Blogs

Agencies

Barkley- The largest employee owned independent agency in the country, Barkley also has been the agency behind some of the world’s most famous cause marketing efforts, including one of the worlds most successful breast cancer cause campaigns.

Fenton – An agency that has served the public interest since 1982, Fenton creates powerful issue campaigns that have contributed to some of the most defining change movements of the past 30 years.

Cone – Cone is a Boston-based strategy and communications agency dedicated to nonprofit marketing, corporate responsibility and cause branding.

BBMG – This agency boasts an impressive expertise in sustainability and a crack team of strategists, creatives, and technologists.

Causemedia Group – With over 500 cause campaigns to their name, Causemedia Group has raised over $50 million for nonprofits. Causemedia group is the parent company of the following three agencies:

Studio Good – Some of the most successful charitable social media campaigns have come out of Studio Good. One such example is the TwitChange, a campaign that utilized twitter as a means to fund the building of a home for special needs children in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Kompolt – An online auction agency for cause campaigns and charities, they have raised over $35 million for charities across the world, including over $4 million in 2010 alone.

Patron – An integrated agency run by Brian Powell, a highly regarded thought leader within the world of cause marketing.

CSRcopy – A communications firm dedicated to assisting both corporations and non-profits in their cause marketing, CSR and sustainability initiatives. CSRcopy has worked with everyone from Fortune 500 companies like Energizer and Capital One to nonprofits such as Global Impact and One Million Lights to help them communicate their social and environmental enterprises. An insightful white paper titled Corporate Storytelling and Your CSR Strategy is available for free via their website.

Communications 4 Good – A boutique PR agency specializing in sustainability, they help businesses find innovative ways to implement and share the changes they are bringing about in the world.

Do Well Do Good – Providing tools and enhancing the skills to help companies and nonprofit organizations to get the most out of their partnerships, Do Well Do Good partners with companies and nonprofit organizations to increase the positive impacts of their initiatives.

E.B. Alliance – Emotional Branding Alliance is a consultancy and global network that helps organizations connect to people, planet, and purpose. E.B. Alliance was founded by Marc Gobe, author of the book Emotional Branding.

FSG – Providing strategy, evaluation, research, implementation, and coalition building to organizations working to achieve greater social impact. FSG serves both corporations and nonprofits, as well as foundations, school systems, and governmental organizations.

CauseShift – A cutting-edge company that works with organizations to help them “cause a shift” within their business practices as well as in their cause marketing efforts.

Antidote Collective – Specializing in “socially conscious communications,” Antidote works with nonprofits, foundations, citizen groups and entrepreneurs to shape a more sustainable, healthy, and just world.

Cause Consulting – A strategy firm that helps businesses integrate corporate citizenship, business, and marketing disciplines to create new values for companies and their stakeholders.

Alden Keene and Associates – A boutique marketing and communications consultancy serving business and nonprofits. Their ‘house specialty’ is cause marketing and corporate social responsibility.

Impakt – Experts in helping corporations improve their community investment and better align their business and social outcomes.

Brave One – A communications agency founded by CSR and cause marketing veterans Lukas B. Snelling and Jesse Mayhew. Brave One may be the new kid on the block, but they already boast an impressive list of clients and services. From brand research and development, to copywriting and design, to the day-to-day management of PR and marketing efforts, Brave One works with both businesses and non-profits to assure they are optimally communicating their core values.

Media

3BL Media- Your first and best resource for getting your cause marketing message delivered to a mass audience, 3BL media helps everyone from small start-up to multinational corporations to nonprofits get their cause marketing messages distributed across the globe.

Public Address System – One of the most promising methods at your disposal for marketing your cause in a quick, affective, and viral manner is through video. If your organization is looking to create a video detailing your cause, then you needn’t look any further than Public Address System. Run by Gary Breece, the ‘Spielberg of cause media’, Public Address System is a multimedia production company specializing in cause marketing and public affairs communications.

