Rely on Your Folks and Make the Cause Campaign Fun: Time to "Create A Pepper" at Chili's to Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

My most sincere gratitude goes to Twitter for giving me the latest groundswell discussions on the topic I am interested in: like this morning I searched "#cause" and was directed to another awesome cause campaign in honor of Thanksgiving - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's "Thanks-and-Giving 2009" - in the featured video our beloved luminaries Marlo Thomas, Jennifer Aniston, Robin Williams, Antonio Banderas and Reggie Bush all send the message: give thanks to the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are NOT.

St. Jude is doing a great job of fundraising by partnering with a full lineup of corporations - my attention was instantly grabbed by Chili's Grill & Bar's "Create-A-Pepper to fight Childhood Cancer" campaign. The annual campaign has just witnessed its sixth success, and with less than $20 millions to go Chili's will fulfill its pledge of a 10-year, $50-million donation to St. Jude's, the largest one from a single partner campaign in St. Jude history.

So what's so special about Chili's "Create-A-Pepper"?

• It's fun. With a computer and Internet guests can create peppers embodying support for a cause and compete for popularity. Who doesn't want his/her artistic vigor flow with a grand purpose?
• It's viral. Supporters of the cause can view all peppers created at the Pepper Gallery and send the one they like to a friend, share it on Facebook or add it to MySpace page.
• It's got a great team. Team Hope really is the highlight of "Create-A-Pepper" Campaign - Chili's has been relying on its own employees, franchisees and vendor partners, and as a result the cause has become part of the corporate culture. Rarely did I see a corporation engage more internal stakeholders than external audience.
• It's sending the message that could strike a chord with guest supporters. Who are the most creative? Children. Who dream the most? Children. Who love fun most? Children. Who hold the brightest future? Children. Who are the primary beneficiaries of "Creative-A-Pepper" campaign and St. Jude? Still children. So when visitors hear the message from the PSA below - you bet how they'll feel.
  

• It's got an irresistible call-to-action. Most cause marketing cases are great at engaging audience but mediocre at gaining actual monetary support. "Create-A-Pepper", by incorporating a video featuring cancer kids' parents and personal stories of children with cancer in a separate page "Donate Now", is faring better with a call-to-action that's hard to resist.
• It's giving guest supporters identifiable credits for their charitable behaviors. What's better than wearing a specially designed T-shirt or using a customized pepper key to show off charitable behaviors? The tip here: let your supporters be the hero and give them badges to spread the philanthropic spirit.

What's your thoughts on Chili's "Create-A-Pepper" cause campaign? Are your cause marketing practices engaging, creative and fun? While deliberating you might wanna create a pepper here, and by the way, this is the pepper I like most from the gallery :)