commerce transactions where a donation is added onto a purchase and anything in between (more on this at Benevity’s website).

An Online Banking Example
It might look something like this:  imagine logging into your online banking account and one of the main navigational tabs is labeled “My Giving”.  Click it and you’ll see your virtual “Personal Foundation” that includes your charities of choice, the percentage allocations to each, the recurring or one-time donations you have made from your accounts, a rolled up tax receipt, and perhaps your current accumulation of the bank’s “donation currency” that you’ve generated through activity within the bank.

Pretty slick, huh?

But wait, it gets better.

The Big Bang for Your Giving Buck
Now you’re ready to distribute your charitable giving dollars.  And perhaps you’re compelled to select certain local or national causes because the bank is matching your donation, effectively leveraging their corporate philanthropic dollars.  Again, de Lottinville explains:

What Benevity has created is a way to help companies truly “do well by doing good”, as trite as that sounds, and to give money away intelligently.  The landscape of philanthropy is changing, as are conventional notions of cause marketing.  It’s no longer good enough to attach your brand to a polar bear or other cause of the day and hope for some amorphous brand lift.

In our view, what some refer to as “slacktivism” (click-to-vote-for-a-non-profit) campaigns are only a small step toward real engagement because the vast majority of people who vote for their specified non-profit or project don’t win.  If you say that you’ll help me do good and I vote for a cause that I know does great work but doesn’t get on your corporate radar, am I more engaged in your philanthropic efforts, or less?  The web and social media have given consumers the power to impact your brand, so the more you treat them like they matter, the better off you’ll be.

At Benevity, we’d rather see consumers and employees have a meaningful seat at the table and be able to vote with their wallets (regardless of the size of the donation) as a way to unlock and allocate corporate dollars.  Instead of a company choosing a single cause to align with, they can choose many under one or more pillars and/or use matching offers to create bias toward those causes with which a corporation chooses to align.  With our software, a company doesn’t have to empower full choice, so they can create customized portfolios of non-profit beneficiaries or leave it open to choose any registered charity.  They’re also able to set parameters around how much to match per contributed dollar or set maximum dollar or timeframe limits.

We’re Only as Limited as Our Imagination
The implications for this type of software and vision are only as limited as our collective imagination.  Imagine how this might change the face of online advertising when a website that enables its users to direct charitable giving dollars upon checkout presents a charitable corporate partner to match the user donation via a branded window.  Bryan de Lottinville hopes these types of transactions will become a seamless part of our online experience in the future:

Our vision is that Benevity services will become a cultural utility – we’d like to make giving any amount to the cause of your choice as prevalent (and easy) as leaving a tip at a restaurant.  Today we all have so many opportunities to effect change.  We’re certainly not a silver bullet for CSR and community investment – we’re an additional feather in the quiver.

What we’re able to provide is a platform that offers businesses of all types and sizes automation and flexibility behind the scenes; a highly customizable giving engine that can power any kind of charitable initiative, making the company and its customers, employees and even suppliers authentic and transparent architects of the change they want to see in the world.  With a charity-agnostic platform to deliver the donation mechanics, the company’s challenge is to determine how they’re going to make that particular campaign sing.

What I love about Benevity’s model is the almost limitless potential for campaigns that harness matching corporate dollars, whether they’re consumer-facing cause marketing campaigns or internal employee giving efforts.  The Benevity software allows a nice hybrid of user-directed giving and cause branding in the ability to have an open platform of choice while still making a clear statement about the corporate cause of choice via matching dollar programs or customized portfolios.

What do you think about the concept of embedded giving?  What considerations are important to consider?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Image credit to Darren Hester.

Funny.

But true.

I worry about causes going down the path that “Green” took.  What once stood for environmental stewardship now stands for…well, who knows what it stands for.  The term has been so muddled and prostituted by marketers.

Green Gone Wrong
We’ve all seen ridiculous campaigns masquerading as “green”.  Greenwashing has overtaken the term “green” in meaningful marketing discussions.

Per Wikipedia, Greenwashing is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices.

And now “causewashing”.

Defining “Causewashing”
Would the Wikipedia definition apply to cause marketing as well?  Should we cry “causewash” when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being cause-conscious than goes to the cause at hand?

Here’s the dilemma in my mind.  Those of you that read this blog regularly know I’m an idealist by nature; this I am the first to admit.  I want us all to get along, work together to make this world a better place and I think everyone, from corporations to politicians to individual citizens have a responsibility to share their gifts toward that end.

However.

I am at least a partial realist and I see the continuum of this effort and the need to love people where they are in this process of awareness.  This is why I love cause marketing.  It enables participation by those who might not otherwise seek out opportunities to contribute to a meaningful cause.  It builds awareness.

Moving Cause to the Next Level
But see how this can backfire?  This is why I’m not a huge supporter of slacktivism campaigns where consumers are prodded at every turn to click to vote for this cause or that.  Yes, it’s an initial step but my fear is that causewashing will ensue if we don’t move these campaigns to the next level.  For more on this see More is More and Cause Marketing 2.0.

For the answer to this question of how to raise the bar for cause I turn to you.

What is the best way to bring cause mainstream without losing the authenticity and heart behind it?  What should the definition of “causewash” be?  What are examples of “causewashed” campaigns you’ve seen (and cringed at)?  Please add your comment below.

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Can your cause be “solved”?  Are you working on an issue that has a definitive solution toward which you direct your sails on a daily basis?  Is your wildest dream to work yourself out of a job?  Is your cause a destination?

Cause-As-Continuum
Odds are the answers to these questions are “no”.  Whether you’re a non-profit crusader or Board member, work within a social enterprise or direct some of your company’s resources to a non-profit organization…it’s likely you’re working on a complex issue with many moving parts.  And while the progress you make may address a component of that larger issue, chances are there’s another pressing need cued up right behind it.  Your cause is a continuum.

How Much is Enough?
The cause-as-continuum provides a few challenges of which we should all be aware, particularly when engaging donors, volunteers and potential partners.  Seth Godin penned a great post entitled Fear of Philanthropy in which he addressed this cause-as-continuum from a donation perspective and asked how potential donors know how much is enough.  Without a ceiling (a framework for an attainable but challenging goal), Godin’s argument is that potential donors are likely to avert their eyes and walk away.  This means you lose.

Extend this to anything you do in the cause realm.  When your cause is a continuum, there will always be more to do – more disease to fight, more children to save, more contamination, corruption and injustice in the world to conquer.  Why should anyone join you and fight the good fight, donate to your cause, volunteer or partner with your organization?  It’s seemingly impossible to make a dent.

Create a Win
It comes down to creating a win for those would-be donors, partners and volunteers.  And, more specifically, how you communicate what it means to win.  How you create and then draw people into that winning story.  Because we all need wins in life.  If you’re providing a place where joining your movement enables people to win (and preferably regularly), your cause ultimately wins as you move one step further along the continuum.

What does it take to provide a win?  Here are a few thoughts:

Provide Perspective:  The simple recognition that your cause is a continuum (or a destination, if that’s the case) and the steps you’ve taken in the right direction is a powerful and important exercise in perspective.  It’s easy to get wrapped up in day-to-day tasks and forget to lift your head up high enough to see the path you’ve paved along the way.  Where was your effort a year ago?  Five years ago?  Be the cheerleader for your long-term successes.  If the challenges you’re facing are larger than they were “back then”, it’s certainly an indication that you’re tackling larger and more complex issues.  Acknowledge it.

Create Structure:  Take a lesson from Seth Godin and provide a structure for the win.  What does a win look like?  How much is enough to donate/volunteer/contribute?  One percent of your income?  10 hours a month?  An annual partnership?  We all want to do more with less but at the end of the day, almost everything boils down to a numbers game.  If you’ve burned out your primary resources, be they staff, volunteers, donors or partners, you all lose.  Set a challenging yet attainable ceiling and you may be surprised that the numbers game tilts in your favor.  Provide a win and more people will want what you’re selling.

Write The Chapter: This is how you implement “Structure”.  As people realize the importance of creating their personal story (read Stories Matter:  What’s Yours?) they will inevitably look for chapters that fit into a vision for their life and legacy.  Are you writing a chapter that people want to incorporate into their individual story?  Is it compelling, challenging, attainable, meaningful?  Can they see how their individual contribution will move the cause one step further along the continuum?  Or have you written a chapter full of logistical ick without any chance of a win?

Wins don’t have to be huge milestones.  Although we typically look toward externally focused achievements (partnerships formed, donations secured, grants won) for our wins, there are equally important (though admittedly not as sexy) internal milestones to acknowledge and celebrate (project tasks accomplished, volunteers trained, processes streamlined).

These are just a few ideas – what else can make working on your cause a “win”?  Pick a way and add it to the comments below.

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Image credit to Lasse C.

Ok, I’ll admit.  I’m biased.  When I first read about 7-Eleven’s “Cup with a Cause” program as a part of a 6-week promotional campaign, I thought, “puh-LEASE”.  The popular convenience store partnered up with ConAgra (no comment) to sponsor World Wrestling Entertainment’s “SummerSlam” event (whatever that is).  I was fully prepared to write it off as fluff since the cause component was so overshadowed by branded cups, straws and packaging; limited edition Slurpee flavors; TV spots; branded in-store displays and a big interactive digital component.

A Respectable Cause Campaign
But I’ve gotta tell you, after a little due diligence, it turns out I’ve got some respect for 7-Eleven’s cause marketing initiative.  The campaign is part of 7-Eleven’s larger cause marketing campaign called “Cup with a Cause” with a goal of donating $2 million in 2010 to non-profit organizations by partnering with different celebrities to design a limited edition coffee cup.  Twenty cents from each cup sold goes to benefit the celebrity’s cause of choice with 7-Eleven guaranteeing a minimum of $250,000 in donations per cause.

So, yes, the cause component is but a small part of a whopper of a promotion but it’s there and, surprisingly NOT buried on their website, where the “Cup with a Cause” is the second of rotating images prominently displayed on their home page.  It’s also the first custom tab on their Facebook page and they have a very simple but unique and interactive Cup with a Cause website (I’ll overlook the fact that it’s done in Flash for now).

Cause Is the Constant
One of the admirable qualities of this campaign is that it seems to have an underlying consumer education component.  As celebrities are rotated, the causes change but they’re always there.  The cause is the constant.  The benefit of this approach is that 7-Eleven customers won’t all be drawn to the same celebrity.  But when a celebrity catches their attention, the cause is also showcased through the celebrity’s “original art” design.  While rotating causes may not always be advisable, in this instance it’s strategically sound.

The Cynic in Me
Granted, the “Cup with a Cause” page got a third as many Facebook “Likes” as the WWE Superstars page and half as many as the WWE branded Slurpee cups, but it’s a step, right?

And, no, the fact that the coffee beverage market is a multi-billion dollar industry with some fierce competitors is not wasted on me.  Could this be 7-Eleven’s ploy to get a piece of that pie?  Quite possibly.

At the end of the day, I give it a thumbs-up.  How about you?  What do you like about this campaign?  Any red flags?

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In a recent post, I offered an expanded definition of currency that includes social currency…the way you interact with the people that touch your organization.

How do we know when we’re dealing with social currency?

Stories.  The telling of our collective stories.

It’s a Basic Human Need
Stories of how our products or programs have changed a life.  Stories of inspiration, struggle, perseverance, joy or advocacy.  Why are these stories important?  Because the most primal of human needs is to be part of a story that matters.  It’s the way we communicate and understand the world.

We’ve all heard this before.  Stories humanize our mission and our message.  Capturing the stories of our organization is of the utmost importance in marketing, community building, internal communication, sales and/or fundraising.  Entire PR firms are dedicated to helping clients capture their stories and share them with the world.

Why are social media, cause marketing and crowd sourcing on the rise?  Stories.  We all want to be part of a bigger story and are looking to companies, causes and our own social networks to insert ourselves into a meaningful one.

Taking Stories a Step Further
Don Miller wrote a spectacular book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years that I highly, highly recommend you read.  It’s a poignant tale of Don’s own journey to more intentionally create and live his life’s story.  It’s about learning to make the ordinary meaningful by making the extra effort to do so.  It’s about deciding to create a meaningful story.  Don’s take is highly personal, but I think organizations can learn from his message also.  Here’s what it takes:

A Meaningful and Memorable Story
It’s one thing to create a special event, campaign or product.  It’s quite another to create a memorable one.  When you reflect back on the things in your life that have been most memorable, what stands out to you?  Perhaps it was a unique location, an unexpected twist in the ordinary, or something new and novel.  Maybe a feeling you felt for the first time.  I can’t tell you how to create a memorable event or campaign for your organization because you are the only one uniquely qualified to do so.  But give it some thought:  what unique approach, twist, bent or variation could only be pulled off by your organization?  Can’t think of anything?  Give it some space – it’ll come.

Participation
Want to make your next event, product, program or campaign memorable and story-worthy in a way unique to your organization?  Then figure out a way to include your people.  Your job as an organization is to make your vision accessible to as many of your stakeholders as possible.  Although they’re currently on the rise, slacktivism campaigns (where consumers vote on their _______of choice with a few mouse clicks) won’t last in the long run because they only access the most basic levels of participation (you can read More is More for my take on this consumer engagement trend).

Co-Creation
Here’s the most challenging piece of creating a memorable story for you as an organization:  allowing your people to co-create alongside you, to co-author your collective story, if you will.  This necessarily implies a release of control, something that can be hard to do for many organizations.

Remarking on the process of collaborative creation, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said,

Really successful businesses and organizations build something so that people immediately know what they’re about.  You’re building a level of trust so that people know what they’re getting.

And herein lies the holy grail of the meaningful story.  Is it easy?  Nope.  Is it important to your long-term viability?  You’d better believe it.

What aspects of story are most important to your organization?  How do you create meaningful stories?  And by all means, what have I missed?

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Image credit to dhammza.

Don Miller‘s book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life (Amazon affiliate link) is one of those books that will change your entire outlook on life if you let it.  I first heard of this book from Chris Brogan and then purchased it when it practically fell on my head while walking through Powell’s one afternoon.  I was riveted.

