New York Attorney General Focuses on Social Media Cause Marketing

During the holiday season, many consumers are looking for opportunities to make charitable contributions, and many corporations have realized that one of the best ways to capitalize on this sentiment is a cause marketing campaign. The first one that springs to my mind is the TOMS® One for OneTM program– for every pair of TOMS® purchased, a pair of shoes is donated to a child in need. It seems to be win-win-win—the consumer wins, the company wins, and children in need receive a great pair of shoes. But because not all cause marketing campaigns are well-run, and given the explosion of social media as a means of launching and advertising such campaigns, the New York Attorney General has recently issued the “Five Best Practices for Transparent Cause Marketing.”

Clearly describe the promotion. Consumers should be able to easily understand the key terms of the campaign prior to purchasing the product that will go to charity. These keys terms should include the name of the benefitting charity; the specific dollar amount per purchase to be donated; any caps to the donation; whether consumer action is required to trigger the donation; and the beginning and end dates of the campaign.

Allow consumers to easily determine donation amount. Companies need to use specific dollar amounts that will be donated—e.g., $1.00 for each purchase as opposed to a “portion of the proceeds.”

Be transparent about what is not apparent. Companies need to be sure to disclose any loopholes to consumers, such as if there are contractual limits on the campaign or if a fixed donation has been promised regardless of sales of a product.

Ensure transparency in social media. The terms of the campaign should be just as clear in social media marketing as in traditional campaigns, including the amount of the donation per action. Companies should also have a system in place to track donations real-time for the duration of the campaign and make the progress clear. When the campaign ends, it should either be discontinued entirely or be made clear that subsequent actions will not benefit the charity.

Tell the public how much was raised. Companies should maintain on their websites key information about all active and recently closed cause marketing campaigns. Similarly, The Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance has also published “Standards for Chairty Accountability.” Standard 19 of that publication states:

“Clearly disclose how the charity benefits from the sale of products or services (i.e., cause-related marketing) that state or imply that a charity will benefit from a consumer sale or transaction. Such promotions should disclose, at the point of solicitation:

the actual or anticipated portion of the purchase price that will benefit the charity (e.g., 5 cents will be contributed to abc charity for every xyz company product sold). the duration of the campaign (e.g., the month of October) any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount (e.g., up to a maximum of $200,000).”

If your company is considering a cause marketing campaign, these guidelines are an important consideration for implementing such a campaign.

Sources: http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-issues-best-practices-breast-cancer-“pink-ribbon”-campaigns http://www.bbb.org/us/standards-for-charity-accountability/

For more information, please visit our social media law service page.

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