The History of Story
Jonah explained that for 99.9% of humanity, history was

communicated via an oral tradition. If people didn’t find your idea compelling, it would wither and die. When people made your idea their own, then it got transmitted and was able to live and evolve.

The broadcast era turned that oral tradition on its head. The dynamic became the survival of the richest with a “one to many” approach of delivering important messages and stories.

Returning to Story
Fast forward to today and what Jonah has dubbed the “Digitoral Era”. With technology, we now have quicker transmission of personal ideas via social networks while simultaneously returning back to the place where ideas must get passed along and adapted or die.

Jonah’s theory is that if we want our message to be heard, we have to become great storytellers. We’ve all heard this line before but Jonah’s approach is based on mythology and was unlike any approach I’ve personally learned previously. Jonah explained that great myths always include a hero, a mentor and a gift. He explains how we must create our own myths using these elements and the role our brand is to play in the story we weave.

Freaks, Cheats and Familiars
The discussion continued with additional characters in a great story: freaks, cheats and familiars. Jonah shared examples about how these unlikely characters are incorporated into memorable, lasting stories that can make an impact on our audiences and the world. You might be surprised to find yourself among one of these leading roles.

Our Gift to You
We were so captivated by this particular webinar that we have decided to make it available to our expanded CMF community free of charge. If you’re a member, you receive this webinar for free already – simply log into your CMF member area. If you’re not yet a member, register for the recorded course and then use the discount code: ALL100 upon checkout. You’ll get instant access to this captivating, hour long lesson in storytelling that is sure to give you food for thought and possibly change your entire approach to effectively communicating your cause-based message.

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Welcome to Companies and Causes!
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More?  Also make sure to sign up for our free monthly newsletter. And check out CMF13 in Chicago May 29-30, 2013.
Connect with us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group.
Looking for more examples of cause marketing campaigns?  You’ll find  2011 campaigns here and 2012 campaigns here.

James Windon and Aaron Schiller of Causes define a brand advocate as the most valuable consumer an organization can have – those that go beyond loyalty to serve as an ambassador for your brand, recommending it to their friends, family and acquaintances, often using social media

to do so.

Sounds dreamy, right? Well, how does one nurture and create these brand advocates? When you tune into this (free) webinar, you’ll get the inside scoop as James and Aaron detail the nine steps to create brand advocates. Those

steps include:

1. Find the right campaign for your brand
2. Give consumers the opportunity to participate in a campaign
3. Choose an appropriate context to talk about the good you do
4. Forge strong impact oriented partnerships
5. Build long-lasting communities
6. Make sharing easy
7. Recognize and reward your top advocates
8. Measure your results to best-capture ROI
9. Demonstrate the human face of technical investment

Full of great data and case studies, we received high praise for this webinar. And did we mention it’s FREE? Listen now!

Next up? The February Cause Marketing Masters Webinar, “Do’s and Don’t of YouTube Cause Marketing” with George Weiner of Whole Whale. Join us!

Is This About Celebrities? Not to be confused with celebrity cause marketing (although celebrity personalities certainly could be included), “entertainment” runs the gamut from movies to television, Broadway shows to publishing, music to gaming.

The Judge Jeanine Pirro Show and The National Domestic Violence Hotline Just one of the many examples shared with us during the webinar: a partnership between court TV show Judge Jeanine Pirro and the National Domestic Violence Hotline (Judge Pirro was a domestic violence prosecutor). After one show mention, the Hotline saw their call volume increase by 400% and decided to approach the show’s producers. They suggested an entire campaign around domestic violence month for the Judge Jeanine Pirro show. Needing a new public relations angle,

the producers took an interest in the partnership also hoping for deeper viewer engagement in order to demonstrate value to their advertisers. The Hotline’s objectives were simple: more people using the Hotline and donor funds to keep the resource running.

Integrating Relevant Content For the month-long campaign, Judge Pirro saw three domestic violence cases each week in October integrating relevant content, on which the Hotline consulted. At the end of each case, the Hotline number was shown on screen, and show visitors received informational cards.

Incorporating Brand Partnership Furthering the effort, the team went to Allstate and Liz Claiborne (who both had a domestic violence focus) and did joint PSAs. They also conducted a series of media interviews.

