cause driven

Here in Calgary the cashiers sometimes ask you, in addition to your purchase, whether you would like to donate $2.00 to some charity. I usually say “not today” – meaning I would some other time. Sometimes someone ahead in the line will agree to donate, and then 2nd person will also agree . Out of guilt? Or out of good will? I doubt the latter. This needs to be re-designed.

Here’s a better solution: Make the donation be WITHIN the price of the product. And let the consumer know this and they will talk about it.

If these businesses really care THEN  JUST DO IT. Remove the choice and guilt trip you put on us at the very of end of the process.

When it comes time to pay I don’t think people would suddenly look in disgust and leave the bottle on the counter when they see 18 dollars instead of 16 dollars. They would enter that business knowing they donate with every purchase.  Why? Because people attach themselves to companies they relate to. Because they feel good about them. Make your business stand for something! The beer drinkers or grocery consumers will buy products from those companies that have those set of values in place. In this case to do more good for the world.

Don’t believe this will work? Here’s excerpt from page 182 of Max Lenderman’s Brand New World:

A survey reported in Advertising Age found that 90 percent of millennial’s – those born between 1979 and 2001 – said they were “very likely” to switch from one brand to another that had a strong association with a good cause.