Charity As Gimmick

During December, BMW North America will help make wishes come true with a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every new vehicle leased or sold at participating dealers. A contribution of $25 will be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every new BMW sold at participating locations from Dec. 1-31.

Wow... how generous of BMW considering that the lowest priced car in their line-up, the 328i Sedan, carries a $32,400 MSRP. BMW is donating less than 1/10 of a percent of the car's MSRP. If you consider the top of the line 760Li sedan and its $122,600 MSRP, then the $25 donation is embarrassingly tiny. If BMW was serious about making a high impact contribution to Make-A-Wish, the company would at least scale its donation to the value of the vehicle. How about $100 for the 328i and $1000 for the 760Li?

BMW is putting to use what is referred to within the marketing trade as an embedded-giving program. The basic idea is that when a consumer buys a product during the promotion period, the company makes an automatic donation in his/her name to a designated charitable organization. While it sounds like a noble idea, rest assured that the promotion is based first and foremost on a marketing premise and less about social responsibility.

Case in point is the Barneys "Have a Green Holiday" catalog I referenced in an earlier post. In the catalog, the World Wildlife Fund is mentioned as a participating charity in the Barneys' holiday promotion. It turns out, as reported by The New York Times, that the World Wildlife Fund was unaware of their participation in the promotion -- oops! link

Mixing charity and commerce is problematic. My suggestion is to take the high road and keep them separate. If you can afford a six figure car, then you shouldn't need prodding from BMW to make a donation to those in need. And if you lead a company as successful as BMW, then you should not have to rely on promotion results to justify making a high impact, charitable donation.

Charity is best felt from the heart rather than analyzed by the brain.