The Results The results? Hotline call volume was up 4000% for that month – and the Hotline received new donations from corporate partners who were pleased with the additional exposure. The Judge Jeanine Pirro Show increased viewer engagement as well as earned a huge boost in PR – almost 400% over what was typical. Judge Jeanine Pirro herself also received increased visibility and ultimately ended up with a new show.

Getting A Foot in the Door The key to these entertainment industry partnerships is patience, creativity and networking. Getting a foot in the door isn’t just as simple as picking up the phone. It involves research into the industry to learn what new movies and shows are being considered and where the mission match might be for your nonprofit or brand. Starting places

include: Movie Insider, IMDb, Variety, Hollywood Health & Society, Entertainment Industries Council and the Creative Coalition, to name just a few of the resources shared in the webinar.

Powerful Partnerships Leverage All Available Assets Partnerships in the entertainment industry can result in an incredible boost to a cause marketing effort providing an unparalleled opportunity to reach millions of eyeballs (and engaged ones, to boot!). The value of these types of partnerships cannot be understated but they do take up precious resources, copious amounts of creativity and plenty of resourcefulness and patience. If you’re a Cause Marketing Forum member, we highly recommend you take the time to view this webinar (it’s free as part of your membership). For those of you not yet Members, you can access a copy of the recorded presentation for $99 here.

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Welcome to the Companies and Causes blog!
Get new posts via RSS Feed or have them delivered to your inbox.
More?  Also make sure to sign up for our free monthly newsletter.
Connect with us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group.
Looking for more examples of cause marketing campaigns?  You’ll find  2011 campaigns here and new 2012 campaigns here.

This post is a guest post by Hope Freedman. Hope, an experienced brand marketer with an extensive background in consumer packaged goods and advertising, is passionate about linking brands and causes in partnership for social impact and business growth.  Leveraging her brand management expertise, she has worked with nonprofit organizations to build brand awareness and create communications platforms for their services.  A contributor to the Cause Marketing Forum blog, her post Thinking Like a Brand Manager: A Primer for Nonprofits is cited in Cause Marketing for Dummies (Wiley, 2011). Also an adjunct professor in marketing, Hope Freedman teaches courses in cause marketing, branding and new products.  Follow her on Twitter.

On a recent trip to Chicago, the volume of transit advertising dedicated to causes caught my attention as I traveled from the airport to the downtown area.  I was intrigued by the ways these organizations creatively communicated their message in these particular ads.  The message supporting polio eradication from Rotary International was difficult to read, especially while rushing along an automated walkway in O’Hare airport.  The World Wildlife Foundation creative had an arresting visual, bold headline, legible logo and clear call-to-action.  Yet holding two pieces of luggage did not motivate me to fumble for my Smartphone in order to find out more about how I could help WWF.

Certainly, outdoor advertising can have tremendous value in terms of building brand awareness and brand recognition. Out-of-home advertising is a great medium for communicating an organization’s cause to a captive audience (who hasn’t sat waiting restlessly for some mode of public transportation?). However, outdoor advertising is viewed mostly by people who are traveling quickly or multi-tasking (www.AdCouncil.org).

As a brand manager in consumer packaged goods, I always needed to know how to answer the question “what do we want our target audience to think/feel/believe/do with regards to our brand as a result of this message?” and “will it move the needle to help reach our goals?”  While some outdoor advertising placement is pro bono, money is still spent on developing compelling and impactful creative. How can causes maximize outdoor placement for more effective advertising? Here are 5 things to keep in mind:

1. Single-minded objectives

Establish expectations and goals upfront. One advantage of

transit advertising is the size of the unit.  However, an “oversized” message doesn’t necessarily mean more people will view it or take action.

• Determine the top 1-2 goals to achieve. Increased awareness, more web traffic, and/or higher engagement?
• Think about whether those set goals are reasonable given the nature of this medium
• Tailor your main message in the context of outdoor viewing to achieve your goals

2. Brevity

According to The Ad Council, “mobility limits the potential viewing time of an outdoor message to only a few seconds, depending on the unit.” The Outdoor Advertising Association of America has specific creative guidelines that help ensure the most effective use of their media.  The Ad Council complies with these guidelines for PSAs:

• The main message should be no more than 7 words
• Limit number of visual elements to three
• Use only one call-to-action; either URL, 800# or TEXTing

3. Simplicity

The Chicago Food Bank does really important work for the community.  With a very long headline based on a confusing play-on-words, its transit advertising message gets muddled. Focus on the core message you want to communicate to this target audience.

