---
title: "Cause Marketing: Time to Try a Corporate Partner?"
id: "18247"
type: "post"
slug: "cause-marketing-time-to-try-a-corporate-partner"
published_at: "2013-07-01T11:20:13+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-03-15T20:34:17+00:00"
url: "https://associationsnow.com/2013/07/01/cause-marketing-time-to-try-a-corporate-partner/"
markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2013/07/01/cause-marketing-time-to-try-a-corporate-partner.md"
excerpt: "Associations that need to raise funds but lack the marketing budget of organizations such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have considered cause marketing—partnering with a corporation to support an initiative. Author and cause-marketing expert Joe Waters recommends five points..."
taxonomy_category:
  - "Fundraising"
taxonomy_post_tag:
  - "AssociationsNow"
  - "Business"
  - "Fundraising"
  - "Marketing"
  - "partnerships"
taxonomy_content_format:
  - "Article"
taxonomy_role:
  - "Director"
  - "Manager"
  - "VP"
taxonomy_persona:
  - "Association Professionals"
---

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 » Cause Marketing: Time to Try a Corporate Partner?

**Look nearby.** Instead of seeing if Facebook or Target can assist, look at the niche companies you already have relationships with. “In a lot of instances, nonprofits already have sponsorships with companies that could be converted into cause-marketing partners.”

**Think creatively about what you bring to the table.** “Look at what you have that companies might want. Do you have a great event that attracts a lot of people? Does it have a desirable demographic? Do you have a large workforce?”

**Split up the work beforehand.** The corporate partner is “going to expect you do everything. A lot of time it falls on a membership director, a marketing director, or an events person to coordinate things.”

**Set an end date.** “If you do a point-of-sale campaign, where somebody is asking at the register if you want to donate a dollar, generally those campaigns are two to six weeks long. There really is a time limit on most of these things, because at heart it’s another form of promotion.”

**Be sincere.** “What works in cause marketing is when there’s a lot of sincerity and authenticity in the program—a clear connection between the cause and the business. And there’s a real commitment on behalf of the business to make a change.”

[Mark Athitakis](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/)

Mark Athitakis, a contributing editor for Associations Now, has written on nonprofits, the arts, and leadership for a variety of publications. He is a coauthor of The Dumbest Moments in Business History and hopes you never qualify for the sequel.

[More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/mark-athitakis/)

Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/)
 [#Fundraising](https://associationsnow.com/tag/fundraising/)
 [#Marketing](https://associationsnow.com/tag/marketing/)
 [#partnerships](https://associationsnow.com/tag/partnerships/)

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