Diamonds Give Charity Auction on eBay Giving Works

We love helping good causes, and when the items and experiences are amazing, even better. A special cause marketing campaign that we are producing the auction portion of is The "Diamonds Give" campaign where Russell Simmons and Simmons Jewelry have spearheaded a really sharp charity auction project on eBay Giving Works, http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=diamond-empowerment-fund .

As the December 2007 holiday shopping season is reaching a fever pitch, The Diamond Empowerment Fund™ (D.E.F.) launches its inaugural on-line fundraising event, DIAMONDS GIVE, with an exclusive auction of dazzling diamond jewelry and unique celebrity photo experiences hosted on eBay Giving Works.

The auction will feature approximately 15 lots of donated fine diamond pieces, including an extraordinary Ohm Watch from the Simmons Jewelry Co., designed and worn by D.E.F. Chairman Russell Simmons, and a replica of the Monaco Grand Prix Racing Trophy created by Steinmetz. Celebrity photo experience packages add to the excitement of supporting D.E.F.’s efforts to help Africans Help Africa through education. Bid on the chance to have your picture taken with a celebrity who is an advocate for D.E.F.’s mission. Successful bidders will also receive the Simmons Jewelry Co.’s Green Bracelet of malachite and rough diamond, with the bracelet box autographed by the celebrity. The recipient will receive a copy of the photo, and all of the photos will be published together on the D.E.F. website and possibly in a national publication. Photos will be arranged at the convenience of the participating celebrity in a New York or Los Angeles as specified by the celebrity.

DIAMOND CONTRIBUTORS:
Phyllis Bergman
Calhoun Jewelers
Jeri Cohen Fine Jewelry
Michelle Farmer Fine Jewelry
Fortunoff
Kwiat
Neil Lane
Leo Schachter
Macy’s
Lorraine Schwartz
Securityjewelers.com and celticjewelry.com
Simmons Jewelry Co.
Steinmetz
Jack Vartanian
William Goldberg Company

CELEBRITY PHOTO EXPERIENCE CONTRIBUTORS:
Naomi Campbell
Cedric the Entertainer
LL Cool J
Petra Nemcova
Holly Robinson Peete
Brett Ratner
Justine and Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of Run’s House
Russell Simmons
A memorabilia package from New York Yankees Captain Derek Jeter

International Child Art Foundation Hosts Global Leader Art Auction on eBay

Some exciting news on the charity auction front. Too often, kids are not sought after to solutions for global crisises. A special project of the Child Art Foundation addresses this, having brought together amazing child artists from around the world to Washington, D.C. to paint masterpieces of some of the most recognizable people from the arts, politics, heads of state, business & industry, and more. Online at http://www.ebay.com/childart for a few more days, these incredible works showcase the message of peace that only children can bring to the table. Here is the entire release:

The International Child Art Foundation (ICAF), in partnership with eBay and Mission Fish, will hold a charity auction on November 1-10, 2007 of 15 murals to fund art programs for children across the globe. The world’s best child artists, selected through the global Arts Olympiad, created the artworks to pay tribute to their global leaders during the 2007 World Children’s Festival held in June on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The largest celebration of children’s creativity and imagination, the festival showcased international cooperation among children communicating through the language of art. The children saluted leaders in all fields with their collaborative works:• Political Leaders: President George Bush and first lady Laura Bush, former President Bill Clinton and N.Y. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Neslon Mandela of South Africa, and Sheikha Mozah of Qatar• Business Leaders: Bill and Melinda Gates, Herbert Hainer, Jeff Immelt, Steve Jobs, Thomas Kristiansen, Pierre Omidyar, Larry Page, Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, and Jerry Yang • Entertainment Leaders: David and Victoria Beckham, and Robert Iger of DisneyEach mural is painted in acrylic on a 3x4-foot primed stretch canvas. A personalized 12x16-inch plaque accompanies each mural, with information on the young artists, their photos and greetings for the leader. The ICAF will ship the murals and plaques to the auction winners on November 15, 2007 and requests the winners to present the mural to the respective leader. “We are delighted that some of the most creative children in the world chose to honor their global leaders in this imaginative fashion,” said the ICAF founder Dr. Ashfaq Ishaq. “Their art represents their aspirations for the future. We are pleased to offer the public a rare opportunity to present their leaders with most meaningful gifts this holiday season. Money raised through the auction will fund our Arts Olympiad and programs like Healing Arts and Peace Through Art.“Since 1997 the ICAF has served domestically and internationally as the leading arts and creativity organization for children. The ICAF integrates art with science, sport and technology for the development of children’s creativity and empathy—preconditions for a just, prosperous and nonviolent world. The event is being managed on eBay by Auction Cause, a premier online auction management agency specializing in high profile design, strategy, and cause marketing for corporations and nonprofits worldwide. For more information, please visit www.auctioncause.com

Concert For Diana and eBay

We have had the pleasure at Auction Cause of working with Clarence House, the official office for Prince William and Harry. As part of the Concert For Diana which took place on July 1st in London, we have been running a series of auctions on eBay Giving Works - www.ebay.com/dianaconcert . It is not often one finds The British Royal Family actively playing a role in an eBay auction, but the 2 princes have extended the reach of the concert theme, honoring the legacy of their mother, by raising funds for 2 worthy charities.The marketing aspect of something like this is quite different than a traditional brand auction. Here, the design and graphics are simple and refined, reflective of royalty as well as low key around the use of Princess Diana's name. In fact, there is no likeness of her in the auctions, just the logo with her signature.I believe there is now an understanding that eBay is the global medium from which to message out numerous concepts. Gibson Guitar company donated 3 of their more exclusive and rare models to be signed by artists and celebrities at the just completed concert. Kudos to Gibson, who for a modest investment by their standards, are doing good in the world of fundraising as well as attracting some attention for their terrific brand.

