Charity Cause Related Marketing

This short guide to charity cause related marketing enables charities to find and engage companies in caused based marketing to support them through product sales.

Companies That Offer Cause Related Marketing for Charities

Register with Charity Excellence (it's free), then login and go to Help Finder.  Select UK wide, your UK country and any major city, or English county, then the Cause Related Marketing option from the Categories pull down menu.  As at Aug 24, there were 50+ companies.  Quick, simple and very effective.

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Here's our guide to using Help Finder for corporate fundraising and also our introductory guide to implementing corporate fundraising.

Cause Related Marketing Definition

Cause related marketing is a strategic collaboration between charities and businesses. It aims to promote a brand, product, or service while simultaneously supporting a social cause. As a charity, engaging in CRM can be a powerful way to raise funds, increase visibility, and create positive impact.

What a Charity Can Offer a Company

There are many advantages to using cause-related marketing to promote a good cause and increase a brand's visibility. It's a simple way to give back to a local community and support a good cause while enjoying the positive publicity this brings. It's also an effective way to build strong relationships with a new audience.

Exercise corporate social responsibility. Creating an effective cause-related marketing campaign is a simple way to fulfil a companies CSR responsibility, which is the responsibility to be socially accountable and have a positive impact on the society around them.

Improve corporate image.  Working with a charity to promote awareness of a good cause improves the image of a company in the eyes of both customers and professionals. It demonstrates dedication to social responsibility and indicates that they take ethics seriously. Not only does this make customers think more positively of the brand, but it might also help to attract talent who think the company is a positive place to work.

Build a relationship with a new community.  By partnering with a charity to raise awareness for a specific cause, a business builds relationships with a whole new community of potential customers because the company's marketing campaign allows it to connect with everyone who follows the chosen charity. They're much more likely to shop with the business or purchase its products in the future if they associate it with their favourite charity.

Boost employee morale.  Taking part in marketing campaigns for good causes also boosts employee morale and satisfaction. Most people want to work for organisations that are socially good or benefit society. By partnering with charities to support good causes, it's possible to make a company a more attractive place to work and boost the morale and performance of existing employees.

Build brand loyalty.  Working with a charitable cause may also help a company to engender brand loyalty in customers. Customers who feel positively about a brand, which includes trusting the brand's ethics and motivations, are more likely to display brand loyalty and purchase multiple products and services. Working for a good cause may help companies to maximise profits from returning customers and minimise customer loss.

Managing Risk

Due Diligence. As with any partnership, you should undertake appropriate due diligence.  Here's our guide to charity due diligence and the other for fundraising due diligence.

Virtue Signalling.  Virtue signalling, including 'green washing',  are when companies make exaggerated or even false claims about their commitment to some form of ethical working.  Look to see what underpins any ethical commitments in terms of specific action, funding commitment and/or evidence of delivery or impact.  Also look back to see if the company has consistently committed to a course of action for a period of time, which it followed through on and to see if there has been any media criticism or controversies.

Conflict of Interest.  Ensure that you identify any possible, perceived or actual conflicts of interest and deal with these.  If  a conflict of interest might result in personal benefit to a trustee, your governing document must contain provision for this and you will wish to check if you require the approval of your charity regulator.

Cause Related Marketing Roles - Charity & Company

Company Role:

• Companies have more money and resources which can make the campaign larger and more successful.
• They often have a lot of customers and can use this to raise awareness.
• They know how to sell products and get people interested and can apply this to help get your cause out there.

Charity Role:

• You bring your cause to the partnership - you know what needs to be done to make a difference.
• People trust charities because they work for good causes, which helps to build trust and make the campaign more effective.
• Your people bring enthusiasm and passion that can help to inspire and motivate not only the company's customers and potential new customers but also their staff too.

Commercial Participation Agreement (CPA)

You must have a written agreement with any commercial participator you work with. These agreements are commonly referred to as Commercial Participation Agreements (CPAs) and must be signed by the charitable institution and the commercial participator. A CPA must be in place before a commercial participator begins any promotion which makes representations that contributions will be given to a charity.   The Fundraising Regulator updated its guidance on CPAs in Aug 24, which has been reflected below.

