CHICAGO -- The nation’s most elite cause marketing programs at retail and restaurants generated more than $388 million in revenue for charity in 2014, according to America’s Checkout Charity Champions, a benchmark study conducted by the Cause Marketing Forum.
The Cause Marketing Forum identified 77 campaigns that raised at least $1 million by asking consumers to make a gift, round up their sale, contribute their change or feature their names on “pin-ups” (placards and paper icons put on display).
That compares to more than $389 million raised in 2012 by 78 corporate-backed campaigns that met the minimum threshold. All told, this group of cause marketers has raised more than $3.88 billion over three decades, according to the research.
“At cash registers and online, companies and consumers are banding together to raise tremendous amounts of money for good causes,” said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum Inc., the leading authority on business initiatives designed to do well by doing good. “We’re especially excited to see 10 players joining the elite $1-million-plus club of Checkout Charity Champions,” said Hessekiel. “We expect companies will raise significantly more in the next couple of years by better integrating technology, deepening employee engagement and working more closely with nonprofit partners."
Holding down the top-10 for the convenience-store, gas-station industry, at No. 7, was Speedway LLC, Findlay, Ohio, which raised $7.8 million in 2014 for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals.
Other industry-related Charity Checkout Champions:
- Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc., Oklahoma City, raised $2.4 million for CMN Hospitals.
- CST Brands Inc.’s Corner Stores, San Antonio, raised $1.9 million for CMN Hospitals and $1.8 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
- Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s Circle K, Laval, Quebec, raised $1.3 million for the American Red Cross and $1 million for CMN Hospitals.
- Energy Transfer Partners’ (ETP) Stripes, Corpus Christi, Texas, raised $1.2 million for the MD Anderson Cancer Center and $1.2 million for CMN Hospitals.
Click here to download the report to see the full list
Cause Marketing Forum combed through public data to identify the largest point-of-sale (POS) donation programs and asked companies and nonprofit organizations to provide campaign details in the spring of 2015. It relied on publicly available information such as annual reports or press releases when companies or nonprofits declined to provide information for the study. To qualify for inclusion, a Charity Checkout Campaign had to invite consumers to make donations at point of sale and had to have raised at least $1 million in consumer donations in 2014. Only program activity in the United States was included in the study.
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