FreeWorld Media – This company was founded by Sean Wood, an expert in utilizing social media for social change. They have executed social media campaigns for companies such as Coke, Ritz-Carlton, and the American Diabetes Association. If you are looking for help in designing, implementing, and running cause-related campaigns through new media, FreeWorld Media can assist you every step of the way.

Cauzoom – a fundraising company that helps people invest in projects in their community and around the world.

VolunteerMatch – The preferred Internet recruiting tool for more than 79,000 nonprofit organizations, Volunteermatch makes it easier for people and causes to connect. Services are offered to nonprofit, volunteer, as we all as for-profit businesses.

Triple Pundit – A new-media company for socially conscious businesses concerned with the triple bottom line. They provide editorial coverage as well as group discussions to sustainable and ethical business practices.

Cause Marketing Forum – A platform dedicated to providing business and nonprofit executives with the practical information and connections they need to succeed with their cause marketing efforts. CMF offers both a newsletter as well as routine teleconferences with cause marketing experts.

Causecast – A technology, data, and service provider helping to connect nonprofits and businesses, enabling them to leverage one another’s strengths. Cause cast offers free fundraising tools to nonprofits as well as access to the CSR and cause marketing campaigns of its corporate clients.

Have I missed any other valuable cause marketing resources? Let everyone know in the comments section below.

With over half a decade of experience dealing with press releases related to CSR, I’ve come to know what type of CSR press releases achieve success online and what sort fail. In today’s blog post I am offering a list of do’s and don’ts that will help you craft a clear, concise, and compelling CSR press release.

While certain strategies I offer are unique to press materials concerning CSR, basic rules of writing still apply. Your press release should be thoroughly proofread for spelling and grammar, your writing should be concise, utilize an active voice, and avoid pronouns such as “we,” “you,” or “I” anywhere other than within a quotation.

The Do’s

Make it a Milestone: Whether your press release is announcing that a new CSR goal has just been set or met, make sure your release is calling attention to a true achievement or change of course for your company.

Include Some Stats: Nothing backs up the fact that your press release is announcing a true CSR milestone better than, well, facts! Make it a point to include a percentage point, the year in which a specific goal will be attained, or an exact dollar amount your organization intends to invest in a cause. Ideally, a number should be included in either the release’s title or subtitle, but it absolutely must be mentioned by the end of the opening paragraph.

Have a Great Angle: Just because your release needs some numbers to back it up doesn’t mean you have permission to put your readership to sleep. A successful CSR press release is never just a dry statement of the facts. Find an interesting and unique way to present your company’s goals and achievements so that your release doesn’t read like it’s just some mandatory announcement. A good rule to remember:  if it was boring for you to write it, it’s going to be boring for people to read it.

Add Character(s): You should provide quotes from both people within your company that were key in establishing your new CSR initiative as well as those who will be in charge of carrying it out. Your readership will believe in your new CSR commitment more readily if they know there are actual individuals overseeing it. Otherwise, your new CSR policy may come off like mere lip service.

The Don’ts

Avoid Hype and Exaggeration: Press releases in general should never read as sensational, but this is particularly true when a press release is detailing corporate social responsibility. If you are claiming that your CSR report is the most comprehensive in your industry, you had better be able to back that up.

Never Give Everything Away: Trying to cram every last detail regarding your CSR efforts into one single press release is always a mistake. Instead, provide links back to specific landing pages that will describe your CSR in greater detail.

Pass on Clichés: Your audience can’t stand clichés, and when it comes to CSR taglines, sometimes it seems like there’s a limitless supply. Make sure that your title and subtitles are free of statements like “Saving the earth, one [your product here] at a time.”  

Don’t Forget Your Friends: While it is fine to pat yourself on the back in your press release, it’s best if you can include praise from an outside source as well. Be sure to seek out a quote from a client, non-profit partner, community member, or beneficiary.

