Pinktober MVPs

8 “Pinktober” Promotions that Deserve a Ribbon

Selfish Giving and Cone Communications, a leading public relations and marketing agency that specializes in cause marketing, are teaming up to share our top “pinktober” cause marketing promotions. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and companies are partnering with breast cancer charities on a variety of “pink” promotions.

In choosing ribbon-worthy “pinktober” campaigns we began with two standards to guide our selections.

First Standard: Does the program says exactly what charity will receive the funds, with enough information for a person to find and investigate the charity on their own. (e.g. Funds raised will benefit Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Learn more at www.bcrfcure.org.)

Second Standard: Does the program say exactly how much money the charity will receive – either in total or from each purchase with a projection of the total and any minimum or maximums built-in. (e.g. X charity will receive ten cents from each yogurt sold for a total minimum donation of $50,000 and a maximum donation of $100,000.)

All the programs we chose that fundraising goals met these two standards. Among other things, we also considered the size of the contribution, the length of the partnership and some of the creative ways the cause marketing promotion was activated.

Our choices aren’t the only noteworthy “pinktober” promotions. But they are some of the best, and embody the standards and qualities of good programs we might have missed or didn’t make our top ten list.

Program: Lee Jeans National Denim Day

The Details: Wear your jeans to work on Denim Day in exchange for a $5 contribution to Women’s Cancer Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF).

Why It’s on the List: Since 1996 this simple cause marketing program has raised $83 million dollars and involved thousands of companies and tens of thousands of employees. This year, Lee partnered with celebrity Mike Rowe and his mom to tell their personal story and encourage supporters to donate the the cost of their jeans.

Program: NFL Goes Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

The Details: Everything from pink apparel, equipment, half-time programs celebrating cancer survivors and even pink field goal posts the first Sunday of October made this a can’t-miss program.

Why It’s on the List: A tremendous visibility effort that, in true NFL form, really kicked off “pinktober”. We admire the NFL’s focus on cancer prevention by encouraging women over 40 to get their mammograms, which will be important in driving down cancer rates.

Program: Dick’s Sporting Goods October – The Power of Pink

The Details: In addition to selling many pink ribbon products in their stores from names such as Nike, Reebok and Under Armour, Dick’s will kick-off the giving with a $250,000 donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Consumers can also show their support by adding a pink ribbon to Dick’s “Endless Ribbon” Facebook initiative. Throughout October, consumers can visit the Dick’s Sporting Goods Facebook page, add a pink ribbon to their profile picture and dedicate it to a loved one or choose to include an expression of hope. Dick’s goal is to break the record for World’s Longest Pink Ribbon. Finally, the sporting goods retailer is teaming up with several professional NFL players to promote “The Power of Pink” via public relations and social media.

Why It’s on the List: Dick’s is supporting breast cancer with in store tie ins, digital, a corporate gift and celebrity endorsements. As a retailer that’s done many cause marketing campaigns – mainly point-of-sale programs at the register – Dick’s Sporting Goods has challenged themselves and created an October promotion that is varied, ambitious, creative and generous. [One thing we did find at Dick's and other retailers' online shopping sites is a need to share the same level of details and transparency online that is often shared offline on pink products sold in stores. This is certainly an area for improvement for most brick and click retailers.]

Program: Kroger Giving Hope a Hand

The Details: Kroger will carry over 1,600 pink items–supporting many breast cancer organizations–in October that this year alone will raise $3 million. This will bring Kroger’s total fundraising effort to $18 million since 1996. This year, Kroger is featuring 53 employees and cancer survivors in its latest promotion.

Why It’s on the List: As the country’s largest grocery chain, Kroger is uniquely positioned to help vendors such as Yoplait, Campbell’s and Betty Crocker to achieve their own ambitious fundraising goals. Giving Hope a Hand puts a face on the program for the company and gives “pinktober” a new relevance and urgency. Kroger’s commitment to keeping dollars raised local and the company’s involvement year-round in cancer fundraisers gives hope more than a hand – it gives it a real boost!

Program: Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives**

The Details: In the Save Lids to Save Lives program, for each pink lid redeemed by customers through the end of the year, Yoplait will donate 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for the Cure to support local breast cancer awareness programs, up to $2 million.

Why It’s on the List: This is a signature “pinktober” campaign has raised $30 million over the past 13 years. Not only is it one of the most recognizable cause marketing programs among consumers, but Yoplait’s commitment to the cause is year-round through the Komen Race for the Cure and is always finding new ways to support breast cancer awareness and survivors.

