Chase Giving Contest Keeps On Rolling Despite Critics
Today is the final day of voting in the second iteration of the Chase Community Giving Contest. This time around, Chase seems to have avoided the controversy the inaugural contest created.
For the rest of today, charities have the opportunity to compete against other charities to win up to $250,000 with a simple popular vote determining the winners. A total of $5 million will be given to the top 200 vote-getters: $250,000 going to the top vote recipient, $100,000 each to the next four, and $20,000 to each of the remaining 198 charities.
Rough Start
The previous effort created quite a stir with non-profits protesting Chase's decision to disqualify three organizations based on their mission, a perceived bungling of the contest, and accusations of contestants manipulating the final outcomes. To ameliorate the controversy, Chase donated an additional $1 million, bringing its total to $6 million.
Despite the controversy, Fast Company named Kimberly Davis, CEO of the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, to its "The 100 Most Creative People" list for the campaign. Naturally, the winning organizations and their supporters were pleased with the results. Based on its decision to hold another $5 million contest this summer, the company has concluded it's good for business, too.
Sustainability of Giving Contests
For the hyperconnected operating in the cause sector, the rise of online giving contests has sparked a broader discussion on their long-term benefits with differing opinions.
Regardless of its impact, this is one trend we can expect to develop further as companies seek to engage their customers and the broader community in more meaningful ways. While some will choose to imitate Chase and Pepsi, others will realize the opportunity to refine the model in ways more meaningful to the brand and the broader community.
What's clear is that a major shift is occurring in how individuals, non-profits, and brands connect, communicate, and collaborate. Consumers/donors expect to have greater intimacy and immediacy with the brands and charities they support.
To them, it's a natural extension of this trend for them to have the ability to influence how these organizations are addressing the needs they perceive to be important. With this influence comes sustained relevance.
The main challenge for brands is figuring out how they can offer meaningful, sustainable ways to connect with the issues their internal and external stakeholders care about. Conversely, the main challenge for non-profits is adapting their hierarchical structures to become more attuned to the networked world we're all living in now.
Is Chase headed in the right direction? Or are they playing with fire?
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