Cause Marketing Forum

Just back from the Cause Marketing Forum in NYC. It is definitely the most dynamic event in the field. About 500 people there, great mix of those in the nonprofit sector, corporate world, agency field, and independent consultants.

I have been to quite a few conferences and often feel that people just wanted a free trip on the company dime. Not here. There was an overall consensus among those speaking and and attending that we are on to something really big.

My role, along with eBay Giving Works, as sponsors, was to educate on how eBay is an amazing platform from which to run a cause marketing campaign. My blog is full of the reasons why it works so read below for some thoughts on it.

One of the highlights for me was hearing the story of how Newman's Own got started and how doing things differently has led to over $250 million in donations for worthy causes. The VP of Newman's Own was the keynote speaker during lunch, and in an entertaining way, took us all through how the company is now one of the key players in the premium food sector. One of his most important messages was that people were not going to buy their products unless the taste and quality were outstanding. This brings up a key point in cause marketing - you can get someones attention with a celebrity or cause, but there needs to be substance to back it up. All things being equal, a cause attached to a product will come out on top, but the speaker was careful to point out that one should not bank on a charity attachment getting a company sales without a lot more behind it.

I was also surprised to learn how few employees are at Newman's Own (we were sworn to secrecy on this one!). They have a number of food partners who make the products, much like Trader Joe's, but that Paul Newman still does all the taste testing himself.

So this cause marketing stuff is still evolving. This conference was a great showcase for what is taking place, but I believe there is so much more good that can be derived from the relationship of company and causes. Stay tuned, we plan on doing what we can to build this field exponentially.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon & Network for Good place #7 for Viral Cause Marketing in 2007

The Marketing Sherps is out with its awards for the best of viral cause marketing, and a campaign we managed on eBay Giving Works placed at #7 out of the hundreds of submissions they received.

To read about what they liked, as well as see some other excellent cause marketing campaigns, please visit: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/viralawards2007/7.html.

A quick recap on the campaign: Kevin Bacon decided to take his fame from the game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" and turn it into a nonprofit, Six Degrees, www.sixdegrees.org. He partnered with Network For Good, www.networkforgood.org, who helped him set up a system by which Kevin and his friends could fundraise for causes close to their hearts. Fans could then support charities their favorite celebrities liked, or become a champion for their own cause, challenging their friends along the way. We love the whole concept of Network for Good, the best place we have found to instantly donate to any nonprofit in the U.S.

Auction Cause worked with Kevin and Network For Good at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 to help gather swag bags from stars like Teri Hatcher, Parker Posey, P Diddy, Sienna Miller, Diego Luna, Keri Russell, and many more (see http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=six-degrees), and listed them on eBay Giving Works as part of the overall program.

With hundreds of thousands of page views, thousands of bids, and a tremendous amount of funds raised, it was a great way to help kick off Six Degrees. A number of companies were quite generous, donating extra items once they learned it was part of a cause marketing campaign on eBay. They were given premium exposure, which was great of course for the brands and a big win for Kevin and his charity too.

Congrats to all involved, and another big win for the power of cause marketing on eBay.

Impressions from the American Marketing Association Cause Marketing Conference in April

I had the opportunity recently to take part in a panel discussion at the American Marketing Association's Cause Marketing Conference in San Diego. A few hundred profesionals from both the nonprofit sector as well as business comnnunity attended, sharing insights and best practices.

There is really a fire taking place with all the companies and causes joining the push to align themselves with each other. It is overwhelmingly positive, as at the end of the day, I see more nonprofits benefiting with extra dollars. Corporations are eager to start new cause intiatives or redirect marketing budget towards worthy endeavors.

Within cause marketing, people are now trying to define what makes a good partnership and how to go about securing an alliance. The business speakers stressed the need to be clear what the nonprofit was willing to do besides ask for money. Would they be able to create a value proposition? Would the nonprofit be able to promote the business beyond a one time event? Nonprofits wanted to make sure their name was not being used solely to generate profits for the company, that there was a sincere connection with the charity mission too.

As our company name implies, we are all about cause marketing via auctions on eBay Giving Works. I received a number of questions from the audience about how the process works, and what they needed to do to get started. One of the best tips I gave was to look at one's nonprofit board first. There is a great untapped resource there for auction items, many of which can be an experience rather than a physical item. Tie in a corporate donor there, and suddenly, that donation of a luxury box to a sporting event can turn into a cause marketing opportunity for the business and a new relationship with the nonprofit.

Auction Cause often is approached by both nonprofits and corporations to "find a match" with one another, so we do get an insider's point of view on this too. I would have to say that both sides need to do their homework and truly think out all they want from the other side. Nonprofits are quickly realizing they need to think like a business in order to be taken seriously, and businesses realize they need to often provide more than just dollars to make the relationship work.