The Business of Giving

Kevin Krall 0:00
You're listening to locally produced programming created in KU NV studios on public radio K, u and v 91.5. 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 of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Speaker 1 0:39
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 Executive Director of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce and the business of giving podcast has was created to bring the synergy of businesses and nonprofit organizations together to benefit our community that is the mission of our organization. And through this podcast, we like to display businesses, professionals and nonprofit organizations that are working together to create a better world for us all. By the way, if you want to learn more about the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce, you can always visit our website cause marketing chamber.com. That's cause marketing chamber.com. And it has been so exciting to host this broadcast, you're at 91.5k You envy we are heading into our second year as a radio show on this network. And now we're moving into a weekly platform. So we are super, super excited to be able to bring you more content so that you can learn more about some of the amazing things that are happening within our community in both the business and the nonprofit worlds. I'm going to be speaking in a minute with Maria Perez, who just an amazing person who exemplifies what we're all about, but you're in for some incredibly informational shows coming up. And we're just great people, I just love this cause marketing community and being able, again to host this show on a regular basis to bring this information to all of you is is something that we at the Chamber of Commerce are, are really looking forward to so stay tuned for the business of giving every week here at 91.5k, u and v. And as I had mentioned, I have a guest for today who is also going to be our permanent co hostess of the new business of giving podcast. Her name is Maria Perez, and she is with cause marketing consultant. That's cause marketing consultant.com. Obviously, she's a consultant for in the cross marketing community. Welcome, Maria.

Speaker 2 2:51
Well, thank you for having me, guys. It's a pleasure to be here. Super excited to chat with you today.

Speaker 1 2:56
I met Maria a few months ago when she joined the cause marketing chamber. And when I connected with her and she saw that she had a business that was couldn't be much more synergistic with what we're doing as far as being a consultant in the cause marketing space. We started to talk she started to attend board meetings and we've just been cultivating this relationship for a long time. And we all want to learn more about your business. Maria, will you tell us what you do as a cause marketing consultant?

Speaker 2 3:29
Yeah, I am a blessed person to align partners for good I connect companies with causes are social issues. And then I help them craft and activate and deploy meaningful cause marketing campaigns. So, you know, I work with nonprofits and corporations and I offer what we call cause consulting, because they don't necessarily know they might feel there's a synergy but they don't know how to develop a cause tie in. So we work on areas of messaging and outreach and partnerships and sponsorships. You know, one of the most authentic ways to communicate a brand story or nonprofit mission is with really compelling cause communication. So that's what we work on. And that's what we deploy. I

Speaker 1 4:16
always love hearing your definition of what cause marketing is, will you share that with the audience? Maria?

Speaker 2 4:23
Yeah, I mean, you know, cause marketing can take many forms, right? And it can be philanthropic, it can be mission driven. It can be some type of partnership, which is more of a transactional relationship between a company and a nonprofit, or it can be a sponsorship, where there is a, you know, a, excuse me, is where there is a reciprocal arrangement, or a brand story to underscore that the brand is really doing the work and talking to talk so it can take many forms.

Speaker 1 5:03
Yes, it is. It's definitely something. It's a popular catch word in society now, but getting a greater understanding of it, which I know you're very effective at doing that as a consultant. And of course, that's a part of our mission with the name, the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce is getting, really getting people to have a deeper understanding of what we mean, when we talk about aligning nonprofits, with a for profit businesses, or causes or social issues. That's a part of our educational process. And I would imagine that that's something that you're constantly engaged in.

Speaker 2 5:41
Yeah, I mean, you know, people need action plans to grow these partnerships, and create these cause marketing and fundraising promotions. And they often don't know even where to start, right. I've had some super success here in the market in Las Vegas, with a couple of companies and a big national nonprofit, just putting them together, beginning the conversation among the CEOs. And at the end of the day isn't, you know, the nonprofit is the beneficiary. And the cost of the partner is as well. I mean, if you think about it, if I can purchase a service or a product or something that ultimately will benefit society, or help someone in my community, all things being equal, you know, here and there about price, I'm gonna go with the, with the folks that are some, you know, supporting the shelter that that are supporting, you know, flying kids for specialized medical care, or supporting the Boys and Girls Clubs. I mean, you align your service or your product with good works, and nothing but good can come from it.

