The Engage For Good Podcast with Alli Murphy

Today on Cause Talk Radio, Megan and Joe have some fun with the season's Christmas cause marketing promotions. They've pinned over 60 campaigns on Pinterest. They take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of these cause marketing efforts, and decide who deserves a visit from Santa ... and who deserves a lump of coal!

What is the holiday season about if not hope? Joe and Megan wade knee-deep into the concept of hope in today's episode with guest Shaun King, CEO of HopeMob. Fueled by a desire to not let anyone's story of need slip through society's cracks, King founded HopeMob as a platform where individual stories come to life. In reaction to those stories, HopeMob's community provides support via charitable do...

To bring a little holiday cheer to this week's episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan and Joe are joined by JC Penney's Vice President of Philanthropy, Miki Woodard. We explore JCP's exciting Holiday Giving Tour that's currently spreading Christmas joy from coast to coast and how the campaign fits into JCP's larger JCP Cares cause initiative that has raised a whopping $8 million for partner nonprofits...

On today's show, Megan and Joe talk to Jason Hincks, Chief Operations Officer of Movember, about the mustache-growing phenomenon that is sweeping the world. They discuss the origins of Movember, and the challenges of building a movement around men's health when the world gives most of its attention and money to women, children and animal causes. Sadly, men's health finishes a distant fourth in the...

Today Joe and Megan get a uniquely Canadian perspective from cause pioneer Jocelyn Daw, consultant and author of 'Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding'. Jocelyn discusses how the cause movement has grown for our neighbors to the north and identifies trends she's noticing in the marketplace including nonprofits aligning for greater impact and businesses more effectively engaging employees in cause effor...

The great thing about having a guest like David Neff on CauseTalk Radio is that you'll never run out of things to talk about. Dave is a futurist and the co-author of The Future of Nonprofits. For nine years he pioneered social media practices at the American Cancer Society. He's the founder of Lights. Camera. Help. a popular Austin film festival that celebrates cause-related films. This month Dave...

As October comes to a close, Joe and Megan take one more look at Pinktober with Fenton's Susan McPherson, and then dive right into November and a new movement afloat called Giving Tuesday. And, of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't touch briefly on Super Storm Sandy and whether companies should come out of the woodwork to use a natural disaster as a promotional opportunity. All this and more on t...

On today's show, Megan and Joe talk to Jarrett Barrios, CEO of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts, about SavingZombies.com. The site, which spoofs what some think is a prediction in the Mayan calendar that December 2012 will mark the beginning of an apocalypse (which no doubt will include zombies), encourages Massachusetts residents to prepare a Go Bag filled with all the things you w...

Small to medium-sized businesses are particularly well positioned to execute cause marketing campaigns. However, this task also seems daunting and, well, prohibitively expensive. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Joe and Megan chat with Sandra Morris of CafeGive and learn how small to medium-sized businesses are making a big impact for causes by leveraging Facebook and CafeGive technology. Hear...

This week Megan and Joe talk to Lori George Billingsley, Vice President, Community Relations for Coca-Cola on a new interactive vending machine that allows consumers to buy their favorite beverage and support a good cause. Coca-Cola is testing the machines in its home city of Atlanta in a partnership with the American Red Cross. Engaging consumers where they are and when they care is the future of...

Today on Cause Talk Radio, Dr. Samantha King, author of Pink Ribbons, Inc. shares her take on Pinktober and the overflow of corporate support for breast cancer "awareness". Samantha, Joe and Megan navigate the history of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (you might be surprised to discover who is behind this effort), whether the "awareness" created is doing any good and what an ideal "Pinktob...

Today Megan and Joe chat with Rachel Armbruster, a nonprofit strategist and author. Her book, Banding Together for a Cause, gives an insider's look at the development of the Livestrong wristband campaign that raised more than $100 million for their cause. We discuss the progression of a corporate partner from minor donor to major partner and how nonprofits can create a celebrity brand - minus the...

On today's show, Megan and Joe talk to Bruce Burtch, an earlier pioneer of cause marketing who was creating cause marketing programs well before the 1983 American Express campaign that's credited with starting it all. Bruce is even credited with coining the term "Do Well by Doing Good" - a motto many companies and nonprofits live by today. Bruce talks about the beginnings of cause marketing, how i...

