Explore every episode of the podcast The Engage For Good Podcast with Alli Murphy
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| Beyond The Register: Macy’s & BBBS Craft A Legacy Through Impactful Mentorship | 23 Jan 2024 | 00:48:56 | |
In 2022, Macy’s launched its new social purpose platform, Mission Every One, to create a brighter future with bold representation for all. In support of youth empowerment, a guiding principle of this mission, Macy’s launched a multi-year partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) to serve young people through the power of mentorship, creating a path for future success and impact that lasts a lifetime. In the first year of the partnership, Macy’s raised $4.8M for BBBS to create more than 97,000 mentor moments for Littles nationwide by developing an integrated, 360-degree cause campaign that engaged all stakeholders with their shared missions and clear CTA. In today’s episode, I’m joined by Sam Di Scipio, Senior Director, Social Impact, Macy’s, Inc., and Deb Barge, CDO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, to talk about their incredible partnership. In today’s episode, we’ll explore:
This episode is brought to you by Macy’s, Inc. Links & Notes
Elevate Your Social Impact
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| Leadership Insights: Thriving Amid Challenges In Social Impact | 12 Dec 2023 | 00:43:02 | |
In today’s ever-evolving corporate social impact landscape, we're navigating a whirlwind of changes: organizational restructures, individual contributors becoming managers, the rise of cancel culture, and heightened demands for broader initiatives despite stagnant headcount and budgets. While these challenges have placed unique and intense pressures on social impact leaders, we've also witnessed a surge of innovation in partnerships and campaigns over the last year. In today’s episode, EFG’s Alli Murphy is joined by Kelli Thompson, a leadership coach, speaker, and author of “Closing The Confidence Gap,” to discuss strategies for tackling these challenges head-on as we head into the New Year. In today’s episode, we’ll explore:
Links & Notes Elevate Your Social Impact
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| From Collaboration To Advocacy: Unpacking BGCA's Partnership With Family Dollar | 22 Aug 2023 | 00:23:25 | |
Nearly half of Family Dollar stores are within 10 miles of a Boys & Girls Club and almost 80% are within 25 miles. In today’s episode, EFG’s Alli Murphy is joined by Chad Hartman, National Vice President of Corporate Partnerships & Engagement at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Together, they explore the growth and impact of the organization's partnership with Family Dollar, a collaboration that has evolved since 2014. In 2022, the partners began exploring how to build a more strategic partnership that would
The episode encompasses various topics, including BGCA’s transformative Summit for America's Youth, Family Dollar's customer research, the art of leveraging partnerships internally and externally, and the importance of impactful stories that resonate at the local and national level. In today’s episode, we’ll explore:
This episode is brought to you by Boys & Girls Clubs of America Links & Notes Elevate Your Social Impact
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| How Newman's Own Fulfills The Promise To "Give It All Away" | 09 Dec 2020 | 00:20:21 | |
Actor Paul Newman created his eponymous salad dressing in 1982 and pledged to donate all profits to charity - far before most brands had ever heard the term "cause marketing". Today the Newman's Own brand boasts a full line of products ranging from salad dressings to fig newtons (Alli's favorite!) and, to date, has donated more than $550 million to thousands of charities in a variety of cause areas. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan and Alli chat with Miriam Nelson, Acting President and CEO of Newman's Own Foundation about her new role at the Foundation, their focus areas, how Covid-19 has impacted their work and her vision for the future of the Foundation. Links & Notes
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| MGM Resorts Enlists UNLV Students As Virtual Tutors For Employees’ Kids | 02 Dec 2020 | 00:13:55 | |
One of the major implications from this global pandemic is the fact that most schools are operating at least partially online. How are working parents supposed to wear two hats simultaneously to become homeschool Zoom teachers and continue on their jobs? Well, MGM Resorts has at least a partial solution. They have partnered with the UNLV College of Education to provide virtual tutoring for their employees kids. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan chats with Laura Lee, Chief Human Resources Officer at MGM Resorts about this fascinating program, how it came about and how it's going so far. Links & Notes [MGM Resorts Social Impact Page}(https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/company/csr.html)
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| The Joe Show: Special Thanksgiving Edition | 25 Nov 2020 | 00:29:23 | |
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Megan starts today's show by sharing how very grateful she is for you, dear listener. Megan is always so thrilled to get the privilege of meeting a listener, even just over email or Twitter so please continue to reach out! Today's episode is a special Thanksgiving edition of The Joe Show with Joe Waters of Selfishgiving.com. In this episode, the duo not only talk about what there is to be grateful for this year (and let's face it...2020 has been a doozy!), they share examples of 'purposeful pivots' that have inspired them, trends they’re seeing, predictions about the impact of the national election on purpose in 2021 and of course, just a healthy dose of banter. Wherever you're tuning in from this week, we hope you have a lovely and safe Thanksgiving.