Don’s style is so poignant that you’re sucked into this book almost from the first page.  It’s sold under the “Spirituality” section and while I typically don’t like this heading in a bookstore, it’s an appropriate classification for this book.  No religious overtones being shoved down your throat, but Don’s faith is solid.

I typically only list books on my site that I’d buy and give to others.  This book is certainly one of them.

Depending on whose definition you cite, cause marketing typically involves (and campaign success is often measured by) an exchange of currency.  We’re talking cold hard cash…moolah…dollars.  Increases in sales for a point-of-sale retailer, funds raised or donated to a non-profit organization.  You know the drill.  The bottom line.

As consumer expectations continue to evolve, it’s critical that we change our working definition of “currency” from “money” to something bigger and more encompassing.  Dictionary.com defines currency as

Something that is used as a medium of exchange.

What type of currency will it take to win the hearts and minds of consumers, donors and partners in this new economy?  Here are a few suggestions for what a new definition might include:

Social Currency – Think of this as the “people” aspect of currency.   Are you engaging employees in a way that’s meaningful to them?  How do you know?  Are you engaging them at all?  What about the community?  Have you covered your bases with all sorts of stakeholders, not just the traditional Rolodex of the old boys (or girls, as the case may be)?

When’s the last time you interacted with someone new with a role unlike your own?  If you can’t answer that question, it’s probably time to lift your head up and go seek out those connections on behalf of yourself and your project.  Set an example.  This is the start of earning social currency.

Mental Currency – In our current world of information overload, mental currency may be the hardest to procure.  What about your campaign or project is so compelling that it can earn the mental currency of your target constituents?  It must obviously start with something that’s meaningful or compelling to you so that you may share your enthusiasm, stories and passion with others.

Part of earning mental currency is a quality piece.  Are you cranking out campaigns all day long that mean nothing to anyone?  Or are you more selective and strategic in what you put your muscle and energy behind and then go full out?  The latter will help earn mental currency.

Practicable Currency – Think of this as the “action” component of currency.  What are you providing that is of value to your customers and donors that will compel them to take action?  Whether it’s clicking on a link, signing a petition, agreeing to volunteer, participating in an event or sharing your message.  Once you’ve earned the mental currency, why should anyone take the next step to action?  And what is that step?

This is an important component in this day of “Slacktivism” and my wager is that once you’ve successfully earned social and mental currency, it’s critical to up the ante with practicable currency by asking your stakeholders to do more, not less.  Why?  So they’ll become part of your movement, part of your cause, part of your campaign.  Practicable currency is the holy grail of currency in that it will perpetuate all other types of currency including that cold, hard cash.

What other types of currency might we seek to earn?  What’s your definition of currency?

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Image credit to bradipo.

Let’s assume for a moment, that the recent article, “Charity Brawl:  Nonprofits Aren’t So Generous When A Name’s at Stake” was about a for-profit company.

The article, appearing in the Wall Street Journal this week, outlines the trend toward legal action by large non-profit organizations against other organizations to protect their brand from “…dilution, tarnishment, blurring, destruction, or weakening of its marks.” and gave examples of LIVESTRONG, Susan G. Komen, Wounded Warrior Project and Sunshine Kids Foundation taking varying degrees of legal action against smaller non-profit organizations that used similar names, slogans and/or colors.

You might get a sense for my perspective on this from the post Komen Strives for Market Domination or even A Call For Open-Sourced Cause Marketing.  Setting aside the fact that we’re talking about non-profit organizations for a moment, let’s just consider the effectiveness of suing your constituents and trying to squash your competitors by sending out a gaggle of suited lawyers to stake “your” territory, shall we?

Take the music industry.  Remember what happened when music started going digital?  What did the recording industry do?  They sued their best customers, college students living in dorm rooms, and services like Napster.  While they may have killed Napster, they didn’t exactly put a stop to music going digital.  And what happened to their sales?  Take a look.

Hmmmm….

This is a new economy, one based on open collaboration and sharing, not territorialism.  The organizations, for-profit and non-profit alike, that will succeed long-term get this and are actively creating ways to embrace this new world instead.

In theory, non-profit organizations should instinctively understand this collaboration mentality.  Truth is, we’re all immersed in our own realm to some degree and sometimes forget to lift our heads up to see the rest of the world from a different perspective.

Personally I’d rather see non-profit giants like LIVESTRONG and Komen spend their dollars on developing an amazing new platform to harness collective energy and ideas to address the real issues of their cause than spend the same dollars on lawyers to defend their brand.

What do you think?  Should non-profit organizations be held to different standards because they’re cause-based?  Does having a well-established brand entitle you to crush the “competition”?

Thanks to Jen Price and Caleb Bushner for bringing the WSJ article to my attention.

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Image credit to This Year’s Love.

Here’s a cause marketing trivia question for you:  Who’s been doing cause marketing campaigns for 20 years and cranks out an astounding 60-70 campaigns per year?

Here’s a hint.  They’re not an agency, though they broker cause marketing partnerships all day long.  They’re not a non-profit organization, though their hopper is full of amazing causes waiting to see the light of day.  You could say they’re a cause unto themselves but they’re a for-profit company.  You’ve definitely heard the name.

Give up?

Scholastic is best known as one of the largest publishers and distributors of children’s books.  Conducting 120,000 book fairs each year and boasting an established direct-to-teacher distribution channel, Scholastic has a pretty amazing foothold into classrooms and backpacks across the country.  Jason Omenn, Regional Director of National Partnerships at Scholastic, recently explained how they leverage this channel specifically for cause campaigns.

Our division of Scholastic works with government agencies, foundations, non-profit organizations and brands to act as education marketing agency.  Our goal is to carry messaging to teachers in a way that adds value to the classroom.  Our news magazines have between 75%-95% usage by teachers, and approximately 80% make it into people’s homes.

Campaigns may be an educational poster sent to teachers along with curriculum supplements and individual worksheets for students to take home.  Sixty percent of their campaigns also have a digital component with interactive online experiences for students, parents and/or teachers.  Campaigns range from financial education to internet safety, sun safety to stress management.

An interesting example is their current 9/11 Day of Service campaign.   When the non-profit organization, MyGoodDeed, decided to ramp up service-oriented efforts leading up the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 and secured funding, they turned to Scholastic to help spread their message further with teacher lesson plans and service learning to “Inspire students to take positive action in remembrance of 9/11 and teach 9/11 constructively”.

A couple of things that strike me as particularly interesting about Scholastic from which we could probably all benefit:

• Empowering and entrusting children with cause-related messages.  Scholastic arms kids with the information they need on topics interesting to them so that they may educate their parents.   They also recognize that kids feel particularly validated when they can be the “expert” in a given topic and understand that kids really do want to make a difference in the world.

• Protecting the heck out of their channel.  There is certainly a litmus test for Scholastic when it comes to what they will and won’t distribute to teachers and children.  While approximately half of their campaigns are cause-related, they maintain editorial rights with their partners to create relevant and balanced content and curriculum and make no bones about telling partners, as Jason puts it, “We’re Switzerland”.

• Thinking long-term and client-focused.  Many of the campaigns Scholastic launches have been literally years and years in the making.  With so many organizations to work with, patience is certainly called for in waiting for the right timing, for budgets to align and for a relevant partnership to germinate.  Jason and his colleagues also recognize that, although organizations may see the value in a partnership with Scholastic, they often don’t have the time and resources to put into creating a campaign.  Jason is quick to assure client partners that the bulk of the work is handled by Scholastic, remaining sensitive to their resource constraints.

Scholastic offers a unique and interesting example for how cause campaigns can be leveraged through the classroom.  What’s your take on this?  How do you feel about cause marketing directed toward children via the classroom?

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Image credit to Kansasexplorer 3128.

So often you hear marketers say, “Find out what your customers want and deliver it.”  Curleigh doesn’t buy into this philosophy as a leading business principle.  “Who knew they wanted a sandal with a toe?”  Keen had a vision, created a product, took it to market and asked people to join in the movement.  And it worked.  Keen explained to consumers what it was like to walk a Hybrid Life in Keen Shoes.  Their message spoke to those that both enjoyed the outdoors and resonated with the call to create, play and care.

You could say the same about Twitter or pretty much any of the shiny objects in Joe Water’s most recent post. True innovation starts with a vision, not necessarily a focus group (although as we discussed last week, it’s always good to engage stakeholders early and often).

This is one of the things I like most about cause marketing and cause branding.  In order for it to be effective and credible it must start with a deeper purpose.  It must compel us to action through inspiration, not manipulation.

Choose Inspiration Over Manipulation
Simon Sinek’s message Start with Why (must see) explains that marketing without this vision, this purpose, this cause does indeed work -  through manipulation – but it does not breed loyalty or trust.  Put in a cause marketing context, we may be guilted into donating at the register or buying the cause branded product, but we walk away feeling…icky, taken advantage of.

Conversely, if we start with a deeper purpose, a Why, we attract those who are inspired by our message.  These are the people whose attention we want.  Why?  Because when inspired, people move into action.  They’re more likely to buy our products, tell their friends, write a positive review, participate, donate, volunteer, advocate.

The Cause Partnership Multiplier Effect
And we know from a cause partnership perspective, this halo of inspiration has a multiplier effect…it rubs off on our partners (provided we’ve chosen the right ones) because they resonate with our core values, our vision, our cause.  And this is not a one-way street from non-profit to company.  In the case of cause crusaders like Keen and the many up-and-coming social enterprises, it can work in reverse or flow in both directions.

Sometimes businesses or non-profit organizations hesitate to enter into a cause marketing campaign because they worry that it’s either a) not what their customers want or b) will be perceived as inauthentic.  If the campaign manipulates through cause-tinted tactics, they would be right.  However, if it seeks to inspire instead of manipulate fueled by vision and cause, it may just start a movement.

That’s my two cents – what about you?

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Open Means “Open” to Everyone – Good, Bad and Ugly
One of the most interesting conversation points addressed the challenge inherent in knowing that providing access and freedom necessarily attracts those who will use it irresponsibly or even abusively.

Here’s Matt’s take, excerpted from a blog post he did:

Though the freedom intrinsic in the GPL that has allowed people to abuse WordPress it has allowed even more people to do amazing things and over time the good far, far outweighs the bad. Most importantly I feel like WordPress would have never gotten off the ground if it hadn’t been open from the beginning.

Ultimately I know our software isn’t going to change anyone’s spots. Good people will do good things with it, and bad people will do bad things with it — regardless of any protections I put in place.

If you accept that bad people are going to be bad then the real question becomes how do you maximize the effect of the good instead of treating them just like the bad.

Matt shared that, although his philosophy on this is rock solid, it’s not always easy in practice.

The Implication for Cause Marketing
And it got me thinking about how we market our causes and prioritize our efforts to move not only our own programs forward, but to move the entire cause-related conversation forward.  The idealist advocate in me cringes a little to think about allowing the “bad guys” to do what they will, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that Matt’s philosophy mirrors my own take on the evolution of cause marketing and the marketing of causes in general.

It goes something like this:  there will be companies and agencies (that will remain nameless) that take advantage of this upswing in cause marketing and consumer interest in causes.  They will seek out non-profit partners in an attempt to bolster their identity in pure self-interest without considering what’s best for the non-profit organization and/or their cause.  There will be partnerships that are inauthentic, shallow and just plain ridiculous.  They will embody “Causewashing” and push consumers to declare cause-fatigue.  And, in the long run, they will fail.

They will fail because those of you out there doing it “right” (not to be confused with “perfectly”), in the spirit of mutual benefit, dedicated to transparency and authenticity, concerned for and dedicated to the causes you represent will knock them out of the ring.  How?  By tirelessly sharing what you learn with one another.  By raising the bar of the entire cause-related field through communicating your lessons learned.  Both Joe Waters and Estrella Rosenberg both do this amazingly well, constantly pushing out new ideas and freely sharing their knowledge, insight and challenges.

A Challenge To Support Open Sourced Cause Marketing
So, my fellow cause crusaders, here is your challenge.  Help raise the tide of cause marketing and the entire cause-related realm by making a commitment to sharing your personal lessons learned.  Share the good, the bad and the ugly by:

-Blogging

-Commenting

-Reading

-Thinking

-Tweeting

-Posting to Facebook

-Posting to LinkedIn

-Speaking

-Teaching

-Networking

-Staying in touch

Yes, it takes time.  Yes, you’re busy.  But your contribution will ensure that worthy causes and fantastic partnerships become an uncompromised standard and a force for good.

Here’s your chance to jump into the conversation and comment below.  Who else do you turn to on a regular basis that does a fantastic job sharing their lessons learned?  What other ways are there to share?  What makes you nervous about sharing?

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Where and when you enter a process is a strong determinant of how connected you’ll feel to the outcome. If I’m on the receiving end of a new initiative, I’ll approach it more critically than if I’m one of the people involved from the beginning.

[When people are involved in project creation] they’re always happier with the outcome. They feel something deeper than the success of a project gone well. They feel pride of ownership. They feel satisfied by the journey that brought them to their success.

Beyond Stakeholders for Dummies
While this may sound obvious and a chapter out of ‘Stakeholders for Dummies’, this ‘where and when you enter the process’ bit has several implications for cause marketers.

Of course you’re designing and creating your cause marketing campaigns in close coordination with your partner at a high level.  But what other groups need to be involved?  What hurdles might you face when attempting to involve them?

Employees
We all know that one of the best ways to increase the authenticity and overall success of a cause marketing campaign is to involve employees on a meaningful level.  Macy’s does a phenomenal job ensuring that employees are kept apprised of their cause initiatives and providing hands-on opportunities to get involved with community partners, through volunteering and in-store visits.  As a result, Macy’s employees become front-line ambassadors for their cause programs because they feel vested in the effort.  Macy’s not only provides information about their cause programs, they provide experiences to employees.

Why not enlist the advice of a group of representative employees when planning your next cause program?  They’ll most likely have ideas that can help your program succeed and they’ll undoubtedly be more motivated to advocate for the success of the program, knowing they’ve been part of the process all along.

Customers
Engaging customers early on is more involved.  Outside of focus groups, surveys and conversations via social media, what’s the best way to gather input and ensure engagement from the very group you’ll be targeting?  Here’s my theory:  ask them to do more.  Donate.  Volunteer.  Engage.

