The Case
At its founding in 1997, iGive.com was one of the pioneers of electronic philanthropy, uniting online retailers and customers who wanted to contribute to charity. The premise
of the Evanston, Ill.-based service was simple - make a purchase through the site and up to 15% of the proceeds went to the charity of the user's choice.
As the 1999 holiday season approached, the e-philanthropy aggregator wanted to boost the number of enrolled merchants, the number of shoppers (thus donations) and the total
dollars given to causes. But rather than joining the flurry of dotcoms trying to cut through the clutter with advertising, iGive.com opted to concentrate its energies on a PR
campaign. "The niche we're in, e-philanthropy, is very much word of mouth," says Bob Grosshandler, CEO and founder of iGive.com. "We have such a great story to tell, leveraging
into people's desire to sell that story made much more sense [than advertising]."
Balancing Act
In September 1999, the companyselected three small agencies to run a coordinated, national campaign. "We were looking, a little late in the game, for a lot of energy going into
the holiday season," Grosshandler says. "Finding a single firm to handle all the things we wanted to do was a challenge. [With] the very largest firms that we talked to, we didn't
feel we would get the same kind of attention we'd get from two or three boutique firms. The decision was born both of need and desire."
The three firms chosen were McPhilimy Associates, Jill Lewis Public Relations, and S&S Public Relations, all in Chicago. "My firm is five people, and we had a client load
already. There was a limit to what we could implement," recalls Cheryl McPhilimy, principal of her eponymous agency. "I think they also thought three small agencies could get up
to speed faster - I think they thought we were nimble." McPhilimy ascribes the client's last-minute decision and willingness to assemble its own team to the dotcom culture. "It's
sort of an all-hands-on-deck approach," she says. The program was split among the agencies, with McPhilimy taking on strategic planning and organization, Lewis' agency managing
events and regional marketing, and S&S conducting much of the media pitch work. Grosshandler appointed an iGive.com employee to manage the effort.
To make sure all the team members worked together smoothly, each agency designated a "contact master," to avoid double pitching media outlets. The team members often exchanged
up to 60 messages a day, and held weekly meetings, along with numerous brainstorming and strategy sessions.
Primary goals for the campaign included generating awareness of the Web site among consumers, particularly holiday shoppers and nonprofit organizations; adding to the number of
high-profile online merchants offering their goods through iGive.com; and building name recognition for the company as the leader in e-philanthropy, and establishing its
management team as experts in the subject.
The PR team selected a fundamental message - giving to charity can be an everyday activity - and implemented a comprehensive media relations program at the national and local
levels.
To create buzz, the team set out to find a celebrity partner. It created a mascot consistent with the company's focus. And it targeted specific local markets, demonstrating how
iGive.com was helping local causes raise money.
A Three-Month Frenzy Gets Results
From October through December, the 11-person team created a press kit, local and national media lists, numerous press releases and video and audio news releases. The mascot,
"Iggy the Giver," a giant dandelion representing iGive.com's grassroots approach, was stationed along Michigan Avenue in Chicago to attract shoppers' attention. Brian Littrell,
one of the Backstreet Boys, accepted a $14,000 check on behalf of his nonprofit organization, the Healthy Heart Club for Kids, raised through donations from teenage shoppers on
iGive.com's site. "I was doing interviews during that 90-day period twice a day. The interviews were turning into mentions," Grosshandler recalls. "We got lots of ink, lots of TV,
and our volumes went way up."
In three months, donations equaled what the company had raised in its first two years. From November 1997 to September 1999, iGive.com raised $318,000 for charity. By the end
of the year, there was $615,000 in charity coffers.
The number of nonprofits registered with the Web site increased from approximately 6,000 in September to approximately 7,900 in January 2000. The number of merchants for
shoppers to choose from on the iGive.com Web site jumped from 79 in September 1999 to 200 in January 2000, including big names such as Amazon.com and PlanetRx.com. The Web site
was covered in many national, regional and local publications, including Glamour, Industry Standard, In Style, and Family Circle. The coverage generated
approximately 45 million impressions.
McPhilimy, 312/988-1270; Grosshandler, 847/492-1000.
Dollars and Sense
The campaign cost iGive.com an estimated $130,000 - $30,000 per month in PR firm retainers; $10,000 for Iggy the Giver; $25,000 for the video and audio news releases; and
$5,000 in miscellaneous expenses.
McPhilimy says the benefits continued long after the program came to an end, noting that the company was covered by Newsweek and People after the holiday season,
and other media outlets mentioned the Web site at Valentine's Day and throughout the spring. Grosshandler says iGive.com will forgo a PR campaign this holiday season, "in part
because the energy we spent... continues to reap benefits. Now that we're finding that we have awareness, both at the consumer level and the charity level, our job is to drive
additional revenue out of that marketplace."
McPhilimy Associates
Staff: Five
Jill Lewis Public Relations
Staff: Four
S&S Public Relations
Staff: 45
Team members: Allison Clark, VP, iGive.com; Cheryl McPhilimy, Joel Kessel, Erin Gilchrist, Eisa Colton of McPhilimy Associates; Jill Lewis, Laura Mauman of Jill Lewis
Public Relations; Steve Conrad, Elizabeth Hoff of S&S Public Relations.
Demand Scheduling: In the middle of the iGive.com campaign, McPhilimy Associates did a 900-person special event for another client. "It was a wild time."