Kiva Business 4 Business Community

I know it sounds cliche, but the Kiva Affiliate Program is a real 'WIN-WIN' for affiliates and Kiva. If you're not familiar with what an affiliate is, in this context, it's someone who uses their blog or website to encourage people to sign up for the KivaB4B credit card. For every approved application, an affiliate earns from $65-$85 AND, with this unique program, Advanta makes a $25 donation to Kiva in the affiliate's name. To get started, you need go through a registration process. Here's how you do it:

The KivaBusiness Card is a product of Advanta Bank Corp.  The affiliate program is
administered by LinkShare. 
 
1. Go to LinkShare (www.linkshare.com) and register as an affiliate.
2. Under the "Publishers" tab, select "Join Today."
3. Answer the questions in the form and press "Submit."
4. You'll receive a confirmation email from LinkShare (should arrive immediately).
5. Log in to your LinkShare account, and select the "Programs" tab.
6. You'll find Advanta under the "Financial Services" category.  
7. Select "Advanta" and click on "Apply".*  
8. You'll receive a confirmation email (should arrive within 24 hours).  
9. Log in to your LinkShare account, click on "Links" and here you'll find all the links
you need for the KivaB4B offer.  You're ready to go!
 
Now, that you're set up, how do you make money?  It is based on the number of
people that become KivaBusiness Card customers ("Customers")*.  The commission
structure works like this*:  
• You receive $65 per Customer, for your first 25 Customers.
• You receive $75 per Customer, for your 26th - 50th Customer.  
• You receive $85 per Customer, for your 51st Customer and beyond.
For every Customer, Advanta will donate $25 to Kiva in your name*.
 
To review the official terms and conditions of Advanta's Affiliate Program, click here.
Click here for Frequently Asked Questions. If you have any questions about the KivaB4B
Program, email share@kivab4b.org and if you have any further questions about the
Affiliate Program, email affiliatesupport@advanta.com.  
 
*Applications to join Advanta's Affiliate Program are subject to acceptance of the Advanta Affiliate
Agreement and approval by Advanta, which is not guaranteed.  The commission structure may be
modified by Advanta from time to time, with or without notice, at its sole discretion.   All commission
payments are governed by the terms of the Advanta Affiliate Agreement.  Advanta's donation program
may be modified or revoked by Advanta, with or without notice, at its sole discretion.  

Bryan McDonald was featured in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot - The article highlights how he has always made charity part of his business. He's now using Kiva as a way for his business to give back.

Paul Jones, who writes for the cause-related marketing blog shared some lessons he's learned from bad CRM pitches by PR agencies. One of the lessons is to make sure to "think hard about the relationship you're proposing." This made me reflect on Kiva and small businesses.

Kiva is the perfect fit for a small business cause-related marketing campaign. Kiva incorporates so many causes - poverty, human rights, sustainability - so it's sure to strike a cord with almost every passion. However, Kiva's secret sauce is that it provides a unique connection for a business person to help another business person. I don't know too many other organizations, on a CRM level, that can appeal to such a broad spectrum of small businesses.

Tamara Schweitzer who runs a great blog on Inc.com all about Kiva, posted about a fascinating new initiative. A few days ago, at the MicroCredit Summit in Bali , organizaers announced the launch of Microfinance Transparency, "a non-governmental organization designed to publicly report the interest rates of lending institutions worldwide. The US-based initiative is headed by industry expert Chuck Waterfield, and is backed by Muhammad Yunus, founder of Bangladesh-based lending institution Grameen Bank, and by Summit Campaign director, Sam Daley-Harris. The organization already has a substantial list of endorsers, including co-founder and executive director of Kiva, Matt Flannery."

This initiative is extremely important as more and more organizations get involved in microcredit...although microcredit needs to operate in a fair market, there will be unscrupulous organizations that try to take advantage of the poor. This is a great step towards keeping all actors accountable.
 

Paul Jones, on his 'Cause-Related Marketing' Blog, answered a question "about small business and the mistakes they make when it comes to cause-related marketing, in particular developing and sustaining a relationship with a charity." He identifies four basic mistakes:

1. Picking a charity that's a poor strategic fit.
2. Not giving the CRM campaign enough support.
3. Not being in the 'right kind of business' to do a CRM campaign.
4. Picking a charity that's 'too big to be helpful.'

There are obviously important strategic decisions to be made, but I also think there's value in merely promoting the good that the business owner is already doing. Paul says, for example, "If you run a small cabinet-making operation that doesn't advertise, cause-related marketing isn't likely to help make your company more profitable." That's probably true, however, if that cabinet maker is already giving to a charity, tying it directly to his business and letting his customers know can only help create a more meaningful bond. 

Advanta Adds Charity Component to Affiliate Program

Affiliate Program Raises Money for Kiva.org through the KivaB4B Project

 

SPRING HOUSE, Penn, July 22, 2008 - Advanta Corp. (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) has announced that it will use its affiliate marketing program, through Advanta Bank Corp., to make charitable donations to Kiva. For every new Kiva BusinessCard customer acquired through the affiliate marketing channel, Advanta will make a charitable donation to Kiva in the affiliate's name.* Affiliates will continue to receive their negotiated bounty.

"We see our relationships with affiliates as another opportunity to support entrepreneurs in developing countries," said Ami Kassar, Advanta's Chief Innovation Officer. "Not only are we empowering the small business community to help businesses in the developing world, we are going to empower our affiliates, too."

KivaB4B is a joint initiative between Advanta and Kiva - two organizations that uniquely help entrepreneurs and small business owners. The KivaB4B Project encourages small business owners to support entrepreneurs in the developing world by making grants to seed their business ventures. In recognition of their participation in the Project, Advanta provides the small businesses with resources to market their philanthropic activities to their community. Advanta also provides a financial incentive. If a small business owner uses an Advanta BusinessCard to make a grant to Kiva for an entrepreneur, Advanta matches the grant, dollar for dollar (up to $200 per account, per month).**

*For information about the terms, conditions and limitations of the Kiva donation initiative, please contact Jennifer Sherlock at jsherlock@advanta.com. For information about the terms, conditions and limitations of the affiliate program generally, please visit www.linkshare.com.

**For information about the terms, conditions and limitations of the KivaB4B Project, please refer to the Matching Program Terms and other disclosure links on www.kivab4b.org. 

 

About Advanta

Advanta was founded in 1951 by Jack Alter, a Philadelphia school teacher, who wanted to help fellow teachers get access to capital. Today, Advanta is one of the nation's largest credit card issuers (through Advanta Bank Corp.) in the small business market. Advanta continues to find ways to connect with and inspire the small business community through projects like ideablob.com and other initiatives that benefit the lives of entrepreneurs.  Learn more about Advanta at www.advanta.com.

About Kiva

Kiva.org (www.kiva.org) is the world's first person-to-person microfinance website, empowering individuals to provide funds directly for the benefit of an entrepreneur in the developing world. Founded in 2005 by Matt and Jessica Flannery, Kiva.org's mission is to connect people, through microfinance, to alleviate poverty. Kiva.org currently connects givers in more than 50 countries with entrepreneurs in 39 developing countries, through 62 microfinance partners. Kiva.org is headquartered in San Francisco.

 
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08/20
Media Contacts

David M. Goodman
Vice President, Communications
215-444-5073
dgoodman@advanta.com

Jennifer Sherlock
Manager, PR and Events
215-444-5592
jsherlock@advanta.com

Christina Witz
MWW Group
212-827-3753
cwitz@mww.com

OK...so, we like being held up in the same light as the famous 'PRODUCT RED' campaign which raised about $100 million for the Global Fund for Aids. Harald Eltvedt, in his blog, "Brands: you hate them...and you love them...," used RED to introduce KivaB4B as a cause marketing effort which "may be the first aimed specifically at small businesses." And boiling it down for us, he offers some tips for how small companies can benefit from cause marketing. In his words:

Don't just support your own pet cause. Make sure it is an issue your target market cares about. Cause marketing works best with young consumers and boomers.

Do it in a way that will provide real benefit to a cause (it can't be too small a percentage of profits to be meaningful, for example). Research finds that consumers believe the most important issues for companies to address are health, education, environment and economic development.

Don't think that you can charge more. Cause marketing is more about gaining a competitive advantage and building brand loyalty than it is charging a premium. Consumers won't necessarily pay more just to participate.

Start small. Try a cause marketing effort first on a local level. For example, a toy store could run a promotion where part of the sales goes to support a local school. If it works, you can build on ways to support educational efforts from there.

Not that I'm biased or anything, but using support of Kiva as a first step makes sense for so many reasons, but perhaps most importantly, it's a very easy first step.

Dennis Schall, on the Corporate Responsibility Officer Blog, posted an interesting Financial Times article about how Web 2.0 social networking tools will push Corporate Responsibility forward. "When we look at the tools Web 2.0 represents, they have the potential to be game changing for those working to advance a progressive vision of the relationship of business to society." The authors focus on things like how Web 2.0 tools make it easier for companies and their stakeholders to engage in meaningful dialogue. At the 'big picture' corporate social responsibility level, there are clearly a lot of changes happening. One thing they don't mention in the piece is how small business owners can use these social media tools to engage with customers and communities in meaningful ways. We'll be working to introduce tools and resources that can specifically help small businesses DO GOOD and PROSPER. 

This is such a great idea! I much prefer this kind of affinity program to others. It is so simple and so beautiful in how it works. Brilliant!

Lothar Fritsch

Cyndia Zwahlen wrote a great piece in the LA Times today about small businesses using their charitable giving as a way to promote themselves. "More small businesses are making charitable giving part of their business strategy but not all have the know-how to do it effectively." As with any business strategy, a 'cause related marketing' program needs to be planned well. Cyndia makes some solid suggestions:

• Pick a charity or cause that is a good strategic fit.
• Don't overlook small charities.
• Do your research. "Don't assume every charity offers the same benefits to donors or is even willing to work with your small business."
• Don't expect advertising and marketing exposure from the organization you support.
• Don't treat the arrangement casually. You may need a formal written agreement with a charity if there's a public tie between you and the cause.
• Don't back off when money is tight.