Here’s why:

Cause Fatigue is Real
We’re surrounded by slacktivism campaigns where consumers are asked to vote with a single mouse-click to earn their non-profit organization of choice a chance at the pot of gold under the rainbow.  Mike Swenson, Geoff Livingston and even Chris Brogan have warned us that cause fatigue is a very real thing and all encourage us to raise the bar.

More = Fewer but Better?
When we ask our customers to do more, rather than less…what happens?  Well, probably fewer people will participate.  True.  What else?  Let’s go back to the farm analogy.  To be sure, growing and harvesting vegetables is more involved than selecting them from a produce aisle (and it’s not for everyone) but the farm experience creates engagement, interest and connection.  And I don’t know about you, but I’ll take a small group of committed, engaged and connected people over a gaggle of passive ones any day.

Best Cause Standing
There’s certainly no shortage of causes with which we can choose to participate, and on a variety of levels.  My guess is that, at the end of the day, when the voting dust settles and slacktivism is run out of town, the causes left standing will be the ones who figured out how to engage both employees and consumers through experiences and, yes, contributions that make the world a better place.

What evidence have you seen of cause fatigue?  Is this a real phenomenon?  How can we counter it?  Is engaging employees and consumers the right way…the only way?  Would love your thoughts!

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Cause Marketing is a Stepping Stone
You won’t all agree with me on this, but my personal theory is that cause marketing has the potential to and should be a stepping stone into long-term sustainable business practices that change capitalism as we know it (think: how do we benefit ALL of our stakeholders, not just our shareholders?).  In theory, CSR should be an individual company’s embodiment of these sustainable business practices.  Looking forward 20 years, there won’t be CSR “programs” or “initiatives” because these practices will be fully integrated into every level of an organization.

The Importance of Experimentation
So what does cause marketing have to do with all of this?  Back to the stepping stone.  So often we hear about the importance of experimentation.  Chris Brogan tells us that his company is called New Marketing Labs, for a reason.  Experimentation is important to test suppositions on a small scale, gain feedback and then revamp and revise or go back to the drawing board entirely.

Here’s my theory:  cause marketing can serve as a great laboratory for a company’s CSR efforts because they tend to be short-term, measurable and engage the right stakeholders.  Let’s look at each of these more closely.

Short Term
Most cause marketing campaigns are short-term, running for a finite period of time.  Because they’re short-term efforts, the risks are lower for experimenting with new concepts, new causes and new ways to engage employees, consumers and other stakeholders.  Want to test consumer response to a cause you think would be a good fit for your brand?  Create a cause marketing campaign.  Want to know how important “green” issues are to your stakeholders?  Develop a cause marketing campaign to test levels of engagement.

Measurable
Because cause marketing campaigns do tend to be short-term, you can typically count on response data within a relatively short period of time, especially in the age of social media.  And because cause marketing campaigns are typically based on consumer and/or employee engagement, they provide solid data.  If you’re testing the importance of a “green” issue to your stakeholders with a cause marketing campaign and the hits on your campaign site exceed those on your normal website by tenfold, you may be on to something.

The Right Audience
Gaining a foothold in CSR means getting feedback and meeting the needs of stakeholders like community members, employees and customers.  Done well, a cause marketing campaign will engage all or most of these same stakeholders.  HALO-award-winning Macy’s does this in spades throughout their various cause marketing campaigns.

The Bummer
Here’s the bummer, though.  All too often cause marketing is kept separate from CSR efforts, each remaining in its own silo.  An exception to this unfortunate rule is American Express, who has combined their American Express Foundation with their CSR office.  All cause marketing programs now run through this consolidated unit.  Brilliant.

What’s your take on using cause marketing as a laboratory for lasting and sustainable business practices?  What other examples have you seen of cause marketing acting as a springboard for innovation or improvement?

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A recent Wired article explored the possibility that emotions were contagious and found that emotions spread in patterns similar to epidemiological disease models. Have a friend who’s happy or sad? It’s possible you may “catch” their emotion.

What about positive, community-oriented behaviors like recycling or charitable giving…are they contagious?  It turns out they may be, in an indirect sort of way. And, better yet, that you may be able to use this in your favor when crafting messaging.

We all want our messages to resonate more fully and, at the end of the day, to drive desired behavior.  So why not do some testing with this concept in your next campaign?

If you have giving or participation data on a specific retail location in the case of a point-of-sale program or via a specific platform (e.g. Facebook or Twitter), why not include it as part of your messaging, e.g.

The Main Street location currently has the highest rate of participation in our Save The World program…won’t you join us?” or

“The majority of our conference participants follow us on Facebook – Click Here to Join Us Online.”

Not buying it?  Test it.  Create two messages:  one “standard” message you might typically use and one including a descriptive social norm.  See which plays better with your target audience.

How else could you use this information in your cause marketing programs?  Have you seen any descriptive social norms used in marketing messages lately?

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]]> http://www.incouraged.com/2010/07/16/contagious-cause-marketing/feed/ 9 http://www.incouraged.com/2010/07/16/contagious-cause-marketing/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Incouraged/~3/_mc0LlOnqZ0/ http://www.incouraged.com/2010/07/14/whos-got-your-back-in-cause-marketing/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:14:26 +0000 Megan http://www.incouraged.com/?p=1191 Tweet

If you’re a company or non-profit organization considering the implementation of a cause marketing campaign or initiative, who do you turn to for expert advice?  Turns out you have a broad spectrum of options.  I’ve asked some of the best and brightest in the cause marketing realm to comment about their place within the cause space and the trends to keep an eye on moving forward.

The Traditional Public Relations Agency
On one end of the spectrum is the traditional public relations agency.  A few of these PR agencies have developed an expertise in-house within the field of cause marketing, such as Barkley, headquartered in Kansas City, MO.  Mike Swenson, EVP/CMO, and Founder/President of Barkley PR explains the Barkley model:

We’ve been involved with causes for about 15 years now
and to be honest, cause sort of found us.  Our first entry into cause marketing was through the Lee “National Denim Day” we created in 1996 where, in exchange for a $5 donation to support the fight against Breast Cancer, employees could wear jeans to work on a designated Friday.  The National Denim Day is still one of the largest single-day fundraisers for Breast Cancer annually, raising nearly $80 million since its inception.

About 7 years ago, we made a conscious decision to focus on cause as a specialty area for Barkley PR because it is, without a doubt, the most powerful way for an organization to define what they’re about.  We knew that to be a national cause leader we needed to contribute to and expand the conversation so we teamed up with PRWeek to conduct an annual cause survey.  The survey targets corporate marketing communications leaders, non-profit leaders and consumers around a different theme each year.

We believe that cause is about branding, awareness and giving back, a way for a company to tell their story a number of different ways.  But cause marketing is a relatively new field and there’s certainly a danger of being sucked into a vortex and having your cause-related efforts lose their value.  We’ve been active in this space almost from its inception and the beauty of Barkley is that we have the rest of the Barkley team around us to provide expertise in everything from social media to interactive.

Looking forward, Mike is particularly interested in the evolution of social media and causes:

I think we’re just seeing the beginning of how social media can impact causes.  We need to continue to find ways to harness the power of passionate participants.  This can be a scary dynamic for non-profit organizations.  As we make it easier for more people to make smaller donations, there’s a fear that these micro-donations may prevent donors from giving bigger gifts.  There are certainly both challenges and opportunities in using social media – but there’s really no better tool to build community and I think we’ll see it having a greater impact for causes.

The Boutique Cause Marketing Agency
Toward the other end of the spectrum is the smaller agency focusing exclusively on cause-related campaigns and/or cause branding.  These smaller agencies are likely to have a core team in-house and send specialized work out to trusted sub-contractors.  They may also have a sub-speciality within the cause marketing realm or work primarily within a particular sector, like retail point-of-sale programs or consumer products.  Laura Ferry, founder of Good Company, runs such an agency and explains how and where they operate:

Good Company is a small agency focused solely on cause-related partnerships.  Our expertise lies in bringing for-profit business and non-profit organizations together.  We have an in-depth understanding of different business cultures and are uniquely qualified to combine goals, missions, and objectives to create successful partnerships that have positive outcomes for the business and the cause.  We typically work with clients for several years and really become an extension of their team, creating relationships on their behalf and ensuring their cause-related efforts are of high quality and truly an authentic extension of their brand.

While we deal with all types of cause campaigns, we have a specialty in the licensing and development of consumer products around a cause or non-profit organization.  There’s really a trend toward having a product that physically demonstrates the mission of your organization. For example, our client I-SAFE, a nonprofit focused on providing internet safety education to primary and secondary schools, recently launched a series of workbooks for parents and kids at retail locations.

As Cause Marketing continues to evolve, Laura wants to ensure integrity remains high.

We’re concerned about the trend we’re seeing today in viewing cause marketing as a tactic rather than a fully integrated strategic effort rooted in cause. In order for a campaign, branding effort or initiative to be authentic, it must be centered in the good work happening out there to support issues.  Does your commitment to a cause go beyond the marketing aspect to involve your employees, business practices and stakeholders? If not, there is the risk of delivering a brand experience that isn’t truly authentic — and today’s super-smart consumer will know it.  In our opinion, most companies need non-profit partners to connect to real, on-the-ground, grassroots driven cause work.  Non-profits are the cause experts. It’s their business.  And they are uniquely able to provide a connection to the amazing change-making experiences and stories consumers want to hear about.

The Technologists
Somewhere in the same universe, though probably not on the same continuum, are agencies like StudioGood who focus on cause but don’t consider themselves to be a cause marketing agency, per se.  Chris Noble, Principal at StudioGood explains:

StudioGood is a technology company.  While many agencies focus on the programmatic piece and the value proposition for consumers, we focus on the cause integration piece and how to leverage existing and emerging technology platforms for the greatest impact.  We were initially introduced to cause-related campaigns because we worked with celebrities and celebrities brought causes.  What we found was a growing market for cause-related events and campaigns where technology wasn’t being used particularly well.  We knew we could change that dynamic and we have.  Cause-related events like Twestival choose us because they trust us to fully integrate into social media platforms like FourSquare, Twitter and Facebook.  The first thing we ask is, “What can the technology do as a tactic?” and then figure out how best to integrate the technology into the needs of the brand or the cause.

We work a lot with larger, traditional PR firms and agencies who trust us as a partner in executing cause-related campaigns.  We’re interested in raising the most amount of money possible for any given campaign and in making our clients (the agencies) look good.  Since we’re not in it to earn new client accounts, it’s a good partnership.  It’s working out well for the charities too:  last year, we raised over $4M for good causes and this year we expect to double that.

For StudioGood, technology mastery is the name of the game, which includes building and maintaining relationships in the digital world.  We know who’s coming up with new technologies that will change the way we interact online and we’re right there figuring out the best ways to use those technologies for good.

Chris offers the following as he turns to look at the future of cause marketing:

With the rise of cause-focused contests and companies forming their own corporate foundations, the non-profit organization has to get back into the cause-marketing game.  We’re seeing cause-branded products that aren’t necessarily linked to a non-profit organization.  I think the way to get back in there as a non-profit is to approach the brands yourself.  All non-profit organizations should have a 2-3 page sponsorship document they should present to any brand that will listen.  This way, the brand saves the time of having to think about how to integrate cause into their marketing- the non-profit has provided that strategy.  This field will only continue to grow.  And make no mistake about it, if you’re selling a product, you need to be thinking about cause.

Questions to Ponder
So where on the continuum makes sense for your company or organization?  It depends. Here are a few items to consider:

• Strategy vs. Tactic – What is the missing element of the cause campaign or effort you want to implement?  Is cause central to what you do on a daily basis or do you need strategic advice to ensure authenticity?  Do you need ideas on the most effective types of cause-focused campaign for maximum awareness and impact?
• Goals – What are the goals for your cause-related undertaking?  Are you looking to raise awareness, boost sales, improve employee retention or morale?
• Partnership – Do you have an existing partnership in place with a cause-focused non-profit organization or do you need an intermediary to recommend a suitable match?  This is tougher than it looks and more critical than you may think.
• Campaign vs. Initiative – Will your involvement in cause-related efforts be a long-term initiative or a cause-branding undertaking or more of an event-focused or one-time campaign?  Are you looking for a strategic extension of your team or an elite execution team to up the ante?

What’s Your Opinion?
Where on the continuum do you see yourself, whether you’re an expert in the cause-related field or a company looking to enter into this space?  What considerations would you add to this list that I’ve overlooked?

Special thanks to Laura Ferry for a conversation that inspired this post.

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As major airlines have continued the trend of reducing or cutting service to rural communities, Portland, OR-based SeaPort Airlines saw an opportunity to get involved and fill a need.  SeaPort currently serves local routes in the Pacific Northwest and Mid-South by providing big-city access to smaller rural communities and also between regional hubs like their popular Portland-to-Seattle route.

It’s About Time
SeaPort passengers bypass TSA security lines at larger hubs like PDX and check in 15 minutes in advance of their flight at a separate terminal, particularly appealing to time-crunched business professionals.  Ticket prices are kept affordable and parking is complimentary.
What’s not to like?

Rob McKinney, President of SeaPort Airlines, was gracious enough to sit down with me to discuss their take on sustainability, local community and strategic partnerships.

Access and Beyond
At the heart of SeaPort airlines is access.  Rob explains,

From an economic development perspective, access to air transportation is critically important for rural communities.  Excluding rural communities is a detriment to the Pacific Northwest and to America.  Some of the communities we serve have been without air transport for over 10 years.   And it’s not just about providing access.  SeaPort is all about taking care of these communities – we consider ourselves to be their home-town airline. We treat our passengers as guests, not as cattle.

Sustainable Business
SeaPort is incredibly proud of the efficiencies they’re able to realize by using smaller planes to serve their communities.  Rob details this out for us:

For most airlines, fuel represents 50% of their costs.  At SeaPort, it’s only 25%.  For example, it only takes us 45 gallons of jet fuel to fly from Portland to Seattle and our emissions are far less than the larger planes since we’re operating on one engine versus two.  Sustainability is a natural by-product of being efficient in serving our customer base.

Local Community Partnerships
SeaPort takes their role as a “home-town airline” incredibly seriously.  And they enjoy some amazing support in return from the communities they serve.  Rob gives us some background on these partnerships.