• Express the most important idea about your cause precisely and succinctly
• Use visuals and copy that best connect with intended audience, such as the harried leisure traveler or executive business traveler

4. Memorability

As the saying “first impressions count” reminds us, it is essential that your message is easy to register.

• Choose contrasting colors in both hue and value
• Rely on imagery over words; ensure that one large visual element is the key focus
• Consider presenting the cause in a bold, provocative and/or thought-provoking way

5. Branding

In the Rotary International ad above, the large celebrity image draws attention but the message has too much body copy with no call-to-action and a small logo. In this advertising, the service club misses an opportunity to strengthen association with a core program, enhance positive perceptions and increase support.

• Clearly put the cause front and center
• Emphasize uniqueness of your organization
• Understand where the best location is for logos based on unit orientation (e.g. bottom right for horizontal and top half for vertical)

So what might a successful transit cause campaign look like?  We can take a page out of the playbook of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm.  They used location-based fund-raising via Foursquare in their San Francisco transit ads. By “checking in” at a physical billboard, EarthJustice encouraged a mobile audience to become engaged with the ads and support their messages.

What is your experience in implementing effective transit advertising?

What have you found the challenges and opportunities of promoting cause through transit ads to be?

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Welcome to the CMF Blog, Companies and Causes.
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Connect with us on Twitter
Visit the Cause Marketing Forum Website

Let me begin this blog by posing a question to you — can you recall the last time you went into a store and were asked to make a donation to a worthy cause?

If my instincts are right, I bet you can not only recall this moment, but also how recent it was. Perhaps it was just moments ago when you were buying your morning coffee or picking up lunch at the grocery store, or perhaps your mind flashes to the month of October when you can find products in support of the battle against breast cancer at every turn. Do you ever find yourself tiring of being asked to support yet another cause or thinking when will enough be enough? Well, the answer to that question is never, and here’s why — these very companies, who continuously ask you to support causes, are making a real difference. Their support is important and no matter the reasons behind it, they are needed to save lives.

Ok, so maybe that was a blanket statement and while I certainly can’t speak for every single cause, what I can tell you is that when it comes to fighting childhood cancer, a cause that is very personal to me, these point of sale campaigns are making a big difference.

In fact, it’s pretty clear that we, as customers, recognize that companies are essential to major change as they have the resources to do so. Case in point — a study recently completed by Cone Communications and Echo Research looking at Corporate Responsibility noted that consumers most definitely recognize the importance of companies’ philanthropic efforts. Their research indicated that an overwhelming 93 percent of the people surveyed believe that companies should raise awareness and educate their consumers on important issues such as health and disease. So, if we expect them to do so, why do we sometimes bristle when we are asked to give as little as a dollar in support of important causes?

Let me give you an example of how these programs can impact a cause…in 2011, we had the pleasure of starting a relationship with a Toys”R”Us. Throughout the months of June and July 2011, Toys”R”Us stores across the United States asked customers to help Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) on the way to finding cures for all kids with cancer (Editor’s note – this campaign won a Halo Award this year). What followed was an amazing outpouring of support nationwide as Toys”R”Us patrons donated over $1.5 million. The timing of this support could not have been more critical. With federal funding of pediatric cancer at an all time low, progress toward a cure was in jeopardy of slowing down; and for some projects, halting altogether. With the help of the funds that Toys”R”Us raised, the Foundation created a brand new grant category (Bridge Grants) designed as a lifeline for projects that received excellent scores but did not receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In an effort to keep the projects of these researchers on track while they reapply for funding, ALSF’s Bridge Grants provided recipients with $100,000 over a 12 month period. Hopefully these researchers will receive crucial funding from the NIH ultimately leading to the new treatments and cures that we are so desperately seeking, but only time will tell. Would you have imagined that your donation of $1 at the cash register could have that impact?

In 2012, with the help of companies like this, asking for a donation during checkout, ALSF will raise approximately $3 million to allow us to fund an additional 15 childhood cancer research projects. These projects will look for new and less toxic treatments for kids with cancer and ultimately lead to new cures- all from that extra dollar you give at checkout.