** A Cone client.

Program: Delta Air Lines Take Flight for the Fight

The Details: A pink plane – “Breast Cancer One” – kicked off month by taking Delta employee cancer survivors from Atlanta to Detroit. Delta employees are adorned in pink scarves, ties and other apparel. When you join the Delta Sky club 10% is donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Finally, Delta has teamed up with Minute Maid Pink Lemonade to donate 100% of inflight sales to BCRF.

Why It’s on the List: We recently had the chance to fly Delta and witness firsthand their commitment to the cause. It was omnipresent on the flight from the staff’s announcements to apparel to branded napkins. There’s a pride that makes this program very authentic. It shows in how much Delta has given to the BCRF since 2005: $3.5 million.

Program: Sharpie Ink it Pink

The Details: Sharpie is challenging consumers to Ink it Pink for the cause. For every pink autograph submitted to its website in October, Sharpie will donate $1 to City of Hope. Sharpie also has a whole of line of pink ribbon products that have helped raise $2 million for City of Hope since 2006.

Why it’s on the List: This is great integration of breast cancer awareness with a product line. Sharpie has worked hard to engage celebrities, sports stars and other A-listers in the program, which has increased the the visibility of the promotion and awareness of breast cancer issues.

Program: Boston’s Copley Square Hotel Goes Pink for October

The Details: The Copley Square Hotel is matching $1 donations from guests at time of reservation. The hotel’s restaurant, XHALE, will offer a special pink themed dessert in October for $5.00 with 100% of the proceeds plus a hotel match going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The hotel staff will also be doing their part by wearing pink bow ties and scarves throughout October.

Why It’s on the List: A great local example (Selfish Giving and Cone are based in Boston!) of cause marketing in a place consumers usually don’t find it: a hotel. The program involves the hotel’s major asset: guest reservations. Copley’s commitment to the program is complete as hotel staff will also be doing their part by wearing pink bow ties and scarves throughout October. And the hotel will be flying a pink flag, of course.

-Joe Waters, Selfish Giving

What are your favorite pinktober promotions? Agree or disagree with any of the causes listed above?

October has really taken off as breast cancer awareness month, especially in recent years. Do you think it is possible for another cause to claim a specific month out of the year and become as successful as breast cancer month?

Chewing Gum for a Cause?

Would You Buy Ordinary Gum Just Because It Supports a Cause?

It’s something that comes up again and again. Will consumers buy a product or use a service just because it supports a cause?

I don’t buy it, and fizzled experiments from Causeon to Edun to CauseWorld to GoodSearch show that while consumers do indeed want a world with causes, a cause world is a different matter. Brand and margin lead (e. g. Groupon, The Gap, Foursquare, Google) and mission follows.

I believe the best way for a business to help a cause is to first be a great business. It’s like before takeoff when the flight attendant tells you if the oxygen masks drops from the top of the cabin you should put it on yourself first before trying to help anyone else with theirs.

But Project 7 is betting that something as mundane as chewing gum will succeed because it’s all about helping others first. As reported in Good, this gum is ordinary. They even recently changed the ingredients so it will taste like every other stick of gum, which may increase sales but it got Project 7 booted from organic-only Whole Foods. So taste, cost and placement near the rest of the candy is all the same. But this gum benefits a variety of good causes that feed the hungry, heal the sick and save the earth. The can’t miss cause packaging says it all.

Which is why Project 7 is expecting this gum to stick.

Everyone points to Newman’s Own as proof that cause products such as Project 7 can be a big success. But that’s like believing your organization can have its own national telethon because Jerry Lewis had one, or that you can partner with some of the best businesses in the world because Product Red does. It’s just not that simple.

You have to compare apples to apples. Even Product Red may be a one-hit wonder. When U2′s Bono and his wife put their stardom behind fashion-for-good line Edun it flopped, highlighting that even rockstars are challenged to put mission before margin and brand.

The notable exception is Tom’s Shoes. You certainly can’t argue against Tom’s success (Nor do I want to. It’s great.). But Tom’s is the exception, not the rule. It’s like coming across a blue lobster (chances: 1 in 2 to 5 million) in a sea of red, which is where most cause businesses end up.

I’ll be watching Project 7 to see if they can make their gum stick. But I’ve chewed on this one before and I don’t think this gum is going to last.

- Joe Waters, Selfish Giving

What do you think? Will you buy Project 7? Have you purchased Tom's Shoes or Product Red clothing?

New Fundraising Event Idea: Zombie Walks

As Halloween Approaches, Nonprofits Turn to ‘Undead’ Donors

By Derek Lieu

Friends for Life, an animal shelter in Houston, raised $8,100 through an event that invited participants to stage a zombie walk. Photo by Kim Domerofski/Friends for Life

Zombies often get a bad rap for their ghoulish ways. But it turns out that they also have a penchant for giving.