Speaker 1 6:46
What, what got you into the into the cause marketing space?

Speaker 2 6:52
Oh, wow, well, I'm a dinosaur, but I'll admit that. And actually, when I was in graduate school, I had the pleasure of working on 17 co productions and Sesame Street worldwide. And in order to fund that show, which was, you know, a social issue, kids not being able to read latchkey kids in particular, not being able to read or do certain things because their parents weren't home, I learned the art of sponsorship of underwriting for, for public TV, and that'll basically parlayed itself into a cause marketing practice. It just evolved into that. showing people how to do that. That's where it started.

Speaker 1 7:34
Yeah, and as you mentioned, cause marketing has been around for a long time, it hasn't necessarily been identified as cause marketing over the, over the period of time that is like you I mean, what, what was it called back then? It probably wasn't called cause marketing back when you got started? No,

Speaker 2 7:54
it was it really, it really, I can't even think of what it was called, I think it was just, you know, certain parts of partnerships are being formed. And you know, that that's, there was no definition back in the day, but But now, it's super, super important. You know, now, cause marketing is not just aligning with a cause. Because there's an associated, there used to be just the halo effect as we knew it, right. That's what we used to call it the halo effect, the associative value of aligning with a cause. But that's not the case anymore. Now it has to be baked into the DNA of the partnership. So that is genuine, and authentic, and the walk is walked and the talk is taught, you can't just align with a cause and say, look, oh, I gave them money. And I did good. You have to you have to prove it. You'll see that in a lot of big corporations. I think a really great example is Firestone. They now have a biodegradable tire. And their their carbon footprint is actually they can prove that they're reducing it. So this is the kind of thing that's going on now with brands and issues or causes, is that you have to talk the talk and walk the walk. So that's where we are today.

Speaker 1 9:12
Yeah, I guess that's all a part of the evolution of this sector is that maybe social issues? Were not as much I know that that's something that I've noticed, I guess I've been in this space, actively knowing what cause marketing is all about since 2015. And the thing that I've seen a lot of is much more prevalence on the side of the social issues. Is that something that you've also seen a greater connection between cause marketing and social issues in recent years?

Speaker 2 9:43
Well, you know, here's the thing that's tricky for a nonprofit, okay. A nonprofit thinks that because they do good work and they have a good mission. People should give them money, right? Unfortunately, in the times that we're in, that's not the case anymore. So so the reason why I always put the term cost and social issues is that, you know, whether it's teaching latchkey kids how to read, or whether it's, you know, lowering the car, you know, lowering emissions or, or helping find a cure for a disease state, you know, all of those things are, are part of what go on in life, and that we need to mitigate. Right? So I don't know, I almost think guy, it might be the flip side that we we started calling them social issues and we started calling it cause marketing and now we're calling it both. Does that make sense? Yeah, they're

Speaker 1 10:33
really blending. There's a lot of blending of that now, which I think is great. I mean, it just think it burns. When you say social issues, I think it piques interest in certain people. So it's just great exposure for social issues, as well as the cause marketing sector.

Speaker 2 10:51
When it expands, like there's a company here in town that does solar panels, they were they were a sponsor of mine for national charity here in town. And it's really interesting. I mean, their core business is solar panels. So the name of their company is solar. They're wonderful people. And they did too, I heard about two stories of things that they've done in our community. One was creating a battery powered situation for a family that has two children that are in constant life support. And then they also were involved in the solar game, where folks, I think, young children race cars, or they raised soap, box, Derby type cars. And they they, you know, don't pollute. So there's an example of being able to be both philanthropic and support a social issue in your community, right. So I think it's important to provide those options to businesses that want to get involved in cause marketing, or, you know, they should join the chamber to learn more, of course, but so that they can, they can really, in a genuine way, support things that support our community where, you know, in community, by community and for community,

Speaker 1 12:03
when a person seeks you out as a cause marketing consultant, Maria, well, what do they ask for? What are they looking for when they hire you?