Brave One is a newly formed communications agency dedicated to helping socially and environmentally conscious organizations convey their core values. “We work with companies that realize today’s social and environmental problems are today’s business opportunities.” said Brave One Co-Founder Lukas B. Snelling. “Our clients believe as we do; that confronting social and environmental problems is a necessity for any company ready to play a serious role in the post-recession economy.”

Brave One’s Co-Founders Lukas Snelling and Jesse Mayhew have in-depth backgrounds in Cause Marketing and CSR Communications, respectively. Co-Founder Jesse Mayhew is quick to state that these two terms are presently taking on far broader meanings. “Traditionally ‘Cause Marketing’ refers to either the cooperative efforts of a for-profit and a non-profit, or simply to the marketing efforts of a non-profit. But if today you look at what a company such as TOMS Shoes is doing, for example, what you see is a form of cause marketing that is synonymous with the company’s general marketing efforts and brand. Donating shoes isn’t part of TOMS’ CSR, it simply is part of who they are. It forms their core value.” Mayhew feels that, in the near future, more and more corporations will begin to unite their cause marketing and general marketing under one banner. “Brave One is here to help encourage and facilitate this next stage of cause marketing.” Working with both for-profits as well as non-profits, Brave One helps organizations of all shapes and sizes to cultivate new strengths and strategies for the new economy. “For-profit companies aren’t the only organizations facing serious change.” said Snelling. “Moving forward, non-profits will have to adopt newer, more innovative means of promoting their efforts. Integrating social media is just one of the many challenges non-profits are currently facing.”

Brave One was founded by Lukas B. Snelling and Jesse Mayhew. With over a decade of combined experience within the world of corporate social responsibility and cause marketing, Mayhew and Snelling’s combined expertise grants Brave One an extensive list of services.

Prior to forming Brave One, Jesse Mayhew was Chief Copywriter and Principal of CSRcopy, a communications firm dedicated to helping corporations with their CSR and sustainability initiatives. Jesse has written and consulted for a vast range of corporations and non-profits, including Energizer, Public Address System, Freeworld Media, Article 13 and many more. Jesse has also served as Director of Editorial and Operations at CSRwire, a leading global source of CSR and sustainability news, reports, events, and information. He is the author of Corporate Storytelling and Your CSR Strategy, a highly regarded industry report detailing best practices in cause marketing and social media strategy. Jesse’s writings on Corporate Social Responsibility have appeared in The Washington Post, 3BL Media, and CSRwire.

An expert in digital media and communications, Lukas began his career at CBS where he served as Director of Digital Media. While serving as Director, he was the recipient of the Web Marketing Award for Outstanding Achievement in Web Development. Lukas eventually left CBS to form his own marketing consultancy, Digital Media Army, a consulting company dedicated to helping businesses increase revenue through effective online communication.

While still at CBS Lukas founded the Green Radio Initiative, a program that created actionable messages for audiences to embrace more sustainable lifestyles across the full CBS portfolio of assets. Lukas has overseen national media campaigns for both fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits, and advised corporate executives on their PR and communications strategies – particularly in matters related to environmental initiatives. He has assisted numerous organizations in the creation of press, fundraising, sales and marketing materials.

A native Vermonter, Lukas currently serves as Executive Director of Energize Vermont, a non-profit dedicated to seeking alternative energy solutions that are in keeping with the unique character of his home state. Recently Lukas was nominated as a rising star in Vermont Business Magazine’s ‘40 under 40.’

Brave One’s Services include PR and communications, copywriting and design, digital and social media strategy, as well as brand research and development. Their services are available through a long-term retainer relationship, as well as individual projects. Brave One is out of the gate with an impressive list of clients, including the non-profits Global Impact and Energize Vermont, as well as for-profit companies such as Cleo, Compass Group North America, and Capital One.

About Brave One

Brave One is a communications agency dedicated to serving today’s most daring and defiant businesses. From the earliest stages of strategy and research, through brand building and development, to the execution of day-to-day marketing efforts, Brave One is there every step of the way to assure your organization is optimally communicating its core values.

