“The more you download, the more we donate” –fairsharemusic.com

Across the pond, UK music website fairsharemusic donates 50% of profits from downloaded tracks to a charity of your choice. Songs are priced at rates similar to other downloading sites like iTunes and Amazon MP3. All you do is create an account, choose a charity, and download. We like the sound of that!

Can this idea be incorporated to benefit your organization? Could you run a campaign (short or long-term) with a music label to donate part earnings to your cause? What about partnering with a musician beyond the level of spokesperson and have proceeds, from an album or song, donated to your foundation?

And go beyond the music realm to collaborate with industries looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors.  Offering consumers ‘feel-good’ purchases is a formula where everyone wins.

Is email part of your strategy and how big a role does it play? Are your emails relevant? Does your audience find them engaging or are they losing interest and tuning out?

Here are four tips for your email campaigns:

Personalize your Hello:

Use the recipient’s name. Addressing a recipient personally is a simple touch that is more likely to get him/her to read and respond to your email.

Focus your Message:

Keep it short and keep it focused. A concise subject line increases the likelihood of your email being opened. If it’s an e-blast, have one clear message. If it’s an e-newsletter, keep your blurbs to the point. Include your focus in the first few lines of the email/blurbs with links to more information.

The recipient goes through a ton of emails in a day. A focused email makes it easier to grasp the message for those who skim-read.

Call to Action:

Make your call to action stand out. Make links and directions noticeable.

Monitor your Campaign Statistics:

Analyze stats provided by your email marketing service to assess your success and tweak your campaign accordingly.

Also, check your Sender Score, a measurement used by ISPs to determine whether your email makes it into an inbox, junk mail, or not at all. A ReturnPath study determined that 83% of the time sender reputation determines whether an email reaches an inbox. Find your Sender Score at www.SenderScore.org.

We came across the RockCorps movement on the Haft2Know blog and we’re singing its praises. 4 hours of volunteering in your community = 1 ticket to a concert. That’s music to our ears.

The RockCorps movement was founded in 2005, offering volunteers tickets to big-name gigs across the US. Then, in 2008, the organization partnered with Orange to bring their movement to the UK and has now spread to France and Israel. Orange directly funds the program and provides the communications campaigns.

Thus far, over 60,000 people have volunteered through RockCorps, with more than 450 charity and non-profits. Is your organization part of the movement?

What incentives do you offer your volunteers? We’d love to hear from you.

Need some extra funds to launch your organization’s next big campaign? If your non-profit is registered in the US, let Pepsi know about your idea and win funding. [Come on, Canadian corporations! Get on board!]

Pepsi is giving over $20 million through the end of this year to individuals, businesses and non-profits working to better their communities. It’s a popular trend in which corporations use social media to get people involved in giving back to social issues while marketing their product to wider audiences. Recent campaigns include the Starbucks Love Project and Disney’s Give a Day, Get a Disney Day promotion.

It’s great when businesses give back to their communities and we encourage non-profits to take advantage of opportunities to create partnerships with corporations.

Here’s one way: visit the Pepsi Refresh Project website, submit your idea, promote it through your networks to gather votes, and let us know when you win.

Good luck!

As companies buy letters, ABC shows their appreciation on twitter and then tweets a call-out to their supporter’s competition.

“Thanks BC Honda Dealers purchasing the letter ‘B’. Where are you Toyota and Hyundai?” Feb 10th

“Thanks to HarperCollins for purchasing the letter H. Luckily P is still available Penguin.” Feb 10th

Organizations have been picking up letters, including the CBC [C], Scotiabank [S], and Tim Hortons [T] but there are still a few up for grab.

What we like about this?

• This is a creative twist on a really simple idea. The building blocks for words formed the foundation for this campaign. The next time you’re brainstorming campaigns for your organization, start by thinking small…really basic. Then build on your simple idea.

• There’s an element of competition and playfulness woven through this campaign. We especially like the gentle “taunts” that were tweeted. Don’t forget to have fun with your campaigns!