Speaker 2 12:13
Well, it depends, you know, typically, there is something on their desk that they can't do or don't want to do, or don't know how to do. It's funny that you should ask me that, because I've had to do a lot of thinking about that. And when I talk to clients, whether they're nonprofits or or companies, I asked them Are you interested in done with you services are done for you services, and by and large, it's done with you, because they want to learn? So you know, I do a lot of strategy. Coaching, I do a lot of sales coaching. Sales, prospecting, sales. nonprofits don't want don't like that word. But they do have to sell their mission. That's what they have to do. So yeah, I do I do by and large strategy, sales and execution.

Speaker 1 13:01
Yeah, I think there are, there are a lot of people, I mean, I'm encountering them constantly being in this work working with lots of nonprofit organizations. In many businesses, lots of professionals, there are a lot of people out there who think that this is a good idea, as you had mentioned before, so many nonprofits just, you know, a lot of times they say, Hey, we've got a great idea, we've got a big heart, and we want to give something to the community, the community should support us. And it just doesn't work that way. And I think having someone like you, and then on the business side, the relationships, learning the alignment piece that you've been talking about how to truly align with a nonprofit, where it works best for both entities, and can potentially increase your, your bottom line, having someone to hold your hand as you're going through that process, figuring that out, I think is so important.

Speaker 2 13:54
Well, so much of it is sales on both sides of the fence, you know, the business, the the professional services, businesses, or the small businesses or even the large corporations, you know, they they need to be profitable. And the nonprofit can't do cannot do better work, and more work and serve more people if they can't keep the lights on. But they tend to be more inclined to tell their origin story and say to folks, you should just give me money because I do good. And my job is to show them what their assets are in terms of programs and initiatives and the like, that when they do have parody or affinity, they can partner effectively. And what happens they're a wonderful thing, the business or the service or business profits, and can give them even more money and then they can do even more work. Right? So it's, it's super fun to be able to work with on both sides of the house, because it ultimately is a win win and there's always a beneficiary, right? Doesn't matter whether you're saving the pet or you're curing disease state There is ultimately a beneficiary in the crawl space. And that's my favorite part.

Speaker 1 15:04
Yeah, this work is so important. And I know you there you have another element of your business that's tied into what you do, which is called sponsorship seekers. lounge.com, where you talk about that additional element of cause marketing consultation that you provide.

Speaker 2 15:21
Yep, we at the sponsorship speakers lounge are dedicated to teaching and sharing the art of selling sponsorships. And everyone is welcome, whether they're a seasoned pro, or they're just starting on their journey to perfect the craft of sponsorship sale fundraising. And so we put, we put together two Facebook groups, the nonprofit sponsorship seekers lounge, and the sponsorship seekers lounge, where people can come and become a member and, you know, delve into that. On the cost side. There's a lot of confusion with nonprofits. Among these three terms, philanthropy, corporate partnering and sponsorship, and they are different. Philanthropy or patronage is somebody gives you money, you say thank you. Like back in the day when someone would commission a piece of art, they're doing it from their hearts, because they want to whether they're an individual donor or a corporate supporter. And then you have in the middle corporate partnering, which I like to tell the story. You know, if you have a run, and you need 15,000 bottles of water, and someone's kind enough to donate those to you and that line item goes away on your budget. Perfect, you say thank you. But sponsorship is about delivering on audience and value. And so we want to help nonprofits determine if they have any sponsor Bill assets, so they can monetize them. And then we want to help folks that you know, want to sponsor something, figure out, what does that look like? And with whom should they have a partner or having, you know, with whom do they have an affinity and they joke and call me the match navan. But I really I see these things in my head. And I it's some, it's just really rewarding to be able to put the parties together.

Speaker 1 17:05
Peer oriented groups like that are so much a part of the fabric of learning now, Maria, and like you said, you'd be in the matchmaker putting them together, seeing the pieces that fits that's a lot, very similar to what we do at the Chamber of Commerce.

Speaker 2 17:20
Exactly. And that's I hope that people will join the chamber because again, think about it, would you if you are going to buy a product or service. And you know that by purchasing that product or service, it does some good in your community? Wouldn't you pick it over a competitor that doesn't care. And that's what the chamber is all about. It's about aligning folks that are like minded like that.

