Make an Impact without Breaking the Bank

There is a little something I need to fess up to, I will be communicating more this month to you and here is why…as a professional fundraiser for over fifteen years and chairing many charity walks and special events that have raised a loooot of money, it seems that today more than just a few years ago, it is increasingly more difficult for nonprofits to raise money. The fact is donorship is down, it’s not tanked, but it is down. This has forced organizations to tighten up and cut where they can. I've seen staffed laid off, programs cut and a reorganization or charities.

On the for-profit side, I see and hear the budget crunch small businesses are facing and that said there is just not a lot of wiggle-room to make donations. But here is the beauty out of all this chaos, small businesses and solo-entrepreneurs like you, can actually make sizable contributions and you don’t have to break the bank. Really!

If you are a small business or solo-entrepreneur committed to supporting a cause, helping out a charity or making a difference your own community, I really don’t want you to miss my upcoming complimentary call (and this is what I will be letting you know more about over the next couple of weeks):

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"Discovering Your Signature Way to Support a Cause that Creates Marketing, Meaning and Mega Impact!" The call is set for Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 1:00pm EST.
Read more and reserve your spot here
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On this teleseminar you will learn:

• The myths that keep your cause commitment in stuckville

• What makes ‘what you stand for’ special and why you must express it for your business, your customers and the world

• Why your commitment to a cause is the only place to powerfully market and build your brand

• The key ingredient to stand out in a big way and celebrate your Cause Signature success and more....

So, if you want to take a stand for something in this world and make a difference, I hope you can join me on the call. You can get the call details here.

Holidays and Cause Marketing: What Can Your Business Do To Help Out

Here we go again, another recent poll about how charitable giving will be down this year during the holidays. There certainly has been plenty of this messaging in the media. It's hard to get away from it. But, I don't think we should. The times are what they are, and the best we can do is help out others in need and not ignore it. I've heard some say, "I choose not to participate in this recession." Let's not forget that some families are facing it head on and they are turning to community resources and agencies for help. During the holidays it seems particularly harder.

Business owners are stepping up to the plate to make a difference this season. There are more cause marketing campaigns than what I have ever seen in previous years. Many of them are great. There is "The Big Warm-Up" a partnership between Land's End and the National Coalition for the Homeless, Macy's and Make-A-Wish Foundation "Believe" campaign, Iams and "Home4theHolidays," and Drew Carey's Twitter Challenge between Drew Carey and LIVESTRONG Foundation. While these campaigns are from large companies, a business of any size can create a campaign and positive experience around it. It's important to note that we are not talking about partnerships, just product sales or purchase plus.

If you want to be a part of the charitable giving landscape this holiday, here are a few strategies to create a simple and easy cause campaign through your business:

1. Decide on a charity that aligns with your business's values.
2. Create a great value for the consumer or client.
3. Keep the message cause-centric and drive the social impact.
4. Choose your campaign tool (discounts, pin-ups, point of sale).
5. Keep your tracking simple at the very least through # of media hits and/or funds raised.

Some of the benefits of a cause marketing campaign is that it connects people to charity by building awareness, it provides unrestricted funds, and positions your business as caring and community-minded.

The key is to keep it simple so it can be easily implemented again. With all the glitz and sparkly stuff during the holidays, keeping your campaign clean can be more compelling for consumers.

Copyright © 2009. Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D. All rights reserved.

What Book Got You Hooked?

It’s that time of the year, getting ready to go back to school! Parents are running around with the "List" of things to get their children. Last week, a friend of mine and I were just talking about the smells that take us back in-the-day to getting ready for the start of school: #2 pencils, pink erasers, protractors, pencil-cases, cartoon lunch boxes, army school bags and brown paper to cover our books.

A couple of the differences today is the cartoon characters on lunch boxes and school bags. The size of school bags is amazing to me. I remember some classmates didn't even carry a school bag (it wasn't cool) let alone taking books home. But just for today, let's talk about books.

Regardless of the subject and characters of books that have changed over the years, kids really do love to read and most have a favorite book. I did! The book was called "Katie" by who?? Don't ask too many years ago. Did you have a favorite book? If so, FirstBook wants to know. FirstBook is doing a campaign on the book that got you hooked on reading. Their "What Book Got You Hooked?" on reading campaign is helping address the concern of illiteracy in our nation. They want you share your favorite book memory with them and then vote on which state you would like to receive 50,000 new books for low income children. You can also see the favorite books of their celebrity-supporters like Ed Asner, Steve Colbert (luv him!), Morgan Freeman, Patti LaBelle (love her!), Scarlett Johansson and others.

I challenge small business owners to consider this campaign and join the campaign today. Make it a business-wide giving back effort. It can be fun and the more people involved, the more votes, the larger the campaign.

Go to http://www.firstbook.org/, share what book got you hooked on reading, and vote!

Connecting Your Giving Message to Market

Question: What is the one way you can interact and gain trust from clients and customers without selling to them?

Answer: Sharing your business's giving back story.

And it is a business strategy that is working better than ever. In fact, it works so well that big corporations are doing it more and more and I KNOW that when you connect with clients on a level that goes beyond 'the transaction' to one that you both share in, like making a difference, you create an immediate emotional connection which builds trust and loyalty.

So, whether you give back in a small way or big way, your business can be influenced by supporting causes and when you create a giving story that is credible and authentic it can be a driving factor in increasing sales. And I want to share with you great tips on this topic. That is why I am interviewing Lisa Manyon, President of Write On Creative and copywriting expert because what you say is just as important as how you say it.

Join us for this free teleseminar, "Connecting Your Giving Message to Market in an Authentic Way" on 4:00pm EST on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.

On this call you will learn:

• How to connect with customers on their terms
  
• POWER points to ask yourself before you start writing
  
• Why what you say is as important as how you say it
  
• Shortcuts to copy success
  
• Crafting copy that compels your customers to act
  
• Why credibility and authenticity count

Sign up to reserve your spot on this call.

My BIG Business Giving Program Reveal

So, today is my BIG reveal..... (drum roll)
My 3 New Private Small Business Giving Coaching Programs. The programs are:

1. Grassroots ~ Get Your Giving Off the Ground TM
2. Trailblazers ~ Build Your Business, Legacy and a Better World TM
3. High Impact Day~ Be a Power Philanthropy Partner in this World TM

These new programs offer something for EVERY business no matter where you are in business. You can be 6 months or 6 six years in business. You can be making $50K or $1.5M. "IT DOESN'T MATTER!" You can make a difference for your business's bottom-line and beyond just through giving. The small act of giving when done strategically for your business is powerful for you and the world!

I will be first to say that I understand giving is not at the top of your priority list. I understand if you have an extra $500 months it's going to a virtual assitant or marketing effort. Did you know giving is a hybrid mix of marketing for business. Huh? Did you know that? Did you know there are 5 ways giving can GROW your business? It doesn't matter HOW much you have to give. It's how you give back WHAT you do have that makes the difference. programs.

Click the link to read more about each program http://www.givingadvice.com/coaching.html

Copyright 2009. Maggie F. Keenan, Ed.D. All rights reserved.
Note: Program titles are undergoing Trademark protection. All rights apply.