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| How Imperfect Foods Is Taking A Bite Out Of Food Waste | 18 Nov 2020 | 00:25:19 | |
Hello, Cause Talk Radio listeners, we have an exciting announcement to share! Engage for Good’s Marketing and Engagement Manager Alli Murphy will be joining Megan as a co-host on the podcast when she can steal away from other projects and today marks her very first appearance on the show! In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Alli and Megan have the great pleasure of chatting with Maddy Rotman, Head of Sustainability for Imperfect Foods. Food waste is a major issue in our country (and let’s be honest, sometimes it’s been a major issue in our own kitchens) but you may not realize just HOW big of an issue it is, including from a climate perspective. Thankfully, Maddy walks Alli and Megan through not only the scope of the food waste issue but what Imperfect Foods is doing to ensure our food system becomes more holistic and more sustainable for everyone - from growers to consumers and beyond. Mentioned Links
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| How US Bank Strengthens Communities At Work, Home And Play | 11 Nov 2020 | 00:26:32 | |
In 2019, U.S. Bank donated $60 million to charitable organizations and employees volunteered 334,000 hours to good causes. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks to Sophie Rich Senior Vice President and Foundation Managing Director for US Bank about how their charitable giving has evolved over the years and gotten much more focused on strengthening communities at work, home and play. We talk about their long-standing partnership with Habitat for Humanity International and how that relationship has also evolved alongside the Bank’s social impact strategy. We also discuss the pivots they’ve had to make due to the Covid-19 pandemic and becoming more comfortable elevating stories of impact more publicly. Mentioned Links
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| How Kellogg and The Global FoodBanking Network Are Feeding School Children Around the Globe | 04 Nov 2020 | 00:28:56 | |
Roughly 300 million children have been without school meals and are at risk of hunger since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. And even before COVID, an estimated 73 million vulnerable children were not being reached with food at school. We know that number has risen in recent months. and will continue to rise without urgent action by government, the private sector, and civil society. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Stephanie Slingerland, Kellogg Company Senior Director of Philanthropy and Social Impact and Lisa Moon, President and CEO, The Global FoodBanking Network about the state of childhood hunger around the globe and their collaborative efforts to pivot their critical school feeding programs during the global pandemic. Links & Notes
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| Harry’s Is Helping Men With Mental Health Needs | 28 Oct 2020 | 00:22:20 | |
Men die by suicide 3.5 times more often than women, and, as a country, we lose 22 veterans a day to suicide. However, talking about mental health — particularly for men — can still be challenging and is surrounded by stigma. Several years ago, razor brand Harry's decided to focus their social impact efforts specifically on men's mental health. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks to Harry's head of social impact, Maggie Hureau, about that journey. The two talk about Harry's 1% model (in which they direct 1% of sales to charitable organizations), the soul-searching they had to do around adopting men's mental health as their signature cause, how they've focused efforts to serve black men specifically, and the complexities that COVID has brought to this initiative. Links & Notes
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| Absolut Encourages Consumers To Vote Responsibly | 21 Oct 2020 | 00:18:10 | |
In the past four decades, only half of eligible voters participated in elections overall in the U.S. Armed with that knowledge, Pernod Ricard's Absolut vodka brand launched a #VoteResponsibly campaign prior to the first Presidential Debate. It encouraged people to "Vote First. Drink Second", and featured the brand's first television commercial in 3 years to support the message. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Regan Clarke, VP of Marketing for Millennial Connector Brands for Pernod Ricard about this campaign, how it ladders into their larger "Human Responsibility" pillar, and some of the other provocative campaigns they've embraced this year. Links & Notes
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| Peace Tea And Vote.Org Encourage Gen Z’: Speak Your Peace’ This Election Season | 14 Oct 2020 | 00:19:35 | |
This national election year during a global pandemic is more important than ever before and brands are standing up in a variety of ways to ensure consumers are well-informed about the how, when, where and why around voting this November. One of those brands is Coca-Cola’s Peace Tea, which has done a variety of things to ensure its young consumers have the information they need this election season. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Danielle Fisher, director, refreshment tea brands for Coca-Cola North America about Peace Tea’s limited run of fun, commemorative “VOTE” cans. Danielle also discusses Peace Tea’s special ‘Sip and Scan’ icon that is being leveraged to direct their community to a wide variety of voting resources in partnership with Vote.org. There’s never been a more critical time to support Gen Z in getting out to vote and Peace Tea is doing its part to make sure that happens this year. Links & Notes
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| Lyft, Mastercard Help Get Groceries To Those Who Need Them | 07 Oct 2020 | 00:23:20 | |
According to The Brookings Institution, food insecurity has increased 460% since the pandemic began. With this concerning statistic in mind, rideshare company Lyft made some critical pivots to leverage their network of drivers, strategic partnerships, and impact focus to help serve the most vulnerable communities. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks to Lisa Boyd, Director of Social Impact for Lyft about what they're doing to increase access to transportation to those who need it. For several years, Lyft has conducted a program called Lyft Grocery Access to help those who were food insecure to get to grocery stores so they could get the healthy food they needed. When the pandemic hit, Lyft quickly realized that the needs of those who were hungry looked very different than they had in the past. Instead of focusing on getting people to grocery stores, now Lyft's efforts are focused on getting food directly to people's homes. Through a strategic partnership with Mastercard which committed to fund these grocery deliveries, Lyft has leveraged their Community Drivers who are willing to deliver groceries and supplies to those in need instead of transporting people. That's not all Lyft is doing to make an impact in their communities during this uncertain time - Lisa and Megan discuss their Jobs Access program helping people get safely to interviews and the first few weeks of employment in partnership with United Way and Goodwill as well as hyperlocal nonprofit partners. They talk about how Lyft measures outcomes - and not just outputs - as well as how the company approaches the need for short-term versus continuous transportation. Of course, they also touch on how Lyft is supporting communities of color including their voting access program with partners like the Urban League and Black Women's Roundtable, and others. Links & Notes
