Something different - Promoting social responsibility via word of mouth marketing

**sharong** · 08-12-08

I am currently working with a project called DonateMate, which is a somewhat different take on affiliate programs, attempting to actually raise money for charity instead of make money.

The service is aimed mostly at e-commerce and business websites, and combines giving to charity with word-of-mouth marketing, helping to build the brand's image as more socially responsible, while driving more traffic to the site.

The principle is simple: the site owner installs the DonateMate widget, and agrees to donate up to a certain sum of money, and visitors to the site can use the widget to recommend the site to their friends. In the end of the month, users receive "credits" which they may donate to their charities of choice.

Siteowners enjoy both the direct referrals from users and the positive image that results from their donations, as well as detailed statistics on the most-emailed pages on their site, and an analysis on the causes that are most interesting to their users.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Sharon

**Lawcom** · 08-12-08

Originally Posted by sharong

word-of-mouth marketing,

Isn't that just talking to people ? always a good idea.. not sure you can sell it as a marketing concept though....

Good luck with it .. still believe charities need to get real and get up to speed with the web... hope it works

**sharong** · 08-12-08

Originally Posted by Lawcom

Isn't that just talking to people ? always a good idea.. not sure you can sell it as a marketing concept though....

Good luck with it .. still believe charities need to get real and get up to speed with the web... hope it works

Actually, the term Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) refers to influencers and social media marketing.

Studies have shown that 86% of consumers will switch from one brand to another brand if the other brand is associated with a charitable cause. In addition, consumers give the highest relative purchase influence score to recommendations from family and friends. The combination between these two factors is what makes DonateMate so unique.