A Successful Fundraising Solution Through Cause Related Marketing

(Don't feel like reading?  Watch the video...) 

 

If you, as a non-profit organization, have done any sort of Traditional Fundraising you know that to be successful you are depending on the generosity of others. Fundraising requires a major effort, can only be run for a limited time and ultimately it usually only produces a modest return.
The reason non-profit organizations have fundraisers at all is to help them fulfill their mission and promote involvement among its members and the surrounding community. With traditional fundraising this message can sometimes get lost and it feels like a huge burden to do the fundraiser. Both from the Non-profits point of view as well as the community it serves. But it is never the intention of a fundraiser to do harm.

So what if there was a better way? What if your fundraiser could provide a consistent stream of revenue for your non-profit group while minimizing the effort required in both planning and staffing? A way to fundraise that would allow the entire membership to get involved and even spread the effort into the community and possibly expand nationally or even globally.

The good news is that this way exists right now. It is called Cause Related Marketing.

Cause Marketing or targeted marketing gets your non-profit organization money every time someone purchases a "normal" product they use every day. All of us currently buy products that we use for our home and to benefit our health. Grocery items are things we buy every week and for some of us every day.  And Poof - a Cause Marketing Solution is born.

To make a cause marketing fundraiser work you only need to change brands. And according to a study done by CONE, 79% of Americans said they would do exactly that, switch brands, if it would help support a good cause.

Just look around and you can see lots of examples of this kind of cause marketing relationship. Just a few of the more famous examples are:

• Marriot and the March of Dimes
  
• Famous Amos Cookies helping Literary Volunteers of America
  
• Paul Newman and his Newman's Own products
  
• And now the Shaklee Corporation is opening its doors and offering this kind of partnership with every non-profit who wants to take advantage of it.
  

By choosing to join with Shaklee you can provide your supporters the opportunity to redirect their spending to a large catalog of products they purchase in their everyday lives. Shaklee has products that the average family spends money on each month. In fact, this 'average' family spends around $25 to $100 each month on these products.

From household cleaners and personal care items to vitamins, supplements and weight loss systems Shaklee produces high quality items for all your home and personal care needs. This benefits you as an organization because it allows all your supporters the opportunity to find something they use and can purchase in order to help your group. It benefits your supporters because Shaklee's commitment to quality means they are getting a superior product and not settling for less just to lend their support.

The Shaklee Corporation has been in business for over 50 years. During this time they have grown to be the #1 nutritional company in the U.S. by doing things the right way. They have spent over $250 million dollars in research, testing and clinical trials while doing over 83,000 tests each year to make sure the products that go out their door do what they say they will and do it each and every time. In fact Shaklee has over 90 published peer-reviewed clinical studies. This might not seem impressive until you realize that most companies in this business are lucky to have a few and many have ZERO!

With "Green" becoming the thing to do, it's also nice to know that Shaklee is leading the way. They were the first company to become climate neutral – This means they have a zero net impact on the environment.

And it's not only at the corporate level that Shaklee is committed to protecting our environment. For every person who switches over and purchases a Get Clean home care starter kit hundreds of pounds of waste are kept out of our world. These safe cleaners are natural, nontoxic, and biodegradable. Instead of adding to our pollution problem, they add money back into our wallets. You would save over $3200 by purchasing a Get Clean Starter Kit instead of the equivalent amount of cleaners at the local store.

Just look at how this simple change can affect the community and the world.

If 12 families switched over it would

• Eliminate 1296 pounds of waste from landfills
  
• Reduce greenhouse gases by 2976 pounds
  
• Save enough fuel to power your local school bus 924 miles
  
• Achieve the same results as planting 120 trees
  

If this spread nationally, these numbers would grow immensely. In fact if we look at just 100,000 families (one good sized American city) the affects are staggering:

• Eliminate 10 million pounds of waste from landfills
  
• Reduce greenhouse gases by 12,000 TONS
  
• Save 1.2 million gallons of gas
  
• Achieve the same results as planting 1 million trees
  

I think you can see the benefits to you, your supporters and now even the environment, but you are probably asking yourself, "How does all this work?"

The next best thing about Cause Related Marketing and especially this one is that it is very easy. Think back to all the difficulties of the traditional fundraiser and then quickly forget about them because they don't exist in Cause Marketing.

There are 5 basics steps to this Cause Marketing relationship:

1. The Non-Profit enrolls in the program
   
2. Shaklee creates a dedicated and secure shopping website
   
3. You promote the program to the supporters of your cause.
   
4. Supporters and others use your secure online shopping site to redirect monthly spending
   
5. Your organization receives income from this redirected spending
   

Just these 5 little steps create a huge earning potential and it puts you as the non-profit in control instead of the usual situation of the company being in charge.

