Every year, Ad 2 San Diego selects a local non-profit organization that is making an impact to our community and offers pro-bono integrated  marketing campaigns. We’ve done everything from radio ads, television commercials to a full website redesign to meet our client’s goals and objectives.

Last year, to fund our marketing initiatives, we hosted our first Charity Art Auction at our annual Cause Marketing Night event. We invited agencies and companies all over San Diego to showcase their creativity by donating a piece of art for charity.  At the end of the night, over 20 one-of-a-kind canvasses were auctioned off which helped raise over $3,000 for our public service campaign (see below).

This year, Ad 2 San Diego’s Public Service Committee is excited to be working with Wounded Warrior Homes as their non-profit partner for the year. This organization provides transitional housing to soldiers affected with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injuries as they make the transition from active duty military to independent living.

If you’d like to participate in this year’s Cause Marketing Night and donate a canvas for the charity art auction, please contact Ad 2 San Diego at info@ad2sd.com.

To view all of the canvasses that were donated last year, visit our Cause Marketing Night 2011 album on Facebook.

This year I’ll be participating in my first virtual charity run created by Jeff & Tamara the creators behind WeRRunners.com. The purpose of the event is to take the amount you would normally pay for a race registration ($30 – $150) and donate those funds to your support your favorite charity. The event takes place April 13th through April 15th and people all over the world will be participating.

The cause that I will be supporting and running on behalf of is called WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. WomenHeart is the nation’s only patient centered organization serving the 42 million American women living with or at risk for heart disease – the leading cause of death in women. They are devoted to advancing women’s heart health through advocacy, community education, and the nation’s only patient support network for women living with heart disease.

In addition to donating funds to WomenHeart, I’m also earning donations for the organization by logging my miles at BeeWellforLife.com. For every mile that I log, Bumble Bee Foods will donate $.30 to help lead the fight against heart disease. For more information about BeeWellforLife and the charities they support, visit BeeWell for Life: How the Program Works. It’s the perfect opportunity to stay active while doing good for others.

Below are the details of the Twitter Charity Run 2012 event if you’d like to participate as well. If you’re in San Diego, please leave a comment below.

Twitter Charity Run 2012

When: April 13th through April 15th

Location: Everywhere! Check out the cities participating in Twitter Charity Run via Google Maps. I’m waiting for my location to pop-up so I can brag that I’m representing the West Coast.

How do I participate?

1. Register  for Twitter Charity Run 2012 . When the event is over, the organizers will post another form for participants to share their race and charity results.
2. Entry Fee: Make a donation to the charity of your choice
3. Print your bib online
4. Help spread the word by promoting the event to your friends and family on your blog or social media channels. The hashtag for the event is #twittercharityrun.

Participants in the event are encourage to share their reason for joining the virtual race and send their photos to twittercharityrun@werrunners.com. WeRRunners will share as many stories they can on their site.

I hope you get to join me in this virtual event. You’ll be supporting your favorite cause and making a different in the world. If you have questions or need additional info contact WeRRunners at twittercharityrun@werrunners.com

Last week Social Media Club San Diego (SMCSD) hosted an event with Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner and author of Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition. At the event, Stelzner shared his Elevation Principle — a blueprint on how to launch a businesses by developing a solid content strategy. He believes that if you focus your efforts around great content that provides value to your customers and eliminates marketing messages, your business could achieve stellar success.

I would have to say that of all the SMCSD events that I’ve attended, this event was one of my favorites. At the end of the presentation, I had already downloaded Launch and had a list of content ideas that I wanted to produce (stay tuned for a review of his new book). If you’re interested in learning more about Stelzner’s new book, you can download your first chapter of Launch today.

 10 Content Marketing Tips to Launch Your Business

1. The Elevation Principle Formula: Great Content + other people – marketing messages = Growth
2. If you can solve people’s problems at no cost then many of them will wonder what you can do if they paid for your services.
3. Cage your marketing messages. Marketing if friction to your business – it slows down your growth.
4. There are three things people want: insight, access to great people, and recognition.
5. 80% of your content should not have a marketing message tied to it. Just be willing to help with no strings attached.
6. Shine the spotlight on others such as outside experts and successful peers.
7. Primary Fuel: How-to articles, expert interviews, reviews, news stories, and case studies.
8. Nuclear Fuel: Report based surveys, white papers, top 10 contests, micro events (i.e. webinars, videos, podcasts).
9. 95% of your Facebook Fans will never come back to your Facebook Fan Page. Fans will get your information via the news feed.
10. Social Media Examiner will be releasing the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report on Tuesday, April 3, 2012.

Since 1947, Ad 2 has been a group of people passionate about helping others. From personal to professional growth, in bettering our communities, Ad 2 is a group of young, passionate, forward thinking and community leaders making a difference. As a national non-profit organization, we pride ourselves in being active and die hard advertising addicts blazing our way to a brighter tomorrow with style and good company.

For over 30 years, local Ad 2 chapters have produced comprehensive public service advertising and marketing campaigns for non-profit organizations in their communities. Each year local chapters select a new client in which they research the client’s needs and design a complete marketing plan. Once approved by their external stakeholders, Ad 2 executes the marketing plan which may include but is not limited to television, radio, print, outdoor and interactive advertising campaigns. Some deliverable include logo design, production of collateral materials and public relations initiatives.

These campaigns are not homework assignments. They are not theoretical. They are professionally executed by Ad 2 volunteers and the results make a real difference in local communities. Non-profit organizations that have worked with Ad 2 have acknowledged that the assistance received from their local Ad 2 chapter was key to their development and success. This year Ad 2 San Diego selected My Girlfriend’s Closet,  a non-profit organization that provides gently used clothing, shoes and accessories to distribute to foster, homeless and disadvantaged teenage girls as their 2011-2012 Ad 2 San Diego Public Service campaign recipient.

To kick off their Public Service campaign, Ad 2 San Diego hosted their annual Cause Marketing Night at the FIDM San Diego campus located in the heart of downtown overlooking Petco Park. The venue was the perfect backdrop for over 20 canvases that were generously donated by San Diego’s hottest agencies and companies. The event also featured guest speaker Brian Hawkins, co-founder and Vice President of Catalyst Marketing who spoke to a room of over 30 attendees on how the cooperative efforts of a “for profit” business and non-profit organization can offer mutual benefits.

Below are a few key take aways from the event:

• 19 Companies and agencies in San Diego donated over 20 canvasses to the event.
• Art auction raised over $3,000 to go towards the My Girlfriend’s Closest Public Service campaign.
• Event attracted over 40 attendees.
• And most importantly, ALL of the canvasses were auctioned off!