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Cause marketing — the practice of connecting marketing to social responsibility — is proving to be one of the most effective ways to increase sales, boost customer loyalty, and build brand awareness. Forty-one percent of consumers believe companies can improve brand perceptions by increasing their cause sponsorships, a survey by Performance Research found. And marketers are heeding the call: Spending on cause-related-marketing, one of the latest marketing trends, is projected to reach $1.57 billion this year, a 3.1% increase over 2008, according to the IEG Sponsorship Report. But how can a growing business affordably rally support for a cause? Here are some ideas:

1. Have some fun. Schedule low-cost events for customers until your program’s goal is reached, suggest Marilyn Suttle and Lori Jo Vest, coauthors of Who’s Your Gladys? How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest Fan. Host a rally or a picnic and offer something simple like free cookies and coffee to guests who donate. Or hold a drawing for a chance to have lunch with a local celebrity, or another unique prize.

2. Attend community events. Contact organizations that stage cause-related events in your community to see how you might piggyback on their efforts.

3. Be real. “Embody the values of the cause you’re supporting every day,” says Roger Sametz, president of Sametz Blackstone Associates, a strategic communications consulting firm in Boston. “The more your brand stands for those values, the more likely you’ll be to attract like-minded customers.”

4. Provide thought leadership. Offer enriching incentives to those who contribute to your cause. Suttle and Vest suggest free evening lectures or a workshop that provides useful information about a topic of interest to your customers. “This could be done on site or through a Webinar,” they note.

5. Showcase your customers. Get a local TV station to air a feature story about how your customers’ contributions are helping your worthy cause. “This raises their social standing in the community, and also demonstrates the benefits of associating with you and your company,” Suttle and Vest point out.