RUNNING USA – Cause Marketing is Dead! (Long Live Cause Marketing) – New IEG strategy paper shows nonprofits and corporations how to build relevant and impactful partnerships for a new era

CHICAGO – (April 28, 2011) – In recent years, the amount of "purchase this product and we will make a donation to a worthy cause" promotions has grown to staggering proportions. At any given time, in-store and online, purchasers of consumer and business products and services are faced with numerous transactional cause marketing campaigns.

Not surprisingly, this cause marketing clutter has led to diminishing returns. When nearly every marketer adopts an idea, it becomes a commodity and no longer has the power to motivate interest and behavior.

So where does that leave nonprofits that rely on revenue from marketing partnerships? Where do businesses that want to support causes, and do well by doing good, go from here?

IEG, LLC-a pioneer in partnership marketing strategy, evaluation and research-puts forth the answer in its new strategy paper (im)Proving Cause.

The paper lays out an innovative, thoughtful approach that already is working for some nonprofits and their corporate partners.

This strategic way of thinking about cause partnerships includes several steps, including:
* Segment and qualify the nonprofit's audience
* Sketch the organization's route to mission
* Sketch the corporation's route to market
* Quantify objectives for both parties
* Find areas of opportunity within each partner's objectives

The paper shares examples of how this can be done, as well as examples from current partnerships that have followed this new strategy and achieved success.

The complete paper is available for download at www.sponsorship.com/sector/causes.aspx and author Diane Knoepke, vice president, client leadership for the IEG Consulting Group, is available for interviews on the need to re-invent cause marketing to ensure its survival.

For more information about IEG and the sponsorship industry, visit www.sponsorship.com or call (800) 834-4850 (outside the U.S. and Canada, (312) 944-1727).

 RUNNING USA