The internet has created an area where being social means talking with and getting to know people all around the world instead of just next door. It has also automated so many of our day to day tasks. The online shopping portal means you no longer have to deal with inventory, delivery or collection of money. Shaklee and the website do it all. And if your supporters don't have a computer, ordering is just a phone call away. Social networking and internet shopping have opened the world up and now anyone can be part of the community and support your cause.

Shaklee has always been about sharing and networking so their model flows right into modern day communications and word of mouth referrals.

If we take this worldwide potential and put it into numbers, you can see the potential fundraising benefits for your non-profit organization. If 25 people redirected $100 of their spending each month your group could earn around $500 for the month or $6000 in a year. That's a great income for a fundraiser that runs itself!

As you continue to grow and the word spreads you could have more and more people supporting you. If you expand these numbers out to 100 or even 500 families redirecting their spending it would translate into $40,000 up to $200,000 for your organization to use. Just imagine the good you could do with this kind of funding being deposited into your account.

So what's the catch? What's all this going to cost you – the non-profit organization?

The simple answer: Zero, Zilch, Nothing, Nada…

Shaklee truly believes in making a difference and that this partnership will do just that. So they have waived any and all startup costs and monthly web fees for Non-Profit Organizations.

What is required is a level of support from your group, its board members and the membership. People must get on board and be supporters of this effort and of the Shaklee products. They need to redirect their spending in order for the organization to reap the benefits.

Word of mouth, reminders at meetings and newsletters are all great ways to spread the word. Once your group gets a chance to redirect their spending and use the products the Shaklee quality will help them be motivated to spread the word and increase the people supporting your cause by helping themselves with natural, researched, quality products.

Shaklee will match your commitment by maintaining a secure online website and handling all the orders, inventory and delivery tasks. They will supply you with promotional and educational marketing materials to disperse to your group. They will also give you a 'back office' where you can keep track of what is going on with your cause marketing effort. And to back all this up they offer a 100% money back guarantee on all their safe and healthy products.

You can see how this is a Win-Win-Win situation. Shaklee benefits by expanding its customer base and increasing public awareness about its mission. The Non-Profit Organization benefits by increasing its funding without increasing its workload and the Supporters benefit by getting safe natural products that are better for them and better for the planet; finally a plan that makes sense.

Together We Can Make a Difference!

A Better Approach to Fundraising for Non-Profit Organizations

Every year Non-Profit Organizations face the daunting task of raising money to support themselves and the causes they support. A key component in raising this money is achieved through Fundraising.

The Problem: No one enjoys the task of fundraising and the very thought of it sends many people running in the opposite direction.

The hassles of setup, inventory, going door to door, bothering friends and family and neighbors are just a few of the reasons fundraisers are losing out and not making any money for non-profits. In a recent research study it was shown that 32% of all non-profit organizations reported a decrease in the amount of giving. So you are not alone in your fundraising woes.

The Solution: Cause Marketing

A Cause Marketing Solution allows you to increase revenue by attaching your cause (and your organization) to a product. Some great examples of this form of fundraising can be seen in your local stores. Newman’s Own Salad dressing or the little pink ribbon for Komen Breast Cancer research can be seen and are purchased all the time. In fact, 79% of American consumers said they would switch brands if they knew part of their money would go to helping and supporting a good cause.

Below you will find a direct comparison of Traditional Fundraising and Cause Marketing. I think you will see how Cause Marketing can be a better approach to your fundraising problems and help get your Non-Profit organization back to focusing on your mission and not on running a fundraiser.

Problem: Time

Traditional Fundraising: You have to set up your fundraiser by finding the right company to work with or organizing the place to have your sale. You have to work with your members and explain your fundraiser and hand out supplies (order forms, samples, etc…). You have to take time to collect and count money, place the order or check to see if all inventory is accounted for (ie candy bar sales, discount cards), and for some fundraisers deliver the product ordered (cookie dough, gift wrap) and for others take your entire day performing tasks (carwash). A lot of work for you and your membership.

Cause Marketing: There is a onetime set up to attach your cause to the product. Ordering, inventory, money collections, sales and all other tasks are handled by the parent company. All you have to do is mark down the money made in your check register.

Winner: Cause Marketing

Problem: Direct Sales

Traditional Fundraising: Your members (many time kids) have to go door to door soliciting funds for products. Or maybe they stand on a busy street corner with a sign to get people and their money involved. No matter the method, pretty much every fundraiser requires all or part of your organization to go out and SELL a product.

