Cause related marketing

Stand out from the competition

Align your business with one of the most well-known and credible charities in the country. Partnering with Starlight in a CRM campaign can help build trust and add long term value to your brand while supporting a cause you care about.

86% of consumers believe that companies should take a stand for social issues and 64% of those who said it’s ‘extremely important’ for a company to take a stand on a social issue said they were ‘very likely’ to purchase a product based on that commitment. * And nearly two-thirds of millennials and Gen Z express a preference for brands that have a point of view and stand for something.**

CRM is a great way to demonstrate your community credentials. Our specialised partnerships team will work with you to understand what your organisation goals are and develop a bespoke CRM campaign that will help address your need with dedicated support.

In an Australian-first, we partnered with Meetmagic to launch Meeting For Good. The platform is designed to connect business execs with IT decision makers together to help propelling businesses forward while raising the much-needed funds to support our Starlight programs at the same time.

So, are you keen to explore partnership opportunities together? Email corporatepartnerships@starlight.org.au or call us on 1300 727 827 today.

*2018 Shelton Group's 'Brands & Stands: Social Purpose is the New Black' ** Kantar's 2018 'Purpose 2020' Report

CRM at a glance

Cause Related Marketing (CRM) is a partnership between a company and a non-profit organisation that has the DUAL goals of enhancing the company's performance while contributing to the important work of the charitable cause.

CRM benefits to your business:

• Boosts your brand awareness

• Widen the reach to your target audience

• Increases sales and/ or market share

• Increases customer loyalty

• Greater differentiation between you and your competitors

• Enhances staff engagement, loyalty and advocacy

• Gain access to new audience groups

"Starlight Children's Foundation was chosen as Puma Energy staff's charity of choice back in late 2015 due to the amazing work they do to brighten the lives of sick kids. The enthusiasm and heart that our staff have for Starlight has continued to grow each year.

Puma Energy is happy to be able to contribute 1c a litre from all fuel sold in our retail sites on Starlight Day and 2019 is no different. This year we had our commercial fuels and lubricant business match the funds raised by our retail team and our bitumen business contributed up to $10 per tonne of bitumen purchased or delivered in the week of Starlight Day.

We deeply appreciate the support from our retail and business customers who have come on-board to join us in raising funds each Starlight Day." - Laura Bain, Puma Energy Australia Charity Chairwoman.

CRM Top Tips

Choose Your Charity Partner Wisely

CRMs work best when there is a clear connection or alignment between the two organisations and their values.

Your partnership needs to look and feel authentic - it should make sense and feel like a natural 'fit' in the minds of your customers. When assessing potential partners, look for a cause that relates to your company, its values, products or services.

For example, Virgin Australia is our Official Wishgranting Partner, and with this they generously provide Starlight with flights to help sick kids’ wishes of travelling to a much-loved holiday destination come true.

And more recently, the Junior Adventures Group, a national out-of-school hours care organisation supported our Starlight GO BIG Challenge. With their purpose to ‘help build brighter futures for our children’ perfectly matching our Starlight mission to ‘help brighten the lives of sick kids’, they raised over $65,000 for us in a month!

Give to What Matters

CRMs work best when you and your employees feel great about the difference you’re making to your selected partner charity.

When assessing your CRM partner, select a non-profit organisation that you and your team believe in. Having a cause that resonates with your people will motivate and inspire them to feel a sense of ownership to make your CRM a success. In fact, input from your employees in the selection process can help maintain ongoing enthusiasm and commitment and as we see with partners EB Games, often leads to additional proactive support such as team volunteering or fundraising.

Cashrewards is a great example where the founders Andrew and Lorica, and their son Sam have experienced first-hand the positive impact of our Starlight's programs, and their commitment to give back is core to the Cashrewards organisation.

In fact, input from your employees in the selection process can help maintain an ongoing enthusiasm and commitment and as we see with partners like EB Games, this often leads to additional proactive support such as team volunteering or fundraising as well

Contribute More than Dollars

The broader the support, the stronger the outcome.

For many businesses, cause related marketing involves donating products or services and not simply writing a cheque. At Starlight, we have partners whose staff volunteer on Starlight Day, or provide pro bono support helping our business with skills and resources we need.

A great example is our partnership with Rollie Nation and their philosophy to 'Spark Magic’ is an ideal fit with us. After road testing several different concepts, the team at Rollie created custom designed shoes for our team of Captain Starlights. This partnership helps strengthen the connections between the two partners and shows the partnership in action.

Define Success, Agree Goals and Objectives

Formalise how you will both recognise and promote the CRM partnership.

To make your CRM a win-win for everyone, work with your non-profit partner to define how it will help your business meets its goals eg increased visibility or brand awareness.

At Starlight we support our partners to raise their profile through initiatives like our corporate newsletter 'The Spark' and through our web site and social media channels. Agree how you will use the organisation's name and logo in your marketing campaigns, and how they in turn, will use your name and logo in press releases, digital marketing and other promotional materials.

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Good, open communication is critical to a successful CRM strategy. Communication between you and your non-profit partner should be frequent, open and transparent. Sharing learnings and results and will help develop a sense of pride and ownership in what the partnership has jointly achieved.

"Soul Origin and Starlight is a relationship is felt by everyone from all levels of the "SOUL" business. It permeates down from the CEO to our support centre and explodes at store level, where our franchise partners and their teams bring it to life for all to see. The energy and sense of community that the relationship with Starlight brings to our organisation is priceless, add this to the light we can shine on those who have some challenges in their lives means everyone is a winner. " Chris Mavris (CEO Soul Origin)

Chris Mavris (CEO Soul Origin) came up with the idea of donating one their most prized assets and customer facing touch points - their coffee cups. For the month of May, 1 million coffee cups were rebranded with Starlight branding and colours. Chris says "What better way to raise the profile of Starlight and drive donations than by putting Starlight front of mind to well over 1 million Australians. We hope this can assist Starlight by raising awareness to help support so many more children, teenagers and the indigenous communities.