A Successful Fundraising Solution - Create a Cause Marketing Partnership
If you, as a non-profit organization, have done any sort of Traditional Fundraising you know that to be successful you are depending on the generosity of others. Fundraising requires a major effort, can only be run for a limited time and ultimately it usually only produces a modest return.
The reason non-profit organizations have fundraisers at all is to help them fulfill their mission and promote involvement among its members and the surrounding community. With traditional fundraising this message can sometimes get lost and it feels like a huge burden to do the fundraiser. Both from the Non-profits point of view as well as the community it serves. But it is never the intention of a fundraiser to do harm.
So what if there was a better way? What if your fundraiser could provide a consistent stream of revenue for your non-profit group while minimizing the effort required in both planning and staffing? A way to fundraise that would allow the entire membership to get involved and even spread the effort into the community and possibly expand nationally or even globally.
The good news is that this way exists right now. It is called Cause Related Marketing.
Cause Marketing or targeted marketing gets your non-profit organization money every time someone purchases a "normal" product they use every day. All of us currently buy products that we use for our home and to benefit our health. Grocery items are things we buy every week and for some of us every day. And Poof - a Cause Marketing Solution is born.
To make a cause marketing fundraiser work you only need to change brands. And according to a study done by CONE, 79% of Americans said they would do exactly that, switch brands, if it would help support a good cause.
And now the Shaklee Corporation is opening its doors and offering this kind of partnership with every non-profit who wants to take advantage of it.
By choosing to join with Shaklee you can provide your supporters the opportunity to redirect their spending to a large catalog of products they purchase in their everyday lives. Shaklee has products that the average family spends money on each month. In fact, this 'average' family spends around $25 to $100 each month on these products.
From household cleaners and personal care items to vitamins, supplements and weight loss systems Shaklee produces high quality items for all your home and personal care needs. This benefits you as an organization because it allows all your supporters the opportunity to find something they use and can purchase in order to help your group. It benefits your supporters because Shaklee's commitment to quality means they are getting a superior product and not settling for less just to lend their support.
I think you can see the benefits to you, your supporters and now even the environment, but you are probably asking yourself, "How does all this work?"
The next best thing about Cause Related Marketing and especially this one is that it is very easy. Think back to all the difficulties of the traditional fundraiser and then quickly forget about them because they don't exist in Cause Marketing.
There are 5 basics steps to this Cause Marketing relationship:
- The Non-Profit enrolls in the program
- Shaklee creates a dedicated and secure shopping website
- You promote the program to the supporters of your cause.
- Supporters and others use your secure online shopping site to redirect monthly spending
- Your organization receives income from this redirected spending
Just these 5 little steps create a huge earning potential and it puts you as the non-profit in control instead of the usual situation of the company being in charge.
The internet has created an area where being social means talking with and getting to know people all around the world instead of just next door. It has also automated so many of our day to day tasks. The online shopping portal means you no longer have to deal with inventory, delivery or collection of money. Shaklee and the website do it all. And if your supporters don't have a computer, ordering is just a phone call away. Social networking and internet shopping have opened the world up and now anyone can be part of the community and support your cause.
Shaklee has always been about sharing and networking so their model flows right into modern day communications and word of mouth referrals.
So what's the catch? What's all this going to cost you – the non-profit organization?
The simple answer: Zero, Zilch, Nothing, Nada…
Shaklee truly believes in making a difference and that this partnership will do just that. So they have waived any and all startup costs and monthly web fees for Non-Profit Organizations.
What is required is a level of support from your group, its board members and the membership. People must get on board and be supporters of this effort and of the Shaklee products. They need to redirect their spending in order for the organization to reap the benefits.
Word of mouth, reminders at meetings and newsletters are all great ways to spread the word. Once your group gets a chance to redirect their spending and use the products the Shaklee quality will help them be motivated to spread the word and increase the people supporting your cause by helping themselves with natural, researched, quality products.
Shaklee will match your commitment by maintaining a secure online website and handling all the orders, inventory and delivery tasks. They will supply you with promotional and educational marketing materials to disperse to your group. They will also give you a 'back office' where you can keep track of what is going on with your cause marketing effort. And to back all this up they offer a 100% money back guarantee on all their safe and healthy products.
You can see how this is a Win-Win-Win situation. Shaklee benefits by expanding its customer base and increasing public awareness about its mission. The Non-Profit Organization benefits by increasing its funding without increasing its workload and the Supporters benefit by getting safe natural products that are better for them and better for the planet; finally a plan that makes sense.
Together We Can Make a Difference!