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| Fueling Change: The Success Of Dunkin' Ice Coffee Day | 08 Aug 2023 | 00:36:15 | |
Dunkin' and the Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation teamed up for the first-ever Dunkin' Ice Coffee Day on May 25, 2022. During this remarkable event, participating Dunkin' locations nationwide donated $1 from every iced coffee sold to the Foundation, resulting in an impressive total of $1.8 million raised. These funds were directed to local children's hospitals. The campaign aimed to raise $1.5 million through a strategic blend of national and hyper-local marketing efforts, grant funding and volunteer programs. To achieve this goal, Dunkin’ collaborated with national and local media outlets, distributed press materials to local children’s hospitals, utilized Dunkin’s mobile sampling vehicles, distributed gift cards and seamlessly integrated digital strategies during sporting events to maximize engagement. The results were remarkable, with Dunkin's iced coffee sales experiencing a 10% increase on May 25 and stores seeing a sales volume rise of 4%. Moreover, the campaign surpassed its fundraising target by an impressive $300,000. One of the key reasons this initiative was impactful is because it allowed Dunkin's charitable footprint to mirror its restaurant footprint, helping kids in the communities where Dunkin’ serves its guests. In today's episode, host Alli Murphy is joined by April McGonnigal, Director of the Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation, and Molly Rhea, President & Founder of For Momentum. Together, they dive into the inspiring collaboration between Dunkin' and its Foundation and spill the beans about the incredible success of the first-ever Ice Coffee Day - which took home the 2023 Best of the Best Halo Award. In today’s episode, we’ll explore:
This episode is brought to you by For Momentum. Links & Notes
Elevate Your Social Impact
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| Dunkin' Joy In Childhood Foundation Is Alleviating Hunger, Recharging Heroes | 30 Sep 2020 | 00:20:16 | |
Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation has a mission to bring joy to kids battling hunger or illness. When COVID hit, they quickly realized they needed to make grants available to local organizations to ensure those who needed food could get it. But that's not all they did! In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan’s guest is Kari McHugh, Executive Director of the Joy in Childhood Foundation. Kari outlines many of the ways the organization is spreading joy, from simply delivering cups of coffee to first responders to helping them recharge and heal from the trauma of a global pandemic through their new 'Hero Recharge' program. ‘Hero Recharge’ is an innovative partnership with First Descents that takes healthcare workers through an outdoor adventure program that has a goal of nurturing supportive peer relationships for healthcare professionals. We also learn about the Foundation's work with incredible therapy dogs in hospital settings and how consumers are invited to support this program through a partnership with Bark Box via the sale of adorable plush dog toys. There are a lot of impressive efforts happening right now to help vulnerable populations and the Joy in Childhood Foundation is a prime example of some of the good being done in the world. Links & Notes
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| Frontline Impact Project Is Helping Companies Donate Products To First Responders Who Need Them | 23 Sep 2020 | 00:28:33 | |
When COVID struck last Spring, the KIND Foundation wanted to get KIND bars to frontline workers and quickly put a system in place to do so. It didn’t take long for them to realize that other companies might be in the same boat so they created the Frontline Impact Project to help companies get needed products and resources directly to frontline workers in need via one central clearinghouse. Today on Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Michael Johnston, President of the Lubetzky Family Foundation and The KIND Foundation about Frontline Impact Project and how they’re working with over 60 companies to get resources where they’re needed most right now. Megan and Michael discuss some of the things that have surprised the team through this effort, what kind of products and services they still need and what the future of this initiative might entail. Links & Notes
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| PLAY-DOH and Save The Children Honor Teachers, Support Kids With Cans of Kindness | 16 Sep 2020 | 00:22:10 | |
September 16th is World PLAY-DOH Day and we can’t think of a better time than a global pandemic to celebrate a product that brings joy to kids and is truly timeless. PLAY-DOH and their partner Save The Children have launched a back to school effort called Cans of Kindness that involves a corporate donation of 1 million cans of PLAY-DOH to Save the Children to help kids, parents, and teachers around the globe. The campaign is also rewarding a lucky teacher with a year’s supply of PLAY-DOH based on nominations from social media. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio Megan talks to Jennifer Kendra, Head of Cause Marketing & Partnership Development at Save the Children, and Aditi Raturi, Senior Global Brand Manager for PLAY-DOH about their partnership and how it had to adapt once COVID hit. Links & Notes
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| Subaru and TerraCycle Are Keeping PPE Out Of Landfills (And You Should, Too!) | 09 Sep 2020 | 00:23:46 | |
