We hope you're enjoying the first days of summer! It's been a little over two weeks since the NYC Summit and we're still pumped about everything we learned. You can find all the incredible presentations from our amazing speakers here. Among our attendees were our friends at Phil & Co., a creative marketing agency that works exclusively with philanthropies and companies doing good. We were fortunate enough to sit down with Cliff Sloan, Founder and CEO of Phil & Co., after the Summit to hear more about how he 'Plays Well With Others' while managing his agency. ![]() About Cliff: Cliff Sloan is the Founder and CEO of Phil & Co., a full-service creative marketing agency that crafts strategies, campaigns, and branding for some of the most important causes of our time. He's led campaigns for highly visible non-profits and CSR initiatives, including the United Nations Foundation, the American Diabetes Association, Brookfield Office Properties, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Question: If you could solve/cure ONE of the world's biggest challenges, what would it be?
Answer: If I had to choose just one, I’d cure cancer because it’s a disease that claimed someone who was very close to me. I think most people are inclined to support the causes that intersect with their lives. Question: What main causes are you currently working on? Answer: Music education (public schools), healthcare, social justice, the arts, education (higher education), and philanthropic impact measurement. Question: What is the current status/trend of the causes you work on? Answer: It’s impossible to generalize based on the breadth of topics and organizations that we’re involved with. That said, a number of clients are looking to reposition, refresh and rearticulate their brands to better reflect the adoption of technology and data that translates to innovation and measurable impact. Question: Do you see the need for funding and support increasing or decreasing over the next five years? Answer: It completely depends on what cause you’re talking about. In the current political climate, some will fare better than others. I do think individual giving will rise because the causes that one supports are increasingly becoming a politicized extension of self and personal expression -- a badge, of sorts. We’re living in highly emotional times and causes are one way of projecting what you stand for and sharing that voice (and content) with like-minded people. Question: What do you work tirelessly on to further your mission? Answer: We strive to be the agency that clients call when they’ve had enough “vanilla”; when they’re ready to step out and shake things up a bit. We’re “where cause comes for creativity,” so delivering superior creative work that is strategically informed and engages and mobilizes our audiences is what we’re always working towards. Striking the right balance of creative storytelling and delivering tangible metrics is at the heart and soul of the agency. Question: Name a favorite community nonprofit or effort you support locally on a personal level. Answer: NPR (WNYC). Question: What are some of the tools you use to do business? Answer: The most important tool we use is our ears. We listen to our clients. The smarter we are about their nuances and priorities in a 360 degree way, the more we can help them drive results and the more we can grow as an agency. We also have our ears to the ground in terms of research, technology and category insights that inform our work. Question: Tell me something good that’s happened in the past year. Answer: The restrictions that were eased on visiting Cuba. I went and spent time with artists and musicians there -- very, very interesting and cool. Thanks, Cliff, for chatting with us and for being an integral member of the CMS Tribe that plays well with others!
