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The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Opinion

September 04, 2008

The Power of "On-the-Spot" Marketing

During a recent vacation at a rental house on Cape Cod, the nonprofit consultant Nancy Schwartz was reminded of the value of “right place, right time” marketing.

Ms. Schwartz writes in her blog Getting Attention about a magnet on the refrigerator in her rented beach house that read: “Vacation over? Got extra food? Donate to Pantry Partners for Cape Cod Families in Need.”

Pantry Partners, a three-year-old hunger charity that supplies 12 area food banks, has found that vacationers cleaning out the icebox before trekking home can be a good source of donations. The well-placed magnet simply “feeds” this idea.

“Putting your call to action on the spot, when and where people are doing something related, works,” Ms Schwartz writes. “I registered Pantry Partner’s request every time I opened the fridge, and you know where our remaining groceries went when we headed home.”

She concludes by inviting organizations to brainstorm on what “on the spot marketing” they might develop for their causes. Do you have any experiences with placing messages where they can motivate the most?

Brennen Jensen

Comments

  1. I worked for a food bank for a while as well. For a couple of days we had a huge windstorm and almost the entire city was without power. Grocery stores were out of Milk, Meats, and other perishables. We used that event as an equalizer as rich and poor both struggled as a result. The community responded really well.
    Jason Dick
    www.ASmallChange.net

    — Jason Dick    Sep 25, 11:55 PM    #

Commenting is closed for this article.



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