Consider the Cause-Related Marketing and Charity Before Making Purchases

Particularly in the tight economic market, both corporations and nonprofit organizations are competing for limited dollars. Corporate cause-related marketing is a recent sales tactic that has given rise to increased consumer spending. Thus, being a savvy donor or consumer sometimes requires some additional thought.

Cause-related marketing is particularly ubiquitous for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But October ends a few days, and cause-related marketing is a year-round effort for a multitude of causes.

Right now pink is everywhere - in the stores, on company logos, and on products. Corporate alignment with cause marketing - particularly for breast cancer research - has become a huge sales incentive with many companies. But as written about in the past, this cause marketing does not always fully benefit the philanthropic cause or nonprofit organization.

Breast Cancer Action mounts an annual "Think Before You Pink" campaign to combat misuse of its cause. This year, Susan G. Komen for the Cure included a brochure with its fall appeal to donors encouraging them to consider corporate cause related marketing before making purchases.

The five questions were:

1. Is the corporate sponsor committed?

2. How is the program structured?

3. Who does the program benefit?

4. How will the nonprofit organization use the funds raised?

5. Is the program meaningful to you?

This brochure aims to educate consumers and ensure that "all corporate partner programs are meaningful, educate women and men about the disease, and generate significant funding for research and community outreach." Essentially Komen for the Cure is pointing out that company accountability matters when it aligns itself with the cause of fighting breast cancer.

Many tools are available to donors to assess nonprofit organizations, including Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator "strives to supply donors with confidence in charities before they commit their financial support." Charity Navigator uses a star rating system and evaluates two areas of a charity's financial health: organizational efficiency and organizational capacity.

Similarly, evaluation methods for cause-related marketing are available with a little searching and effort. Breast Cancer Action posts a list each year of companies that may actually be making a negative impact on breast cancer or making no noticeable impact.

If you want a pink blender, by all means purchase it. But if you want to donate to the cause of supporting survivors or finding a breast cancer cure or another cause, consider making a direct donation instead. The same can be said for most corporate sponsorships that require consumer participation before they donate to a cause.