So, in closing, I just ask that next time you are invited to give to a charity when you are out running errands, pause for a moment and say “yes!” Your support is sustaining many important causes one dollar at a time.

Jay Scott is Co-Executive Director of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

One of the interesting parts of the webinar were points we didn’t cover in the whitepaper: the WHY behind the gaming intrigue. What motivates us, as human beings, to engage with these new games? Why are they so captivating?

For that, we asked Randy Paynter to lend his expertise. Randy is the Founder and CEO of Care2.com. With over 20 million members and employing game theory since their inception fourteen years ago, Randy and Care2 have a pretty good handle on this topic.

Here are a few highlights (you can always access the recorded version of this webinar for free if you’re a CMF Member or pay the $99 if you’re not and get instant access to both the webinar recording, PowerPoint presentation and the whitepaper).

As cause marketers, it’s our job to help people to feel – consumers won’t take action without this. We can make people feel by meeting their core human needs.

The 6 Core Human Needs

Certainty (security)

Variety (mixing things up – not TOO secure)

Significance (what we’re doing is important)

Connection (having a bond with others, love)

Growth (stretching ourselves)

Contribution (feeling like we’re a part of something greater than ourselves)

If your brand or cause can meet ONE human need, you’re onto something. If you can meet TWO or even THREE of these, you’ll have raving fans.

Randy focused on significance and connection and shared that in the cause marketing space, the need for contribution is also a core driver.

The Key Question

So how do you translate these core human needs into your gamification program?

Ask yourself this question:

What are the core motivators for my customers?

We all have these 6 human needs but what’s MOST important to your customers varies. For example, 18-year old males will probably value significance and variety maybe more than a baby-boomer woman.

Then…

Once you figure out the core needs of your audience, your job is to figure out how your game concept will meet those needs. The way to do this through games is through fun.

Randy went on to detail different types of fun that resonate with different types of people (but you’ll have to view the webinar for all these nitty gritty details!)

Areas to Consider in Designing Your Gamified Experience

Actions – Which actions do you want people to take? Do you want them to: click on something, find something, watch a video, leave a comment or complete some challenge?

Feedback – After users take an action, it’s extremely important to remember to provide immediate feedback, perhaps something like points or even something as basic a sound or graphical acknowledgement.

Progression – People like to complete actions and receive feedback – but only up to a certain point. It’s not fun for people to feel like they’re taking the same action without moving forward. Therefore, remember to build in progression or advancement.

Methods – Randy detailed all sorts of methods ranging from points and how to assign them (or take them away), rewards and the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, levels that award status, access or power, progression and social sharing

The results for Care2? Once they implemented ‘Butterfly Rewards’ program on their site, Care2 saw 7 times greater comments and a 7 to 9 times greater click-through rate for brand advertisers when Butterfly Rewards were given as a reward for taking this action.

And all the above was explained by Randy in just the first 15 minutes of the webinar! More detailed examples of ways that cause, brand and game come together (plus some great audience questions) occupied the remainder of the session. Erin DeRuggiero provided some very tangible examples of a custom gaming experience designed for Electrolux and gave a thorough overview of Zynga’s model of embedding cause into their mainstream social games. If this is a topic that interests you, take a look!

Have you experimented with implementing game tactics into your cause marketing efforts? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Building on concepts shared by cause marketing veteran Stevan Miller, an elevator speech directed at a corporate prospect should have four essential components:

• A provocative statement, a memorable opening gambit that will capture the prospect’s attention.
• A differentiator that distinguishes your group from competitors.
• Evidence of corporate alliance capabilities that makes it clear your organization can help a company achieve business goals.
• A key takeaway that underscores your position as an attractive, worthy partner.

Using that model, UNICEF, this year’s nonprofit Golden Halo honoree, could take this approach:

No child should ever die of preventable causes. Each day 25,000 do. UNICEF is working to take that down to zero in 156 countries. Our strong brand and global network enable us to partner with businesses to create high impact programs such as the Pampers 1 Pack = 1 Vaccine campaign that work in the marketplace and the field. That’s one reason why we’ve been able to save more young lives than any other humanitarian agency.

We asked a handful of nonprofit corporate alliance professionals for their versions of the perfect pitch and here’s what they shared:

DoSomething.org is THE way to reach teens and college students and activate them around causes they care about. Through our brand partnerships, social media expertise and partnerships with top celebrities, DoSomething.org activated over 2.4 million young people in 2011.

