Latest Thinking from IEG

Attention Drivers v. Value Drivers for Cause/Marketers

Have you checked out the Dynamics of Cause Engagement study released earlier this month by Ogilvy PR and Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication? For any one in the nonprofit fundraising or cause marketing business, it provides useful insight into what Americans think are the top causes (“causes” referring, in this case, to issues or content areas rather than specific nonprofit organizations).

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Filed under: evaluation, nonprofit, sponsorship measurement, cause marketing

Three Cups of Tea or Three Card Monte? Our Continuing Need for Nonprofit Metrics

This past week, I’ve watched and read the Greg Mortenson/Central Asia Institute investigation coverage with a frown on my face. (For the CBS 60 Minutes piece, click here.) Sure, I enjoyed and admired Mortenson’s stories and work described in Three Cups of Tea and it is always uncomfortable to have the integrity of someone you admire come into sharp and pointed question. But such is life, and we will have to wait and see what comes of the ongoing investigation and debate.

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Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, backlash

Livestrong Sporting Park: Nice, but not a Big, New Idea

The deal between MLS team owner Sporting K.C. and Livestrong to make the cancer-fighting foundation the naming rights sponsor of the new soccer stadium opening in June is certainly commendable. However, it is neither unprecedented, nor the best example of this type of partnership between a sports property and a nonprofit.

Those that have come before include:

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Filed under: cause marketing, naming rights, nonprofit, pro sports, trends, valuation, venues, what is sponsorship, assets

New IEG Publication: Chicken Soup for the Cause Marketing Soul

I kid, I kid. We didn't actually write a Chicken Soup for the Soul® book on cause marketing. But if we had, it would not have been the most obscure of their titles . . . I reckon that distinction would go to either Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul or Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul. (You can't make this stuff up!)

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Filed under: nonprofit, cause marketing

Return on Engagement: The Art and Crafts of Sponsorship

Leading up to the 2011 IEG Sponsorship Conference, Return on Engagement: Sponsorship’s Impact on Business, I will be blogging on measuring sponsorship’s ROI: How to do it, what the research reveals, improving the value of sponsorship, etc.

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Filed under: cause marketing, evaluation, IEG conference, international, new media, nonprofit, social media, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, beverage

Return on Engagement: Learnings from the TELUS Facebook Go Pink Campaign
Leading up to the 2011 IEG Sponsorship Conference, Return on Engagement: Sponsorship’s Impact on Business, I will be blogging on measuring sponsorship’s ROI: How to do it, what the research reveals, improving the value of sponsorship, etc.

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Filed under: cause marketing, evaluation, IEG conference, new media, nonprofit, social media, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, telecommunications, Canada

Values-Centered Leadership and Value-Based Exchange: Healthcare Collaboration in Corporate Sponsorship and Beyond

Along with a couple hundred healthcare association executives, I had the pleasure of attending the ASAE Healthcare Association Conference on November 18-19, 2010, here in Chicago.

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Filed under: cause marketing, contracts, hospitals and healthcare, medical societies, nonprofit, associations

A Perfect Fit: Jockey’s Support of the Fight against “Cancer below the Waist”

On any given Saturday, I have a sneaking suspicion that most people will find themselves lying around in their underwear at some point throughout the day. On a recent Saturday, the Jockey brand challenged Chicagoans to take it outside.

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Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, strategic philanthropy, activation

Brita’s FilterForGood Partners with Jack Johnson
In April, I wrote a blog post about Jack Johnson’s “To The Sea Tour” and I gushed about the fact that 100 percent of the proceeds from that Tour would be given to 150 nonprofit community groups.

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Filed under: music, nonprofit, entertainment

Stress-Testing Your Sponsorship: Are You Advancing a Movement or Marketing in Circles?

The “movement” is the thing for sponsorship heavy-hitters these days. Moving people to action—causing measurable behavior change—is the highly evolved, holy grail of return on sponsorship measurement. But instead of just counting coupons redeemed or pages “liked,” sponsors and properties are building real relationships, tracking long-term behaviors, and making changes in their businesses using the audiences, information and people-power they gather.

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Filed under: digital media, how to get sponsorship, NASCAR, nonprofit, sponsorship ROI, sports, cause marketing