Triodos backs marketing volunteering site Pimp My Cause
Howard Lake | 2 September 2011 | News
Sustainable finance specialist Triodos Bank is the first corporate partner of Pimp My Cause, the new social enterprise that aims to match professional marketers with charities and non-profits to whom they can donate their talent and expertise.
Dr Bevis Watts, Head of Business Banking at Triodos said: “Pimp My Cause is an inspiring example of how money isn’t the only commodity in society; that giving time and expertise can be an even more powerful way of making things happen. With charities facing cuts at a time when society arguably needs their support more than ever, Pimp My Cause is an idea of its time which could be replicated in many ways.”
The first piece of marketing work generated by the site was contributed by Alex Epstein, former candidate on the BBC’s Apprentice, in support of the youth development charity UK Youth, helping them create a new marketing strategy based on participatory campaigns and youth development initiatives. He has now been joined in his work with the charity by fellow Apprentice contestant Melody Hossaini, a social entrepreneur working in the youth sector with her skills development enterprise Inspire Engage.
Professional marketers can browse profile listings of the causes and their needs. They can work on their own or team up with other marketers on the platform to form an “open source” marketing department. The site now “has several hundred members” and over 130 charities and non-profit organisations have listed their requirements.
Other early examples of work contributed through the site include a new digital campaign strategy for a regional office of the RSPCA, strategic planning and network building for the mental health charity Upbeat in London and graphic design for the Samrong Farm Orphanage in Cambodia, as well as PR support for the award-winning social enterprise “I’m a person too!”.
Pimp My Cause also features a Twitter help desk which fields questions from charities around the world on their marketing challenges, a discussion forum, and a series of expert interviews with top marketers and marketing authors.
www.pimpmycause.org
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.