With all of us wearing masks and gloves nearly every time we leave our homes due to the COVID pandemic, what's the environmental impact of all this PPE? As you can imagine, it's NOT GOOD - particularly given these items are now considered contaminants and not recyclable through local recyclers. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks to Kyle Riggs, North American Account Director, Zero Waste for TerraCycle, and Amy Strawbridge, Brand Partnerships & Experiential Marketing Manager for Subaru about their partnership that's working to help Subaru and its customers recycle this PPE. You'll be amazed at how TerraCycle takes items like gloves and disposable masks and converts them into useful materials in a way that keeps these items OUT of landfills. Amy also catches us up on the other incredible social impact programs Subaru has rolled out since COVID hit and Kyle gives us an update on how TerraCycle is keeping busy helping companies and schools keep recycling - even if they're stuck at home. Links & Notes
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| How Microsoft And National 4-H Council Empower And Connect Today's Youth | 02 Sep 2020 | 00:25:10 | |
A recent Harris Poll commissioned by National 4-H Council and Microsoft found that 21% of teens don’t have internet access at home but instead rely on schools, libraries, and other public places to get access. Teens without reliable access to broadband said they felt less confident in their skills and in their long-term social and economic prospects. Over half said they’ve struggled to complete their homework because of slow internet connections—and this was all BEORE COVID-19 struck! In this episode of Cause Talk Radio Megan talks to Artis Stevens, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National 4-H Council and Kate Behncken, Vice President, Lead of Microsoft Philanthropies about their incredible partnership that is helping young people around the country get plugged in and well-connected. They discuss the issues of connectivity in rural America as well as the incredible programs this partnership has put into place to help not only bridge the gap but also empower youth to leverage technology to support their own communities during this time of Covid. Links & Notes
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| COVID Pivots That Work For Good (The Joe Show) | 26 Aug 2020 | 00:24:34 | |
It’s been a minute, but Megan is back with Joe Waters of SelfishGiving.com for The Joe Show! Joe and Megan spend this episode sharing our thoughts about which COVID pivots have struck them as particularly clever or creative from companies that are creating new opportunities because of COVID - like what Major League Baseball is doing with cardboard fans in the stands - to initiatives that are bound and determined to stay the course, even given the pandemic like Dutch Bros’ fundraising effort for MDA. We also give a little sneak peak into Engage for Good’s Member Meet-Up for September about point of sale fundraising (you have to be an EFG Member to join!) and our new “Learning Club” about the Future of Retail on August 27th, which is free for anyone to join. Joe says there are only a few types of businesses that are still viable point of sale fundraising partners. Tune in to hear which ones! Joe and Megan chat about the coin shortage and how companies like Murphy USA and Taco Bell used point of sale fundraising round-up campaigns with their nonprofit partners as a way to address this unique, COVID-caused business challenge. Joe shared a recent example about how a brewing company teamed up with an ice cream shop to give away thousands of free root beer floats in an attempt to break a world record and raise money for a good cause and Megan shared CARE’s clever CARE package campaign that is reimagining their iconic aid tool. Links & Notes | |||
| Big Lots, Nationwide Children’s Hospital Tackle Pediatric Mental Health | 19 Aug 2020 | 00:30:44 | |
One in 5 children is living with significant mental illness and half of all lifetime mental health challenges start by the age of 14. To address this issue of pediatric mental health, Big Lots and Nationwide Children’s Hospital have partnered to create an initiative called ‘On Our Sleeves’ since kids don’t wear their emotions on their sleeves but still need our support. Given the additional stresses created by COVID, the issue of pediatric mental health is even more critical now. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Jeremy Ball, VP of Internal Communications, Philanthropy and Events and Donna Teach, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital about their partnership and how they’ve pivoted during COVID to create an incredible, gratitude-focused platform. They discuss the resources the team has developed for kids and families and what their plans are to keep their foot on the gas when it comes to providing resources for pediatric mental health. Links & Notes
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| How Agency Leader Can Support Black Employees With Jeff Meade | 12 Aug 2020 | 00:32:15 | |
Megan’s guest today is Jeff Meade, founder of an agency for agencies called Meade. Jeff recently wrote an article on LinkedIn called, “How Agency Leaders Can Support Black Employees”, with 6 practical tips for agencies....or really any organization. Jeff and Megan talk through these tips, ranging from education to the Rooney Rule. More than anything, Jeff and Megan both agree that one thing we can all do to continue this important conversation on racial justice is to “keep your foot on the gas”. This conversation is one small way to do exactly that. Links & Notes
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| Sweetgreen, World Central Kitchen Provide Nutrition To Frontline Healthcare Workers | 05 Aug 2020 | 00:26:28 | |
Sweetgreen restaurants are on a mission to inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food. When the COVID pandemic hit, they realized they could fill a need by providing healthy food to healthcare workers. So they teamed up with Chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen to create the sweetgreen impact outpost fund that would get much-needed nutrition to hospitals around the country. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan has the pleasure of chatting with Kirby Bumpus, Head of Social Impact and Inclusion for sweetgreen. In addition to learning more about this partnership with World Central Kitchen and how it got started, we also learn more about some of the incredible social impact work sweetgreen is committed to around food education, access and much, much more. Links & Notes
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| No Kid Hungry Message Resonates With Denny’s, Consumers (Halo Winner) | 31 Jul 2020 | 00:21:18 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Consumer Donation category the No Kid Hungry campaign with Denny’s and Share Our Strength. Megan chats with Share Our Strength Senior Manager Victoria Garcia about their award-winning partnership. This is a long-term partnership that has really worked over the years to improve upon it’s in-restaurant consumer fundraising effort. Victoria and Megan talk about how No Kid Hungry has a big presence at Denny’s Franchise Convention, how executives got involved to increase motivation among their teams, incentives that were part of this effort and how all of this resulted in some impressive fundraising gains. Links & Notes