For more information about Brave One, please visit http://braveoneagency.com/

GARY BREECE is Executive Producer/Director of Public Address System, a multimedia production company specializing in corporate social responsibility CSR), cause marketing and public affairs communications. Gary and Brave One Co-Founder Jesse Mayhew recently collaborated on a video for Energizer’s Now That’s Positivenergy” campaign. In this blog post Gary shares his thoughts on the combined powers of CSR, Social Media, and Video.

The time has come at last.

The last few years have seen the simultaneous coming of age of 3 separate trends. The last year has seen them coming into alignment together. The result: the most significant opportunity in corporate communications to happen in decades.

These three trends are

1.) Corporate Social Responsibility’s rise as a full-fledged marketing trend.
2.) Social media’s rise as a delivery platform for corporate communications.
3.) Online video as the premiere medium for corporate communications.

For years these three trends and technologies have all been maturing and evolving separately on their own. But now the three have come together in cosmic alignment, literally tripling their individual potential. As a result, today we are being met with an unprecedented opportunity in corporate communications.

If this seems like an overstatement, take a minute to stop and consider where we were less than a decade ago. Back then there were two main options when it came to marketing: Advertising, and Media Relations. Both of these options were costly and risky. In the case of advertising, corporations had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase either time on television or space in magazines and billboards. In the case of media relations, companies could invest small fortunes in celebrity endorsements, gimmicks, and campaigns which, regardless of the investment, could wind up with little to no media coverage. Even when a campaign was lucky enough to meet with media coverage, it would still have to contend with the massive filters of news directors and editors. Both these strategies at reaching an audience have always come at great cost as well as great risk. Alas, they were the only games in town.

For years marketing professionals were looking for a different method, an alternate means that would allow them to reach stakeholders directly. Social Media was the answer. With the rise of Facebook, Twitter and others, marketers finally found the means of communicating their message directly to consumers at a significantly reduced cost and with considerably less risk of completely striking out.

Meanwhile, while online video has been around for quite some time, it’s really only been in the past few years that technology has made watching a video online enjoyable (think of the recent rise of Hulu and Netflix starting to offer streaming online videos.) Once video picture quality was improved, video became one of the most popular ways for people to consume information online. Evidence shows that video posts are three times more likely to be viewed than mere text. As the saying goes, if content is king, then video is the king of content.

This is not to say, however, that any and every piece of video content will succeed online.

Despite the combined power of online video distributed and promoted via social media, companies can’t simply throw anything at their followers. Regular, commercial advertising never seems to fit in an online world – particularly if it is being promoted via social media. On social media, people pull information towards them, rather than having it pushed at them. Online promotional videos need to come off as less jarring, less sales-y and more subtle if they are going to be tolerated (especially when getting rid of a commercial is as easy as closing a tab.) What fits that bill perfectly is CSR communications.

The reason why CSR communications succeed online more than regular commercials comes down to two simple elements: tone and subject matter. Video’s that aren’t pushing a product or service, but that are instead promoting a company’s environmental commitment or recent social initiative come off as far less pushy and invasive. The subject matter of CSR communications does not attempt to appeal to the baser instincts of the consumer, such as vanity or greed. CSR communications aren’t trying to sell you a new car or tell you what sort of beer to drink. Instead CSR communications appeal to aspects of our character we can take pride in; our acting as conscientious consumers, our environmental stewardship and social activism. These aren’t aspects of ourselves that audiences typically want to turn away from. In addition the tone of CSR communications tend to be less loud and gimmicky. CSR communications don’t clamor for our attention with loud music or special effects. They feel less like a pop-up advertisement, and more like a public service message. They are not only more tolerated by viewers, but are ‘liked’ on facebook, tweeted, dugg, enjoyed, promoted, and passed along through various social media channels.