• Aim.
  • This is just something I always do.  No agreement can cover everything, so I think if you specify what you hope to achieve together and how, there is less risk of disagreement and it also gives you a basis to deal with anything that comes up which isn't specifically covered in your agreement.
• Purpose and Objectives.
  • Clearly define the purpose of the campaign and the desired outcomes.
  • Specify the goals, such as raising funds, increasing brand visibility, or promoting a specific cause.
• Roles and Responsibilities.
  • Outline the responsibilities of both parties: the charity and the company.
  • Define who will handle marketing, communication, and execution tasks.
• Duration and Termination.
  • Specify the campaign duration - start and end dates, and also any key milestones.
  • Include provisions for early termination or renewal.
  • Any changes require the prior written approval of both parties.
• Financial Arrangements.
  • Describe how funds will be raised (e.g., percentage of sales, fixed donation per product sold).
  • Plus a description of the.
    • Type of contribution which will be made to the charity and.
    • The circumstances in which these contributions will be made.
  • How much the commercial participator will be paid (if anything) in expenses and the method by which that amount will be calculated.
  • How much the charity will receive from the commercial participator, either as a fixed amount (e.g. 10p from every £1) or in percentage terms (10% of sales).
  • If more than one charity is involved, details of how the funds raised will be shared between them.
• Marketing and Promotion.
  • Detail how the campaign will be promoted (e.g., social media, advertising, in-store displays).
  • Ensure alignment with the charity's brand guidelines.
  • Again, a personal thing but I think it can be helpful to include a statement about each party, as this can help to ensure they are portrayed by the other in the way and language they would wish to be.
• Intellectual Property and Use of Assets.
  • Address the use of the charity's name, logo, and any other assets, including that such use ends when the agreement terminates.
  • Specify any restrictions or permissions related to branding.
• Reporting and Transparency.
  • Define reporting requirements (e.g., regular updates on campaign performance).
    • The charity should monitor and review the performance of a commercial partnership on a regular basis.
  • Ensure transparency regarding funds raised and their allocation.
• Legal and Regulatory Considerations.
  • Clarity on whether this is primary or secondary purpose trading by the charity, and whether a trading subsidiary may be required.
  • Both parties must understand and agree to comply with relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, including but not limited to data protection law and the PECR Regulations 2003, including the requirements of the Telephone Preference Service.
  • Any voluntary regulation that the commercial participator has agreed to be bound by, such as being registered with the Fundraising Regulator.
• Safety.  How the commercial participator will protect people in vulnerable circumstances and the wider public from unreasonable intrusion on their privacy, unreasonably persistent approaches or undue pressure to donate.
  • The easiest way to do this is probably for them to adopt your ethical fundraising policy.
  • You can download an example to use from within Charity Excellence.
• Parties to the Agreement.
  • The names and addresses of all the people and organisations the agreement is between (the parties to the agreement) and.
  • The date on which each party signed the agreement should be included.
• Annexes.  Depending on the scale and complexity of the agreement it may be helpful to attach annexes, such as a payment schedule/budget, brand guidelines/house style/tone of voice or points of contact details for finance, PR etc.  I'd also include the solicitation statement (see below).

CPA Monitoring and Review

Once the terms of a commercial partnership have been agreed, you should consider putting in place
monitoring and reassessment provisions and you shouldn't automatically renew a commercial partnership without assessing whether any changes are needed.  Under Regulation 5 of the 1994 Fundraising Regulations commercial partners are legally required to make available books, documents or other records, which relate to them and are kept for the purpose of the agreement. This enables charities to see exactly how much the commercial partner is making from the agreement.  For more on this, see Charity Commission RS2 below.

CPA Solicitation Statements

Solicitation statements are statements that commercial participators must give whenever they promote their goods or services on the basis that they will make contributions to a charity, before a donor gives any money or other property but can be given verbally or in writing.  These must outline the relationships between the commercial participator and the charitable institution they are fundraising for and explain how the fundraising will benefit the charitable institution.

Solicitation statements for commercial participators working with charities in England, Wales and Scotland must include:

• The name of the charity.
• If there is more than one charity, details of how funds will be shared and.
• The method that will be used to determine what will be given to the charity, based on whichever of the following apply.
  • The proportion of.
    • The price paid for the goods and services.
    • The profits.
    • Any other proceeds of the promotion or.
  • The amount of any contributions made in connection with the supply of the goods and services.

Regulatory Guidance

• Charity Commission E&W
  • Choosing to collaborate (Para 3.3).
  • Outline partnership agreement.
  • Charities and commercial partners (RS2).
• Fundraising Regulator
  • Guidance for charitable institutions working with commercial participators.
  • Professional fundraisers, commercial participators and partners.

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This Guide to Charity Cause Related Marketing is Not Professional Advice

This guide to charity cause related marketing is for general interest only and does not constitute professional legal or financial advice.  I'm neither a lawyer, nor an accountant, so not able to provide this, and I cannot write guidance that covers every charity or eventuality.  I have included links to relevant regulatory guidance, which you must check to ensure that whatever you create reflects correctly your charity’s needs and your obligations.  In using this resource, you accept that I have no responsibility whatsoever from any harm, loss or other detriment that may arise from your use of my work.  If you need professional advice, you must seek this from someone else. To do so, register, then login and use the Help Finder directory to find pro bono support. Everything is free.