Study Reveals Cause Marketing an Effective Business Investment

We came across an interesting study conducted by PR Week / Barkley Cause Survey. We highlighted some key points in an excerpt below and a link to the full article follows…

New Study Reveals Cause Marketing an Effective Business Investment

(CSRwire) KANSAS CITY (PR WEB) October 23, 2007 – The 2007 PR Week / Barkley Cause Survey reveals that philanthropic activities can drive business success. In fact, 72% of consumers say that they have purchased a brand because it supports a cause they believe in. Furthermore, corporate respondents say they see positive PR (65.3%), an increase in sales/retail traffic (26.7%) and an enhanced relationship with their target demographic (52%), as a result of their cause marketing efforts.

The first cause marketing campaign was launched 25 years ago, and what was formerly viewed as a trend, is now considered a cost of entry for many businesses. In fact, consumers demand it, with 90.7% of consumers saying it's important for companies to support causes and charities. The survey also revealed that the majority of companies (34.7%) with cause programs funded their efforts through the marketing department, as apposed to HR (4%), or even PR (14.7%).

"Companies are beginning to clearly understand that there is a return on their reputational investment," said Mike Swenson, president Barkley Public Relations. "[And] cause is the perfect storm to allow companies to engage employees and customers in a more meaningful way."

In addition to an increase in sales or enhanced customer relationships, corporate philanthropy can also drive recruitment and retention. Among companies with cause marketing programs, 56% saw heightened staff morale and retention and 14.7% "strongly agreed" that they have an easier time finding top-notch recruits.

For the full survey, visit www.barkleyus.com or www.prweek.com

Checks are in the mail…

The most recent batch of donation checks have been mailed this morning.

As you know, Change Round-Up enables online shoppers to round-up their purchase price to the nearest whole dollar and anonymously donate that spare change to a charity of their choice. If you are a participating charity, and you have been designated by a retailer to receive donations from their customers, you will be receiving a check soon. You can log into www.ChangeRoundUp.com with your username and password and click on the 'Report' tab to see donation results. If you forgot your username or password, please e-mail support@changeroundup.com, we will send an e-mail to the address that we have on record with the appropriate information.

Please note that there is a delay that we need to include when processing donations. Consumer donations are collected by retailers, then we invoice retailers for those donations and then have to wait for payment. Additionally, depending on the retailer's return policies, we have to wait additional time to account for returns/fraud/ collections. For example, if someone donates $100, but meant to donate $1.00, we give the retailer the option to adjust that transaction.

Currently, most of the distribution checks that we send to charities are relatively small, however we are busy bringing new retailers on board which will help increase the size of these checks.

We need your help… Please help us spread the word to companies that sell online. The more retailers we have on board, the more donations will be collected by our charity partners. So how do you find companies that sell online? Well, they come in all shapes and sizes; there are probably a few right in your backyard.

For example…

• Current corporate partners - Have any companies already provided support to your cause either by donating time, money, or goods? Our service is a free way for them to help.
  
• Do any of your supporters work for companies selling online? Including information about the service in your next newsletter or at your next event may be helpful
  
• Typically, Boards of Directors have great contacts –be sure to communicate with your board to let them know about this exciting opportunity
  
• Search your personal network – remember that quiet kid from high school who now owns a successful online store?. . . well, it's a great time to reconnect!
  
• Target by region – Look to your local Chamber of Commerce and local business publications
  
• Target by industry – What group of people are likely to support your cause? What companies serve the same group?
  

So, if you know of a retailer that would be a good fit, please tell them about us or tell us about them. And as always, please feel free to call or e-mail with any questions.

-Dan Quigley and the Change Round-Up Team

NYC Trip and Google Visit

Jane and I had lunch with a friend of Jane’s yesterday at the Google office in NYC. Wow! I’ve heard stories about what a great atmosphere Google creates for its employees. We were only there for a couple of hours, but the stories seem to be true. I can only imagine what the main campus is like.

We got some nice Google gear. As you can see, my little Gracie Mae loves Google already!!

Welcome to our new partner: The American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is: "Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke."

The association's impact goal is to reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. Progress toward the goal will be measured according to these indicators:

· Reduce the death rate from coronary heart disease and stroke by 25 percent.
· Reduce the prevalence of smoking, high blood cholesterol and physical inactivity by 25 percent.
· Reduce the rate of uncontrolled high blood pressure by 25 percent.
· Eliminate the growth of obesity and diabetes.

The association is actively pursuing it’s goal through the following initiatives:

Cause Initiatives
Momentum – moving forward and making a change – is a key theme for each of our four causes: Go Red for Women, Start!, Power to End Stroke, and Alliance for a Healthier Generation. They all help people take action to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

Advocacy
The American Heart Association continues to advocate for legislation to reduce disease and death caused by tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Patient and Public Education
To help consumers make better choices, we’ve expanded our outreach efforts and increased the impact of our educational materials by distributing more than 7.7 million pieces of patient education information to healthcare professionals, patients, families and caregivers.

Research
Through our Research Strategic Plan we continue to fund the highest-quality research and make major breakthroughs in cardiovascular and stroke research. We do this by supporting innovative research and making sure our research translates into effective treatment and care.

Fund Raising
Sometimes you can hear our mission in action: the whir of 100 swinging jump ropes or the steps of thousands of walkers. This year our donors helped us reach several revenue milestones. Raising money is critical to our mission of building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.


http://www.heart.org/