We are fortunate to enjoy some amazing local community partnerships, particularly in the rural communities we serve.  We support all sorts of small, local efforts because we really do believe in being a good community partner.  We get multiple inquiries each week from local communities who want us to serve their local market but we don’t do things we can’t do well.

This community-focused philosophy has paid off big-time for SeaPort.  Rob details an example of a partnership about which most companies can only dream:

A really amazing example is the Clatsop Economic Development Resources.  They have a cadre of people that volunteer their time in a variety of ways to support our presence in their community.  They provide us access to local business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce, they do anecdotal polling on flight schedules within the community and they offer suggestions for marketing avenues and new ways to reach people in their community.  This is a community that’s had a 10-year lapse in air service and our viability is important to their ability to thrive as a community, so it’s a true win-win situation for both of us.

The Growth/Personal Touch Challenge
I asked Rob about the challenge of continuing to grow while maintaining the sense of community.  Here’s how he sees it:

That’s a very real challenge that we think about all the time because it is so important to who we are as a company and who we want to continue to be.  It really comes down to the people – that’s what makes any great company great.  This shows up in who we hire and how we treat employees and doing a good job communicating our mission and vision so they can do the same as they interact with our customers.

SeaPort is a living example of how going smaller, more efficient and community-focused can quite literally launch a business.  What’s your take on the uniqueness of SeaPort?  Have you seen other examples of similar business models?

We use local, vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free beef in our burgers, cage-free eggs in our breakfast items and our salads feature mixed greens with sustainable, local ingredients such as smoked salmon and Oregon hazelnuts.

That’s not all.  Ready?  Their menu changes based on the availability of seasonal ingredients.  Right now you’ll find a grilled Coho salmon sandwich, fried asparagus and a whole slew of strawberry goodness like smoothies, milkshakes, lemonade and desserts.  With a commitment to buying local, 71% of Burgerville’s food dollars are spent within the Pacific Northwest.

Oh, and did I mention that in 22 out of their 39 restaurants, there aren’t any garbage cans?  Customers are asked to sort their trash into “recycling”, “composting” and “trash/landfill” bins.  They also have “back of house” recycling/composting stations for things like cooking oil (all of it goes to produce biodiesel) and most of their packaging is compostable/recyclable.

Before you brush them off as some tree-hugging company, take a bite out of this statistic:  Burgerville announced their partnership with Food Alliance-certified Country Natural Beef in 2004.  Between 2004 and 2008, the company experienced double digit growth without opening any additional restaurants.

These were just a few of the factoids served up by Burgerville’s Director of Sustainability, Alison Dennis, who was gracious enough to chat with me about Burgerville’s commitment to sustainability.  You’ll find plenty more on the sustainability pages of their website.

From my conversation with Alison, here’s what Burgerville is doing right:

Staying True to Their Roots
Before Alison mentioned word one about all the impressive work Burgerville is doing in the sustainability front, she talked about Burgerville’s history and deep community roots.

Burgerville is a family-owned company, turning 50 next year.  We have a long history of community service and charitable giving and have always asked the question, ‘What does a good corporate citizen look like?’  It’s this question that has enabled us to evolve through the decades.  For us, the answer to this question is broader than just food.  It’s about being a leader in our community.

Starting with People
Burgerville takes a much broader definition of sustainability than the stereotypical “green” issues.  And it begins with their people.  Alison explains,

Burgerville is about growing leaders with the skills to make a difference in their families and in their communities.  We take care of our people.  We did an employee survey in 2005 and health care came back as the number one issue.  So now any employee that works over 20 hours a week for 6 months receives full medical, dental, vision coverage for $20/month.  In the first year of expanding the health care plan, we realized a 3% ROI.

Reaching Customers Where They Are
When I asked Alison if she felt like Burgerville had a role to play in educating their customers, she laughed and said,

I don’t really think anyone wants to go order a hamburger and get a lesson on sustainability.  We really avoid the term ‘education’.  But one of the huge benefits of being a fast-food company is that we reach all sorts of people on a daily basis from all walks of life.  We’re eminently approachable.  The entire point of what we’re doing is for people to feel welcome and to be engaged in the conversation about their food.  Make it OK to ask questions and continue the conversation.

We’re testing out a pilot program where nutritional information is printed on the back of the receipt based on your order.  We don’t think our customers should have to work so hard to find out basic information about their food.

A few weeks ago, we invited the ranchers from the Co-op that provides our beef to work in our restaurants.  Over the period of a few days, every restaurant had a rancher working the drive through, or behind the counter.  Our customers loved it.  Our employees loved it.  The ranchers loved it.  And that’s what we’re about.  Making the connection for people about where their food really comes from.

Being a Leader
It’s not enough for Burgerville to set a high bar for their own company.  They feel compelled to be a force behind raising the tide that will float all boats.  When I asked Alison what she was working on that most excited her, she shared,

Not every Burgerville is able to participate in our compost/recycle program due to limitations in local hauling infrastructure.  We’re part of a conversation with regional leaders about how to change this in Oregon and Washington.  The University of Oregon is also involved in helping us design a solution that can scale here regionally and then serve as a national model.  We’re all about finding ways for sustainable food systems to scale.

Going Above, Around and Beyond
One of the challenges Alison shared about their food standards involved availability of appropriate vendors.

It took 4 years of dialogue with Country National Beef to solidify our partnership with their Co-op.  We needed a certain volume of ground beef, but we also had to help source and negotiate other partners who would purchase the remaining cuts of meat.  Co-ops are ideal but there aren’t enough of them.  Sometimes we have to roll up our sleeves and help organize local farms to meet our volume requirements.  Burgerville alone can’t create a sustainable future for strawberry farmers.  But we can be part of that equation and bring like-minded buyers together.

So what else can we expect from Burgerville in the future?  Plenty.  They’re working on ways to better quantify and measure the impact they’re making for customers and on their own business metrics.  They continue to push for new compostable/recyclable packaging and plan to announce the newest of their accomplishments this year.  They’re addressing how their customers get to their locations and encouraging eco-friendly transportation options like biking.

One thing’s for sure:  this burger joint is taking a huge bite out of sustainability and redefining fast food as we know it today.

The Numbers
As part of the campaign, Bounty made a $10,000 donation to ArtWorks Cincinnati, in addition to programmatic work done to develop classroom curriculum and promotion of the effort.  If monetary donations were made to Rush Philanthropic or individual schools, it was not disclosed.  And just for the record, the New York Times reports that Proctor and Gamble spent $46.9 million to advertise Bounty last year.

Speaking of Messes
This is one cause campaign dripping with irony that no paper towel can absorb.  While, yes, paper towels are used to clean up household messes (in fact, it’s no surprise that Bounty encourages you to make messes so they can help you clean them up), our domestic messes pale in comparison to the environmental mess caused by paper products like Bounty paper towels, which make up 40% of trash in U.S. landfills.

Consider this double-decker combo of irony and inauthenticity:  a portion of Bounty’s own curriculum developed for the “Make a Clean Difference” campaign champions recycling efforts in schools. Come on, P&G, really?

Rethinking The Stance on “Clean”
Better for P&G to save their precious fraction of a penny they so dutifully invested in this “cause” campaign and rethink their approach to their stance on “clean”.  Even though paper towels and toilet paper are two of the largest environmental offenders in this country, most of us use them as part of our daily lives.  There are ways to mitigate some of the environmental impact by making changes in raw materials and processing that P&G would be well-advised to consider.

Recycled vs. Virgin Wood
Bounty is made using 100% virgin wood.  A more environmentally friendly option is recycled post-consumer materials.  According to Greenseal.org,

If all paper towels were made with 100% recycled materials, approximately 1 million tons of used paper would be kept out of our waste stream.

The recommended input for paper towels is 40% postconsumer waste.

Bleaching
All Bounty paper towel products are bleached.  Again from Greenseal.org,

Paper towels are sometimes bleached with elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), which causes the release of chlorinated compounds, such as dioxins and furans, which are powerful carcinogens and mutagens. These compounds adversely affect immune systems and reproductive systems and are harmful to aquatic life and wildlife.

There is a continuum between bleached to unbleached paper towels, including PCF (process chlorine free) and ECF (elemental chlorine free).

Central Core
The central core around which the paper towel is wrapped is another area upon which manufacturers can improve by switching to 100% recycled fiber.

Better Use of P&G’s Marketing Dollars
If P&G truly wanted to take a stab at an authentic campaign for its Bounty brand and set an example for consumers and their families, how about introducing a line of paper towels to their existing line of 6(!) paper towel products that took some steps toward addressing, I don’t know…maybe ONE of the environmental aspects addressed above?  To date, the only glance in this direction from P&G is their new Huge Roll that packs more paper towels on a single cardboard core, although you have to dig pretty deep into the Bounty website to read anything about this environmental benefit.

To Really Own “Clean”
Please, P&G, spare us the “Do as I say, not as I do” cause campaigns and put your marketing smarts to work in addressing something that would have a lasting impact on our families.  Take a serious look at how you can provide us with more sustainable products and then help to educate us about what we can do in our own homes.  If you truly want to become a champion of “clean” in our homes, it’s gonna take more than a surface swipe at the definition.

Why A Business May Leapfrog a Non-Profit
Politics.  At the Cause Marketing Forum Conference, John Anton, Pedigree Marketing Director at Mars Petcare explained how their partnership with the American Humane Association (AHA) raised $1.7 million out of the gate.  However, Pedigree rethought their alliance with the AHA when it led to some unintended repercussions from pure-breed owners (and Pedigree customers) around AHA’s stance on California spay/neuter legislation.  To distance themselves, Pedigree started their own 501c3 organization, the Pedigree Foundation, now the largest in the country dedicated to helping dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations.  Pedigree saw the benefit of supporting pet-related causes, yet needed a politically-neutral organization to support, so it created its own foundation.

Access. When I first started working with The Hello Foundation, a staffing firm focused on placing special education professionals in schools, their founder felt called to do international outreach to support children with the most basic communication needs.  Though my first step was to try to identify organizations already working in the field in third-world countries, my outreach efforts came up short.  We were either required to fit into pre-existing trips that didn’t utilize the specialty we had to offer, inquiries went unanswered or groups were already at capacity.  So we blazed our own trail, establishing our own in-country connections and partnered with a local school directly.  How many opportunities for corporate partnerships go unrealized because they don’t fit exactly into the existing mold?  And is this a communications issue or one of capacity and flexibility?  In the case of The Hello Foundation, we would’ve gladly partnered with a non-profit organization (and done all the legwork, provided our own funding, etc.) had one surfaced just to provide those critical local connections and on-the-ground knowledge.

The Benefit of Partnering with an Existing Non-Profit Organization
Starting a corporate foundation is no small effort.  There are legal hurdles, staffing and funding ramifications.  It’s far simpler to leverage an existing non-profit organization, not to mention the built-in tax advantages for donors and factors relating to credibility.  Most companies are not in business to provide services or resources to a cause so it typically makes sense to partner with a non-profit organization already operating in a space into which the company would like to enter.  Obviously, a non-profit organization also needs to be selective in defining their space, their mission, their programs.  Sometimes corporate partnerships make strategic sense.  Sometimes they may not.  But if a company doesn’t know a non-profit organization exists, it’s obviously impossible to make that strategic match.

The Limitations of Partnering with an Existing Non-Profit Organization
Companies do need to look out for the best interest of their stakeholders and eliminate potential political landmines when dealing with cause-related issues.  Although non-profit organizations should do a thorough job in establishing their scope, they may also be well-advised to ask good questions of potential partners.  Perhaps, on the surface, an inquiry may not appear to be a “fit” into existing programs, but may well lead into a more fulfilling partnership in the long run.

We’d probably all benefit from being more open minded in dealing with partnerships.  Yes, we need to keep the integrity of our programs and initiatives in mind.  But maybe, just maybe, some of our best strategic partners may come from like-minded organizations operating in a mutually beneficial space if we could remove the blinders long enough to recognize one another.

What’s your take?  Is it OK for companies to “leapfrog” non-profit organizations and establish their own programs?  What can non-profit organizations do to be more visible to potential corporate partners?  What are other benefits to partnering with non-profit organizations for a company?

@meganstrand

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Image credit to beketchai.

Blackbaud released a new study on charitable giving.  A few surprises in the area of social media.

Joe Waters started an excellent discussion of strategy versus tactics and gave us some neat ideas through the A.C. Moore/Easter Seals partnership.

Elaine Cohen did a great piece on The Changing Face of Corporate Philanthropy.  The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy had their annual conference in early June.  Sounding a lot more like cause-related marketing than philanthropy!

Slate had a nice piece addressing the question of why an individual should give through a company versus writing a check.  Featuring the AmEx Members Program.

I did a post on One Slippery Slope of Cause Marketing – still looking for others.  Have a few more in my head but want to hear your thoughts!

We learned about amazing small businesses and 5th graders that are pitching in to help in the oil spill tragedy.

We got another CMF10 write up from Chris Mann at Cone.

Business Week came out with their list of most promising social entrepreneurs.  Love them all!

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet throw down the gauntlet to their fellow billionaires – you can’t take it with you…do something good!

Ridiculous OpEd in Forbes about how CSR costs enormously with zero benefit.  Ick.  Ick. Ick.

My personal favorite non-cause-related story.  Insect art via PHEROMONE.  Way cool.

Image credit to malabooboo.

Being a careful steward of resources is particularly prudent in the cause marketing realm.  Try to consider your resources as more of “community property” than “corporate assets”.  Think simplicity, community, and content .

Simplicity
If you use them at all, keep printed communications to a minimum; simple and understated (think b&w photos versus full color die cuts).  Be ruthless in consolidating printed communications wherever possible.  Less is more in this department.

Community
Better to put your efforts into building a community or mobilizing an existing one through social media channels.  Recruit ambassadors within your community to become your spokespeople.  Remember to include your employees and those closest to the cause.  This is an organic way to increase your reach without spending too many precious dollars, not to mention the fact that the more ambassadors you have that are…well, NOT YOU…the greater your credibility, and wider your reach.

