Cause Readings of the Week (March 28, 2011)

Here’s the best of the best of cause marketing information from the last week:

Pizza for a Cause
For 33 years Papa Gino’s and its sister company D’angelo have been raising money a buck at a time for Easter Seals and The Genesis Fund. What always distinguished this point-of-sale program from any other is that Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo didn’t use a traditional pinup. They chose a coupon book. This was originally posted by Joe Waters at www.selfishgiving.com. http://bit.ly/eTowi9

Video Newscast Outlining Cause Marketing
“Using Cause Marketing to Promote Your Business.” This news story focuses on cause marketing from the perspective of a small business. As you view this story, your challenge is to “reverse it” by thinking “okay, if that’s what is important to a business, what can I do to communicate my cause in terms that a potential business partner will understand?” http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4586886

Cause-Tied Marketing Requires Care
Consumers become increasingly skeptical of cause-related marketing, celebrities, organizations and major marketers have to walk a fine line, trying to help without appearing to exploit the tragedy for profits. http://on.wsj.com/g426a9

Jeweler Cleans Up with Oil Spill Jewelry

Successful cause marketing often starts from a crisis. In this case, jewelry designer Shondra Leigh is a pragmatist. When British Petroleum handed the Gulf Coast tar balls, she made jewelry. The opportunity presented itself when environmentalist and friend Holt Webb asked Leigh to make jewelry using tar balls as part of a fundraiser for Vanishing America. It would benefit residents that the writer, photographer and blogger had befriended while documenting the oil spill last summer. http://bit.ly/ecemSO