On today's show, Megan and Joe talk to Jeff Freedman, Founder & CEO of Small Army & Small Army for a Cause. Jeff and his agency are behind Be Bold, Go Bald!, an effort that has supporters nationwide wearing bald caps to raise money for 25 cancer organizations. Since its inception in 2009, participants have raised $500,000. Jeff shares his powerful story of starting Be Bold, Go Bald! after...

Today Joe and Megan interview researcher Stefanie Robinson on a recently-released series of studies about consumer choice in cause marketing campaigns. We learn that giving consumers a choice is often (but not always) a good idea in cause campaigns, particularly when the consumers are collectivists (don't know what a collectivist is? Tune in to find out!). Stefanie walks us through the situations...

Today, Megan and Joe chat with Sarah Harris, Vice President & Founder of Incite, about her firm's work with nonprofits and companies on cause marketing partnerships. We also discuss Incite's new white paper: The Cause Marketing Triangle: A New Approach to Cause Marketing. Finally, Sarah talks about her recent trip to Africa and how it reinforced that cause always comes before the marketing.

Today Joe and Megan chat with Jenna Reck of Target who explains 'Give With Target', the retailer's first-ever initiative that combines cause with back to school marketing, giving $2.5 million in grants as well as $2.5 million directly to schools via a Facebook voting initiative. Then Artis Stevens with Boys and Girls Clubs shares some of the smart strategy behind their comprehensive 'Tools for Bac...

Today, Megan and Joe chat with Ian Simpson, Co-Founder of Tevolution, a cause business that donates back to nonprofits when consumers buy their iced tea and text a code to donate to one of four charities. Ian discusses the challenges of starting and running a cause business and the relentless drive to raise money and to get Tevolution in to more stores. He also reveals how a busy entrepreneur sque...

Today Joe and Megan chat with Christina Bennett of Elizabeth Arden about their bang-up new cause marketing campaign on Pinterest, Pin It To Give It, in partnership with nonprofit Look Good Feel Better. Christina shares how the campaign plans to reach their donation goal of 10,000 eyeliners (valued at $16-$18 each) to Look Good Feel Better by early fall via a very integrated campaign bridging multi...

This week, Megan and Joe talk with Stuart Elliott, advertising columnist at The New York Times about his recent article on "Seeking Success by Helping to Feed the Hungry." In it, Stuart profiles a new campaign called Run 10 Feed 10. Each person who registers to run in 10-kilometer races to be held in 11 cities this fall will trigger 10 meals to people in need in the runner’s community. The partner...

This week Joe and Megan discuss 5 cause marketing trends as highlighted in Network for Good's latest white paper. From crowdsourced philanthropy to social enterprise spin-offs, examples of relevant, effective cause marketing that helps business do well by doing good abound in today's episode. We explore how (and why) companies transform "one off" cause-related products into signature cause platfor...

Today on Cause Talk Radio, Megan Strand and Joe Waters chat with cause-preneur Jonah Lupton about his new business Cauzly.com. A serial entrepreneur, Jonah shares his insights on starting a cause businesses and the unexpected—yet rewarding—challenges. He also talks about his prolific tweeting, how it benefits his business and how you can grow your own following to rival his—over 200,000 strong!

Today on Cause Talk Radio, we chat with legal experts Kristalyn Loson and Jonathan Pompan, both lawyers in the advertising and nonprofit practice at Venable LLP. From the basics of commercial co-ventures and unrelated business income tax (UBIT) to common legal mistakes made by cause marketers, Kristalyn and Jonathan bring an important perspective to today’s episode. Think your cause marketing’s no...

In today’s episode, Joe and Megan chat with Alexander Chernev, Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, about a new study on whether social goodwill sways consumer beliefs. Does cause marketing really allow companies to do well AND good? Find out the answer on today’s show!

Today Joe and Megan chat with Craig Bida to clarify, once and for all, what the difference is between CSR, cause marketing and cause branding. Don't know the difference yourself? Today's show's a must-listen. Craig's background in consumer products at P&G frames the conversation and we take a deep dive into the evolution of this field of doing well by doing good.