With video as the communications tool, social media as the communications platform, and CSR as the content, corporations finally have at their disposal an unprecedented, unbeatable triple combination with which to convey their cause marketing efforts. At long last companies can reach out directly to stakeholders with impactful, easily shareable stories of the good they are doing.

These three major trends have at long last come of age. The ability to communicate your message directly to people online via video is what marketing professionals have been anticipating for ten years. It’s happening right now. It’s time to get on board. Odds are that your competitors already have.

But are companies currently seeing LEED certification as part of their overall CSR policy and approach, or are CSR initiatives and reporting seen as supporting LEED goals? A third possibility is of course that CSR and LEED are still considered by most to be completely separate areas of concern altogether.

According to Roxanne Button Kujawa, an Architect and Sustainable Design Specialist located in Buffalo, NY, at present corporate social responsibility is more obviously on the minds of green product manufacturers than with green design firms. “In my experience, design firms don’t use the term ‘CSR’, although for those that are really into sustainability, their actions and goals could certainly be defined as such. I think the firms that are more committed to sustainability – and have been for a long time – are further along the road to understanding what CSR is than most other firms. Those who figure it out will be able to engage their clients and their staff more fully, and will be able to provide greater value to their clients. Most firms however are nowhere near being able to address it – in fact, they aren’t even thinking about it at this point, with the economy forcing them to focus all of their energies on getting work.”

One firm that has certainly spent time thinking about CSR is HOK. HOK has worked directly with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to update their GSA Sustainable Development and Real Property Guide, previously published in 2000. While the major focus of this guide addresses true sustainability/steady state and how federal policies can support the Triple Bottom Line, the guide also focuses on the current approaches of corporations and manufacturers and their efforts towards corporate social responsibility.

Alesia M. Call, a Sustainable Design Specialist at HOK, worked directly on the guide and related some of the results of her team’s research. “As we dove deeper, we concluded that while new product and building rating systems are helping to transform the way we live and work and helping manufacturers and corporations deem themselves more “socially responsible” than the next guy, we remain far from achieving a steady state of sustainability. True “sustainability” will require reexamination of our everyday practices with our world’s limitations in mind. Social sustainability can be one of the most difficult indicators to measure and as a result, most often neglected or ignored.”

Despite CSR being less easily quantifiable, Call finds that, today, most companies have integrated LEED into their overall CSR approach. “LEED certification becomes an easy tool in a companies’ CSR approach because you can comprehend it – 10 years ago, no one outside of the environmental community was concerned with whether their building’s components were derived from recycled resources or used low VOC paint; today, people demand it. And LEED is a much more tangible policy to mandate. This is important because an organization that is committed to its CSR benchmarks needs to know that it’s successfully achieving them.”

Call was quick to add that, while the LEED rating system has been a significant stepping stone in the process, it is not the one stop shop for CSR. “Social equity must account for sustainability, as well as access to social benefits, opportunities, cultural acceptance, economic fairness, and environmental justice. However, LEED has led the way in educating the public towards understanding what basic environmental stewardship means, thus companies see it as a powerful tool in their approach to CSR.”

Both Kujawa and Call have seen a broad concern for overall CSR reporting coming from the manufacturing side of green building. “If you look at any building product manufacturer’s website, you are bound to see something on their sustainability policies, and maybe even an annual sustainability report. But most design firms aren’t there yet.” Kujawa stated. “They are still defining sustainability by the number of LEED APs they have or the number of certified projects they’ve done. The need to reach beyond LEED is something that isn’t fully understood by the majority of the A/E/C community yet. So it’s rare to see any kind of sustainability reporting from a design firm.”

Deborah Robbins, VP of Marketing and Sustainability of Rubberform Recycling Products, confirmed this sense that manufacturers are further along in considering their overall corporate social responsibility. “I believe that CSR does and should exist under the mission of the United States Green Building Council.” Robbins pointed directly to the mission statement of the USCBC:

“To transform the way buildings and communities are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.”1

“Do you not see the synergy there?” asked Robbins. “This is a very general mission statement, however it encompasses CSR.”

