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February 26, 2009, 03:26 PM ET
Persuading Sports Fans to Give to Charity
How can you capitalize on a sporting event like the World Cup to focus global attention on your cause?
That was the question posed to business students one day last week as part of the fourth annual Sports MBA Case Competition, held in partnership with the nonprofit Malaria No More. The students, from institutions such as the University of Southern California, Columbia University, Oxford University, in England, were given 24 hours to come up with a way to use the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, to raise awareness about malaria.
The Columbia University Graduate School of Business team took the top prize for their idea of a partnership with youth soccer in the United States to raise money for malaria nets in Africa. They envisioned a “Soccer Without a Net Day,” an event in which all youth soccer teams in the U.S. would play a game without a net in each goal.
Students from the Said Business School at Oxford University finished second for their proposed strategy of a fantasy soccer contest and a partnership with each team in the Barclay’s English Premier League.
University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business’s team finished third with a campaign inspired by Nike’s yellow Livestrong bracelets. Sales of light blue shoelaces internationally could raise awareness for light blue malaria nets in Sub-Saharan Africa. Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business won an honorable mention for an idea to hold a global kickoff concert similar to Live Aid.
Malaria No More will use the information to help build a strategy around the World Cup.
“Not only did the students display remarkable creativity and innovation to help us achieve our goals,” said the charity’s chief executive, Scott Case, “but they also learned what a pivotal role marketing and business can play in the global effort to end malaria deaths.”
What do you think of the contest and the winning ideas? How would you use a sporting event to build awareness, and raise money, for your cause?
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