Content 
Give your ambassadors the tools and platform on which to distribute content they’ve created (video, blogs, photos).  Connect them into your online presence.  Spending $200 on a video camera and basic mic and putting it into the hands of an ambassador of your program will reap more in visibility, authenticity and reach than your traditional marketing efforts ever would.  Plan and develop your communications plan well and ensure that all stakeholders are getting as much information as possible to keep them engaged and informed.

What are the other slippery slopes of Cause Marketing?  What examples have you seen of partnerships navigating them well or poorly?

Image credit to 96dpi.

And so often, we draw our circles so compactly around those with whom we see eye to eye on, well…everything, that we miss out on those who could expand our circle.  That’s what Linchpins do.  Challenge.  Question.  Present different perspectives.

The first-ever nation-wide Linchpin Meetup took place June 14th, suggested by Seth Godin but executed by a group of passionate individuals in cities across the continent.

At my local Portland gathering, graciously hosted by Pinpoint Logic, I learned that Linchpins don’t look like I thought they’d look.  They don’t talk about the things I expected them to talk about.  Some of the Linchpins I met I want to hold close, learn more.  Some came from a place I don’t yet understand.  But what impressed the heck out of me was the level at which the bar was set for honesty and transparency.  Even my own level of honesty was surprising.

Connecting with a group of people around a common but high-level ideal was admittedly somewhat unfamiliar.  Uncomfortable, even.  But probably exactly what so many of us need.  A place where judgment can be suspended and connection can occur on a different level that has more to do with art.  And humanness.  And respect.

I’m grateful for this space.  And for the journey.  And for the Linchpins.

Image credit to the awesome Patrick Prothe.

So many great wrap-ups from the Cause Marketing Forum Conference last week.

3BL Media (one of my new faves) tirelessly captured featured presenters on video.  If you haven’t watched, do, they’re worth your time.

Joe Waters had 2 great posts.  His first, a Review of Cause Marketing Forum Conference.  The second, Raising Cause Marketing, more of a lessons learned and internalized.

And if you love Joe Waters, you MUST see this video of Chris Noble channeling Joe Waters.

The Komen saga continued with the Finger Lickin’ Failure post from Estrella Rosenberg and one from yours truly, Komen Strives for Market Domination.  Comments abounded.

Bob Gilbreath did a nice overview of his takeaways and programs that caught his attention.

My other post was Cause Marketing 2.0 – Where Do We Go From Here?

Sustainable Brands 2010 Conference

Another conference to watch.  Just one review I’ve seen so far and will look forward to others next week.

In the Gulf

We’re starting to hear more reports of donations coming in to benefit the Gulf Oil Spill. If you haven’t seen it yet, the Colbert Report got Bing to donate $100,000 in product mentions – good for a laugh for sure.

Chris MacDonald did a great post entitled Boycotting BP is Futile and Unethical.  While not cause marketing, per se, it does illuminate how complicated these issues can be.

Facebook Gets Smart

Rumors were confirmed this week that Facebook will partner with the PTA to address child privacy issues.  Now that’s a cause campaign worth watching!

In Other News

Fenton Released their 2010 NonProfit Forecast with some interesting stats.

MIT/Sloan did an outstanding article entitled the The Change Leadership Sustainability Demands.  Long but worth it!

What did I miss?!?

Image credit to Daniel Dionne.

Where Do We Go From Here?

But where do we go from here in the realm of cause marketing?  How does this influx of cause-participation alternatives evolve toward a sustainable and meaningful interaction with the causes about which we care the most?  How do we avoid “Causewashing” or the Death of Cause Marketing via cause overload?  And what’s missing from current cause-related campaigns?  What will Cause Marketing 2.0 look like?

These were questions I found myself asking repeatedly at the Cause Marketing Forum’s Annual Conference last week in Chicago.

Digging Deeper

After speaking with some incredibly smart folks like Chris Noble from Cause Media Group (see his video below) and listening intently to presentations from the leaders in the realm of cause marketing, here’s my take: we need to dig deeper.  It’s one thing to create a glitzy, fun cause-related campaign for a brand that involves a cause.  It’s quite another to think along the edges of the box to creatively rethink how a brand can leverage their consumer relationships to support a cause through greater awareness, sustainable funding and quality volunteerism.

Consumer Engagement is Key

We all know that social media and cause marketing are a natural fit because social media provides an organic way to reach consumers.  Mike Swenson of Barkley bases his very differentiation between philanthropy and cause marketing on consumer engagement.  Involve consumers? You’re eligible to enter the world of cause marketing.  Don’t involve consumers?  You’re in philanthropic territory (no, that’s not a bad thing, just a different ball game).

A Long-Tail Approach to Fundraising and Cause Marketing

As we dig deeper, there will come a point where social media and consumer involvement evolve into a long-tail approach to fundraising and cause marketing.  At this point, savvy companies will begin to ask consumers not only to vote for their favorite non-profit organization but to up the ante and donate or volunteer themselves.  It’s an evolution, to be sure, but in my humble opinion, a direction in which we should all point our cause marketing efforts.

Imagine a time where we, as consumers, will not be asked to vote by clicking a button on Facebook but rather by voting with our donation dollars to secure corporate matching funds.  How much more time will we spend actually looking into the organizations to which we’re donating?  And what will that do to our individual level of education and awareness around a particular cause?

AmEx Provides A Cause Marketing 2.0 Model

American Express has partnered with Take Part to offer a Cause Marketing 2.0 model with their Members Project initiative.  Any consumer (not just AmEx customers) may participate in voting, donating (with dollars or AmEx Rewards Points) or Volunteering around certain cause areas.  Participants who volunteer are eligible to earn Reward Points that may then be turned around and used as a donation toward a specific charity or kept for personal use.  I’ll go ahead and venture a guess that consumers involved with the AmEx Members Project will be more engaged, more loyal and more committed to both the brand and the causes with which they’re involved.  Why? Because they’re being asked to dig deeper.  Do more.  Take action.

Chris Noble on the Evolution of Cause Marketing

Chris Noble from Cause Media Group was kind enough to chat with me about how he sees the evolution of cause marketing, complete with a great example from Electrolux.  Give it a watch and come back and share your thoughts.

What’s your take?  Where does cause marketing need to go from here?  What will prevent us from cause marketing overload?  What’s the next evolution from where you sit?  As always, I welcome your comments!

Image credit to Eric Magnuson.

So when Karen White from Komen took the stage at the Cause Marketing Forum Conference last week in Chicago, everyone held heir breath and laughed probably a bit too hard when she joked that perhaps she should’ve brought some chicken for everyone to eat.  However, it wasn’t until White was directly asked to comment on the KFC cause marketing partnership that she addressed the issue in vehement defense.  We learned that the KFC cause marketing campaign was vetted through Komen‘s founder and board.  And learned that the reason Komen opted to partner with KFC (aside from the $8.5 million donation) was that KFC operated in 900 communities Komen has labeled “white space”, where Komen does not have a presence and viewed the partnership as an opportunity to expand their reach.  White concluded with, “I will stand behind those pink buckets of chicken any day of the week.”

No News is Good News?

White’s appearance prompted further posts like Estrella Rosenberg‘s, “Finger Lickin’ Failure“, who points out that some humility in sharing lessons learned might’ve been better received.  And certainly there was room for improvement in the partnership, to which almost anyone could attest.  But hearing the rationale behind the partnership from Komen‘s side of the table (albeit hesitantly) was refreshing and makes me question why they’ve chosen to remain silent against the astonishment and confusion among their community of supporters and the cause marketing community at large.

But here’s the thing, unrelated to the KFC cause marketing campaign, that struck me even more disturbingly.

Pink Market Domination

White began her talk with a discussion of how crowded the “pink” space was becoming and admitted, “We held on to our pink ribbon so tightly to reclaim our niche in the space that we  inadvertently added to the pink clutter.”  She then went on to describe Komen‘s efforts to reclaim their niche and reestablish themselves as the queens of pink through a rebranding effort.

And while you have to give Komen credit for astute marketing and impressive brand equity, their efforts at market domination struck me as incredibly odd for a cause.  Wouldn’t the more appropriate course of action be to serve as a platform for other organizations focused around breast cancer?  Establish market domination by becoming the ultimate source of information and credible breast cancer organizations instead of racing to “beat” their “competition”?  For an organization so incredibly talented at establishing partnerships, it struck me as odd and just kind of…wrong that they neglected to focus on partnerships within the breast cancer community and instead chose to view them as competition.

So all of this raises a larger question.  How much should/can a non-profit organization act like a traditional brand?  Is it OK to consider others fighting for the same cause “competition”?  Is their a different level of ethics and responsibility to which a non-profit organization must adhere?  What do you think?  Comment and let me know!

Image credit to krazydad/jbum.

Levi Strauss “Care to Air” campaign. – Brilliant.  Love it.  Here’s my take – so much more than meets the eye on this one.  Kudos to Levi’s.  And while I’m at it, I’ll just go ahead and share my plug of one of my Portland faves, Keen Footwear.

Joe Waters took a look at the Balance Between Philanthropy, Marketing and Business, using Absolut Vodka and the new Panera Community Cafe as examples.  We also got a different small-business perspective from someone in the local Panera Cafe community that was worth a read.

DanielFreeman introduced a new term: Causium: the fusion of Freemium & Cause Marketing - This ended up on my list of Cause Marketing Terms as well.

Even Chris Brogan was on the Cause-Related bandwagon this week with his post on MolsonCoors tackling the Hard Message of Irresponsible Drinking.  Not totally cause-marketing but certainly CSR and cause related.

Hoover announced a new $25,000 Facebook-centric cause marketing campaign with Cleaning for a Reason Foundation where $1 will be donated for every Facebook like for Hoover or Cleaning for a Reason (donating cleaning services to women suffering from cancer).

I happened upon Good Company and their excellent post,  Cause Marketing Adds Value(s) to Consumerism.

Umair Haque introduced us to Techonomy and the concept of solving real social problems by harnessing innovation.

A great post from Umair Haque himself this week was “Rebooting prosperity in an age of austerity.”

I was personally psyched to meet Noland Hoshino in person and Skype with Olivia Khalili.  If you’re not following them, you need to be – they’re both fabulous!

Next week – CAUSE MARKETING FORUM CONFERENCE in Chicago!  Check back often for updates and insights and please, if you’re attending, connect with me on Twitter and let’s chat!

Cause Marketing – This definition varies.

• Joe Waters describes it as, “A partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit.”
• Per Wikipedia, “The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and other charitable causes, including in-house marketing efforts by non-profit organizations.”

It also seems like “Cause-Related Marketing” may have been the genesis of the shorter “Cause Marketing” more commonly used today.

Strategic Philanthropy - Defined as a “way to combine your company marketing goals with your desire to increase the well-being of mankind”, strategic philanthropy seems like one of those terms that the HBR crowd like to throw around.  It just sort of sounds self-important and larger than life.

Cause Branding - An evolution of cause marketing.  According to Cone, “a powerful positioning discipline used to enliven brand equity and enhance corporate image with significant bottom-line and community impacts.”  This type of branding is most likely used by a Cause Crusader.

Causium - You’ve heard of Freemium…typically used as a free teaser to promote a new software applications, well this week I learned of a new term called “Causium”, whereby users pay a small donation that goes directly to a selected charity in exchange for the software product.  Here’s an example. Personally, I think this strategy definitely has relevance in generating new cause-related interest and donations but I’m not sure it merits its own terminology.  Plus, it’s hard to say (and remember).

Consumption Philanthropy - Coined by Patricia Mooney Nickel and Angela Elkenberry, Consumption Philanthropy “pairs the support of a charitable cause with the purchase or promotion of a service or product.”  Elkenberry is very obviously opposed to this shift in philanthropic giving and hence came up with a name intended to agitate those of us who fall on the opposite side of the fence.  Just sort of feels like name calling, so I’m happy to write this one off.

Embedded Giving - This is a throw-back to 2007 and is/was defined as, “building a philanthropic gift into another, unrelated, financial transaction.”  Rounding up on a bill or pitching in at the cash register at the local grocery story.  I haven’t heard this term used much recently and although it is descriptive, I still feel like “Cause Marketing” does a better job of being all-inclusive.

What’s your hit?  Do you use or prefer one term over another?  Do we lose something by not all calling these initiatives by a common name?

Special thanks to Joe Waters for a few suggestions on this post.

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Image credit to Nikki from Oz.

Levi’s is doing so very many things right that other apparel companies (and all brands) could learn from:

Top Level Ambassadors

At Levi’s it’s not just the sustainability officer that is a well-versed ambassador of the company’s commitment to sustainable practices.  After reading CEO John Anderson’s speech at UC Berkeley earlier this year, it’s very apparent that the entire company stands behind Levi’s pledge to sustainability, from the top levels down.  It pervades their strategy, culture and communications at all levels.  Not only does Levi’s view themselves as a committed corporate citizen, they’re also taking responsibility to be a leader and role model.

Anderson comments,

Companies have been talking about green policies for some time now. But today — perhaps more than ever — we in business need to establish a new level of leadership in sustainability. We need a more rigorous and systematic way of illustrating the problem — and solving it.

Looking Beyond Your Own Backyard

While Levi’s could’ve easily patted themselves on the back for all the good they were doing in the world and to implement sustainable practices within their own four walls, Levi’s chose a much wider world-view.

Again, CEO John Anderson,

We wanted to build a rigorous and credible assessment of our own impact on sustainability. Something that was science-based and led by an independent third-party. We wanted to understand not just the programs we had started, but the real impact of our products in their entire life-cycle. A cradle-to-grave study.

Our instinct was that if we understood the full scope of our impact, we could create a sustainability program that was far more comprehensive and meaningful. And we also felt that understanding our true impact would give us the clarity to articulate our vision and set priorities for our environmental work around the world.

Levi’s had an independent Life Cycle Assessment done on their primary products and were surprised to find out that the biggest impact their products had on the environment were outside of their direct control – namely their raw input of cotton and how consumers cared for their products after purchase.

Using A Trusted Brand to Leverage Change

Not only did Levi’s make the commitment to investigate the real impact of their products, they took the results, surprising as they were, and made the conscious decision to use their influence to impact change.  Anderson explained,

We realized that if we were going to talk about sustainability — and talk about it seriously — we needed to stretch well beyond our immediate business. We need to think about how we might harness the power of our brands to address issues as big as cotton and the washing machine.

