Deepen customer loyalty and increase AOV with cause-marketing - virtual Shopify meetup recap and video

Non-profit organizations are feeling the pinch during this insane time. Many businesses are. Many non-profits depend on events to drive donations, making it challenging for the communities they support.

That’s why I was so excited to welcome Melaney Lubey from dailyKarma to talk to us at our latest Shopify Meetup.

The numbers don’t lie

Mel shared some pretty staggering statistics.

• 96% of global non-profit organizations surveyed were negatively impacted by Covid.
• 41% of non-profit organizations surveyed expect a decline in donations.

I can confirm that the non-profit I work with, is currently looking for ways to raise funds. Usually, we take part in Giving Tuesday, which won’t change. We also hold events that drive a significant amount of our annual donations. Not just from our community and through our supporting partners as well. Events can’t be in person this year so we’re having to be more creative in raising funds.

Mel reminded us that Shopify store owners don’t have to be a large company to make an impact. Store owners have three possible ways to structure a cause-campaign.

1. Only the brand donates.
2. Only the customer donates.
3. Both the brand and the customer donates.

Either way, they drive customer engagement, boost brand preference, and reduce the impact on profit margins.

Recently, I wrote How a small Shopify store got my business. In this article, I discussed looking for a new coffee vendor. There’s more to the story, but in relation to this topic, I ended up going with Fetch Roasters. One of the main reasons was because they donate part of all sales to a local non-profit.

Mel went on to share a few case studies. Businesses not only saw sales go up, but they also saw an increase in new customers and sustained customer engagement. The amount of funds raised were the icing on the cake for these businesses and meant a lot to the non-profits they’re supporting.

Don’t forget to communicate

Another gem that Mel shared was around the communication of your cause campaign.

There are pre-launch communications that tell your customers what you’re doing. Then of course during the campaign itself to drive donations. But what stood out to me was what she recommended after the campaign.

I won’t spoil the whole thing. Yes, I left a cliff-hanger!

This is a webinar you won’t want to miss. Watch the full presentation and be sure to reach out to Melaney at dailyKarma.

Join the Shopify Meetup and get notified of future events in our neighborhood.