Aria Finger
Chief Operating Officer
DoSomething.org

Since 1968 Special Olympics has harnessed the unifying power of sports to promote respect and inclusion for the more than 200 million people worldwide with intellectual disabilities. Today, we help 4 million athletes in 170 countries demonstrate their capabilities, learn new skills, and defy stereotypes on the playing field. But we’re also the world’s largest public health organization for people with intellectual disabilities, providing access to free health services for an underserved population. And we transform schools through positive social and educational interactions between people with and without disabilities. Partner with Special Olympics – an untarnished brand backed by more than 3.4 million global volunteers, youth advocates, and donors plus top companies like Coca-Cola and P&G. Inspire your employees and consumers with powerful local impact stories, hands-on volunteering, and pride in a partnership that promotes joy and dignity for all.

Kelly Trimyer
Director, Corporate Relations
Special Olympics International

DonorsChoose.org is a simple, accountable way to connect the public with public education. With a national presence, hyper-local impact, an active donor network, and the support of top-tier corporate partners, DonorsChoose.org has generated over $116 million to help 6.6 million students across the country.

Missy Sherburne
Chief Partnerships Officer
DonorsChoose.org

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. A wish come true helps children feel stronger, more energetic and more willing and able to battle their life-threatening medical condition. For many of them it is a turning point in their fight against their illness.

Surveys show that Make-A-Wish is one of the most trusted brands in America. The 2012 U.S. Harris/EquiTrend® study showed that Make-A-Wish ranks as a top 10 brand in categories including trust, familiarity and quality.

Make-A-Wish has a track record of working with iconic brands including Disney and Macy’s to develop mutually beneficial alliances. We will work with you to create a customized platform based on shared values that helps to create impact for your brand.

Kathy Forshey
Vice President of Corporate Alliances
Make-A-Wish Foundation

What’s YOUR Perfect Pitch? Share it in the comments below.

The challenge lies in grading them. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there is no objective standard for evaluating cause-marketing programs (defining cause marketing as company-backed initiatives designed to deliver both commercial and social benefits.)

Week after week, I see critics make waves in the blogosphere by slamming cause-marketing programs as evil. The reality is far more nuanced. There are few saints and few devils in this game. Part of the problem is that when value and values are mixed, there are numerous variables to assess. Even our own personal filters color those analyses.

In 10 years of judging the Cause Marketing Halo Awards and digesting countless books, articles and speeches, I’ve witnessed well-intentioned, intelligent people come to dramatically different conclusions about programs that add Purpose to the traditional four Ps of marketing. Usually this happens because the judges are focused on different criteria. Four common examples:

Is the money going to the cause sufficient?

There are no industry guidelines for the percentage of the sales price to be donated in a traditional transactional program nor for the ratio of resources given to the cause vs. spending to promote the program. I’ve seen judges swoon over a program that yielded a five- or six-figure sum for a cause and come down hard on campaigns that generated millions for charity.

Quite frankly, a blanket rule of thumb for giving doesn’t work in a field that involves marketers of everything from garbage bags to gold jewelry. That means we are left to rely on our own personal smell tests – do we sense that there is an appropriate relationship between the size of the sale or the scale of the program and the good that is being done?

Is the program adequately transparent?

In a crystal-clear world, every program would clearly disclose exactly how much it is designed to yield in cause support and any associated time limits, donation caps or other extenuating circumstances. In the real world, not every program lives up to that standard, sometimes for competitive reasons or due to complexity.

Obviously, a nontransparent program that tries to deceive consumers into thinking that it is generous is poorly conceived at best and potentially criminal at worst. But how about the Kohl’s Cause Merchandise Program which has raised more than $200 million for kids’ health and education initiatives since 2000 by donating “100% of the net profits” from plush animal and book sales? It’s not totally transparent, but the support it has provided to worthy causes speaks volumes about the integrity of the program.

Is there a strong fit between the company and cause?

In some industries, it is pretty easy to make an obvious connection between a company and a cause. Food and hunger. Women’s health and beauty products with women’s diseases or women’s empowerment. Airlines with transporting patients for treatment. Outdoor equipment makers with wildlife preservation.