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| Charity Checkout Champions: Unveiling The Powerhouses Of Point-of-Sale Fundraising | 27 Jun 2023 | 00:12:49 | |
The 2023 America’s Charity Checkout Champions Report has arrived, unveiling the extraordinary achievements of 77 campaigns that raised $1 million or more through consumer donations at point of sale in 2022. This highly anticipated report showcases their remarkable accomplishments and provides valuable insights into the overall health of the field. Collectively, these campaigns have raised an impressive $6.7 billion over the past three decades, with an astounding $749 million raised in 2022 alone. Join Alli Murphy, host of the Engage for Good podcast, as she shares an overview of the report, highlighting key data, top-performing campaigns, their strategies for success and the best practices gleaned from their accomplishments. From established giants to emerging newcomers, discover the brands and organizations that have made a big difference through POS fundraising. Gain valuable insights into the best practices employed by these point-of-sale powerhouses and learn how to create effective and engaging campaigns. In this episode, we'll explore:
Whether you're a seasoned POS professional or just starting out, this episode offers valuable insights and inspiration to enhance your organization's fundraising efforts. Tune in to learn from the Charity Checkout Champions and uncover actionable strategies to make a positive impact on your campaigns. Remember to check out the full 22-page report at www.engageeforgood.com. The Engage for Good podcast is going on summer vacation; we’ll be back on August 8th with season 15! Links & Notes Elevate Your Social Impact
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| Volkswagen and DonorsChoose Help Consumers Drive Bigger And Support Local Classrooms (Halo Winner) | 29 Jul 2020 | 00:24:11 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold Winner in the Education category, an initiative called “Drive Bigger”, a partnership between VW and DonorsChoose. Megan is joined by Vashti Barron, Senior Partnerships Manager for DonorsChoose. They talk about how this partnership was activated during a busy summer sales season to give VW a way to help consumers support local classrooms and teachers via donation cards. The two chat about why the partners decided to give dealers the choice of how they used these donation cards, what the business and impact objectives were and what the most successful dealerships did to bring this partnership to life. Links & Notes
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| Subaru, NPCA Tell Visitors, 'Don't Feed The Landfills' (Halo Winner) | 24 Jul 2020 | 00:22:49 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Sustainability category, an initiative called Don't Feed the Landfills with partners Subaru and the National Parks Conservation Association. Megan is joined today by Denise Coogan, Environmental Partnership Manager for Subaru and Karen Hevel-Mingo, Senior Manager of Sustainability and Climate Change for the National Parks Conservation Association. Our national parks are our country's crown jewels but their 330 million annual visitors leave behind more than 70 million pounds of waste. In this episode, they discuss how Subaru and NPCA teamed up to run this pilot program in 3 national parks to help develop, test, monitor and refine approaches to waste reduction tailored to each park’s unique circumstance. Denise, Karen and Megan discuss how this partnership began, how Subaru's deep expertise in waste reduction informed activities of this partnership, how they communicated these steps to parks-goers and employees and what the results were from this incredible effort. Links & Notes
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| CarMax And KABOOM! Engage Employees, Give Kids Opportunity To Play (Halo Winner) | 22 Jul 2020 | 00:32:38 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Group Volunteerism category, The CarMax Foundation Supports Play with KABOOM! Megan speaks with Leslie Parpart, Director of Community Relations at CarMax and James Siegal, CEO of KABOOM! about their long-term relationship. The trio chats about how the partnership started with one CarMax employee and has grown into a multi-year, multi-phased relationship, how the partners found alignment around each organization's purpose and a focus on children and healthy living. They also dig into the three components of this partnership engaging over 11,000 CarMax associates in their work, giving over 225,000 kids the opportunity to play and how the partnership helps to build community among CarMax employees. Mentioned Links
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| New York Life and First Book Are Creating Grief Ambassadors In Schools (Halo Winner) | 17 Jul 2020 | 00:25:04 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features a double Halo Award winner: winning Gold for the Disaster Prevention/Relief category AND winning Silver in the Employee Engagement category is an effort called ‘Creating Grief Ambassadors’: a partnership between New York Life and First Book. Megan is joined by Maria Collins, VP of the New York Life Foundation and Kisha Dimbo, Senior VP of Strategic Alliances for First Book to talk about their award winning effort that focuses on childhood bereavement and how they’re working together to support children and families when tragedy strikes. Links & Notes
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| Leidos and The Truth Initiative Help People See ‘The Truth About Opioids’ (Halo Winner) | 15 Jul 2020 | 00:28:55 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold Winner in the Health category, an initiative called “The Truth About Opioids”, a partnership between Leidos and The Truth Initiative. Megan is joined by Melissa Dueñas, SVP and Director of Communications and Marketing for Leidos and Eric Asche, CMO for The Truth Initiative. They talk about how their partnership focused on widening the conversation about opioid abuse, both among Leidos employees as well as other companies via a CEO pledge and critical metrics and how both partners consider this a marathon, not a sprint. In addition, the conversation covers the incredible brand expansion that the Truth Initiative made when they decided to tackle the opioid crisis and how corporate partners like Leidos have helped make their vision a reality. Links & Notes