Speaker 1 17:42
Yeah, just really quickly, I want to make a couple of announcements. And I want to come back to you, Maria, because we have much more to talk about. But we've got a couple of events that are coming up with the cause marketing chamber of commerce that you might be interested in participating in, we've got our quarterly mixer event, and we host that every quarter, we do an event that features a nonprofit organization. It's a business mixer oriented event. So people come professionals to trade business with one another meet new people. These are people who generally have an interest in the nonprofit and for profit space. And of course, there's a feature of nonprofit organization for each of these. And our featured nonprofit for our next quarterly mixer, which is going to be on July the 18th. From 6pm to 8pm is called heaven can wait. Heaven can wait as an organization that helps in the animal sector with spay and neutering just a wonderful organization that's been around for a while and is doing some really good work in the community, in terms of things related to animals, and so you are all invited to come and participate in the event, you can go to the website cause marketing chamber.com. For more details about how to sign up online it is there is a fee of $20 to attend the event. By the way the nonprofit organization heaven can wait is seeking cash donations, gift cards or, or otherwise, they have of course, a lot of things that they have to pay for as a result of being able to help these animals. And so we're really excited about our upcoming mixer event. Again, that's on July the 18th. From 6pm to 8pm. It's going to be at Mimi's cafe in Henderson. It's one of the restaurants that we patronize regularly. They've been so wonderful with us. We've done multiple events at Mimi's cafe in Henderson and we always like to give a shout out to them. Because of their support. We've been able to showcase many nonprofit organizations and it's all a part of this win win win philosophy that we have as an organization. And the one other point I want to speak with you about before I get back with Maria is that we have now scheduled are next to businesses with heart event businesses with heart event. Businesses with heart as the expo that started the whole concept of the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce back in 2015. It is an expo style business networking event that features a nonprofit organization. We've done nine of these. And so this is going to be the 10th edition of businesses with heart, I just can't believe that we have have done 10 of these time really does fly. But it's an incredible opportunity for you to learn more about the cause marketing sector. There's lots of local businesses that will have booths at the event, there's education about cause marketing, business and nonprofits. Great food fun, it's just a big party that we have so many people, prominent people in the community, we have all types of people that drop in to participate in this event, which is going to be held on September the 14th. And it will be at the space, which is a great venue that's hosting a lot of nonprofit oriented events. So more details about that will be online within the next couple of days. But we are gearing up if you're interested in being a vendor at the event, we'd love to have you as a vendor, a sponsor of the event, if you want to attend the event, you're also going to be able to get that information online very soon. So we are gearing up for the 10th edition of businesses with heart it's going to be on September the 14th, from 4pm to 8pm at the space will continue to make announcements on the show every week about it. And we'd love for you to come and participate in that event with us. Back to Maria Perez, the cause marketing consultant, Maria, you and I are now going to be hosting this show on a regular basis. And as I had mentioned earlier, I just I love Maria's energy. I love what she's all about. This is the new business of giving podcast because we're going to be doing this on a weekly basis. What can the audience expect? Now that you're going to be partnering with me on this? What types of things do you should they be on the lookout for in these future episodes of the show that we're going to be airing.

Speaker 2 22:17
I think they're the the audience. And folks that have an interest in cars and social issues marketing will, we're gonna be taking a deep dive into some use cases, case studies, businesses, nonprofits, that, you know, that have employed, cause marketing tactics. And so the audience is going to learn what works and why it works, and the impact and all of the things that go along with these affinities and parity. So it's gonna be super exciting, to really look behind the scenes and see what meaningful and powerful partnerships can achieve.

Speaker 1 22:56
Yeah, I really appreciate having Maria as a part of this. We've been doing the show for a little over a year. And a lot of our focus has been on interviewing nonprofits and people who are in business. And then that's been something that has been very impactful. Lots of people have reached out to me to let me know how much they appreciate what we've been doing. But I love the piece that you're bringing Maria being actively engaged in working with businesses, on and nonprofit organizations, on these campaigns, you've been in the trenches a long time. And I think that perspective that you're going to bring, along with what the things that we've already been covering, there's so many nonprofits out there, who we're going to have a chance to connect with, because we've got more days out every month to be able to do these interviews. But that that piece, what you've been talking about, so far, as I've been interviewing you today, we're going to be able to go into cause marketing at a deeper level and give the listeners more to think about.

