The Business of Giving

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You're listening to locally produced programming created in KU NV studios on public radio K, u and v 91.5.

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You're listening to special programming sponsored by the cars marketing Chamber of Commerce. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents, the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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People live in the whole world. Hello, everyone. And welcome to the business of giving podcast. My name is Guy Dawson and I am the founder and executive director of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce. And the business of giving is a show that highlights the synergistic relationships between nonprofit organizations and businesses. And that's also what we do at the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce, we bring these two pillars of the community together to create that synergy that I talked about a second ago and to to benefit both sides. If you want to learn more information about what we do at the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce, we can be reached at cause marketing chamber.com. This valuable show is made possible through the generosity of our series sponsor, solar up an energy count solution and conservation company specializing in solar and battery storage systems, including solar panels to learn more about them, Seoul up.com And as usual, I am joined with the cars marketing consultant, Maria Perez, how are things going Maria?

Unknown Speaker 1:49
Pretty good. And it's beautiful weather and everybody's happy and healthy? And yes, perfect.

Unknown Speaker 1:54
Yeah, it's nice to be in this this transitional period where we have a little bit of fall here in Las Vegas.

Unknown Speaker 2:03
For a minute. Yeah, before

Unknown Speaker 2:05
we were on air today, we were talking about, about some of the power of technology, it's really just these are incredible times that we're living in on so many levels. I know this show is specifically all about a causes in business and, and social impact marketing Maria, but boy, some of the technology that you shared with me today, it's these are, you know, the, over the course of our lives, we see a lot of change. And boy, are we seeing a lot of change in our access to information in these times.

Unknown Speaker 2:36
Yeah, and we'll be talking a little bit later about an example of how powerful technology is and how powerful cause marketing is and and how these collaborations can actually get into marginalized communities and help young people succeed. Even better. I have a good example of that. But but let's get started today.

Unknown Speaker 2:57
Yeah, I mean, that today. Yeah, I mean, this show is all about delving into the intriguing worlds of businesses and nonprofits and exploring how their alliances not only elevate societal contributions, but also bring about sustainable impacts and mutual benefits. I can't think of anyone who can speak to that more than you, Maria, in terms of right, the impact of cause marketing and how significant a role it's playing in business in the current environment.

Unknown Speaker 3:28
Yeah, and, you know, I think we're on a mission to explore the intricacies, you know, and the reciprocal impact of cause marketing. I think for our listeners, we'd like to unravel and explain how organizations from both the nonprofit and the for profit sectors can work together and create these tapestries of positive impact and business prosperity. And, and this is an interesting time of the year. It's fourth quarter, and it's when companies are extremely generous. It's when employees are extremely generous, is when people are buying for the holidays. And, and there are lots of commemorative days for giving and taking. And so I think that's what we're gonna chat about today, right?

Unknown Speaker 4:16
Absolutely. I think we all have these memories, or at least I know, I personally have these memories of ringing bells around Thanksgiving time. Do you have that memory Maria, outside of I do that? And the little did I know as a nine or 10 year old kid watching that happen that someday I would have a greater understanding of why that is happening during the holidays. And so that's kind of the scope of what we're going to be talking about today. Why does a nonprofit organization create a campaign like that Maria?

Unknown Speaker 4:51
Well, there's a lot of reciprocity that can that can be initiated through through collaborating when, during the spirit of serving. And I think from a corporate perspective, you know, there's a lot of money at the end of the year that employees want to share their use it or lose it money. And so you know, if you think about it, collaborating a nonprofit and a for profit entity cannot lose, it's a total win win, because they need funding for programs and initiatives. And retailers and businesses need to sell things, and people are in the mood to given support. So I mean, what a beautiful, you know, like a tapestry, if you will, that can be woven together, where everybody, everybody benefits. So it's a great time of year to think about putting something like that together, whether you're a nonprofit, and they've never done it before, right, or you're a for profit company. And it's like, well, I want to support support the Boys and Girls Club, or I want to have a pizza night, where I donate a percentage of the proceeds is so many options.

Unknown Speaker 5:57
People are just so much happier during the holidays. And they're much more generous, as you had mentioned before, Maria. And I mean, a classic example of how well this works for me, is what they've been doing with that magical forest out in opportunity village, they actually start at Halloween opportunity village partners with a variety of businesses within the community to host these great events out there gives great family time for people to get together and enjoy the holidays. They create a great a wonderful environment for both the Halloween events and the magical forest as well. The businesses get their shine, it's just me get to know that just an outstanding example of the reciprocity that you talked about, and how both of these entities can really benefit one another.

