In the realm of cause marketing, the gloves are off. Where PR
used to tread delicately around the issue of quid pro quo, today it
is perfectly acceptable to ask: "What's in it for me?" And when it
comes to choosing their nonprofit partners, PR executives are
increasingly bound to ask just that question.
"Cause related marketing has to work both ways," says Russell
Marchetta, who as PR director at Ricoh Co. has arranged charity
projects with the United Way, March of Dimes and other big-name
nonprofits. In selecting these partners, he says, he looks for "an
organization that will tell us upfront exactly what we will get out
of being a sponsor. I won't put out a release talking about our
involvement, for example, but I do expect the charity to put out
the information about who their sponsors are."
Once anathema, this kind of thinking is now considered fair
play, according to Chuck Beeler, senior vice president of public
relations MRA, a Syracuse, N.Y-based PR agency. "Cause related
marketing is now a marketing expense, and the people who set the
budgets want to know what the return on investment is on every
dollar spent," he says. "The organization with whom you are
partnering has got to have the network in place to support
you."
In seeking out nonprofit partners for corporate clients, Beeler
will look for those pairings that bring real mutual benefit. In one
case, for instance, he helped Motorola put in place a program in
which people donated used wireless phones for victims of domestic
violence. The collection points were stationed in retail locations
where people would be likely to buy another phone. The charity got
its donations, "and we knew just how many phones were dropped off.
That is tangible and measurable," Beeler says. "There is nothing
wrong with that, because everybody wins."
Still, payback remains only one among many criterion used by PR
executives in selecting their cause marketing partners.
As a former PR manager for the Hard Rock Café in Dallas,
Diane Brandon was the gatekeeper when it came to choosing nonprofit
partners. She did not make the final cut, but it was her role to
pare down the avalanche of requests received each month. She
started by looking for brand relevance.
"If something was a rock-and-roll charity, it would get
precedence over a disease. We did a lot of birthday parties, so if
it was a children's charity it would take precedence over an adult
cause," she says. "Also the Hard Rock had always had 'Save the
Planet' as one of its slogans, so if it was something environmental
we would try to do that."
Then, she would look for local relevance since it was her job to
manage PR solely for the Dallas branch of the worldwide chain. Only
after these criterion had been met, would she apply the payback
criteria. "I wanted to know: Where was the potential for either
media or more business?" she says. "If you are into cause marketing
at all, you know that that is part of what you are doing:
Marketing. You want to be a good guy and a team player, but you
also want to make sure your name is getting out there."
Others, meanwhile, seek different criteria in their nonprofit
partners. At The Timberland Company, for instance, Senior Manager
of Corporate Communications Robin Giampa says she is primarily
interested in the potential for a long-lasting bond.
"I want to see that there is a commitment to a really engaged
relationship. We don't want to just give somebody money and have
our name on a plaque," she says. In fact, Timberland has
partnerships with groups like City Year and Share Our Strength that
have run for more than a decade. "If I can point to these 15-year
relationships [in talking to the press], I think that says
something. It shows that we mean it, that we are really living it
and not just talking."
Others, meanwhile, are most interested in providing an
opportunity for hands-on volunteerism. Take the Telvista Company, a
provider of tech-support of call-center functions. This year the
firm's employees will volunteer as painters on a Habitat for
Humanity house, and as food servers in a Ronald McDonald House.
PR Manager Tom Womack says he looks for these hands-on projects
when seeking out the firm's charitable affiliations. "Not only do
we want to give back to the community, but we want to use it as
team-building for Telvista," he says.
Some want a tangible benefit; some want a long-term fit and
still others want hands-on opportunities. But there is another
criteria that is equally important: Legitimacy. How do you know
that the charity you have chosen is on the up-and-up?
"There were a couple of times at the Hard Rock when companies
claimed to be one thing and in fact they were not," says Brandon.
In one case, an environmental charity came in dropping the name of
a major Hollywood player, promising that this celebrity would
attend a cause-related event. "I called that particular celebrity's
office in Los Angeles and the office did call me back to say that
they had never heard of those people."
How to play it safe? "There is no getting around it: You have to
do your homework when your company is proposing to work with a
charity," says Brandon. Check references, ask to see their
nonprofit tax filings, look for clips of past publicity and check
the group's Web site. No one of these is enough to guarantee a safe
bet on its own, but taken together, they should help to ensure you
are dealing with a legitimate outfit.
Choosing a Nonprofit Partner
Opportunity: Will there be a chance for hands-on involvement by
your employees?
Longevity: Will this be a lasting tie, or a one-shot deal?
Reciprocity: What does the corporation get out of it?
Legitimacy: Is the charity strictly above boards?
Your Role
Who makes the call, and what is the role of the PR professional
in choosing the appropriate charity? It varies by corporation.
In some firms, the PR executive is the lead player. Since cause
marketing falls squarely into the PR shop, communications
professionals winnow down the choices and, in some cases, even make
the final pick.
In other firms, the process is broader. At Lawson Software in
St. Paul, Minn., the 12-member "Lawson Lends a Hand" committee
consists of individuals from throughout the organizations. "In a
lot of corporations those grant dollars are decided at the top,
whereas here it is very much a bottom up decision making process,"
says Community Relations Manager Winston Hewitt.
As a non-voting member of the committee, Hewitt does a
preliminary screen of potential grantees, and then works to
facilitate a smooth and productive decision-making process. This
builds employee goodwill and ultimately leads to a more successful
program.
CONTACTS: Tom Womack, 972/312--6670, [email protected]; Diane
Brandon, 800/433-5374, [email protected]; Russell Marchetta,
973/882-2075, [email protected];
Chuck Beeler, 315/233-3000, [email protected]; Robin Giampa,
603/773-1174, [email protected]