General Mills
Over the years, General Mills has been involved in numerous major cause marketing campaigns, both corporately and through its individual brands. The company’s biggest and longest-running cause marketing initiative is ‘Box Tops for Education,” which is familiar to millions of parents. The program raised more than $23 million for 77,000 schools in the 2002-03 school year, bringing the total generated to more than $90 million.
At the initiative’s core is the ‘Clip” program, which donates up to $20,000 per school annually by giving 10 cents per boxtop coupon redeemed from more than 800 General Mills products. Recent additions to the program enable consumers to raise similar amounts by shopping online in the Box Tops for Education Marketplace and charging with their Box Tops for Education Visa card.
Yoplait’s “Save Lids to Save Lives” program began six years ago when a yogurt plant in California agreed to donate some of its product to a breast cancer fundraiser. The next year, Yoplait went national and since has become the national presenting sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure series.
Cheerios has adopted reading as its cause. Last year, through its “Spoonful of Stories” program, the cereal gave $400,00 to First Book to provide underprivileged children with reading material, used its package to offer reading tips and encourage to contribute to First Book and gave away 5 million classic children’s books.
Also, Nature Valley Granola Bars has had a five-year alliance with the Nature Conservancy and in a program launched this year, Betty Crocker partnered with Share Our Strength to conduct “The Great American Bake Sale,” a grassroots anti-hunger campaign.