Apparently, identifying sources of cotton is a tricky proposition since it’s a commodity.  But Levi’s rolled up their sleeves and got to work.  They used their buying power to advocate for more humane practices in different cotton-supplying areas of the world and set a goal to build a sustainable cotton supply chain.

Levi’s leveraged their over 130 years of consumer trust to educate consumers by changing their care tags to include, “washing in cold water”, “line drying” and “donating unwanted clothing”.  And they haven’t stopped there.  The June 1st “Care to Air” campaign will engage consumers to find innovative ways to air-dry clothing with $10,000 in prizes.  Part of the reason this is effective is their long-standing history of consumer trust.  But the other part of the equation is the fact that Levi’s is walking its talk and asking the consumer to walk alongside them toward a common goal.

Partner Up

From their partnership with Goodwill to donate used clothing to their collaboration with other brands and retailers in an organization called the Better Cotton Initiative to their partnership with The Alliance to Save Energy and P&G, Levi’s recognizes the value of leveraging partnerships to affect real change.  Although they are making an enormous internal effort, they’re willing to check their corporate ego at the door for the sake of collaboration and industry impact.

Clear and Realistic Baby Steps

Levi’s messaging is clear and concise.  As a consumer, it’s easy to figure out why you should care about the sustainability issue.  How wearing Levi’s has an impact on the environment.  What your part of the equation is.  What difference you’ll make when you participate.  Period.  End of story.  Want more information or background?  It’s all there but Levi’s doesn’t drown their customers in information but rather provides the bottom line basics and asks the consumer to make the right choice.

For other industry leaders, CEO John Anderson offers these similarly “bottom line” basics:

• First, establish common measurements, measure the right things, and do it rigorously. It is the only way to really and honestly understand the impact your business has on the environment.
• Second, look beyond your company’s walls, and even well beyond its immediate business activities. Like it or not, we are all part of an ecosystem, and you can exert real influence on it.
• Third, engage your suppliers and your customers. Expand your sphere of influence. Help them understand your values by sharing your insights with them. They will be better partners and stakeholders as a result.
• And finally, build your commitment to sustainability into your culture, your business goals, your operations, your public presence. Sustainability isn’t an initiative or a project. It’s a world view.

What do you think of the new Care to Air campaign?  Did you realize how involved Levi’s was in the sustainability realm?  Does it change your opinion of Levi’s at all?  As always, your comments are encouraged and welcomed!

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Image credit to imelda.

The Hybrid Life

Keen is one of those companies with a deep-rooted purpose that rules everything they do.  Their initial product, the Newport, was a hybrid shoe…a sandal that offered toe protection.   But this Hybrid shoe was designed for people who enjoy what CEO James Curleigh has dubbed “The Hybrid Life”.  To Keen, the Hybrid Life is a call to create, play and care.  And this Keen does in spades.

The Accidental Environmentalist

Curleigh considers Keen an “accidental environmentalist”.  In looking for ways to decrease their raw materials cost, they’ve turned to using scrap aluminum from which to fabricate grommets.  They discovered a source of scrap polyester and nylon and repurposed them into cool bags and wallets.  As a reward, Keen is now heralded as a “green” company.  The original intent, to hear Curleigh tell it, had more to do with input costs than waving the environmental flag but Keen wears the badge with pride.  It’s obvious that this thirst for creating new and different products with stellar design is at the very root of the Keen culture.

Customers Don’t Always Know What They Want

So often you hear marketers say, “Find out what your customers want and deliver it.”  Curleigh doesn’t buy into this philosophy as a leading business principle.  “Who knew they wanted a sandal with a toe?”  Keen had a vision, created a product, took it to market and asked people to join in the movement.  And it worked.  Keen explained to consumers what it was like to walk a Hybrid Life in Keen Shoes.  Their message spoke to those that both enjoyed the outdoors and resonated with the call to create, play and care.

Hybrid.Care

When the tsunami hit in 2004, Keen wanted to help.  They looked at their small advertising budget of about $1 Million and knew the money could be put to better use in tsunami recovery efforts.   They took a risk and donated the budget to tsunami relief efforts and ran a small ad explaining to customers why they weren’t going to be hearing from Keen for a while.  That risk paid of in spades with media attention and widespread recognition for their generous donation.  It was a living example of what Keen was all about.  Since that time, Keen has donated over $5 Million to non-profit partners that share “a philosophy of caring, conscience and sustainability.”  For Keen, the “Care” component of the Hybrid life goes far beyond a cause marketing effort, deeply entrenched in the Keen brand.  I doubt Keen would even consider this cause branding because they’re a cause crusader.  They don’t need a label for it, being such a part of their living example on a daily basis.

If I loved Keen shoes before, consider me a Keen disciple now.

What do you think of the Hybrid Life?  Do you love Keen shoes like I do?  What other examples of companies like Keen have you witnessed that has effectively woven cause and community into the very fabric of their being?

So, I’m hoping to get the chance to meet Joe at the Cause Marketing Forum conference in Chicago and am super excited to attend…will you be there?  Let’s connect!

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Cone has come out with another new study, this time on consumer expectations, the “Shared Responsibility” concept, and consumer perceptions of how companies are doing in this realm (hint..it’s not good).  A must-read.

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Panera’s Non-Profit Cafe. Where to start with this one?  This is one of those great posts where some of the best stuff is happening in the comments section.  Will be interesting to watch.

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Great post by Taylor Davidson, Doing Good is Good Business.  Taylor says this post has been in his head for a while now.  Can’t wait to read more!

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Cause Capitalism saint Olivia Khalili did a great interview with an attorney on L3C’s and all the legal craziness that’s confusing most of us, entitled Confused About L3C’s and the Rest?  Me Too!

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Attractive Women Make Men Impatient. I’ve stumbled across Roger Dooley‘s stuff several times now.  Though I personally would’ve titled this article something different (Roger is more diplomatic than I am), I like the neuroscience perspective Roger offers. Adding him to my short list.

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Project Access NOW’s Relational Infrastructure by Peter Korchnak – One of my favorite Portland organizations doing amazing things.  I also did a post on a favorite client of mine, The Hello Foundation and how and why they do The Art of Philanthropy.

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Also very excited to come across The Galloway Group with a blog chock full of interesting, cause-related information.

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Jeesh!  It was a full and exciting week – enjoy the weekend, everyone.  :)

Image courtesy of Boskizzi

What I love about The Hello Foundation is not what they do (though it’s important).  It’s not even how they do it (though that’s pretty impressive).  It’s why they do it.

Imagine you had a child with special needs.  Perhaps autism.  One of your primary struggles as a parent would be
connecting and communicating with your child.

You need someone to inherently “get” this.  Someone you trust fully to know your struggle and provide tools and direction to help you through your daily ups and downs.  Someone to reassure you that you’re doing the right thing, to stick with it, someone who cares deeply about you and your child.

This is what The Hello Foundation is all about.  They believe, at their core, that every child should be empowered enough to say hello.  And that everyone has a story to tell, even if they need a little help in being able to communicate it.  And that, when we’re all able to tell our story, the world will be a better place.

Their primary business model focuses around placing top quality Speech-Language Pathologists and other Special Education professionals into schools.  They’re innovative, exploring the largely uncharted territory of distance service.  They’re talented.  And they’re firmly grounded in their “Why“.

The Hello Foundation is such a fun company to collaborate with because they are so connected to their core purpose.  It makes a philanthropic extension a natural fit.  I’ve had the great honor and privilege of helping The Hello Foundation develop their philanthropic arm over the past several years, resulting in an internationally-focused service program.  The first team of clinicians served in a Special Education School in Liberia, Costa Rica in 2008.  The next team is busy preparing for a similar experience to Bosnia in 2011.

Sharon Soliday, owner and visionary behind The Hello Foundation, explains her perspective on their philanthropic efforts.

“We implemented the international trips because we believe that we all have a responsibility to our community.  There’s a real need that exists in the world and we have the skills and resources to address that need and do something about it.  I personally believe that serving children with special needs and their families is moving our community as a whole to productive citizenship.”

What we’ve learned is that these international teams put a living example to The Hello Foundation’s brand.  Many national placement agencies claim to be about serving children.  The Hello Foundation doesn’t have to explain this because their example speaks so much louder than their words ever could.  In my opinion, this is the benefit of philanthropic and cause-branded efforts.  ”Actions speak louder than words.”  Not rocket science.  But a universal truth.

Soliday shares how she leverages these service trips in recruiting:

“I am in a field where I recruit specialists in high demand where money is not the driving force.  These specialists will  make a decent wage no matter where they go.  What we’re able to model through our service trips is how we are different.  With us, it’s not enough to make a contribution to your own retirement account.  We’re looking at a much bigger picture.  We’re fortunate that, because of our reputation and our commitment to doing the right thing, we have a choice in who we hire.  So we make the choice to hire specialists who can sort through the minutia and figure out what’s good for kids.”

And in dealing with clients:

“It also models for our clients that we are committed.  When choosing to work with us, you’re choosing to make a difference in Bosnia or in Costa Rica versus just hiring a specialist for an immediate need.”

And word gets around.

“We don’t do a lot of promotion around our service trips but word gets around.  It tends to be a bottom-up conversation where our people share something anecdotally about the Costa Rica trip and other people pick up on it and are excited and tell someone else.”

The Hello Foundation has recently undergone a rebranding effort (they used to be SLP Service) and were able to really spotlight their philanthropic efforts more visibly as a natural extension of their new brand.

Soliday explains,

“The Hello Foundation materialized because of our growth in services but we also wanted a better brand to explain that we were building a foundation for all children.  To demonstrate all the good work we’re doing out in the world.  Working with The Hello Foundation is a new beginning for kids and we’re really proud of our philanthropic efforts.”

The ripple effect from these philanthropic efforts has also helped with brand awareness for The Hello Foundation.

“People are absolutely drawn to us because of our philanthropic efforts.  I get stopped at meetings, conferences, in the halls of the University and in school districts by people wanting to hear more about what we’re doing overseas.  It’s a great opportunity to talk about what we’re about…a great connection, if you will, and a reason to watch us.”

So, no.  The Hello Foundation doesn’t claim to be “cause branding” geniuses and would probably reject that label.  And perhaps they’re naturally good at it because it’s what they do as clinicians, but The Hello Foundation is taking their calling as role models incredibly seriously.  In a self-perpetuating sort of way, it makes them who they are, and we can all learn from that.

And it occurred to me that there is a serious differentiation that needs to be made when we’re discussing your brand and its involvement in this realm.  There’s not a one-sized-fits all approach, as it turns out.

Philanthropy

Philanthropy is a one-way street.  Give without expectation of reciprocation.  It’s deeply rooted in altruism, though there are financial tax benefits as well.  Most of us have participated in philanthropic efforts at one time or another when they see a true need.  Take 9/11.  Haiti.  Some give out of obligation or guilt, some give because they truly care.  From a branding perspective, does it make sense for a brand to be a philanthropist?  Of course!  Does it make sense for your brand to donate a portion of its proceeds or sponsor a worthy cause?  Absolutely.  You’re earning brand capital when you do this.  Demonstrating that you recognize the need to do the right thing and support your community, whether it be a global or local effort.  Great philanthropists earn deep respect because they not only know how to monetize, they believe in sharing the wealth.  But make no mistake about it, philanthropists always monetize first.  This is how they ensure their survival.

Cause Crusading

Sometimes, though, there are companies (and, by extension, brands) whose very essence positions them well to become cause crusaders.  The core values of the company align in perfect symmetry with some cause out in the world and they see the connection, grab it and run.  Yes, they probably donate money to the cause but they go beyond dollar donations to weave the cause into the fabric of what they’re about.  They involve employees in volunteering their time and talents to help further the cause and the organization becomes stronger for it.  They talk about the cause with their customers and raise awareness in addition to money.  Their passion for the business is fueled by the passion for the cause because they’re one in the same.  The trick here is that the organization must know definitively, without a doubt, what it is they’re about.  Their “Why“, if you will.  This goes beyond your product or service.  So…does it make sense for your brand to become a cause crusader?  The answer is:  it depends.

The Shopper and The Farmer

Let’s look at gardening to help clarify this.  There are two types of people when it comes to fresh veggies.  The first type is the shopper.  The shopper appreciates fresh produce and may even go out of their way to shop locally and/or organically to ensure they’re delivering quality food to their dinner tables.  They see the value, they know its importance and they’re happy to pay the money to include fresh vegetables into their lives.

The second type is the farmer.  The farmer feels a call and responsibility to the land.  Fresh vegetables are not only important, they’re a way of life for the farmer.  The farmer gains satisfaction from the process of planting the seed, working the soil, tending the plants and watching them grow to reap a bountiful harvest.  They may shop, as well, but they must grow to feel complete.

The farmer is not better than the shopper.  In fact, the farmer may need the shopper for her very livelihood.  They both see the value, but from different perspectives.

So, how the heck does this all relate to your brand?  Read carefully, because this is important.

You need to know whether your brand is a shopper or a farmer.  A philanthropist or a cause crusader.  Here’s why.  More and more, consumers expect their companies to participate in causes in a meaningful and authentic way.  If you’re a shopper pretending to be a farmer, you’re going to be ignored at best and publicly humiliated or shunned at worst.  Because the name of this game is authenticity.

So if your brand is a philanthropist, great!  Embrace that.  Own it.  Find creative ways to support your cause of choice and help others follow in your footsteps.  But don’t pretend you’re a cause crusader.  Because if you do, no one will see the good you’re putting out there and respect you as a philanthropist because they’ll be too busy calling you out on  the carpet for pretending to be something you’re not.  And that’s a shame.

And if you truly ARE a cause crusader, that’s great, too.  Make sure you’re incorporating your cause into the fabric of your strategy.  Be super clear on your core purpose and operate from that place above all else.  Choose your partners wisely and evaluate their effectiveness.  Communicate clearly and often.  Show us what you’re made of.  Set an example and raise the bar of possibility.

This is a bit of a new twist in my own personal thinking.  What’s your take?  What examples of philanthropists and cause crusaders do you see in your world?

