College store across the country promote breast cancer awareness and some use our marketing plan to give them a leg up on the effort.
Kirkwood Community College
Paint it Pink! was our campaign again this year for Breast Cancer Awareness. We used the last year's Foreword Online Marketing Plan as inspiration for this year's design. We celebrated on October 23rd and, if students wore pink into the store, then they received 25% off any long-sleeved apparel. For all sales that day at both of our stores, 5% was donated to the American Cancer Society. We have also kept donation buckets at our registers for students, faculty and staff to contribute whatever they would like. So far, we have almost doubled what was donated last year! Our goal was $300 and we are only $25 away from hitting it. More donations are coming in everyday! The students like to feel like they are contributing and are happy to see it that our fundraising isn’t just for breast cancer, but to benefit all cancer research efforts. Next month is a non-perishable drive – stay tuned! --Kelsey Schwager, The Kirkwood Bookstore
Iowa Western Community College
"We work with our Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) Club on campus. Many schools have this organization on their campus, as it is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, however, we were the first community college in our division to have a CAC club. During the month of October, we sell shirts in the College Store, donating ALL proceeds to the club, which in turn goes to the ACS. There is one volleyball game at the beginning of the month and one football game towards the end of the month, that are both deemed "The Pink Out Game." Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of cancer research. We purchase the shirts to sell through the Connect2One Jerzees program through Russell Athletics. Because we order them in bulk, and so far in advance, we are able to donate over $6.00 of every shirt sold to the CAC! So far, this October we have raised close to $1200 in donations from shirt sales alone. The club ru
ns this promotion every year, changing the design of the shirt and including the year, to make each one unique!" -Maggie Sobczyk-Barron, Iowa Western College Store
Stevenson University
"We purchase merchandise through our vendors that offer a "Pink Program" for the month of October. This includes pens/pencils, novelty items, plush, and non-Stevenson apparel. A portion of our total purchase is then donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. We then run different sales throughout the month to bring awareness to the cause. For us, it's not about making a profit on these items, it's about letting the people affected by this disease know that we are there and we support all efforts to find a cure. Last year, we introduced Pink-A-Boo, a month of Pink and Halloween-themed sales. For instance, we offer an "I Think Pink" sale where you simply have to say the phrase to receive a discount, and Pink-A-Boo Pong in which students can shoot for a discount up to 50% off their pink purchase; that was a hit with the students! This year along with the Pink-A-Boo theme, we are also promoting Mean Green Goes Pink, thanks in part to JanSport. These are t-shirts and sweatshirts with one of the Stevenson logos supporting the cause. The items will arrive this week and along with the proceeds already donated through our purchase with JanSport, we will be donating a portion of all the sales from these items. The more the community buys, the larger our donation will be!" -La Shaun Hubbard Calderone, Stevenson University Store
Lorain County Community College
One of Commodore Books & More goals is to become more engaged with the community and bring attention to some of the significant ways we contribute to the County of Lorain, Ohio. We decided to raise awareness of breast cancer during the month of October and contribute the money raised to Mercy Regional Medical Center, which offers free mammograms to women in need. Breast cancer really hit close to my family, because my grandmother died when my mom was only five years old, and I could not imagine my life without the love and support that I am still receiving from my mother; she is one of my best friends.
I asked Lesley Majorias to be responsible for this initiative, and she has done an awesome job leading our team toward hopefully raising three thousand dollars this year. As of October 22nd, we were at 84% of our goal and will be waiting till November 1 to post the final number. If we don’t reach it, it won’t be due to lack of creativity, enthusiasm and engagement from Commodore Books & More team and the participation from our Gamer’s Paradise Club here on campus.
For instance, we partnered with a local vendor to sell We Think Pink at Lorain County Community College T-shirts, which one of our team members designed. We sold the shirts for $10 and donated $5 of each shirt sold toward the campaign October 22 was National Pink Day at the college and if the students, faculty, staff or community member wore their shirt in the store, then they were given special discounts at the registers. We also sold Breast Cancer Ribbons which we made here at the store for $1. We placed the ribbons on our Christmas tree and all around our beautiful store. Lesley and her team constructed a lemonade stand, and sold pink lemonade on National Student Day as well as at National Pink Day. Our Gamer’s Paradise Club created a dart game, and gave away pink teddy bears and pink sock monkeys too; they were just adorable and considered a must-have item by all customers.
As Manager of Commodore Books & More, I can truly say that I am blessed with the greatest staff that always seems to go above and beyond in volunteering their time toward these types of initiatives. We are not just a store here for the college; we are a store here for the community of Lorain County. -Patty Clark, LCCC Bookstore
