I was intrigued when I noticed ads for the Ride to Conquer Cancer during the Tour de France coverage – not because they were for an event over 11 months away, but because the event name had changed to reflect a national title sponsor, namely Enbridge. The event is now called Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer.
While this is not unusual – we see it with sports venues and other fundraising events – it struck me because it has become such a well-known event that has built equity in its name and its brand. And now it is going to share that with a title sponsor.
From a fundraising perspective presumably this means that more sponsorship dollars will go to cover event costs – and thereby increase the percentage of fundraising dollars that actually go to the cause. The cost of fundraising goes down, which is a “win” for the event, and more importantly, the cause.
From an exposure perspective, Enbridge probably has more to gain from this than The Ride to Conquer Cancer, particularly as relates to Enbridge’s reputation in the area of corporate social responsibility. Presumably Enbridge will also help to extend the marketing efforts for the event, resulting in a “win:win” for both sides.
Kudos to Ride to Conquer Cancer for being flexible with their brand and kudos to Enbridge for rallying behind an important cause.
I bet you never thought you’d see corporate social responsibility connected with cost of fundraising?!?
Tags: brand, cause marketing, charity, corporate social responsibility, CSR, Enbridge, fundraising, non profit, not for profit, Ride to Conquer Cancer, sponsorship