Speaker 2 23:55
Yeah, I think I think having seen the structure of the Win Win is the most exciting piece, right? What does it look like? How does it how is it achieved? You know, what are all the benefits and entitlements? What you know, so it's wonderful, it's going to be super wonderful. I'm really looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 24:19
And then the important thing I think with us being a chamber of commerce, one of the reasons why we chose that particular platform, rather than just being a traditional Foundation, is that we wanted to highlight the importance of success in business. And we also wanted to impart on or teach so many of these nonprofit organizations that you you had mentioned earlier when I was talking with you, Maria. They get into business, not necessarily understanding that their nonprofit organization truly is a business and that you have to run it like a business and that is some thing that I know we're going to really be touching more on, we want to give the nonprofits in the community more of a chance to survive, so that they can continue to be able to give the great work and services and products that they provide.

Speaker 2 25:15
Yeah, we'll take a deep dive into the different cogs of the wheel. You know, we'll be talking about earned media, we'll be talking about asset monetization, we'll be talking about, you know, the infrastructure of these winwin collaborations. That's what it's all about, and cause marketing.

Speaker 1 25:30
And the power of media, Maria, us having, again, the opportunity to be a part of 91.5k, u and v. And to reach the listeners that were able to reach on a regular basis, just broadening the perspective that people have about both of these sectors, because the business aspect of this whole concept is very important to the you know, the when everyone's winning, right, I the way I like to talk about it is there's, there's winning on a lot of fronts, you've got the winning that comes to the nonprofit organization through the relationships that they start to make with the business community. And of course, these businesses, they went on a major level because aligning themselves with nonprofits that they believe in many of which these businesses are already doing things with nonprofit organizations, their profile is expanded, and they're able to be more successful in their businesses. And then of course, the community itself benefits greatly from these two pillars. I always call them pillars on this show, Maria, I believe that nonprofit organizations and for profit businesses are true pillars of the community. So the community overall benefits as well by us strengthening both of these sectors.

Unknown Speaker 26:50
That's correct. I love it. Yeah,

Speaker 1 26:52
so for those of you again, you're gonna get used to hearing Maria and I talking a lot a lot a lot about nonprofits and businesses through this weekly show that we're going to continue to air here. And oh, one more thing I wanted to talk to you about is that we've got this partnership with ADP. And for those of you who aren't familiar with ADP, they are one of the largest business services companies in the world. Many people know ADP through payroll. As a matter of fact, my public relations and advertising company classy communications, uses ADP for the our payroll, we've been using them a couple of months, ADP has a partnership with the cause marketing chamber of commerce that I want to share with all of you, they have been a big supporter of ours from the very beginning of our formation. What they want to do within the business community is to help businesses to utilize some of the services they have payroll. They're also very involved in helping businesses to approach Human Resources correctly. They have the ability for professionals, this is something that I learned recently is they show professionals who may not be running a business with employees how to set up 401 K plans for themselves so that they can start saving for their retirement. There's a fleet of services that ADP offers. The partnership that we have with them is that they are donating money to the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce based on us bringing people in to share services with them. So if you're someone out there who's looking for a fleet of Business Services, cause marketing chamber.com You can send me an email info at cause marketing chamber.com And we would love to connect you with ADP and just know that proceeds from the sale of the service that you decide that you potentially want to do with ADP will benefit the cause marketing Chamber of Commerce as we are also a nonprofit organization. We're a 501 C six organization so yes, if and the last thing that I want to talk about before well one more thing, Maria will you let the audience know how they can get in contact with you. For more information about the services that you provide in the cause marketing space?

Speaker 2 29:07
Sure, you can reach me by email at Maria at cause marketing consultants.com Or you can go to my website, cause marketing consultants.com If you're interested in learning the art of sponsorship, you can also join us in our private Facebook groups at sponsorship seekers.com And I hope to see you in one of the groups if you need some help Marie

Speaker 1 29:31
I love your energy and boy we are we are in for quite a ride with the with the new business of giving show really looking forward to having you on board every week.

Unknown Speaker 29:42
Well, thank you likewise.

Speaker 1 29:44
All right, our social media sites the cause marketing chamber has a LinkedIn page, a YouTube page, a Facebook page. We are on meet up and also really been getting a lot more visits on our website lately cause Marketing chamber.com And lastly, before we leave today, I want to encourage all of you to give and do business for good. Take care of yourselves. See you next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai