Home Depot and the Red Cross teamed up to collect donations for Katrina Victims. While collaborations between large companies and non-profit agencies happen all the time, they usually come up with drab (read safe) marketing ideas. This new collaboration developed and executed by the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) is anything but ordinary. The idea: the MTA placed donation buckets branded with the Home Depot and Red Cross logos at each tollbooth along the Maine Turnpike.
With Maine tolls ranging from $.60 to $1.75, unprepared travelers are always left with small amounts of change. Dropping that change into the bucket hanging between the toll and your car is simple. Further, each time I donated, I received a “Thank You” from the tollbooth employee.
Already known as an innovator for toll collections, the MTA creatively answered Governor Baldacci’s request for all Maine state agencies to get involved with the relief efforts. Paul Violette, Mark Adams, Dan Paradee and several other marketing savvy MTA officials created this novel concept and shared it with other states through the Internation Bridges, Tunnels and Turnpikes Association. To date, this program has raised $70,670.64. Interestingly, not all of that money was from change. Over $5,000 was donated as personal checks. Imagine the possibilities for Lincoln Tunnel buckets and other New York tunnels and bridges.
These three organizations have combined the two major characteristics for successful non-profits. They made it easy to donate and made me feel personally involved with the cause. The MTA and Home Depot also executed excellent goodwill marketing with minimal effort. As more companies and agencies get involved with Katrina, will they too tap their creative side?
Contributed By Robert Victor
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