A growing number of nonprofits are taking advantage of the recent popular fascination with zombies by playing host to “Zombie Walks”—events in which horror fans dress up in their undead best and gather for fund-raising walks that raise money for their favorite causes.

In some cases, they are raising significant money. For example, Friends for Life, a nonprofit animal shelter in Houston, raised $8,100 earlier this month from a horde of ghouls ambling through a suburb in West Houston.

“The way that we tied it in to our mission and what we do, is that we’re a no-kill shelter,” says Kim Domerofski, communications manager at Friends For Life. “Zombies are undead, so for us, we’re trying to keep as many undead animals, undead.”

The Houston event began when Amy Lewis, an information-technology specialist who volunteers at the group, heard about a similar undead walk in Australia. She had hosted other fund-raising events before but had trouble attracting interest. That changed when Ms. Lewis decided to give zombies a try.

“It really picked up,” she says. “Every year we get more zombies, more photographers, more vendors.”

She estimates that 1,200 zombies attended the most recent walk, now in its fourth year. The suggested donation was $15, but people were also asked just to give what they could afford. In previous years, Ms. Lewis used the walk to raise money for a local food bank and an organization that supports U.S. soldiers.

Other groups have had success raising food donations through zombie crawls. The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, in Shreveport, for example, collected 1,460 pounds of food and $330 in donations at its recent zombie walk. Last year, a similar event produced 851 pounds of food for the organization.

“That’s been kind of the whole tongue-in-cheek thing about it—zombies are always hungry,” says Michelle McCary, a b-movie lover who has organized the Shreveport walk for four years. She estimates that 500 people, including many families with children, came out to walk this year.

The crawl, which in years past took place in a local mall, moved to downtown Shreveport this year. Ms. McCary said the organization received a lot of free publicity from the city’s tourism office, which advertised it on digital billboards, and from a local radio station.

“Even people who don’t normally like that kind of stuff come out of the woodwork,” she says. “It’s become a monster of its own.”

And if the trend continues, charities may soon face an interesting question: Do undead donors prefer an e-mail or handwritten thank-you notes?

Social Media for Nonprofits Ignite!

Taken from: Beth's Blog: Social Media for Social Good

In true “Ignite” style, each presenter had five minutes to present 20 slides about their nonprofit programs, initiatives and the ways they’ve seen nonprofits from around the world use social media to make a difference. You’ll hear from the below folks in this hour long session …

• Matthew Mahan, vice president of impact at Causes
• Noah Everett, founder of TwitPic
• Claire Williams Diaz who works on social innovation at Twitter
• Brian Dresher, director of business development at Mashable
• Geoff Livingston, co-founder & chief marketing officer at Zoetica

Criminal History and Volunteers

I came across this question today and wanted to get some more thoughts and opinions.

Does your nonprofit have a policy and/or procedure for people who want to volunteer that have a criminal history show up on their background check?

Does your organization run background checks on all your volunteers?

Do you allow people doing "community service" to volunteer?

Do you take into consideration the type of the crime or the amount of time that has passed since their offense?

My first nonprofit organization I worked for ran background checks on absolutely everyone who wanted to volunteer, even office volunteers. If any sort of criminal history showed up, we did not allow them to volunteer. No questions asked; no exceptions made.

My most recent nonprofit employer did not run any background checks on individuals so we would have no way of knowing whether they had any sort of history, however, we only dealt with event and office volunteers - no direct contact with consumers.

What do you think? Should "criminals" be allowed to volunteer at your nonprofit? Can a nonprofit gain anything from allowing these individuals to volunteer with them? Is their risk involved?

Website: Before and After

Taken from Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog

We’ve got a great story posted at Network for Good.

Ken Hayes of Give2Give Hope has graciously allowed us to use Give2Give Hope’s site as an example of before and after. Thanks to the organization for the inspiration!

give2givehope.org Before:

I gave feedback on this site:

Things I loved:

* Photos of children
* Donate button above the fold (meaning, you don’t have to scroll to see it)
* Email signup above the fold
* Tangible results are highlighted
* Social sharing links top right, where they belong
* Address is easy to find
* Navigation is easy to understand and donor-centric

Here were the things I cited to improve:

* Make the home page a little less busy to avoid the paradox of choice
* The site had a carousel of constantly changing photos that made it hard to really stare at and connect with one – I’d stick with one child, who you change on page refresh
* The photo to the left with “sponsor and child” and the photos to the right on the carousel competed with each other and confused the visitor.
* I wasn’t crazy about the childlike font—hard to read and not inspiring of trust.
* Reduce the number of reading options.
* Drastically shorten the text in the center of the page. Remember, people skim, not read, online.

