Cause Related Marketing

The Sports world is bigger now more than ever thanks to growing media coverage and social networking. Professional athletes are becoming more and more famous almost by the minute with things such as Twitter where everyday people can interact with some of the worlds best athletes. This has led to great cause related marketing between professional athletes and non profit organization. Certain organizations have been set up either through personal charities such as NBA player Ray Allen's Ray of Hope charity, or through the teaming up of specific athletes with already established organizations such as the Make-A-Wish foundations. These charities are based and founded on the status of the athletes that are involved with them. There are also cases of large corporations such as Toyota getting invloved in charities such as the Make-A-Wish foundation to improve certain communities (see link) These relationships are a great example of cause- related marketing that is great for both parties involved and most importantly the community.

In what ways are cause-related marketing relationships good for the community? Are there any instances where they are not?