On a trip to Argentina, Blake Myscoie saw young children without shoes and wanted to help them. So he founded TOMS Shoes based on the One for One principle: With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Three years later, the successful company has given over 150,000 new shoes to children in Ethiopia, South Africa, Argentina and United States.

What We Like About This Idea:

TOMS Shoes is a great example of philanthropy and commercial products working together. Without compromising on ethics (the shoes are made in factories that follow a strict human rights code of conduct) or quality (the shoes are durable and eco-friendly), Blake sells a product that is exciting to customers who look stylish while helping a cause. And the fact that TOMS Shoes has been running successfully for three years means the One for One model is sustainable.

This is just one creative idea running on the One for One principle. Would this model work within your organization’s fundraising strategies? The system has already been profitably tested, so why not tie in an appropriate product that fits with your organizations mission and establish an exciting new fundraising program?

Here’s how you might start:

1)     Think about what the people you serve need in a large quantity.  (Shoes, CDs, cell phones, water, medicine, etc.)

2)    Who makes that?  (Look especially for organizations trying to enter a new market or launch a product.)

3)    How can giving one product to your organization for every product sold help increase sales?

We think it will probably be smaller start-ups that find a partnership with your organization appealing, or a product from a bigger firm that needs a re-launch.  The opportunities are many; see them, use them.

So the ‘Wee Box’ campaign was created by creative agency BD. The concept is simple. Encourage people to donate small change that would go towards little comforts, like coffee or lunch, to help people living in poverty in another part of the world.  They would put the money they save in a ‘Wee Box’ – designed like the old SCIAF collection boxes that most would remember from their younger days. The boxes were designed with clear, concise messaging about programs being funded by SCIAF.

Boxes were available to order for free from the campaign website. Donations could also be made online. The website included blogs from SCIAF workers, stories from people who’ve benefited from donations, and a ’40 Days, 40 Ways’ calendar (for Lent) with an idea a day encouraging people to reflect on how small changes they make in their lives that will make big differences in someone else’s life.

The campaign included a MySpace page, a Google adword campaign, support from local press and radio advertising. 130,000 boxes were distributed through schools, churches and community organizations, resulting in an average donation of £45 per household.

We came across this simple idea in a write-up on creativematch and thought it was great.

What did we really like about this idea?

•    Effectively triggering memories can be very helpful in bringing in donations. Consider looking to the past to generate and supplement your ideas.

•    Penny drives and small change collections can be very effective fundraising methods, especially in challenging economic environments. What was particularly powerful about this campaign was the ease with which people could frequently give. Donation boxes were brought right into their homes and were a visible reminder to spare some change.

What do you think?

UK comedian Bob Monkhouse, who died from prostate cancer in 2003, was brought back from the dead for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation (with full support from his family). The film for the ‘Give A Few Bob’ campaign combined archival footage of Monkhouse, shots of a body double, and a sound-alike for the script and was centered around the microsite giveafewbob.org, where people could make donations.

The Communications Agency created the campaign with an aim to:

• Connect strongly with men
• Lower embarrassment associated with the disease
• Encourage donations
• Put prostate cancer on the national agenda.

The viral campaign made headlines and there was extensive television and radio coverage. According to the agency, the £50,000 budget produced over £3.5 million of media exposure and the charity’s income doubled. The agency also quotes Mark Emberton MD FRCS (Urology), “I’ve seen a marked increase in patients being tested and diagnosed early thanks to the Bob campaign. It’s saving lives.”

We came across this winning idea in the ‘Best Cause or Charity Marketing Campaign’ category of the 2008 MAAW Globe Awards.

What did we really like about this idea?

• Often the best ideas are right under your nose (or in your past). Look around and don’t be afraid to look backward; a great idea is waiting for you!
• Social networking really works well when combined with media exposure. Both can dramatically amplify the impact of the other. So think of using media and social networking together.
• This great idea was all about and not just about raising money. It challenged the stigma around prostate cancer, essentially repositioning the disease for men who need to be aware and smart about screening. Our recommendation: start with raising money and get that done, but don’t stop there!

What do you think?