Cause marketing is a popular way for companies to engage their consumers in support of a cause. The best cause marketing campaigns provide benefits to both the corporate brand and one or more nonprofit partners. With these cause marketing facts and links to dive deeper into reports, you’ll be able to capitalize on this global trend and make the business case for launching your next cause marketing campaign.

Fact #1—Cause marketing’s popularity in the US can be traced to a 1983 campaign from American Express and a nonprofit fundraising for a restoration of the Statue of Liberty.
Source: The Balance Small Business

Fact #2—64% of global consumers will choose, switch, avoid, or boycott a brand based on where it stands on the political or social issues they care about.
Source: Edelman’s Earned Brand Study

Fact #3—79% of Americans say they feel a deeper personal connection to companies with values similar to their own.
Source: Porter Novelli/Cone Purpose Biometrics Study

Fact #4—Companies with a clearly defined sense of purpose are up to 50% more likely to successfully expand into a new market.
Source: The Business Case for Purpose

Fact #5—40% of consumers seek purposeful brands and trust in brands to act in the best interest of society.
Source: GlobeScan + BBMG

Fact #6—An estimated $1.2 trillion opportunity exists for global brands that make their sustainability efforts clear in their marketing.
Source: Unilever

Fact #7—33% of consumers are making the choice to buy from brands doing social or environmental good.
Source: Unilever

Fact #8—72% of US consumers have donated to charity at the register.
Source: Catalist’s Revelations at the Registers

Fact #9—More than 30 US states have laws governing charitable sales campaigns, known as “commercial co-ventures,” where a company pledges to donate a portion of the purchase price to charity.
Source: Verrill Law

Fact #10—Just 31% of companies measure the value of social good programs on customers’ perceptions versus 43% of companies that measure the impact of social good programs on employee metrics.
Source: CECP Giving in Numbers 2019

Fact #11—People are willing to pay 6% more for a product from a socially responsible company.
Source: Nucleus Research Guidebook for Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud

Fact #12—Consumers are 64 percent more likely to recommend companies to their friends if the company is socially responsible.
Source: Nucleus Research Guidebook for Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud

Fact #13—Cause sponsorship is estimated to reach $2.23 billion in 2019, an increase of almost 5% compared to 2018.
Source: IEG

Featured Photo: Training teachers in Ethiopia to save sight by Orbis Ireland