Cause Marketing: No sales required at all. The company sells the product and you get a portion of the proceeds. This is done at a retail store or through a website ordering system.

Winner: Cause Marketing

Problem: Inventory

Traditional Fundraising: If you are selling candy bars or discount cards or a variety of other traditional fundraising items you have to send your members out with handfuls of product to promote and sell. When your members are kids that is a risky situation at best. Even if you are doing cookie dough or wrapping paper you usually have to store the stuff and then send it out for delivery. Not what most of us signed up for when we became club sponsor or volunteered to help support a team or a cause.

Cause Marketing: Pretty much all inventory and product concerns are taken care of by the company that makes or sells the product. Either customers purchase directly from a retail store or they might go online and make a purchase through a website. Either way nothing for you to store, deliver or keep a count of. You just need to deposit the monthly check the parent company will be sending you.

Winner: Cause Marketing

Problem: Keeping track of sales and handling the money

Traditional Fundraising: Like inventory, you as the fundraising coordinator are responsible for keeping track of sales and the money involved. And again, if you are dealing with kids selling those candy bars that’s a lot of responsibility to be walking around door to door with merchandise and a bundle of cash. If you have ever been on the set up side of a fundraiser, you know how much of a pain it can be to hunt down all your members and get an accurate accounting of the money and the unused product. In simple terms – it’s a NIGHTMARE!

And don’t forget about taxes. Even if you, as a non-profit organization, are tax exempt it doesn’t mean the products you are selling will fall under the tax exempt status. Do you want the responsibility of figuring out and collecting sales tax?

Cause Marketing: Like inventory, the product, sales and MONEY are all handled by the company or store that is producing or selling the product. This is what they do every day and they are good at it. They take care of everything and just cut you a check.

Winner: Cause Marketing

Problem: Your customers are buying products they don’t really want or need they just do it to support you.

Traditional Fundraising: How many times have you bought some cookie dough or a discount card but didn’t ever want it or use it. I know when that kid is standing at my door asking me to support their soccer club I give them the $20 for the popcorn. It is only worth $3 and I really don’t want it but I like the kid and I want them to have a good year so…. SOLD! But I won’t do that every month and even after the 2nd or 3rd year of getting hit up for the some unneeded junk I start to balk and not purchase anymore.

Cause Marketing: Your fundraising is tied to products that people use on a daily / weekly / monthly basis. That means they are buying what they normally would like a food product or a household cleaner they are just switching brands to one that supports a good cause. Remember 79% of Americans say they would do this. That means you can make money every month and your supporters are not scared to answer the door or the phone. You are no longer avoided at parties because people won’t be afraid that you might hit them up to buy some wrapping paper. And, if you choose a company with a large product line you can make multiple sales throughout the month and year.

Winner: Cause Marketing

Problem: Limited Sales Opportunities

Traditional Fundraising: How many times can you send your members out to sell gourmet popcorn or wash cars? With traditional fundraising you can usually only get away with doing one or two a year and they might be tied to holidays so it limits the potential even more. Plus if you have read some of the problems tied to traditional fundraising above you might understand that as a coordinator in charge of fundraising you don’t want to deal with the headaches more than once or twice a year.

Cause Marketing: You can sell your products everyday of the year and if the company has a web sales system you are potentially earning money 24 hours a day 7 days a week all 365 days a year. And don’t forget, friends, family and anyone with internet access can make a purchase even if they live half a world away. If you read the advantages above you can see that you won’t mind making that money every month at all. In fact being in charge of fundraising will be a board position people will want to do.

Winner: Cause Marketing

If I add it up, it looks like Cause Marketing has won all 6 of the head to head comparisons.

It is a win-win-win situation. You win as a non-profit organization because you raise the funds you need and cut out many of the hassles in doing it. Your parents and supporters win because they are not bothered with buying and selling unwanted products but are actually able to support the causes they believe in just by doing what they have always done – being consumers. And it’s a win for the companies who are supporting the cause and providing the product and support. They get more customers and they get to be the good guy (for once). Everyone (even big companies) needs to make money, but isn’t it nice to do good for the community while doing well financially?

Cause Marketing is a much better approach to fundraising for all non-profit organizations. In my experience as a parent, teacher, coach and board member I have seen fundraising issues from all sides. When I saw the cause marketing idea I knew I had finally seen something that made sense. If you work with a non-profit organization I encourage you to look into this new way of supporting them.

Finally a Fundraising Plan that makes sense!

When you are ready to start your Cause Marketing Campaign contact me so I can answer all your questions and help you get started.