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Our friends at For Momentum have been hard at work on their newly released research study about managing national and local corporate partnerships. Their findings are based on data and best practices from 50+ leading nonprofits. It's no surprise that in order to be successful, partnerships require strong collaboration and communication between headquarters and chapter offices. We interviewed For Momentum's Founder and President, Mollye Rhea, to hear more about how she "Plays Well With Others" and works to forge successful cause-related partnerships with her clients. Question: If you could solve/cure ONE of the world's biggest challenges, what would it be? Answer: My passion is supporting youth in America. In fact, you could say my cause career began when I was asked to lead a philanthropic project for the Atlanta Ad Club – raising money for a foster youth program. Issues for our kids range from hunger, homelessness and foster care on one end of the spectrum through fighting illness and onwards toward educational advancement and workforce readiness. At every point on this spectrum, investing in America’s youth will result in solving most of our other challenges. Question: What is your most pressing agenda item for this calendar year? Answer: For Momentum is honored to support a variety of important nonprofit and corporate foundation missions. Front and center for me every day is leading my team in securing support and awareness to advance their work. And measuring impact is such an important, and elusive topic in social impact campaigns. Question: What are the main cause(s) you work on currently? Answer: We are honored to work with 20+ organizations at any given time. I am truly inspired by the work of all these organizations. Picking one would be too much like Sophie’s choice! Question: What is the current status/trend of the missions you work on? Answer: I know it is cliché, but with the range of missions we support, I would say the one constant across them all is change. Every day, we must work to challenge the status quo and develop newer, faster, better ways of advancing, supporting and impacting missions. Technology and communication channels are constantly evolving and it is vital that we embrace the positive value of change. Do you see the need for funding and support increasing or decreasing over the next five years? Answer: Funding needs will always be on the rise. Economic, political and demographic factors aside, our nonprofit professional community is always advancing and creating important initiatives and research that needs funding to flourish. Question: What do you work tirelessly on to further your mission? Answer: Developing content and practices that advance the success of social impact partnerships. For Momentum celebrated our 14th-anniversary last week. To say the space has evolved would be a glaring understatement. We tirelessly dedicate our efforts toward continually advancing the practice and leading the way in CSR. Question: How can we (the CMS Tribe) help you? Answer: Sharing your information, insights, and experience. Each year we conduct an annual survey digging deeper into issues cause practitioners grapple with. Our goal is to understand the state of play, uncover pain points and develop best practices. This year’s survey identifies critical pain points and healing best practices. The more participation we get, the more robust our data. This year’s survey had over 130 participants. The more the merrier! We hope to garner more and more participation every year. Question: Name a favorite community nonprofit or effort you support locally on a personal level? Answer: I have many favorites of course, so I’ll share my most recent example. On May 20th, I participated in the Walk for Wishes for Make a Wish Georgia. The most unusual effort was sleeping outside in NYC to help Covenant House support homeless youth. Question: What are some of the tools you use to do business? Answer: We engaged a company to create a highly-customized version of Salesforce that we use for customer outreach when we are seeking strategic partnerships. This sophisticated software helps us unite companies and brands with nonprofits in a way that benefits both organizations. Question: Tell me something good that has happened in the past year. Answer: More and more, companies are realizing the importance of integrating social impact into their priority mix. Since last spring, For Momentum has worked with 5 leading companies to advance their work in this arena. The more companies invest and prioritize, the more impact we can all generate. Question: Will you upload the last fun picture you took of your family and/or pet. Answer: Here’s a BOGO. My baby girl with her baby girl. Major thanks to Mollye and everyone at For Momentum for being great partners in the cause world!
Our friends at Phil & Co., a creative marketing agency that works exclusively with philanthropies and companies doing good. As experts in crafting integrated creative campaigns and branding, Phil & Co. is big on both developing and answering to organization-wide goals. Below, they share with us some tips for better aligning marketing plans with long-term strategic plans. As cause marketers, our clients’ strategic plans define the audiences, tactics and ultimate success of our work. Whether our client is a global university, consumer brand or leading non-profit, strategic plans are where we go first to understand the identity and direction of an organization.