Unknown Speaker 6:51
Yeah, I mean, there are ample opportunities presented by the viewsa commemorative vase in particular at the end of the year, like giving Tuesday, which is observed on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the US. You know, it provides a structured yet flexible platform for organizations to launch or enhance their cause marketing efforts. It's a brilliant example of opening up the door for Oceans of opportunities for businesses and nonprofits to partner. And not just in financial terms, but creating campaigns that build awareness and enhance reputation and drive impact.

Unknown Speaker 7:27
Yes, and there's case studies out there. And I know Maria, these case studies for you have been personal experiences. I know for myself, having been in this work pretty significantly for about the last 15 years. The examples of how well this works are there, they're out there about the Win Win, win win, you can go on and on and on, right with the word win when it comes to these these types of collaborations that you've been talking about.

Unknown Speaker 7:58
Yeah, I mean, I'll give you an example. If you if you take a collaboration, for example, between a technology company and a nonprofit, and maybe you have an organization that's trying to bridge the digital divide in an underprivileged community, right, which, which is endemic, it's everywhere in the United States. You know, it's not just about going to the checkout counter, and putting putting one of those little stickies up there and giving $5 the campaigns now have legs, right, there was a campaign called the Connect to empower campaign that embraced this actual concept. They launched on Giving Tuesday, they were aiming to enhance digital literacy and provide access and technology resources to a marginalized community. And through this campaign, not only did they get fun, not only did the company donate funds, but they got to extend their expertise into the community and conduct workshops and opera skill development. And so the they were they were showcasing the resources, their business, right, but they were helping their community. So it showcased their commitment to support this cause their expertise in their business. And and so it was philanthropy and brand positioning at its best. I mean, you can't beat that. That's That's what because marketing is all about, it really is a win win.

Unknown Speaker 9:21
Right? Maria, you always talk about walking the walk and talking the talk and for I think the community to really see things happen as a result of these collaborations, that that's the real impact. And I know me as a PR person, as I've talked about before, before I got actually into the specific cause marketing realm. What I was doing as a publicist is I would get a brand new client and I would say, Okay, what do you feel passionate about? Do you have some nonprofit organization that's important to you? Is there something in the community that that resonates with you and we would start to build campaigns Based on that, and of course, these these collaborations that we did, I will give you a short example of something that I worked on personally is that there was a Japanese acrobatic show at Imperial Palace. This was in, I guess, about 2010. And they were, it was called Matt Sue, you were met Sir. He was the name of the, which means celebration in Japanese. It was an outstanding, acrobatic show, but I had some connections with that show. And I was at that time representing a nonprofit organization called Nevada pep parents encouraging parents. And again, this actually happened during the holiday season. So it just works out so well, Maria. But what we were able to do was we they were a newer show, and they had a lot of extra tickets, because they were trying to fill up the arena, it was around the holidays, and they wanted to keep people to show up to check out this, this fantastic show that they had. So what they did was they donated I think about 50 tickets to the nonprofit organization. Nevada parents and COURAGING parents is a nonprofit that supports the families of kids with learning and mental disabilities. So all of these kids that were a part of the program and their families got an opportunity to come and see a a show on the Las Vegas Strip, it was a great opportunity for that show to fill seats in to show that they were all about giving back to their community. And for us, it was getting testimonials from the all those kids and families that got to participate in that. I mean, every one one from a situation like that it was a great holiday greeting for for all sides. So yes, I so resonate with what you were just talking about. It's you're creating greatness, sometimes you don't even realize what you're creating.

Unknown Speaker 11:52
Why cause marketing is a funny term. A lot of folks have their own definition of it. But I think what's important to underscore being part of the the coast marketing Chamber of Commerce, whether you're a business or a nonprofit, you're going to be able to participate in these collaborations, where each partner becomes a puzzle piece, complementing and elevating the other and CO creating this beautiful mosaic of social change and mutual growth. And it's a platform to do that, which thanks to the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce exists in our community now. So you know, I encourage all the businesses out there if you're not engaging in cause marketing, come join us.

Unknown Speaker 12:32
Yeah, absolutely. The cause marketing Chamber of Commerce was built on that very premise, Maria is that we saw ourselves as being a resource for people who had interest in, in both of these sectors, just because we know the value people like you, we've had many, many years in this work. could see it. I know you, when you join the Chamber of Commerce, it was just so refreshing to have conversations with you, where you talk to me about your, your background, and this in your contribution, actually, to some of the things that we've done with the chamber, along with being a part of this radio show that gives a lot of recognition to what we're doing at the chamber and these great nonprofits and for profit businesses, it's, it's really been significant. So the partnerships that you that you create within this realm, in this nonprofit world are so important, and they just just grows and grows. I mean, you get a woman I think, Maria, you just joined the the chamber online, didn't you? You just went online one day and just signed up. And that's how our friendship began.