But in other fields, the connections are not so obvious. Think appliances, furniture, banks, department stores, chocolate bars, beer, luxury goods, etc. In those and many other sectors, developing a meaningful linkage with a particular cause requires more analysis and creativity. Sometimes it lies in the company’s heritage.

For example, supporting small businesses might not be a great focal point for a huge multinational brewer, but it makes tremendous sense for the Boston Beer Company. Founder Jim Koch started the company in his home and had to go from bar to bar to sell his microbrew after he was turned down by traditional beer distributors. Check out Samuel Adams’ Brewing The American Dream to see the admirable job the company has done of building on that legacy to provide financial support and mentoring to start-up food and beverage businesses.

At the end of the day, when it comes to judging campaigns that are built on anything but a blindingly obvious connection, some folks will disagree on the strength of the fit. And some will reject programs out of hand because they are critical of a company’s core business (e.g., questioning whether a company that sells alcoholic beverages can be socially responsible.) Which brings us to the next issue…

Is the initiative in synch with my personal values?

When judging a program on social impact grounds, people often insert their own cause agenda into the equation. Either they are negative on the program because it supports a cause that is not one of their favorites (e.g., “Not another breast cancer program!”) or they are against the whole concept of cause marketing (e.g., “It relieves governments and corporations of their responsibilities for solving large-scale social problems…,” as social critic Mara Einstein, author of Compassion, Inc., recently wrote.)

I’d argue that those in the first camp should try to distance themselves a bit and examine the program’s impact regardless of where a particular cause falls in their hierarchy of social issues.

To those in the second camp, I say: Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. By all means, take a good hard look at campaigns and critique their failings. But don’t try to shut down efforts to mix commerce and cause for mutual benefit. Wouldn’t you rather have companies encouraging consumers to join them in creating a better world than only appealing to their lusts, desires and insecurities?

“We do a program with many of our retail partners where consumers can donate at-register through cut-outs or tear-offs. Now one of our partners is thinking of changing this format to do a round-up program, which we think may provide greater funds from consumers. Our thought is that many more will be willing to round-up vs. 'buy' a cut out at $1 or more.  Which can lead to more donations?”

In this post Clark Sweat, Chief Corporate Partnership Officer for CMN Hospitals, weighs in with his experience.  We'd love to hear your experience in the comments below.

The majority of the time I've seen people move from a tear-off or pin-up program to a round up format, it seems to work. Here's why: The idea of rounding up is typically an easier ask so you tend to get a higher conversion rate for customers going through the lines.

Retailer Traffic and Frequency is Critical
The success of these programs depends greatly on the retailer. High-traffic / high-frequency stores fare best such as grocery stores, mass, discount, dollar stores and restaurants. For higher end retailers with less-traffic / lower frequency I usually recommend an open-ended ask or at a minimum, multiple levels (e.g. $1, $5, $10). I have seen a few roundup programs where the customer was encouraged to round up to the nearest dollar, five dollars, ten dollars or even hundred. Those types tend to work best online because the customer/cashier education can get confusing.

When It Doesn't Work
It's not all rosy. I've seen some programs like

this suffer greatly when changed. This happened a couple of times in the early days at Children's Miracle Network (CMN) when a retailer went from offering a pin-up with a coupon take-away to a round up ask. The coupon miracle balloons that CMN does remain the strongest I've seen anywhere because of the involvement gained by adding vendor coupons to the pin-up and the bounce back opportunity to drive more traffic. Cashiers tend to be more comfortable “selling” these type of pin-ups because they can point to the $5 in coupons you get back for a $1 contribution.

Cashiers Hold the Key
Speaking of cashiers…as with any “ask at the register” campaign it really comes down to how well you've been able to educate and motivate the cashier. If the cashier is comfortable making an ask, the money flows. If they get stumped by a single “where does this money go?” question, they'll never ask again. Ultimately, the vehicle doesn't matter as much getting that front line employee engaged and comfortable making the ask.

What is your experience with round-up versus pin-up?  Have you made the move from one to another?  What were your results?  Share in the comments below!

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All good cause marketing partnerships require companies and causes to get on the same page.  This is doubly true when your efforts involve a rapidly evolving medium such as Facebook.  Here are five helpful tips on getting along to get ahead:

TIP:  Choose Your Partners Carefully

Cause campaigns on Facebook tend to be short-lived but this doesn’t mean you can skimp on the due diligence needed to vet a potential partner.  Be careful about who you’re choosing to affiliate with in this very public medium where the power of the crowd leaves no stone unturned.  Carie Lewis, director of emerging media for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) shares how her team learned this lesson the hard way.