Here is the revised site - which is stellar:

Beautiful work!

In addition, I admire Give2Give Hope’s use of email signatures. Ken’s email signature reads as follows. It’s extremely well done:

In 2009, on my first trip out of the country, I came face-to-face with poverty and suffering unlike anything I had experienced before… I held a child in my arms who had gone days without a full belly, who never owned a pair of shoes, who drank water filled with parasites, who didn’t even have a bed to sleep on. My heart was broken. God gave me a job to do that day, and with the help of many generous people along the way, Give2GiveHope is working to feed children both physically and spiritually and making a life-long impact on an entire community. Help Give2GiveHope provide hope for a better tomorrow by supporting us prayerfully and financially. Sponsor a child today for $30/month or visit our website athttp://www.give2givehope.org for more information on how you can get involved.

Great job!

Don't Just Buy Something Because it Has a Pink Ribbon on It

As surely as the leaves change color every October, it’s time again for yogurt cups, sneakers, toilet paper and a slew of other products to turn pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Breast cancer advocates are warning again this year that buying merchandise emblazoned with a pink ribbon or cotton candy-colored packaging is no guarantee that much of a shopper’s money will actually go to fighting the disease.

Some companies that use well-known symbols of breast cancer awareness on their products have legitimate agreements with reputable fundraising groups to donate a fixed share of the proceeds. But others only promise vaguely to donate to breast cancer causes without specifying how much or to whom.

Fundraising groups and critics can agree, however, on some tips for shoppers. The bottom line: Shop smart or consider donating to a breast cancer organization directly. Consumers should ask the following questions:

- Does the package say how much the product maker will donate to charity? Try to judge if it seems like a significant amount. For example, if the seller plans to make a donation per purchase, what percentage goes to charity? Is there a minimum or maximum donation the company will give? Can you find out more details from the seller if the package itself is not clear? (Sure, we will donate a "percentage" of our 2 million profits this month to Komen - exactly what percentage are you going to donate? Or we will donate "a percentage up to $20,000 - why put a limit on your donation if it is based off how many products are sold?).

- Check how the donation works to see if your purchase alone will result in a contribution or if additional steps are needed for a charity to get the money. For example, Yoplait plans to donate 10 cents to Komen for every yogurt cup lid that is sent back into Yoplait, up to $2 million. (So they will donate 10 cents per lid, but you have to spend how much on the stamp to send in that lid?)

- What organization will the donation benefit? Cohen-Boyar recommends a “donor-centric” nonprofit that can readily explain what percentage of its money goes to its charity versus administration. Check up on charities at www.give.org or charitynavigator.org. (The cashier always asks if I would like to make a donation to "breast cancer" yet they never seem to know what organization is benefiting.)

- What will the beneficiary do with the money? Will it go to public education and community programs? Helping low-income women get mammograms? Research? Consider what kind of program you want to support.

I would suggest instead of buying that expensive toilet paper with a breast cancer ribbon on it, or instead of donating $1 in the check out line, consider doing a little research of nonprofits and making a donation straight to the organization of your choice. In my opinion, that organization is going to benefit more from a straight up donation from you as opposed to getting a "percentage" of your purchases (but only up to a certain amount).

What do you think?

Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/framingham/news/x136291385/Shoppers-beware-Pink-ribbons-are-not-created-equal#ixzz1c1nYkAHb

Where the Money Goes: How to Donate Safely During Breast Cancer Awareness Month

By Kate Rogers

Published October 04, 2011

| FOXBusiness

October is awash with pink ribbons, endless walks and fundraisers—even pink cleats in the NFL—all in the name of breast cancer awareness. However, watchdog groups, activists, and even survivors are calling for more research funding and less 'pink' saturation in the market.

With so many different fundraising events and products bearing the symbolic pink ribbon, it’s hard for consumers to know just how much of their money is being donated to help find a cure for breast cancer and what is simply being pocketed by companies.

Sandra Miniutti, vice president of marketing and CFO of Charity Navigator, says breast cancer is one cause that tends to not only unify, but also pulls at donors' heartstrings, leading many to give blindly without doing due diligence on charities and products.

"The ultimate reason to support a charity is its results," Miniutti says. "Review their website to assess recent accomplishments [and] goals; this is an area where many donors run into trouble with breast cancer. They think they are supporting research, but it's really advocacy or awareness."

The marketing force behind breast cancer month is astounding, with a variety of corporations and brands partnering with charities to spread awareness and push “pink-” theme products. However, these relationships have drawn more criticism over the years, according to Miniutti.