Unknown Speaker 13:38
Yeah, I didn't know that in my own backyard a couple blocks from from where I reside, there was this resource. And you know, I, I'm a practitioner that eats lives, breathes this every day, on behalf of my nonprofit partners, and business as a life. And it was just wonderful to know that, that it's important where I where I live.

Unknown Speaker 14:01
Yeah, Maria is a practitioner of hope someone who creates ripples of positive change with the work that she does. I just want to remind everyone if you're just tuning in, you're listening to the business of giving a podcast at 91.5 FM jazz and more, KU in V and this let's see soul up and its channel partners are providing complimentary solar to local charities supporting for Hope link transitional housing properties, solar to feed pets of the homeless Volunteers of America and opportunity village. Their founder sits on the board of Nevada Conservation League, by the way, that's a guest that's going to be coming on very soon. We're no I mentioned it at the last show Nevada. Conservation League does tremendous things within the community and we're looking forward to having Steve Amelie from Sol up and the Nevada Conservation League on our show very soon. And I'm I'm speaking with the cause marketing consultant Maria Perez we're talking about give back during the holidays. And I have a memory and something I wanted to talk with you about Maria. It's the stickers that you get in the mail from nonprofit organizations during the holidays, my greater understanding now of how cause marketing works. Can you explain to the audience because I know we're all receiving these? How does that work? Right? How does that blend into all of the things that we've been talking about?

Unknown Speaker 15:33
Well, that is, you know, unfortunately, it is a relic and a remnant. It's called a direct mail campaigns. And, I mean, the ugly truth is that the people with a disproportionate amount of income at the end of their lives are older, and they still rely on snail mail. And that's why you continue to see that, I don't think it's long lived, because it's super expensive. I mean, if you think about it, you've got to pay the postage, you've got to stuff that envelope with with and as specialty gifts for the recipient, you have to hope they pull out their checkbook, write a check, put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it, send it back, to hire direct, call center to call back and make sure that if they pledge you get you collect the money. So it's super cumbersome, it's a relic of past times. But it is still practice, because they're our population is aging. And there are a lot of elderly that. That's their donation, their donation vehicle,

Unknown Speaker 16:39
with all the digital marketing platforms that are available out there today between social media, email marketing, and so many other things, radio shows such as this, there's a lot of other ways that you can reach people. But yes, that is a relic that is something that has been around for a very long time. And that is an excellent point that you mentioned is that older people may not be as much into the digital age. And so they're they're keeping, keeping this relic of the past. And again, it's very effective. I know these nonprofit organizations greatly benefit, they wouldn't keep spending the money on the postage and everything right, if it wasn't bringing back some type of return on investment. Well, I'll

Unknown Speaker 17:21
tell you what the companies that execute these campaigns, they take a huge percentage, I think you'll find it, the new generation of supporter doesn't really condone it because 100% of the money is not going back to the nonprofit's it's being cannibalized or eroded. So you know, I think the last generation that are currently becoming, you know, involved in giving, they're not uncomfortable with secondary devices, they don't mind text to give, they don't mind, an app on their phone to give, they don't mind giving from an email. So I think you'll see a bit of a shift in the future, away from away from direct mail.

Unknown Speaker 18:07
If a for profit business approaches you, Maria, after listening to this show today, and they want to leverage this opportunity to support something within their community that they feel very strongly about. And of course, they're involved in business to make profits. And, you know, that's again, that's what the business of giving is all about. It's about winning on both sides, what would be the starting point that you would move in with them to develop a campaign to leverage this special time of year, where we're giving is something that people want to do.

Unknown Speaker 18:45
You know, I'm a sales person. And I know that nonprofits don't like to hear that word. But part of fundraising is sales. And I talk a lot about the differences, you know, among how you can raise money for your nonprofit, or how a business can collaborate with a nonprofit. And I always use discovery. So what I would do, regardless of whether it's a nonprofit, or business is I would I work with discovery, I want to hear what the goal outcome of a collaboration is. I do a lot of listening. You know, what is the business objective? Some businesses have a business model where they set aside your markup percentage of dollars based on sales. So So I go through a process of discovery, I asked a lot of questions to try to understand what the goal outcome is. And then how could this company grow together with with a collaboration, what is the parody? What is the affinity? And it's all about discovering, you know, the business objective. I mean, the Chamber of Commerce is a chamber of commerce, people, people are trying to succeed in their business. And then the question becomes, does this provide me thought leadership in the community, because I, I'm setting my brand as distinct from my competition, because I'm supporting and growing, you know, collaborating with nonprofits and, and so on. So it's really all about before I start always discovery,

Unknown Speaker 20:15
right. And you had mentioned that chamber Maria, for us the events that we host in everything that we do to, to facilitate growth in the cause marketing sector, it really it ties into all of this, it exposes you to the some of the a lot of the resources that you would need to be able to, to explore your interests, and if so, yes, be coming in hanging out with us is something that will definitely help you a lot. on the nonprofit side, let's say, we know personally, Maria, there are many nonprofit organizations here in Las Vegas and throughout the country, if not, throughout the world, the holidays are coming, this is an excellent opportunity for them to generate some cash flow, get the word out about how they're benefiting the community with the services that they provide. And so again, I know you get approached on both sides with that nonprofit organization, how could they leverage this time of year to benefit them?