Interface Inc. is another excellent example of a manufacturer embracing CSR. Interface is a carpet manufacturer that incorporates sustainability from top to bottom in management, manufacturing, employee relations, as well as environmental and community impact. They have been repeatedly recognized for addressing and measuring their own CSR milestones. As a result, Interface has not only provided a solid framework for its own overall ‘greenness’ but has raised the bar on what architectural firms like HOK expect to see from all building product manufacturers.

While Kujawa feels that design firms have a long way to go if they are to catch up with manufacturers, she does feel confident that many are beginning to move in the right direction. “In my own firm, we are just beginning to look at sustainability in broader terms. I’m actually going to be transitioning into the role of director of sustainability over the next 6 months, and it’s my intention that we will be reaching beyond LEED as much as possible. Most firms don’t have someone in that role yet, but it’s starting to become more common, especially among mid-sized and large firms.”

While design firms are beginning to reach beyond LEED into broader CSR goals, it appears far more commonplace that CSR reporting drives organizations in the direction of LEED Certification. Dirk Mason, Director of Sustainable Building Services at Leonardo Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing sustainability, shared one such instance.

“As organizations try to improve their environmental footprint and transparency with CSR, they are going to look toward their supply chain to help quantify and reduce their footprint. CSR reporting has been an excellent mechanism for some of our clients to get information out of their suppliers. One of our clients undertook a CSR report that included an investigation of their supply chain and energy footprint. Through their investigation, they inadvertently drove one supplier to seek LEED certification for their buildings.”

While this is a rather dramatic example of CSR reporting leading to LEED certification, Mason added that LEED certification always stands to aid any CSR reporting. “While CSR report metrics go well beyond just evaluating buildings, most CSR reports will seek to quantify an organization’s environmental footprint. LEED-EB has been and always will be an excellent tool to help quantify and reduce a building’s operational footprint.”

It stands to reason that as more and more corporations respond to the demand for in-depth reporting, they will seek to gain a greater familiarity with the terms and standards of environmental design. Green product manufacturers and designers are well advised to return the favor when it comes to the broader categories of CSR.

1http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=124

The next generation of Federal workers have all come of age alongside social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. While all these networks are usually considered incredible assets when it comes to general marketing efforts, many non-profit fundraisers seem to fear that if they embrace social media it will prevent the establishment of the sort of personal connections to charities and beneficiaries that donors enjoyed in the past. To put it another way, the fear is a fleeting, digital connection could supplant a deeper, more heartfelt connection.

Recently I was discussing these common misgivings with Michael Sattler, CEO of Cauzoom, a company dedicated to helping charities through online fundraising. “When a non-profit suggests to me that social media might make connections with their supporters less personal, it’s all I can do not to drop my jaw in amazement. If your organization (be it a business or non-profit or something else) believes that it has a personal connection with its supporters now, wait till you see what happens when you embrace them on the new turf being staked out by social technologies. (You can read all of Michael’s thoughts on this matter by reading his last blog post available here.)

For the most part I have to agree with Michael. One presumption that non-profits seem to be making is that the connections their young donors could make with charities via social media will be all that materially different from the type of connections they make in their daily lives. Young people today stay in touch with old friends, classmates and colleagues via social media just as much – if not more so – than by talking over the phone or visiting in person, and they do not consider this means of connectivity to be at all superficial or shallow. If anything, social media offers more robust means of establishing connections. Through sites like facebook non-profits can instantly share photo albums of people benefiting from donations and sponsorships, link to videos, and offer multiple platforms of connectivity.

This is not to say that social media can or should ever fully replace live events, social meet-ups, or in-person rallies. But the future is now, and I feel certain that the risks of ignoring social media far outweigh the costs of embracing it.

Non-profits in the beginning stages of integrating social media into their outreach can find many useful tips and material at Cauzoom. I would also highly recommend reading a recent post available at social media examiner, 10 ways non-profits can benefit from social media.