Today cause marketers will have reason to celebrate in Maine, as Maine’s repeal of its commercial co-venture laws will be effective.  Earlier this summer, the Maine legislature passed the “Act to Streamline the Charitable Solicitations Act” (yes, the “Act Act,” although we will refer to it as the “Act”).  Along with streamlining requirements for charities soliciting contributions, the Act also repealed all of Maine’s requirements for commercial co-ventures, or persons or companies that “conduct a sale, performance, event, or collection and sale of donated goods that is advertised in conjunction with the name of a charitable organization.”  The most common form of this type of promotion, also referred to as cause marketing, involves advertising that a percentage or dollar amount of a consumer’s purchase of a good or service will benefit a charity.  Cause marketing is particularly popular in the month of October when it seems entire aisles of products turn pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Maine’s repeal is significant considering that Maine had previously been one of the more onerous states for cause marketers requiring that the company conducting the promotion register with the state prior to the promotion, obtain a $25,000 bond, and submit a $250 application fee.  Cause marketers also had to submit financial reports with Maine-specific information on the number of products sold and the resulting donation to charity after the campaign’s conclusion and submit yearly renewals of their registration paperwork and bonds if they wanted to continue to conduct commercial co-ventures in Maine.  All of these requirements have now been repealed.
Continue Reading Cause Marketers Rejoice (at least in Maine)