Unknown Speaker 21:20
Well, they have a lot of their work is cut out for them this time of year, because nonprofits and q4 is an extremely important time, for philanthropy, for corporate partnering, and for sponsorship, and they're different. And philanthropy is going to be asking your corporate partners or individual donors for funds because they're in a giving mood. And you say thank you. And your corporate partnering might be, you know, budgets are being looked at for both corporate social responsibility for in kind donations and, and things are being set aside for that. So those discussions have to happen in q4, so that you get those good reasons in q1 through four of the subsequent year. But there's also a lot of sponsorship dollars available. And so the nonprofits, have to take some time in that regard, take their mission lenses off, and put their business lenses on, and be able to articulate why it's a good business move on the sponsorship side, which is cash, but it also requires fulfilling on promise. So yeah, that's, that's why I always start with my nonprofit, is this philanthropy corporate partner sponsorship. And then these are the discussions that have to ensue based on what you're trying to achieve for your partner.

Unknown Speaker 22:46
Right, and that that's really significant. And it's something that we touch on regularly on this podcast is just for these nonprofit organizations that are providing just so many valuable services for the community, to put on that hat of a businessman or a businesswoman that collectively that we're we're going about the business of giving, just like the title of this show, of says and that you it takes a lot takes a lot to run a nonprofit organization, because you spend so much of your time just delivering the service, fulfilling the mission of what you want to provide for the community. But if you're not running it like a business, and if you don't have a big picture, a vision of where you want to go in terms of the development of this nonprofit organization, as a business, you can really get stifled and again, that's what some of the things that we've encountered with people who come in these nonprofit organizations who join the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce, is they they ask these types of questions they like Maria talked about a second ago is how can I generate enough money for us to continue to be able to provide this service, right, Maria. And that's something that your community doesn't sometimes recognize?

Unknown Speaker 24:04
Well, here's the thing, you cannot grow without money. And so if you that's why I talk about the mission lenses and mission glasses. If you take the position, well, I do good work. So you should just give me money. That's unfortunate, because without money, you can't serve more people and your nonprofit cannot grow. But businesses also are you know, they're in the business of making money. So what are you going to what is the reciprocal arrangement going to be where everybody wins? And that's, that's the cocktail that that's the cocktail that that we use discovery to to uncover. And so we can we can give a prescription, which is the solution that makes it a win win, right?

Unknown Speaker 24:52
Yeah. And that's what this show is all about is, you know, Maria's that we are all about venturing into the world of QA As marketing strategies, and providing insights on crafting campaigns that resonate and create ripples of positive change again, you, Maria Perez is definitely a positive change practitioner. And so we asked, this is why we want you to tune into this show every week with the great guests that we have, with the amount of knowledge just Maria many, many years in the sector and me as a PR person having represented for profit businesses and nonprofit businesses and the collaboration of the two of you just getting cutting edge information on this show regularly. And that's why we were so passionate. Both Maria and I about getting this information out to all of you and Maria is the cause marketing consultant, I know that you can go into even more depth with people about how they can leverage these great relationships between for profits and nonprofit businesses to create great synergy and community and how can people reach out to you if they want to get more in depth than we're able to cover in this short half hour that we do the show?

Unknown Speaker 26:05
Yeah, if you'd like to discuss cause marketing strategy with me, you can shoot me an email coach Maria, I can be reached at Maria at cause marketing consultants.com. You know, it's not just about giving, it's about creating symbiotic relationships that foster growth and visibility and impact for for both entities involved. And, and that's, that's what the chamber and the show wants to help you understand.

Unknown Speaker 26:33
Yes, keep reaching out to cause marketing coach, Maria Perez, and my co hostess with the mostest. And we always want to thank you for joining us on the business of giving remember in the union of business and cause we discover the potent formula of sustainable impact and growth. And we again, you can watch it listen to our podcast every Sunday at 7:30am at K u and v nine 1.5. Jazz and more. The business of giving podcast was brought to you by Sol UPS underwriting of our series I also want to encourage you to follow us on all of our social media sites and to tune into our show regularly and whenever I sign off, I always want to remind all of you to give and do business for good. Can't wait to see you on the next show. Take care.

Unknown Speaker 27:44
Feel the weight of the world on my shoulder. As I'm getting older your people get older. Most of us only care about money.

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