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| PopSockets Is Helping Consumers Do Good Through Poptivism (Halo Winner) | 10 Jul 2020 | 00:29:48 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Consumer Activated Corporate Donation category, a PopSockets initiative called “Poptivism” Megan is joined by Jennifer Forman, Director of Poptivism & Corporate Citizenship with PopSockets. They discuss what this program is all about, how it began, why PopSockets decided to entrust its community to create their own custom designs for good and where this program is headed in the future. Links & Notes
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| Activision Blizzard, Call of Duty Endowment Raise Awareness, Funds To Employ Vets (Halo Winner) | 08 Jul 2020 | 00:30:02 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner in the Social Service category, an effort called HireHonor: a collaboration between Activision Blizzard and the Call of Duty Endowment. Megan is joined by Dan Goldenberg who serves as Executive Director for the Call of Duty Endowment and VP at Activision Blizzard. We talk about this incredibly successful effort to raise funds and awareness for the issue of veteran employment, how the team focused their efforts to do fewer things better, why they chose to expand internationally and how partnerships with gamers, retailers and sponsors helped elevate this initiative. Links & Notes
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| Anheuser-Busch and National Volunteer Fire Council Are Hydrating Our Nation’s Heroes (Halo Winner) | 03 Jul 2020 | 00:23:23 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Disaster Prevention/Relief category, an initiative called Hydrating Our Nation’s Heroes: a partnership between Anheuser-Busch and the National Volunteer Fire Council. Megan is joined by Adam Warrington, VP of CSR for Anheuser Busch, as well as Heather Schafer, Chief Executive Officer of the National Volunteer Fire Council. The trio discusses how this award-winning partnership got started, how the partners decided to be proactive instead of reactive when it came to supplying canned fresh water to wildfire sites, how they got the word out to volunteer firefighters and the impact of the program. They also talk about how the COVID pandemic is impacting this partnership and what future plans entail. Mentioned Links
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| When Engaging Employees, Vivint Taps ‘The Power of One’ (Halo Winner) | 01 Jul 2020 | 00:22:47 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation w/ one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold winner for the Group Volunteerism category, an effort called The Power of One from Vivint Smart Home. Megan is joined by Holly Mero Bench, Director of Vivint Gives Back. They dig into why Vivint focuses on helping families with children who have autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities after recognizing the profound impact of smart home technology for these families. Holly and Megan discuss the many moving pieces that Vivint activates when it comes to engaging their employees, from international service trips in which employees pay part of their way to providing holiday gifts for families in need. We talk about the role of employee choice in engagement efforts as well as the lessons Holly has learned along the way and the advice she'd give to others who are working to ramp up an employee volunteerism program. Links & Notes
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| CSX Is ‘Serving Those Who Serve’ With Pride In Service (Halo Winner) | 26 Jun 2020 | 00:40:20 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold winner for the Employee Engagement category, an initiative from rail company CSX called Pride in Service. Megan is joined today by Bryan Tucker, CSX VP of Corporate Communications, as well as a LIVE audience who weigh in with their own questions. They discuss the genesis of "pride in service", how CSX determined that one in five of their employees served in the military and the incredibly robust partnerships they activated to engage CSX employees in a cause dedicated to "serving those who serve". We learn what CSX is doing to pivot in response to the COVID pandemic and where Bryan hopes to take this initiative in the future. This episode is sponsored by Harbor Compliance. Download their free, online fundraising compliance guide here. Links & Notes
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| POS Fundraising Benchmarking & Best Practices With American Heart Association & Accelerist | 13 Jun 2023 | 00:29:13 | |
Seventy-seven point-of-sale fundraising campaigns that each raised $1 million or more in 2022 were included in this year’s Charity Checkout Champions report. This biennial study was released at EFG2023 in May and highlighted that these checkout champions raised a cumulative $749 million, up 24% since the 2020 report. These campaigns have raised $6.7 billion over the past three decades. In today’s episode, EFG’s Alli Murphy is joined by Alex Carson, Senior National Corporate Relations Lead at American Heart Association (AHA), and Brittany Hill, Founder and CEO of Accelerist, to dive into best practices in point-of-sale fundraising. The American Heart Association’s “Life Is Why” campaign inspires consumers to honor their reasons to live healthier, longer lives - by giving. The nonprofit has three “Charity Checkout Champions” in this year’s report with Big Lots, Pilot Travel Centers and Walgreens. In today’s episode, we’ll explore:
Links & Notes
Elevate Your Social Impact
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| Walgreens and WE Talk Trauma, Mental Health And Well-Being With Teachers (Halo Winner) | 24 Jun 2020 | 00:35:22 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation w/ one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver winner for the Education category, an effort called WE Teachers a partnership between Walgreens and WE. Megan is joined by Dana Glim, Director of Brand Marketing for Walgreens and Erin Barton, Chief Development Officer for WE. They talk about their longstanding partnership and why the partners decided to focus on supporting teachers in this first year of WE Teachers. The trio dives into the KPIs behind this campaign and the lessons learned including simplicity, employee involvement and supplier engagement. Of course, they also discuss how the COVID crisis will change the partners’ Year 2 plans for back to school and how they're strategizing around the unknown. One thing's for sure: teachers are a critical part of our community and if anything, that's only become more clear in the past months. Links & Notes This episode is sponsored by Harbor Compliance. Download their free, online fundraising compliance guide here.