“The feedback loop on Facebook is almost instantaneous and we’ve learned we need to be prepared.  A while ago, we decided to enter a voting contest offering a $10,000 prize to the most vote-getting organization.  As we ramped up, all it took was one comment from a member of our Facebook community asking if we were aware that the sponsoring company profited from bull fighting.  We immediately responded that we would look into the situation.  When it turned out to be accurate, we apologized to our community and withdrew from the contest.  Based on that experience, we now do in-depth research on any company we plan to promote through social media.  Because if we don’t, our fans certainly will.”

TIP: Develop Common Knowledge

Be sure to gauge the social media savvy of your partner and be honest about your own internal capacity.   It’s possible that one partner may need a primer on social media vocabulary, expectations, metrics or recent changes. Provide or seek any necessary training needed.  Although this training may take time at the onset of the campaign, it will undoubtedly pay large dividends if it enables both partners to effectively engage their respective audiences and support the campaign with a united voice.  Ensure that any agency with which you interact has experience with Facebook and cause marketing campaigns. In particular:

Be Mindful of UBIT – Certain activities, considered unrelated to a nonprofit’s core mission, are subject to taxes. This tax is called Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT).  Nonprofits we consulted were careful to point out that UBIT concerns can dictate specific wording of content in support of cause marketing partnerships.  “We're careful about engaging with these types of Facebook cause cam

paigns,” explains Leah Ray of Feeding America.  “We never act as salespeople for our corporate partners and we choose our words carefully.  We might say, ‘For every Facebook Like Company X Receives, Feeding America receives Y donation’.  We’re still making an ask but in a much more indirect way.  We don't want to get into a UBIT situation where we can be taxed because we're encouraging our constituents.”

Comply with Facebook’s Terms of Use.  As with all cause marketing campaigns, it’s essential to ensure that you’re well within legal requirements.  On Facebook, this includes Facebook Terms of Use.  Charles Porch points out, “Giveaways and contests can't live on Facebook.  Contrary to popular belief, you can't randomly choose someone and give them a prize.  The good news is that there are tons of apps that will do it for free.

TIP:  Establish Shared, Measurable Objectives

Ask any Facebook marketer what they measure and you’re bound to hear a variety of different metrics including ‘Share of Voice’, ‘Stickiness of the Offer’, ‘Share of Conversation’ and ‘Influence’.  Demonstrating return on investment for Facebook campaigns has proven difficult.  According to a study of consumer packaged goods manufacturers, about half of survey respondents (48%) say social media has only been “slightly successful” in achieving their business objectives. Only 2% say it has been “very successful”.

With this in mind, it’s critical to come to an agreement in advance with your Facebook cause marketing partner about which metrics you’ll be measuring, how data will be collected, how it will be shared and what constitutes success for the other partner.  It’s imperative to document these metrics and revisit them weekly with your partner.

TIP:  Discuss and Document These 8 Important Parameters – Similarly, all aspects of the partnership should be discussed and documented, including:

1. Where the campaign will “live”.  On the brand’s Facebook page?  On the cause’s Facebook page?  A separate application or campaign page?
2. Run time of the campaign.
3. The specific call to action.  Is a Like required to participate?  Will participants pledge to take an action?  Make a donation? Share a message?  Change their status or icon?
4. Any guaranteed minimum donations required/expected.
5. Any supporting or reciprocal promotion or publicity desired/expected by either partner.
6. Parameters around what content may be posted regarding the campaign (there may be UBIT concerns from the nonprofit organization – see above).
7. How frequently the cause campaign will be mentioned on each partner’s page and other marketing channels.
8. Any legal requirements/research needed to conduct the campaign including compliance with Facebook Terms of Use.

TIP:  Use These Communication Tools – To support open, frequent communication of expectations and results, consider using the following tools suggested by our cause experts:

• A shared editorial calendar outlining what type of content will be posted and how frequently.
• Examples of content to be posted (sample polls, quizzes, questions, topic of the week, general content posts, pictures, videos, etc.).
• Weekly touch-base meetings.  A must to ensure the campaign is progressing on target and to make any necessary mid-campaign adjustments or tweaks.