Keeping Your Cause Marketing Program Simple
The writer Henry David Thoreau advised: “Simplify, simplify.” As with most things in life, focus on what works in cause marketing and avoid what requires time and money but doesn’t have a return-on-investment [more…]
Don't Expect Too Much of Your Cause Marketing Partner
The operating definition of cause marketing is a partnership between a for-profit and a nonprofit for mutual benefit. The dictionary definition of what a partnership is: the association of two or more [more…]
Don't Overdo the Perks in Your Cause Marketing Campaign
Distributing proper incentives to the people that make your cause marketing program a success is critical, but you should avoid lavish spending on perks. Incentivizing the people who make cause marketing [more…]
Cause Marketing Will Not Solve All Your Problems
Every day, some nonprofits lurch from one trendy tactic to another, only to be disappointed when what was billed as the next great thing doesn’t live up to expectations. Now, the cause and business world [more…]
Setting Up a Simple Percentage-of-Sales Program
One of the easiest and most economical cause marketing programs you can execute is a percentage-of-sale program. Simply stated, a business, usually a retailer, chooses a service or product from which a [more…]
Shopping Days as a Cause Marketing Program
If your cause or company is located or connected to a downtown shopping district, try a shopping event for as a cause marketing program. Shopping for a cause can work several ways. [more…]
Social Media as a Cause Marketing Cost Saver
Social media is powerful, ever-growing, and here to stay. It’s also free. Social media and cause marketing belong together!
Social media teaches you cause marketing. The key thought leaders and blogs in [more…]
Cause Marketing Program and SEO
People are searching for information on your cause marketing program, and the better you use search engine optimization (SEO) for your website, the more likely they are to find you on the Internet. [more…]
Building Your Cause Marketing Program with Existing Events
Special events for fundraising can be very effective and lucrative for a nonprofit. They can also be expensive and labor intensive and can come up short on return-on-investment considering all the time [more…]
Core Elements of Successful Cause Marketing Presentations
As a cause marketer presentations will become a regular part of your life. Sometimes you will speak to 2 people, sometimes to 20 or to 200.
There are things that will help you to deliver powerful, persuasive [more…]
Don't Confuse Cause Marketing with Philanthropy, Sponsorship, or Social Responsibility
Cause marketing’s first goal is marketing for both the company and the cause. While philanthropy is an aim of cause marketing, philanthropy is not its primary objective. Cause marketing and sponsorship [more…]
Teaming Up with Another Cause or Company
Here’s the situation. You’re a nonprofit with a good company that’s eager to work on a cause marketing promotion, but neither of you have the expertise to execute it. A nonprofit across town has executed [more…]
What Succession Planning Can Do for Your Organization
In today’s rapidly changing world — with its new technologies, new markets, and new global mobility — succession planning matters more than ever before. The success of your organization depends on the [more…]
How to Develop a Succession Plan
Whether you’re developing a succession plan for a small family business, a large nonprofit organization, an educational institution, a major corporation, or a government organization, the process boils [more…]
What Is a Nonprofit Organization?
People hear the term nonprofit organization and picture Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, as in awfully bare or zero bank balance. But in fact, some nonprofit organizations turn very tidy profits on their operations [more…]
What Is a Nonprofit Fiscal Sponsor?
If you’re simply interested in providing a service, maybe you don’t want to deal with the bureaucratic and legal matters involved in a new nonprofit start-up. Or maybe you have a project that will end [more…]
How to Find a Fiscal Sponsor for Your Nonprofit
You may be able to find a fiscal sponsor for your nonprofit near you by using the Fiscal Sponsor Directory. Some nonprofit organizations are formed with the sole purpose of providing fiscal sponsorship [more…]
How to Create a Nonprofit Corporation
The first legal step in creating a nonprofit organization almost always is forming a corporation. A corporation is an entity or an organization that has legal standing. [more…]
How to Write the Articles of Incorporation for a Nonprofit
To create articles of incorporation for a nonprofit, you first have to get the papers you need from the appropriate state office. That office may provide sample articles of incorporation and instructions [more…]
How to Obtain Your Nonprofit Employer Identification Number
The first thing to do after you complete your nonprofit incorporation is to apply to the IRS for an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. Even if you don’t plan to hire employees anytime soon, you need [more…]
How to Apply for Tax Exemption for Your Nonprofit
The final step in becoming a tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organization is to apply for tax exemption from the IRS. To apply for tax exemption, you request what’s known as a [more…]
How to Disclose Appropriate Information about Your Nonprofit
Disclose seems to imply that your nonprofit is hiding something that must be pried from your clutches. Don’t think of it that way. The IRS regulations that lay out the rules for disclosure refer to “the [more…]
How to Encourage Commitment from Nonprofit Board Members
Getting members of a board for a nonprofit to pull their weight sometimes seems like a problem that you can’t solve. Not every board member will contribute equally to the work involved in governing a nonprofit [more…]
How to Hold Effective Nonprofit Board Meetings
Most nonprofit board work is done in meetings, either with the full board or in committees. The board president is responsible for ensuring that meetings are well organized and begin and end at a scheduled [more…]
How to Choose to Own, Lease, or Accept Free Space for Your Nonprofit
Stability, convenience, and cost — in addition to location — are key factors to consider when selecting your nonprofit’s home. It’s important to consider all the implications of ownership, leasing, and [more…]