"There is much more backlash and questioning of how much is authentic marketing. A lot of women who have been affected by the disease, the pink doesn’t resonate with them. They don't like seeing it throughout the year, and there has been a lot more pushback.

Researching different charities and products for a breakdown of how funds are allocated is time consuming and most charities and companies don’t make it accessible, according to Laurie Styron, charity analyst for watchdog group, the American Institute of Philanthropy.

"Even if you want to do your homework, the public has no way of confirming," says Styron. "Information isn't available and companies don't want to give it to you."

There’s also a misconception that all breast cancer organizations are related to the American Cancer Society, according to Shawn Van Gorder, director of Charity Evaluation at the Better Business Bureau.

"There is such a saturation in the market with breast cancer charities, and that calls for that much more attention for donors to be sure their money is going to [the cause] they want it to," he said.

Here are some expert tips on how to safely, and smartly, donate to breast cancer research this October:

It’s an unfortunate consequence of the success of the breast cancer awareness fundraising: scammers looking to cash in on the movement. In this month's issue of Marie Claire magazine, deputy editor Lea Goldman exposes charity scams in her story"The Big Business of Breast Cancer."

Three Breast Cancer Scams to Watch Out For:

The Coalition Against Breast Cancer, Long Island, N.Y	In various complaints and a lawsuit filed by the New York attorney Ggneral, CABC founder Andrew Smith and his girlfriend are accused of pocketing and squandering nearly all of the more than $9 million the group raised in the past five years, Goldman wrote.
The Breast Cancer Society, Mesa, Ariz.	Of the $50 million the group claims to have raised in 2009, Goldman uncovered the organization raised just $15 million in cash donations. Additionally, the charity cites "gifts-in-kind," or donations from other organizations, as its own funds raised and also spends 90 cents of every dollar raised on telemarketing.
pinkribbon.com	Owned by Dutch business man Walter Scheffrahn, this site is active in more than 40 countries and sells breast cancer merchandise bearing the symbolic pink ribbon. Despite boasting that 90% of funds go to breast cancer research, Scheffrahn admits to Marie Claire that he has yet to donate any of the money raised because he cannot decide which organization to give it to.

Make sure the organization is a 501(c) 3. Entities with a 501(c)(3) designation are considered a charitable organization, and according to the IRS, “The organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, and no part of a section 501(c)(3) organization's net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."

Miniutti says donating to public charities will help qualify for a tax deduction and means at minimum, the organization is required to file a form 990.

Experts recommend requesting or finding an organization's 990. This information is available on Charity Navigator and will detail how much the charity is investing in its mission versus fundraising and its administrative costs. Miniutti advises a good benchmark to look for is at least 75% of funds going to programs.

Think twice before giving on the spot. If you are asked by a cashier, telemarketer or someone on the street to donate to a charity, Styron said to be wary. "Generally speaking, only about one-third of what you donate to a telemarketer gets to charity," she says. "Don't respond to telemarketing calls or feel pressured to give on the spot."

She also warns against donating while checking out at a drug store or supermarket.

"People confuse the cause with the specific charity associated with the cause," Styron says. "People say, 'I care about saving the dolphins, or breast cancer, or recycling ,' and hand money over, because they think it's associated with the cause."

Also think about direct mail solicitation, which can oftentimes be considered "awareness," as long as there is some type of educational information presented in the message, Styron sayds. "They are basically calling ‘fundraising’, ‘awareness’.”

Read the fine print. When purchasing products that support charities, Miniutti advising reading to find out which charity is receiving the funds, what percentage it will get and if there is a cap on the donation amount.

"Programs have caps to them, so you may be purchasing a product, but the company has already made its donation," Miniutti says. "If they said they will only give up to $5,000, then the money may be going to the company, not the cause."

While people may not take the time to do the research before purchasing in store, Miniutti said it can be helpful when trying to decide between two separate products.

Research big events like walks and dinner events. While major events can serve as a morale boosters and a great way to spread awareness, they are oftentimes inefficient. According to Miniutti, the effectiveness of an event like a formal dinner and walk all depends on the overhead costs associated with running it.

She says walks tend to have less overhead. "These (walks) tend to be an inefficient way to fundraise, but there are other benefits to participating in these, especially for survivors. There is a benefit to being together and a call to action to do something," she says. "A ton of money winds up back in the charity's hands."

Also, Styron says to remember that most of the money being raised in these events is for awareness, not research.

"Part of what they are trying to accomplish is breast cancer awareness. If you are someone participating in these events and think that everything you raise is somehow going to research, you are dead wrong."