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| Abercrombie & Fitch And The Trevor Project Partner To Promote Authenticity, Inclusion (Halo Winner) | 19 Jun 2020 | 00:31:54 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Silver Winner in the Inclusion category, an initiative called 'Face Your Fierce', a partnership between Abercrombie & Fitch and The Trevor Project. Megan is joined by Carey Krug, SVP and Head of Marketing for Abercrombie & Fitch and Shira Kogan, Senior Corporate Development Manger for The Trevor Project. They discuss how this 2019 effort went all-in to activate around one of Abercrombie's best-selling SKUs, its 'Fierce' fragrance for men, in a year-round campaign that authentically highlighted stories of real people with diverse identities within the LGBTQ community. The conversation digs into the round-up at point of sale, why the partners decided to make this a year-round effort, the metrics both partners were following as well as the impact of this campaign on the youth that Trevor serves. The COVID crisis has made Trevor's mission even more critical so we also talk about how this partnership is evolving and changing due to the current circumstances and what's to come for this incredible partnership. This episode is sponsored by Harbor Compliance. Download their free, online fundraising compliance guide here: https://bit.ly/30Jdlnc Links & Notes
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| DSW and Soles4Souls Help Consumers Donate Shoes, Support Micro-Entrepreneurs (Halo Winner) | 17 Jun 2020 | 00:33:58 | |
We're back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation with one of this year's Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold Winner in the Consumer-Activated Corporate Donation category, a partnership between DSW & Soles4Souls. Megan is joined by Amy Stevenson, Chief Marketing Officer for DSW and Buddy Teaster, CEO of Soles4Souls. They discuss this 10-year partnership and how the partners really doubled down in 2019 to solve a unique business challenge for DSW: how to provide consumers with a way to donate their gently-used shoes so they could make room for new ones in their closet in a way that supported micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries. They cover how DSW incentivized consumers to donate by providing bonus loyalty points, why it was critical for DSW employees (up to and including the President) to be "all-in" and what actually happens after shoes are donated through this award-winning effort. Of course, the conversation also includes a deep dive into lessons learned and what's happening with the partnership now, given the pandemic. One thing's for sure: people still want to give back and this initiative provides a simple way to do so that truly comes full circle. This episode is sponsored by Harbor Compliance. Download their free, online fundraising compliance guide here. Links & Notes
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| Mastercard’s Girls4Tech Engages Employees, Girls To Advance STEM Careers (Halo Winner) | 12 Jun 2020 | 00:24:56 | |
Eighty percent of jobs in next decade need some combination of STEM skills. Yet only 30% of the STEM workforce is comprised of women. To address this shortage of women in STEM careers, in 2014 Mastercard created an employee engagement effort called Girls4Tech, designed to showcase the in-house expertise of the global payments processor. Girls4Tech won the Gold Halo Award in 2020 for the Skilled Volunteerism Category and in this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks talk with Susan Warner, VP of Talent and Community Engagement for Mastercard who founded this incredible program. Megan and Susan discuss the genesis of Girls4Tech, how they achieved massive scale with this program and what Susan considers the "triple crown" of employee engagement as well as the advice Susan has for other businesses considering skilled volunteerism initiatives. Links & Notes
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| Tim Hortons, Special Olympics Canada #ChooseToInclude On Day of Inclusion (Halo Winner) | 10 Jun 2020 | 00:23:05 | |
We’re back with another special edition of Cause Talk Radio in which we feature a deep dive conversation w/ one of this year’s Halo Award winners. This episode features the Gold winner for the Inclusion category, an effort called Day of Inclusion with partners Tim Hortons and Special Olympics Canada. Megan is joined by Chris Wakefield who leads the Regional Marketing and Sponsorships Team for Tim Hortons and Angela Reid, Manager of Partnerships and Business Development for Special Olympics Canada They talk about their second year of Day of Inclusion, which is both a social media movement as well as an in-store celebration of inclusion where a yummy donut created by a Special Olympics athlete is sold on a single day. The funds help support athletes with intellectual disabilities and helps promote messages of inclusion. Chris, Angela and Megan talk about how their partnership originally began, all the moving pieces behind their significant activations for this campaign, their respective lessons learned and what's in store for the future of their partnership. Mentioned Links
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| H&R Block Is Making Every Block Better | 20 May 2020 | 00:26:29 | |
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, H&R Block was one of the first companies that sprung into action, sharing valuable resources with small business and individuals about navigating the federal government CARES Act as well as providing low- and no-cost tax services to a variety of individuals. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks to Vinoo Vijay, CMO of H&R Block, about their Covid-19 response as well as their overall purpose focus called ‘Make Every Block Better’ which focuses on increasing human connection, combatting loneliness and supporting entrepreneurs. Links & Notes
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| During Pandemic, Planet Fitness Pivots To Pizza | 13 May 2020 | 00:17:53 | |
When COVID-19 struck and all fitness centers had to close their doors, Planet Fitness quickly pivoted and started offering free work-INs to everyone on their Facebook page. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks to McCall Gosselin, Senior Vice President of Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility for Planet Fitness about how they're leveraging these work-ins to feed healthcare workers in a new social responsibility initiative. You'll learn about how (and why) Pizza Mondays have become an important foundation of the company's giving-back strategy during this uncertain time and what the future holds for Planet Fitness and their "judgement free zone". Links & Notes
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| Activision/Blizzard, Riot Games Encourage Gamers To Play Apart Together | 06 May 2020 | 00:26:08 | |
