I don’t think I’d ever really heard the term “cause marketing” until I was actively running Doughp and building out #Doughp4Hope, the philanthropic mission at the heart of our business. We sell (ridiculously good) cookie dough, but because of our focus on mission, we’re perhaps even more well known for our advocacy around mental health and addiction recovery. Our “why” is what has propelled us to sell more than $15 million of this sweet treat and it’s what keeps customers not only coming back, but eager to tell their friends and family about this company that cares.

It’s through this experience that I’ve been able to see firsthand the impact that cause marketing can have on a business, its employees, and especially on its founder’s mental health. Because when the going gets tough (and it will!), it’s a heck of a lot easier to keep going when you’ve got your mission in mind.

In this post, I’ll give you some insights into how you can weave a purpose into your business no matter what you’re selling. I mean, cookie dough and mental health? Who knew?! My hope is to inspire you to do more than just check off a “corporate social responsibility” checkbox and instead build something that matters.

Why Cause Marketing?

Cause marketing makes your business less transactional and more about getting customers excited to rally behind your shared values. This will not only elevate your brand (giving you another strong value proposition to market), but it strengthens your business internally as well. Employees are more engaged and motivated when they feel their work is contributing to a greater good.

Incorporating a Cause in Your Business

To integrate a cause into your business, consider the following steps:

  1. Find your why. Start by identifying a cause that aligns with your brand values and resonates with you (the founder/CEO), the team, and your customers. As with so many things in business, this has to feel authentic. What problem do you want to solve? How have you or a loved one been affected? What excites you to talk about and fight for every single day? Take some time to reflect over the next few weeks and see what stands out to you.
  2. Weave it in. Your commitment to this cause should be crystal clear in every single aspect of your business. Consider three components to support this mission:
    • For your team: Internal employee policies, the way you show up as a founder/manager and speak about the issue, etc. You’ve got to walk the walk!
    • For your customers: Social media, email, SMS and more. Keep the messaging and tone of voice throughout every channel you communicate in. Consider campaigns that reflect the values of your mission.
    • For the community: Donations tied to revenue/profit and meaningful partnerships with relevant nonprofits, volunteer opportunities in your community or abroad where your mission is felt most.
  3. Be consistent. Think about how your mission is appearing on all channels — from your website to your SMS strategy and everything in between! Communicate your cause consistently and share stories, mission-oriented reviews you receive from customers, and the impact of your efforts regularly to keep your audience engaged and informed.
  4. Involve your team. Encourage your employees to participate in cause-related activities. This could be through volunteer opportunities, donation matching programs, or internal discussions about the cause. Involvement fosters a deeper connection to the company and its mission. You’ll see recruiting is aided by your cause as well. People want to work for companies that believe in what they believe in and/or have been affected by.
  5. Measure your impact. Track the results of your cause marketing efforts and share these with your audience. Transparency about the impact you’re making builds trust and reinforces the importance of the cause.

How it All Comes Together

At Doughp, our cause marketing initiative, #Doughp4Hope, was born out of my personal journey into recovery. After first sharing my sobriety on our social media in 2017, I quickly realized through a flood of DMs from customers that so many others shared a similar journey. I wanted to be a lighthouse for others to know they’re not alone and to help break the stigma around mental health and addiction recovery. Here’s how we bring our cause to life across the business:

  1. Elevate the Conversation: We bring honest, unfiltered conversations to our community by lifting up real stories from our fans and the broader recovery community. Every Monday, we host our Mental Health Monday series on Instagram, sharing these stories to create awareness and foster a supportive environment. This not only helps those in recovery feel seen and heard but also educates our wider audience about the realities of mental health challenges.
  2. Walk the Walk at Doughp: We became a designated Recovery Friendly Workplace and have robust mental health policies that encourage our team to bring their full selves to work. This commitment to authenticity and openness helps to create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture. We offer:
    • No questions asked “Mental Health Days;” a day-off when you need it. Though no different than a sick day, this allows the employee the chance to share what’s really going on instead of having to cough and pretend to be sick.
    • We have an “Open Heart Policy” where you’re free to have candid discussions about what’s going on in your life beyond the job. 
    • We offer mental health care subsidies for therapy, massages and other forms of self-care, whatever that looks like to the employee.
    • Mental Health Monday Slack channel where employees share one high and one low from the last week (75-plus percent of the highs/lows wind up being non-work related!).
    • Do not require Slack or email be on an employee’s personal phone. In fact, request that they remove it! When they’re off work, they should really be OFF work.
  3. Game-Changing Donations: We donate a portion of every sale to the SHE RECOVERS® Foundation (SRF), a nonprofit charity that connects, supports and empowers women in or seeking recovery. In addition, when anything goes awry in shipping — which, hello e-commerce, it’s inevitable! — we offer our customers the chance to receive a refund or “doughnate” their refund to SRF. (Cookie dough puns included, free of charge.) This donation opportunity turns an otherwise sour experience of something going wrong in shipping into a poignant reminder of our dedication to the mission. By aligning our business with a cause that reflects our values, we not only provide financial support but also raise awareness and foster a sense of community.

Wrapping it Up

More and more, consumers are voting with their wallets and they’re looking for brands that support the causes they care about. The more genuine connection you have to the cause and the more thoughtful integration of it throughout your business, you’ll see an even bigger impact in employee retention, increased customer loyalty, and even a happier YOU. At the end of the day, being a good human feels pretty dang awesome!

By genuinely integrating a cause into your business operations and company culture, you can make a significant impact while building a loyal community. Oftentimes businesses say they can’t “afford” to make donations or have these mission-oriented policies at their company. I’m here to say you can’t afford not to.

Feel free to share your experiences and challenges with integrating cause marketing into your business in the comments below.

Let’s inspire each other to make a difference!