Cause Marketing Partnerships that Mutually Benefit the Nonprofit and the Company's Brand
There is growing importance that corporations and nonprofits align strategically, work to identify mutually beneficial goals, and work in partnership to deliver transformational experiences [i.e. to employees, customers, other stakeholders] while meeting real nonprofit needs (Source: America’s Charities Snapshot 2015 – The Corporate DNA).
Last year I touched upon this subject in a blog post featuring a cause marketing partnership between America’s Charities member Dress for Success and Talbots.
Dress for Success® is an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has helped more than 850,000 women work towards self-sufficiency.
Through customer donations and a percentage of proceeds from store events in Spring 2015, Talbots, a women’s apparel chain, ended up collecting more than 4,000 boxes of clothing and was able to donate $500,000 to Dress for Success.
This year, Dress for Success’s powerful partnership with Talbots has grown to include O, The Oprah Magazine, and their goal is to double the monetary and clothing donations they received as a result of last year’s partnership.
This collaborative cause marketing effort between Talbots and O is a fantastic example of how businesses can align their corporate values in a way that mutually benefits their brands and a nonprofit like Dress for Success.