When the World Health Organization needed to share key messages to contain the spread of COVID-19, it turned to the gaming industry for assistance. Originally started with 18 game industry leaders, the #PlayApartTogether initiative now includes nearly 60 gaming companies that encourages their vast network of users to follow the WHO’s health guidelines—including physical distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and other powerful preventive actions people can take to fight COVID-19. In this episode of CTRadio, Megan chats with Dan Goldenberg a VP at Activision Blizard and Jeff Burrell, Head of Social Impact for Riot Games about their company’s activations to help gamers #PlayApartTogether. Mentioned Links
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| David Hessekiel on The Future of Corporate Social Impact | 29 Apr 2020 | 00:31:08 | |
In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan chats with Engage for Good President David Hessekiel. In addition to being a COVID-19 survivor himself, David….like all of us….has had to make a few changes in the way he works. Megan and David discuss switching an in-person event to a virtual one, the most impactful corporate social impact campaigns right now and what nonprofits are saying about their partnerships amidst the crisis as well as what the future of corporate social impact looks like once the dust has settled. Links & Notes
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| Anheuser-Busch Redirects Sponsorship Dollars To COVID-19 Response | 22 Apr 2020 | 00:21:58 | |
When all live sporting and entertainment events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anheuser-Busch made the decision to redirect sponsorship dollars to nonprofit partners including the American Red Cross. One of the greatest needs in the country right now is blood donations, which have fallen off sharply in recent weeks due to stay-at-home orders and the difficulty of social distancing while donating blood. In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan speaks with Adam Warrington, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Anheuser-Busch who shares the story of how the company leveraged its available assets to help mitigate the blood donation crisis in partnership with the American Red Cross and what else they're doing both corporately and at the brand level to support their employees and communities around the globe.
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| An EFG Special: Introducing The P2P Soap Box! | 07 Jun 2023 | 00:35:25 | |
We're thilled to introduce our sister podcast, The P2P Soap Box with Marcie Maxwell. In the very first episode, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s CEO Julie Fleshman and Board member Peter Cashion join Marcie to talk about the profound impact of peer-to-peer fundraising and how they champion it from the top-down. — Despite raising over $1 billion in 2022, peer-to-peer fundraising often fails to receive the recognition it deserves in the world of development and even from the top leadership within nonprofit organizations. There is an ever-present notion that "Walks are dead," but these misguided voices fail to comprehend the true power of peer-to-peer fundraising.
It is only when organizational leaders grasp the potential of peer-to-peer fundraising that we can elevate our efforts to unparalleled levels of success. In this inaugural episode, P2PPF’s Marcie Maxwell is joined by Julie Fleshman, President & CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) and Peter Cashion, Purple Stride team captain and member of the PanCAN Board of Directors. Peter was also the winner of the 2023 Cash, Sweat & Tears Award presented at the 2023 Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum Conference in Washington, DC. Both Julie & Peter share their very personal stories of losing a loved one to pancreatic cancer - and how they have find new purpose in fundraising and a sense of community through PanCAN’s signature event, Purple Stride. They also discuss how they are deepening their Board’s engagement with peer-to-peer fundraising and the impact that has on their staff and volunteers.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Connect with the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum
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| #SaveWithStories Brings Learning To Kids During COVID-19 | 15 Apr 2020 | 00:25:36 | |
The COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools and sent 55 million children home, leaving a huge education gap as well as creating hunger issues for a significant number of them. In response, celebrities Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams decided on a Friday evening they wanted to do something to support children out of school, Save the Children sprung into action and partnered with No Kid Hungry to create a campaign called "SaveWithStories" which now features 150 celebrities reading books to children online. Perry Yeatman is Save the Children's Head of Corporate Partnerships and Megan’s guest in this episode of Cause Talk Radio. Perry and Megan talk about this incredible campaign, as well as what's happening with Save's corporate partnerships and how the organization has ramped up to respond to COVID-19 both in the US and abroad. Links & Notes
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| How To 'Think Outside The Building' With Rosabeth Moss Kanter | 08 Apr 2020 | 00:30:05 | |
Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, specializing in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change and is Megan’s guest in this episode of Cause Talk Radio. Professor Kanter co-founded the Harvard University-wide Advanced Leadership Initiative, guiding its planning from 2005 to its launch in 2008 and serving as Founding Chair and Director from 2008-2018. Author or co-author of 20 books, her latest book is Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time which is the subject of the conversation in this episode. Megan and Professor Kanter discuss how individuals can break through the status quo of established organizations to create bold and innovative systems change that make a meaningful impact in the world, how to influence without authority and where people most frequently get stuck in their efforts to make meaningful change. This episode is sponsored by Audible. Get your free audiobook and start your 30-day trial today! Links & Notes
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| COVID-19 Resources, Tips and Sanity Keepers (The Joe Show) | 01 Apr 2020 | 00:19:10 | |
In this episode, Megan talks to regular guest Joe Waters (SelfishGiving.com) about all things related to the COVID-19 pandemic: how Joe is counseling nonprofit organizations to up their game when it comes to creating a digital following, helpful resources they’ve seen in the social impact space and last but definitely not least the things that are keeping them both sane during this challenging time.
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