Image credit to Ségozyme

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The sub-head is, “Three-quarters of Americans give companies a ‘C’ or below on how they’re engaging consumers around key issues.” and goes on to list a range of consumer expectations as well as suggested ways for companies to address these areas.

Click on the link within the media release to enter your email to download the full study.

I See You

Brogan started his talk with a Zulu greeting, “Sawubona”, which means “I see you”.  At first, I didn’t understand the significance or even what it had to do with social media.  Its meaning started to become clear only through my interactions with people over the next few days.  “I see you” isn’t just a literal statement of the obvious.  “I see you” means “I see the part of you that needs to be seen.”  The most extraordinary relationships, both interpersonal and customer-client, fill this basic need.  This is what Chris Brogan understands and executes on a daily basis.  Sounds easy.  But not so in practice.

Save the World – Self Promote

Shankman piqued my interest with his “self promotion will save the world” line.  Although seemingly tongue-in-cheek, Shankman sees self-promotion much differently than others.  His method involves dedicating yourself as a resource to as many people as possible as often as possible, almost to the exclusion of anything else.  Point being, when they need someone that does what you do, you’ll be the first one they’ll call.  His bottom line?  “If more people in the world actually incorporate helping into their self-promotion, more people in the world will be helped.  Duh.”

The Network That is Your Life

Each offered copious amounts of wisdom, too much to outline in a brief post.  The one thing they both offered, through example more than lecture, really hit home with me.  You hear all the time about the value of an interconnected network, a “tribe” that follows your message because it’s valuable.  But have you ever really stopped to evaluate your own network objectively?  For me personally, it turns out that while I think of myself as adventurous, courageous and well-networked, perhaps that’s a bit overstated.  It’s so very easy to get comfortable in your own little world, with your handful of good friends and forget to raise your head up, look around and experience new people, new places and new ideas.

Take a minute to evaluate your own network and lifestyle.  Is it comfortable?  Do you stretch your boundaries on a regular basis?  Can you say “Sawubona” and really see the other person or are you just phoning it in?  Are you playing your part in saving the world by helping others?

As always, would love to hear your thoughts!

I had the privilege of attending an “UnConference” last week.  Never heard of it?  Neither had I.  But it was super-fun and effective way to build creativity in a group setting.  You can read more about the nuts and bolts of it all on the Beyond 2020 UnConference debrief, but essentially groups self-selected into topical areas generated by participants around a very general theme.  A few ground rules were set.  And then the magic happened.  Had there been no structure whatsoever, we probably wouldn’t have made it past the wine.

Zero Structure = Zero Creativity

Some of the worst classes I’ve been to were ones where the instructor provided zero guidance and relied on the audience for direction.  The result:  rambling, diatribing and frustration.  Of course, the converse is true as well…overstructure the creative process and you leave no room for experimentation and idea generation.  But that’s a little simpler to grasp.  It was a little uncomfortable at first for me, personally, but I see that as proof that I’m being stretched in a good way.

What situations do your organization face where a little creativity could go a long way?  Consider this UnFormat.

BOSTON

When the cause breaks through, consumers are more likely to feel positively about the nonprofit (56%) and actively support it. As a result of nonprofit-corporate partnerships:

• 59% of Americans are more likely to buy a product associated with the partnership;
• 50% are more likely to donate to the nonprofit;
• 49% are more likely to participate in an event for the nonprofit; and
• 41% are more likely to volunteer for the nonprofit.

Read more from the Cone Survey

Apparently, Dawn is the best oil remover on the market because it removes the oil without harming wildlife’s skin.  Check out this great cause branded video.

And who knew?  P&G has partnered in a cause marketing effort with the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) for 30 years.

Dawn to the Gulf Coast:  STAT

Last week P&G announced that they would be donating “the product needed to save the oiled wildlife” for the Gulf Coast oil spill.  Reports say they’ve shipped 1,000 bottles of Dawn to Louisiana and Alabama.

They also have a Facebook page to update interested parties on rescue efforts – there have been 2 birds to date, with many, many more expected to follow.  Nice job with the social media hook.

So I say “Bravo!” to P&G for being Johnny-on-the-spot in offering up the product needed to help wildlife recovery efforts but in digging a bit deeper, I’m scratching my head a bit in what seems to be a few missed opportunities.

Head Scratch #1

Apparently Dawn has had a cause campaign running since July 1, 2009 where P&G will donate $1.00 for every bottle of Dawn purchased to Wildlife Recovery Efforts (in general, not just the recent oil spill).  But I had to read the P&G corporate press release* to find that out.  And who does THAT?  Why not link the two efforts more visibly?

Head Scratch #2

Little did I know the Costco-size bottle of Dawn underneath my sink was eligible…another missed opportunity (more on that in a sec).  But for these bottles of Dawn to be eligible you have to:

1)  Know this campaign exists and,

2) Go on a “Where’s Waldo” examination of your bottle of Dawn to find the redemption code to enter into the website (stick with it…it’s for the otters!).  Mine was written in almost microscopic print on the cap of my bottle.

Little Duckie…Where are You?

Here’s where I’m scratching my head again…isn’t P&G the king of consumer PACKAGED goods?  Where’s the picture of the little duckie or seal on my bottle of Dawn?

Head Scratch #3

When I hit Dawn’s main webpage looking for a link to the campaign, I come up short.  There’s no image.  No video.  Just a small part of the header navigation that says “Saving Wildlife”.

Is it me, or is it starting to feel like P&G doesn’t want you to find this program?

Head Scratch #4

Although they do have a Facebook page devoted specifically to the Everyday Wildlife campaign, why isn’t it tied in with the $1.00/bottle donation?  Or is it?  I’m confused.

Back to the Glass Half Full…

Coming back to the positive side, the campaign has raised $383,308 out of a possible $500,000 as of this post’s publication.

Do check your bottles of Dawn to see if they’re eligible for the $1.00 donation.  And then let me know…

What do you think?  Is this campaign a win or a missed opportunity?  How could P&G do a better job with their cause branding efforts?  What have they missed out by not connecting the dots more fully?

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That’s exactly the answer we’re hoping to provide by asking real businesses (small ones) in the Portland Metro area to contribute their sustainability practices in a new crowd-sourced book called “The Portland Bottom Line: Practices for Your Small Business From America’s Hotbed of Sustainability”.

So, how does it work?  Simple.  If you’re a small business in the Portland area and you feel you have something to share in the realm of:

-       “Green” products, operations, practices

-       Employee and Community Engagement

-       Business Model, Purpose, Collaboration

…you can contribute a 400-word essay to the book!  Visit the Portland Bottom Line website for much more detailed information.

I’m honored to be a co-editor on this crowd-sourced book project.  My co-editor, Peter Korchnak, is the brains behind this endeavor – this is his baby.

It’s going to be an amazing book and an even more rewarding experience.  100% of profits will go to a local charity chosen by the contributors.

So, my question for you today is:  who do you know in the Portland area who should be included as a contributor?  Won’t you forward the book link to them today?

At the time, I thought, “What is she talking about?  This is fantastic stuff, I’m totally pumped and motivated by all these ideas!  What’s there to be disturbed about?”  Yeah…that “disturbed” part sunk in on the way home.

So I’m personally disturbed – disturbed that I’m personally not doing more, not networked enough, not making a big enough impact, not educated enough.  And motivated.  Fresh from the conference, I’m still in that “frustrated” place because I don’t quite have the clear direction I need to move to the next step but I also know from experience that sometimes you need to stew in that world of frustration to be bothered enough to take the next step.

That being said, I also learned a great deal of mind-bending, paradigm-shifting new concepts and vernacular that perhaps I’d heard bantered about previously, but never really internalized.

1)  The concept from Dan Pallotta expressed in his book Uncharitable that we’ve trained the general public and non-profit community to demonize overhead (as in “What percentage of my donation goes to overhead?”) as useless, needless, wasteful spending by non-profit organizations, when in reality, non-profit organizations should be privy to the same “tools of capitalism” as the for-profit sector.  And the concept that *gasp* – it’s OK to do well by doing good.

2)  The question about whether and how social innovation can scale and what is potentially lost in scaling such ventures.

3)  The anecdotal evidence that being an idealist may actually stand in our way of being a smart business person (ouch!).

4)  How we, as a country, would rather see capitalism holding hands with patriotism than with social endeavors.  This, from Arjan Schutte from Center for Financial Services Innovation who has been a part of the rebranding of their low-income financial products from “making a social impact” to “rebuilding a stronger middle class”.

5)  That new Benefit Corporations or “B Corps” must, by law, create a material positive impact on society; consider how decisions affect employees, community and the environment; and publicly report their social and environmental performance using established third-party standards (Just a few weeks ago, Maryland became the first state in the union to legally recognize B Corps).  The vision of “creating space” for this third party entity that morphs business and non-profit is now becoming reality.

It strikes me that I’m not the only one who needs a bit of a paradigm shift (pardon the cliché) when it comes to our views on innovation, capitalism, investment and the personal filters and misinformation we allow to cloud our daily judgments.

So what about you?  If you attended the ReVisioning Value conference, what did you take away from it?  If you didn’t attend, what have been your recent world-rocking paradigm shifts?  What have you done or implemented as a result of your paradigm shifts?

Kudos to Nitya Wakhlu for her creative conference visual interpretations!

The answer, in short?  Team up.

That’s exactly what a group of 450 independent physicians in the South Puget Sound did when they enlisted the support of Wilson Strategic Communications over 4 years ago to revision the mission of their 501c3, the Northwest Physicians Network (NPN) Foundation.

The physicians had learned early on that there was strength in numbers, banding together to be able to service Medicaid and Medicare patients efficiently and effectively.  But they had only begun to tap into the amazing power of this extraordinary network to make their mark in their community.

“We did the research on childhood obesity in Pierce County and realized it was the highest in the state per capita.  It was obvious there was a tremendous need for education.  These physicians see it as their duty to educate their patients and the community about childhood obesity, preferably through a solid doctor-patient relationship.” Explains DJ Wilson, President and Founder of of Wilson Strategic Communications.

The NPN Foundation was the perfect conduit to funnel desperately needed education and resources around the childhood obesity issue to the community.

All Fun and Games

DJ outlines the idea, “We created what we dubbed the ‘Get out and play’ initiative, which is a 3-pronged approach and consists of:

• At the Park – An outdoor ‘field day’ event where we take over a city park and teach kids how to play basic and fun outdoor games.  Our events consist of things like burlap sack races, tug of war, ball toss, water relays, water balloons – pretty basic outdoor game stuff.  The difference is that these kids had never seen a bale of hay or a water balloon. The entire concept is new to them.  We expect about 1,000 kids at this year’s event.  The event also includes a small health fair targeted at the parents of these kids.

• In the classroom.  Money we raise in sponsorship for the “Get Out and Play” event funds small scholarships for teachers who need curriculum material on physical wellness or nutrition.

• In the clinic.  We put a lot of energy and research into developing material that can be given to kids and their parents.  You communicate differently around childhood obesity when interacting with a child than you would when interacting with that child’s parent.”

My question, of course, was what effect has this “Get Out and Play” initiative had on the individual physician-members of the NPN Foundation.

The Business Impact

DJ clearly explains three ways that he’s seen this initiative positively impact the NPN Foundation and its member physicians.

• “There’s definitely a general brand equity benefit.  Media attention.  Word of mouth recognition.  General awareness and good will.

• Anecdotally, we’ve heard that being part of this initiative seems to elevate the status and professionalism of the individual physicians within the industry and local healthcare ecosystem.  It’s a subtle but important aspect.

• The initiative has also definitely built an esprit de corps– even if it’s just handing out flyers in their office – physicians understand that they’re part of something bigger.  They’re more engaged with the network, maybe even stronger advocates for patients – the whole system benefits.”

With the support of Washington’s Governor, Christine Gregoire, the NPN Foundation has put in a request for Michelle Obama to participate in the 2010 “Get Out and Play” event.  Let’s talk media coverage in the event she accepts the invitation (fingers crossed)!

The issue of childhood obesity is no laughing matter but when it comes to strategically addressing the issue, it turns out that some fun and games may be just what the doctor ordered.

What do you think?  How much of a responsibility do physicians and health care providers have for creating opportunities for patient education?  And what other ways can independent physicians have a positive impact on childhood obesity?

@meganstrand

In the Seattle Area and want to be a part of Get Out and Play Day 2010?  Find more information and register here!

Thanks to Steve Wilhelm for the balloon image!

RJRKYCPWA5HT

I was running in my suburban neighborhood this morning and looked down to see the ubiquitous McDonald’s red fries carton, left as garbage on the otherwise clean street.  And it irked me.  But probably not for the reasons you might suspect.

It irked me because it occurred to me that your consumers don’t have a sense of responsibility around recycling – or even littering, in this case.  And it irked me that you haven’t done anything to educate them about why they should care.  And it made me question why you don’t care more about your brand…allowing it to be strewn on the street all tattered like that.

Educating Consumers

Yes, I own the fact that I’ve just made a sweeping generalization about you and your consumers, but imagine this, McLinchpins.  Imagine if you took a lesson from Burgerville, here in the Pacific Northwest and educated all your consumers on what it meant to recycle – in ALL your locations.  Imagine what that one step would do for your brand (not to mention the environment).  No longer would you sanction the defacing of your famous golden arches as litter.  Do this education piece right, McLinchpins, and those arches can signify a new kind of respect.

Capitalizing on Your Market Advantage

You’re the king of convenience, right?  Why do parents love to take their kids to McDonald’s?  Because it’s easy, affordable and kid-focused.  Period.  You McLinchpins are smart enough to capitalize on this HUGE market opportunity – take that market advantage, all your brand power and do something good with it – like really, crazy good.

Revisioning Your Happy Meal

What if you took your Happy Meals and revisioned them?  Team up with GeoCaching.com and create an EcoMeal or a GeoMeal, housed in an environmentally friendly container that kids could use to GeoCache with their friends and family.  Include a GeoCaching starters kit inside.  Maybe even some healthy fare.  This makes your Happy Meal nutritious, recyclable and reusable (even if it’s not used to GeoCache), encourages kids to spend time outside with caring adults and starts a movement.  McLinchpins, I gotta tell ya, you desperately need a McMovement – a positive one.