Handled well, strategic planning can clarify objectives and help marketing, development and all departments work better together. Here are some tips we think could help non-profits big and small: 1. Connect the dots between big-picture goals and tactical metrics Real metrics should be part of any strategic conversation. Clarify what success looks like. From the Board to the Development team to external consultants, everyone should be moving together toward clearly defined quantifiable success. 2. Make sure you’re marketing your strategic plan As much as they define budgets and operations, strategic plans are a tremendous internal marketing opportunity—to refresh your brand, tell a new story, energize the team and mobilize your most passionate ambassadors. Any document that’s defining organization-wide strategy should get real creative attention. Make your plan an internal communications tool and revisit at least semi-annually to reinforce your goals, celebrate progress and motivate the team. 3. No more one-offs Strategic plans and year-end reviews ultimately answer to budget, and we work in a space that is especially constrained. Focus your marketing on building resources and developing replicable models, and you’ll see your communications get more consistent and easier to execute. We’re huge fans of tool kits and standardized plans as a way to make our work more efficient and easier to measure year over year. 4. Give your agency a seat at the table Too often, multi-year plans are created by a committee at a retreat far removed from the day-to-day operations of an organization—and quickly put aside until it’s time to revisit the process. Making marketing and branding a part of the conversation upfront can help define objectives, make better ambassadors of your Board members and turn your plan itself into a branding tool. In less than a week, cause-minded professionals will come together in NYC to highlight numerous campaigns that focus on our world's top priorities. One in particular has been making headlines—climate change. Despite the challenges our planet faces, we are more determined than ever to combat the impacts of climate change. For the past year, OBERLAND has partnered with The Nature Conservancy in building an awareness campaign that compels audiences to rethink just how much we depend on nature- and how much its sustainability depends on us. We're thrilled they'll be sharing their journey in creating the “Depends on Us” campaign during the 'It Takes A Village' panel at this year’s Cause Marketing Summit. As a part of our "Plays Well With Others" series, we asked Drew Train what inspires him to advocate for the planet and other causes. Question. If you could solve ONE of the world’s biggest challenges, what would it be? Answer. Climate change, that is the one that underlies everything else. Ultimately if we don’t fix the climate, the rest of the causes I care about won’t matter as much. We only have one planet . Question. What is your most pressing agenda item for this calendar year? Answer. To double the size and impact of Oberland. Question. What main cause(s) are you currently working on? Answer. Cancer, climate, education, and mental health. Question. What is the current trend of the causes you work on? Answer. I see nonprofits realizing that they need to invest more in marketing and telling their story consistently, and on a regular basis. I see nonprofits putting funding into their operating budget for marketing vs. a capital investment made every five or ten years. Question. Do you see the need for funding and support increasing or decreasing over the next five years? Answer. I see the need for increasing across the board. Cancer and the climate are both at critical tipping points, and the advocacy groups across all the groups we touch are feeling the pinch of current budget proposals taking funding out of their mission. They are going to be approaching their board, individuals ,and corporations to fill the gap. Question. What do you work tirelessly on to further your mission? Answer. I work tirelessly on making the agency better. We are relied on by our clients to have as much as an impact as we possibly can. I’m always looking for ways to do things differently and better. Question. How can we (the CMS tribe) help you? Answer. They can keep evangelizing. The idea is if we as a collective community can make cause marketing a tide rather than a wave we can lift all of our boats for good. Question. Name a favorite community nonprofit or effort you support locally on a personal level? Answer. I serve on the NAMI NYC Metro Board of Directors and Services for the Underserved Resource Development Committee. Question. What are some of the tools you use to do business? Answer. The primary way we do business development is through networking and publishing relevant content. We are starting to use LinkedIn and Facebook more often. Question. What is something good/positive that has happened since CMS NYC 2016 last Spring? Answer. There’s more and more attention being paid to mental health in the U.S. and around the world. Heads together, a U.K. campaign, seeing that start to come to the U.S. is a positive sign. Question. What is your current theme song? Answer. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen Question. Why are you going to the Cause Marketing Summit? Answer. To get a pulse on where things are going for the next year. Question. What is the last cute picture you took? Answer.My three incredible kids. More About Drew Train: After racking up more than a dozen national and global awards for cause marketing and driving social change through traditional, digital, social, and mobile campaigns, Drew set up shop as Managing Partner of OBERLAND, a purpose driven branding agency founded with Bill Oberlander.
Before launching OBERLAND, Drew started the social good practice, JWT Ethos, at J. Walter Thompson New York. In that role, he worked with corporate, nonprofit, and public sector brands who play a role in driving change on the big-picture issues society faces. By leading an integrated team, Drew leveraged the potential of CSR strategy, communication planning, branding, and advertising to create positive, lasting change. Drew lives in New York with his wife and 3 children. |
Jennifer RicheyCorporate partnerships guru with a keen interest in sparking creative campaigns for good. Founder of the Cause Marketing Summit. Archives
April 2019
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