SmallBizResource Blog -- Marketing

Entrepreneuer Gives Back

Posted by Gayle Kesten Thursday, Apr 10, 2008, 04:13 PM ET

I haven't seen the numbers to confirm whether last night's "Idol Gives Back" show made the "googillions" that Ben Stiller hyped. But I do know about another charitable initiative set to launch next week that will enable entrepreneurs here at home to help budding businesses in third-world countries.

With the tagline "Change the world...one business at a time," Kivab4b.org offers entrepreneurs and small businesses an easy way to participate in cause-related marketing. About.com's small business section nails the benefits of cause-related marketing right on the head: "Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company's proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits."

Kivab4b.org goes live Tuesday, April 15, representing a joint effort between Advanta, a credit-card issuer and the brains behind Ideablob.com (see my January post), and Kiva, a microlending Web site that provides a platform for people to lend money directly to entrepreneurs in the developing world. Since its inception in 2005, Kiva has loaned out $27 million.

"You might choose to support a baker in Uganda or a woman-owned business," Ami Kassar, Advanta's chief innovation officer, told me. "Pick the entrepreneur that you have an affinity with."

Advanta's role? Apply for its credit card, then as its customer Advanta will match the amount you choose to donate. In return, Advanta will also send you "cool tools and goodies," like stickers for your storefront and buttons for your Web site, so "you'll have the opportunity to share with your customers and community what you're doing to give back to the world," Kassar said.

To be sure, you can go directly through Kiva without becoming an Advanta credit-card holder, but you'll miss out on the money-matching and provided promo materials.

Seems like a triple win to me.

Marketing