Or Else…

Otherwise, you get people really pissed off at you that throw all kinds of time and money into a campaign like Corporate Accountability International’s RetireRonald, equating Ronald McDonald with Joe Camel (if you want to know my personal thoughts on this campaign, you can listen to Episode 07 of The Naked Marketers).

It’s time to revision and rethink the strategy, McLinchpins, and it’s in your hands and yours alone.  Our kids need your smarts to make this happen and so does your brand.

For all you readers that don’t work at McDonald’s – what’s your take? Do you think McDonald’s needs a revisioning or are you happy with your Big Mac and fries, thank you very much?  What examples have you seen of companies addressing this brand/trash issue head on?   Would love to hear your comments!

@meganstrand

*If you’re reading this blog post and you work at McDonald’s, odds are you’re a Linchpin, whether you own it or not (and if you haven’t read Seth Godin’s Linchpin, please do us all a favor and get it and read it – today – so you can better understand this message).

Many thanks to Pete Wright for the McDonald’s Fries Carton image!

The Business of Sustainability

Obviously, consumers can’t be the only stewards of sustainable practices.  More and more businesses are seeing the need to incorporate sustainable practices into their organization and practice true corporate social responsibility.  You won’t be surprised to know that Thor’s involved in the sustainable business discussion as well.  His philosophy?  Sustainability needs to be incorporated into the operations of a business in order for it to have a meaningful impact.

According to Thor, the good news for businesses considering steps toward sustainability is that there are plenty of models to follow from businesses that have blazed the sustainability trail.

Portland Role Models

Thor names a few Portland heavy hitters,

“Nike has been actively implementing sustainability in their core operations for 10-15 years.  They’re one of the first companies to begin to produce a line of fully recyclable apparel.”

“New Seasons has the concept of sustainability figured out.  They incentivize their employees to come up with sustainable practices in a sort of ‘virtuous circle’.”

“Burgerville is in the fast-food market but sources their food locally, uses responsibly-raised meat, purchases wind power credits and is constantly pushing the boundaries of an industry that needs to be stretched.”

Thor’s personal interest is in helping businesses in other industries replicate existing successes.

For neophytes, Thor highly recommends a framework like the one developed by The Natural Step, a non-profit organization with which Thor is involved that’s dedicated to sustainable development.

Translating Sustainability Jargon

For managers promoting a company’s sustainability efforts, Thor recommends a change of internal language.  He advises,

“It’s critical that sustainability efforts are discussed in terms that make sense to employees.  Quantifiable deliverables are always good.  What will your annual energy savings be?  How long will it take to eliminate waste disposal costs?  How many vehicle miles will be reduced?  Chunk it down in terms people can understand.  Communicate with your stakeholders, ensure buy-in and report back on your progress often.”

Creating More Champions

Thor introduced me to his philosophy of organizational champions that I think apply in a variety of corporate social responsibility efforts.  He explains,

“Sustainability efforts are implemented and succeed because there’s a champion leading the charge.  Today most of these champions are in the very upper levels of organizations.  But champions can also come from the middle of an organization or the market can serve as the champion.  It’s important for us to get to a place where there are more champions – at all levels.  Only then will we achieve long-term sustainability.”

These middle-of-the-pack-champions are becoming more and more visible and the term, “social intrapraneurship” is often used to describe employees that apply innovation to promote social and environmental sustainability within their companies.

My favorite quote from Thor:

“Pretty much everything I do is outside someone’s box.”

Final word from Thor?

“I’m excited.  It’s an interesting time to live.”

Coming from this sustainability expert, that’s really, really encouraging news.

@meganstrand

Read more stories of companies and organizations doing creative and innovative sustainability-related things.

Image courtesy of  Shakthidharan

When you think renewable energy and green business, you probably think of Portland, Oregon.  If you live in Portland, you may even think of Portland General Electric (PGE) and their commitment to renewable energy.  From now on, when you think of renewable energy and PGE, you should think of Thor Hinckley, Manager of PGE’s Renewable Power Program.  I recently had the pleasure of meeting Thor personally and discussing sustainability, the concept of “away”, why behavioral change is hard and why we need more “champions” to affect long-term sustainability.

**Thor had so many great things to offer that I’m breaking our discussion into two posts.  Consider this Part 1.  Part 2 (coming tomorrow) will address Corporate Sustainability Considerations.**

Thor’s been involved in the sustainability discussion for almost 20 years, way before it was cool to be “green” so let’s just call him the resident expert.  He’s proud of the fact that PGE’s customers have made its renewable energy program one of the top in the nation, with a full 10% of residential customers choosing renewables (the national average is 2-3%), even with its higher price tag.  He finds that even just offering consumers a choice in their energy source, even if they don’t opt into the program, increases public perception of PGE.

Sustainability = A No Brainer

An environmental engineer by trade, Thor realized early on that environmental remediation wasn’t the answer to environmental concerns.

“Choosing sustainably has always been a no-brainer to me.  In 2000, many thought renewable energy was a crazy idea.  Today it’s part of our identity.

The next 25 years will be dominated by a new ethic around electricity. We’ve been operating under the ‘more is better, cheaper is best’ mentality but that can’t go on much longer.  Supply will decrease, price will increase so we’ll need to find ways to control prices and make our electricity usage more efficient.”

There’s No Such Place as “Away”

Thor continues, “When God created the universe, he didn’t create an ‘away’.  You don’t really throw anything ‘away’ – that place just doesn’t exist.  We’ve developed a wasteful society and that must change.”

Technological vs. Behavioral Change

Thor’s philosophy is that technological change comes easy but behavioral change is much more difficult for us as a society.

“Trading in your SUV for a Prius is relatively easy.  That’s not that much of a stretch.  That’s a technology change.  The trick is getting people from their Prius onto a bike or into a carpool or on public transportation.  Trading in their larger homes for smaller, more efficient ones.  That requires a behavioral shift and it’s much more difficult.”

Sustainability Has to Mean “Stewardship”

Part of the sustainability discussion has to involve a commitment of personal responsibility on the part of consumers and end users.  Thor gave me a fantastic example of this stewardship concept using green buildings.

“Take green buildings, for example.  Here in Portland we have many green buildings but not all of them are realizing the energy savings they were designed to achieve.  It’s one thing to design and construct a green building.  The other part of the equation that’s often overlooked is how the building is operated and maintained.  Are the residents and maintenance personnel operating the building how they should?  Plug loads for laptop, PDA and other devices have continued to proliferate.  It takes a commitment on everyone’s part to ensure that building remains green.  And that often requires personal responsibility.”

Thor’s charge?  To continue the education process for consumers and businesses alike.  Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of my conversation with Thor…Corporate Sustainability Considerations.

@meganstrand

Photo courtesy of Torley Olmstead.

I met with Bill and his Commercial A/E, Jessica Reid, last week because Jessica had tipped me off to some of the cool things Majestic Eagle does on the down-low to serve their community.  I, of course, was curious to know more.

Bill introduced me to Christmas for Kids, an annual partnership between local business, schools and public sector agencies that raises money and collects in-kind donations to help underprivileged kids in the Portland area.  School counselors identify the “neediest of the needy” to participate in an outing to go Christmas shopping for themselves and their family at a local Fred Meyer store.  It’s been a tradition for over 20 years.

Last year the Christmas for Kids Foundation (Bill’s the President) raised over $60,000 in cash, which was leveraged into over $120,000 worth of gift items.  Adult volunteers took about 200 kids shopping.  Including siblings, the program served over 620 kids.

Here’s the thing that impressed me about Bill:  the sheer degree of understatement with which he describes the Christmas for Kids program and his personal role in making it happen…it’s bewildering.  My expectations about the program were blown away as Bill nonchalantly listed off a few of their community partners.  Columbia Sportswear.  Fred Meyer.  The Standard.  Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.  Tigard Police Department. Local School Districts.  United Healthcare.  Kaiser Permanente.

Keep drooling because the list goes on and on.  This is no small affair.  All volunteer run.  No paid staff.  Wow!

Some Things I Learned From Talking with Bill and Jessica:

Persistence Pays

“I’m not shy about asking my clients to volunteer or contribute money.  And I keep after them,” Bill explains.  “I had a guy who wanted to thank me for helping him with an insurance issue.  I had been after him for years to participate in Christmas for Kids and he never would.  So I asked him to take a kid shopping and he did.  The following year he became a corporate sponsor and every year since then, he brings his employees and his family to volunteer.”

Passion Pays

Bill admits, “When it comes to Christmas for Kids, I get a little bit…” – “Obsessed?” Jessica offers.

“Yeah, OK, I was going to say ‘obnoxious’ but I don’t care – it’s all about the kids.  Every month I work a little bit on Christmas for Kids and starting about September, it gets crazy for me.  But I grew up on a farm and we were relatively poor.  I know what’s it’s like to be in a fairly desperate situation.  When I see these kids wearing shoes held together with duct tape or thin, tattered coats, it makes it all worth it.”

Participation Pays

Because of the whole understated/modesty thing Bill has going on, he’d probably argue this point, but involving his employees, his clients, community organizations and colleagues epitomizes the “rising tide lifts all boats” aphorism.  When I asked Bill if he thought his commitment to the community had a positive impact on his business, he responded,

“I don’t know – maybe a little bit but quite frankly, I don’t care.  That’s not why I do it.  This is a labor of love for me.  I am blessed to have the means to give back and in my view, everyone should feel called to give back to society.”

To belabor the point a little longer, I asked Jessica to provide an employee’s viewpoint on the question and she responded,

“It’s definitely an element of why I like working here.  We have employees that have been here for 10, 20, 30 years and it’s part of the culture of this agency.  We’re more than just a business, we’re part of the community.”

It won’t surprise you to know that Majestic Eagle employees are also encouraged to volunteer on a monthly basis for a community food bank, and get paid to do so.  They’re also encouraged to participate in Christmas for Kids on a rotating basis.

Purpose Pays

Bill’s obviously a purpose-driven guy, though he’d probably never define himself that way.  In considering the legacy he’d like to leave, Bill says,

“I’d like the agency to go on.  I’d like Christmas for Kids to go on.  And I’d like to see the commitment to giving back go on.”

Now I know that to hear Bill tell it, none of this matters to his customers and his bottom line but truth be told, can you think of someone else from whom you’d rather buy insurance?  Me neither.

Christmas for Kids will be held December 1, 2010 at the Hollywood West Fred Meyer.  Volunteers and in-kind donations or cash are always needed.  Because Christmas for Kids is interested in alleviating the financial strain on the families served, donations of food coupons or toward utilities are additional ways to support these kids and families.

@meganstrand

Click here for more stories of businesses and non-profit organizations leveraging partnerships to create a positive community impact.

Because it’s about measuring corporate social responsibility efforts and how this conversation is starting to make me a little bit, um…CRANKY.

Because you see, my faithful ROI chasers, you’re kind of missing the point of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by demanding a “social impact” calculation before you’ll even glance in the direction of CSR.  You insist on “proof” that this will positively influence your business model before you condone even the smallest projects.  Or perhaps you reluctantly agree to pilot an initiative, then rush to measure its impact nine ways to sundown and come up short in the tangible “proof” department.

Of Course Measurement is Important

Of course I realize that capturing key metrics of CSR is important.  I believe that, inherently, CSR efforts will lead to long-term and sustainable impact in your bottom line.  Just not the way you’re trying to prove that it will.  And probably not as quickly as you’d like.  CSR is a long-term investment, not a quick fix.

At the end of the day, my personal belief is that, if you fail to “get” this movement, whether you call it CSR or not, your business will go the way of the dodo.  Not today.  Not tomorrow.  But someday.  As Gil Friend astutely points out in a recent blog post,

“The question is not ‘Can you find a viable business case for the carbon-constrained world that is rapidly heading your way?’ The question is ‘How can you create one?’ Because you will find one, create one or die.”

Here’s are a few of the challenges with measuring CSR efforts as I see it:

The Uncertainty Principle (or “Frying the Ant”)

As soon as you step in to push your measurement agenda, the spirit and passion that leads those efforts dies a little.  In quantum physics (bear with me here), scientists discovered that “the very act of measuring one magnitude of a particle, be it its mass, its velocity, or its position, causes the other magnitudes to blur”, making accurate measurement impossible. This is called The Uncertainty Principle and I think it applies to CSR in a roundabout way.

Being a better corporate citizen is hard to measure.  How exactly do you measure intangible benefits like authenticity, good will, community investment and trust?  Yet these are the very things that engender customer loyalty.  Hold up the magnifying glass too closely and too often and you risk frying the ant.  And let’s be honest…as a kid, did you really use a magnifying glass to examine the ant or send it out of this world in a blaze of spontaneous glory?

Not Enough Emphasis on Future Trends and Risk Analysis

Also in the aforementioned post by Gil Friend is the consideration of risk.  Friend advises,

“Volatile times demand that companies ‘factor the future’ into these assessments, with explicit consideration of risk in the sustainability business case.”

He points to unknowns such as energy availability and prices, changing regulations and financial crisis.  Friend also mentions changing customer expectations which is, I think, a biggie and one that savvy companies will keep an eye on.  Recent surveys by Edelman, Cone and Burson-Marsteller clearly demonstrate that, if given a choice, customers will choose the company demonstrating socially responsible practices over one that does not.

Too Many Useless Metrics

What you measure IS important.  Again, calculating every metric known to man on your CSR programs is probably a huge waste of time.  At the end of the day, what are the key metrics that demonstrably matter?  Do you know?  If you’re unsure as to whether it matters or not, think seriously about measuring it.  I was intrigued to read the comments of The Harlem Children’s Zone founder, Geoffrey Canada when asked, “Harlem Children’s Zone is midway through a 20-year completion cycle. How do you define success? What benchmark tells you the work is successful—or not?”  Canada replied (to much controversy),

“The only benchmark of success is college graduation. That’s the only one: How many kids you got in college, how many kids you got out. Everything else is interim.”

Ask yourself what it is you truly need to capture.  Think long and hard.  Measure it because it matters, not because fear and the status quo dictate that you should.

@meganstrand

You can also find this post in a shorter version as a guest post for Semiosis Communications.

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