CM Today: The 2010 Growth Forecast

January 2010

Cause Marketing Today

Greetings!

Good news to start the year: Cause marketing is forecast to grow faster than any other form of sponsorship in 2010!

Corporate cause sponsorship is expected to expand by 6.1% this year, according to the prognosticators at the IEG Sponsorship Report. That's 44% faster growth than the overall sponsorship spending of 3.4%.

Although many larger groups struggled to maintain partnership revenue levels in 2009, overall cause sponsorship spending was basically flat -- down 0.3% or $10 million to $1.51 billion. Some groups attracted more business dollars by successfully "marketing the downturn", IEG reported.

Predictions of a better year for cause are supported by a spate of announcements we've seen for new and expanded programs. For example:

Today marks the launch of the Pepsi Refresh Project, an initiative to give away over $20 million in grants "to move communities forward." Pepsi has garnered a huge amount of publicity since it announced in December that it was shifting money traditionally used to fund Super Bowl ads to finance other initiatives, most notably Refresh. great gallon give

On Monday, the Milk Processor Education Program -- the people behind the milk mustache -- joined forces with Feeding America on the Great Gallon Give. The program will give away 3 million servings of milk through food banks and raise $100,000 for FA through a Facebook promotion.

Last week, Procter & Gamble's CoverGirl brand announced it was donating $500,000 to Children's Safe Drinking Water through the new Clean Makeup Clean Water campaign. In addition to publicizing the program via paid advertising, CoverGirl is offering to make an additional donation when consumers post a video on giving back.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure tells us that they have "exciting renewals and expansions" on the horizon and have created new sponsorship categories designed to deliver strong ROI.

For a great explanation of why cause is poised for growth, spend a few minutes reading this insightful column by Mike Swenson, CMO of Barkley.

What do you think the prospects are for cause in 2010? Please share your point of view on the Cause Marketing Forum blog.

David Hessekiel

President

Cause Marketing Forum

dh@causemarketingforum.com

Will Pepsi Zig Where Chase Zagged?

I get way too much mileage out of the expression: "No good deed goes unpunished."

The Chase Community Giving contest is a case in point. Some misguided communications tactics have resulted in the program being better known by many for its social media faux pas than for the fact that the bank is giving away $5 million.

On February 24, social media guru Brian Reich will lead a CMF teleconference on lessons companies engaging in corporate donation contests should take away from the Chase affair.

Learn more about Cause-Related Crowdsourcing

$99 or FREE to CMF Members

Ten Most Influential CM Campaigns Top ten

Thousands of programs designed to do well by doing good have been created over the last thirty years. Many have been short term and pedestrian, while others have been inspiring and impactful.

As we enter this new decade, I've tried to identify those that have had the greatest influence. You'll find the list in the CMF8 brochure (now in the mail) and at www.bestcm.posterous.com

My hope is to educate and be educated by inspiring a dialogue on the most outstanding work in this field. Agree with my top 10? See a glaring omission or disagree? Let us know by sharing your point of view at www.bestcm.posterous.com

January 21 Teleconference:
Corporate Social Marketing